Buscar:flow dan

Brooklyn Sounds legendary second album from 1972, full of heavy Nuyorican underground salsa dura propelled by raw trombones, off-kilter piano and in-your-face percussion. A perfect blend of barrio attitude and Caribbean swing, the album proves Brooklyn has sabor y salsa! Pressed on 180 g vinyl, our reissue includes liner notes featuring never-before seen photos. “Libre – Free” is the now legendary second album by the short-lived Brooklyn Sounds and is arguably even better than their self-titled debut, displaying a more mature and practiced sound, no doubt honed by their experiences playing more gigs in support of their first record. Brooklyn Sounds were one of a handful of garage salsa bands from the independent scene that was gathering steam in the early 1970s in the New York boroughs, despite little support or exposure in the mainstream Latin music industry from more dominant labels like Fania, Mericana, Cotique and Alegre. As with many others, Brooklyn Sounds briefly fluoresced in a burst of creativity and defiance, yet flamed out shortly thereafter, dying like a flower among the ruins of burned-out apartment blocks in the barrios of its home city. Though the band only cut two LPs and a couple singles in their brief half-decade of existence, and never really broke out of the cuchifrito circuit in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, their music gradually spread far and wide, eventually becoming a sought-after global commodity by the late 1990s. In contrast to the first album “Libre – Free” is uptempo and ebullient, with fewer slow songs and more confident, creative arrangements, full of heavy Nuyorican underground salsa dura propelled by raw trombones, off-kilter piano and in-your-face percussion. Standout tracks include the uplifting, anthemic ‘Libre soy’, and ‘Ha llegado el momento’, with its minor key ‘Moliendo café’ quote at the
beginning—both of which have become dance floor anthems over the years. Another mid-tempo killer is ‘Guaguancó tropical’, a favorite in Colombia since the 1970s. A perfect blend of barrio attitude and Caribbean swing, the album proves Brooklyn has sabor y salsa!

Russian vinyl botherer and producer DJ Vadim has pulled in some serious reggae talent on his 11th album.

It all kicks off with a double whammy of Demolition Man’s classic pipes on the rootsy Fussin N Fighting and the dubby Sometimes, featuring Inja shouting out to the people struggling to rise from dark situations. The mariachi trumpet, married to the smooth chorus vocals, provide a subtle counterpoint to the rapper’s imploring flow. Sultry dancehall’s the order of the day for Call On Me, with Eva Lazarus pushing out a proper earworm of a chorus that plays beautifully off the Jamaican-accented Brummie spit of Serocee. Three tracks in, and Vadim’s already traversed several decades of musical development whilst keeping the narrative pleasingly consistent.
Murder Murder channels the spirit of Damian Marley for a politically-charged reggae hip hop rampage, then the unmistakable voice of Max Romeo pops up on Judgement, a fire and brimstone cut in the great tradition of such offerings. It also showcases one of the main themes of this release: the bringing together of cultures and musicians. Abstract Rude and YT provide rap responses to the veteran, with the production lightly upgrading the familiar sonics with a few echo-electro flourishes here and there.

25 Jahre nach seinem Durchbruch zieht Eminem den Schlussstrich unter das aggressive Slim Shady-Kapitel,
mit dem 1999 alles anfing – auf dem 12. Studioalbum „The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)“.
Weltbekannt für seinen bissigen Humor und seinen einzigartigen Flow, zählt Eminem seit gut 25 Jahren
zu den größten Heavyweights der Hip-Hop-Welt – und als popkulturelle Ikone. Schon kurz nach der
Veröffentlichung der „The Slim Shady LP“ im Jahr 1999 avancierte er zum meistverkauften Rapper der
Musikgeschichte. Abgesehen von inzwischen weit über 220 Millionen verkauften Alben, konnte Eminem
bereits 15 GRAMMYs sowie einen Academy Award in Empfang nehmen. In den USA erhielt er bereits
seine sechste Diamant-Auszeichnung (!). Zuletzt hatte Eminem im Jahr 2020 mit dem Vorgänger-Album
„Music to Be Murdered By“ zum 10. Mal Platz #1 der Billboard-200 eingenommen. Während auch
hierzulande etliche Alben regelmäßig Platz #1 der Charts belegten (u.a. „The Eminem Show“, „Encore“,
„The Marshall Mathers LP2“), ist Eminem inzwischen der Musiker mit den meisten Studioalbum, die schon
für sich genommen Streams in Milliardenhöhe verbuchen. Mit „The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)“
schlägt der 51-jährige ”Über-MC” das 12. Albumkapitel auf und sorgt dafür, dass sich der Kreis schließt.

The Swiss trio divr debuts on We Jazz on 2 February with their new album "Is This Water". divr is Philipp Eden on keys, Jonas Ruther on drums and Raphael Walser on bass, and they play largely acoustic improvisations which loops without ever quite repeating. Their music swings, but never feels like it’s doing so in response to a fixed, single pulse. The new album is mixed & post-produced by Dan Nicholls (of Y-OTIS).

“We play in multi-directional time. You could hear three different timings, but on the other hand it’s together. We land in the same place. It’s not done with maths, it’s more about entering a flow”, say the band members, based in Basel (Eden) and Zurich (Ruther, Walser), the city where they all met more than 15 years ago.

“It’s a free approach to playing time. We don’t refer to a straight metre. But play around it. We never repeat something exactly, it develops with every turn, there’s always a small difference.”

Cuban music has a new global ambassador: Cimafunk. With a name and image that pays tribute to the Cimarrons – Cubans of African descent that resisted slavery – and music and showmanship that re-embodies funk legends from the last century, the medical-school student turned funk artist has developed into a musical force crafting the sonic future of the island and a global, cultural phenomenon that unites and celebrates blackness across borders, oceans and languages.

After the success of El Alimento, Cimafunk delves even further into his exploration of the intersections between funk and the sounds of the continent and gives us Pa' Tu Cuerpa (Mala Cabeza Records), his most polished and mature production to date. For this occasion, Cimafunk has summoned a constellation of extraordinary artists and musicians.

"Collaboration is something I really enjoy," he confesses. "This album has artists that I had always wanted to work with, of whom I am a fan and of whom I have a lot of influence from them." From the legendary touch of funk master George Clinton, who also appeared on Cimafunk’s last album, to the jazz mastery of top AfroCuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, through the vibe of Colombian rockstars Monsieur Periné, to the Caribbean rhythms and melodies of Haitian producer Michael Brun, and the youthfulness from Havana’s urban street scene of Cuban newcomer Wampi, each guest works like a piece of clockwork in this masterpiece.

“Cuchi Cuchi” is the track that immediately takes you to the Cimafunk of 2024. Catchy, danceable and super funky, “Cuchi Cuchi,” which is a playful way to say “hooking up,” is a Cuba meets New Orleans mashup ready to explode when performed live. “It’s really funky and you can envision me on stage with my band and feel the way I dress, dance and live life just by playing the track,” says Cimafunk. “My musical director Dr. Zapa is the producer and he’s been with me since the beginning. ‘Cuchi Cuchi’ is Cimafunk & La Tribu after a few years of exploring the world thru festivals, venues, dressing rooms and parties.”

New Orleans – Cimafunk’s new home – jumps out track-after-track on “Pa’ tu cuerpa.” The explosive flow of New Orleans bounce-icon Big Freedia on “Pretty” and the unreplicated, powerful horns of Trombone Shorty on “I don’t care” highlight Cimafunk’s affinity with and full-on embrace of New Orleans music and culture. He’s now a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and leads an annual New Orleans – Cuba festival and cultural exchange program, Getting Funky in Havana, that has brought New Orleans top artists and musicians to Cuba to perform for the Cuban people and do work in the schools. The result is a sonic experience as innovative as it is impossible to label; Caribbean but borderless, rooted in Havana but with echoes of Detroit funk and New Orleans bass, horns and street-corner vibes.

Twisted Records is delighted to announce a different kind of collaborative mini album by two musicians highly esteemed for decades in the electronic music scene, Simon Posford and Raja Ram. 

‘Improvisations for Piano & Flute’ is, as the title suggests, a series of fully improvised compositions by the two legendary musicians. The 44-minute flow of this album is more contemplative and analog in nature than anything in the pair’s previous output in their three decades of collaborative work, yet equally mesmerising and consciousness-expanding.
 
In the early 1990s, Simon Posford was working as an engineer at Butterfly Studios when he first met Raja Ram, an Australian conservatory-trained jazz flautist who had been in the 60s/70s band Quintessence and who was at the time of their meeting part of the electronic music group known as The Infinity Project. After collaborating on many of the latter band’s productions, Posford and Raj (as he is affectionately known) in 1996 created the first track under the project name Shpongle, Rumours of Vapours. 
 
Less dance-focused and more atmospheric than their previous electronica tracks, this was the first of many creations under the Shpongle moniker, included on their now iconic first album Are You Shpongled? in 1998. Since then, they have produced six albums and performed elaborate live sets with an 17-member band around the world, including three sold-out shows at the iconic Red Rocks theatre in Colorado and three sold-out appearances at The Roundhouse in London.

This album is a significant departure from their usual output in its focus on the interplay of Raj’s lyrical flute playing and Simon’s noodling at the piano, with almost imperceptible synthesized atmospheric support that seamlessly unites analog and digital realities. 

These improvisations were recorded in Posford’s living room instead of the usual studio because the musicians found that it provided more of the desired ambience. With a synthesizer placed atop an antique Bluthner piano, either Raj or Simon would begin playing and the other would join in - nothing prepared, decided, or arranged: just live, in-the-moment inspiration. This spontaneity infuses each track with such magnetic energy that the listener is inevitably drawn into each note, phrase, and piece. 
 
The whole album is supremely chill and introspective, with a grand arc to the storyline of 8 tracks that Shpongle fans will recognize from the dynamic duo’s internationally prized discography.  

‘Improvisations for Piano & Flute’ is a salve for the soul, providing an atmospheric antidote to the relentless stress and fast pace of our increasingly complex world - a great way to kick back, tune in, and refresh.

Shepdog returns with 2 brand new killer blends in his inimitable dancehall/hip hip style, both utilising the vocals of the legendary Native Tongues collective. First up, A Tribe Called Quest's most popular posse cut gets the soundclash treatment as Shep lines up a selection of classic riddims for the seasoned MCs to flow over, creating a devastating dancefloor weapon. On the flip, De La Soul's classic Buddy gets flipped in a dancehall style riding another instantly recognisable instrumental, giving a new vibe and energy to this well loved anthem.

Writing music, for singer-songwriter and producer Fine, “feels like being entrusted with a secret.” On Rocky Top Ballads, the Copenhagen-based musician’s debut album, these secrets take the form of minimalist compositions that search for glimpses of beauty in the everyday. Recorded, produced, and mixed by Fine, the album is a mystical soundtrack to a captivating songwriter’s explorations of process and intuition.

“The whole album is about the moments when you see a crack in something,” Fine explains, “where you briefly see another side of yourself or of someone you've known forever.”

Fine grew up in Denmark’s rural Northern Jutland; there, her father’s guitar and banjo playing formed the sonic backdrop of her childhood. In the years since, her musical curiosity has led her to work across a range of styles and sounds. In her early twenties, she became part of Danish electronic trio Chinah, which released three albums. You might also have caught her sampled vocals on the joyfully rollicking Two Shell song “Home,” from 2021. Then, last year, she — along with Erika de Casier and Smerz — co-wrote three songs for the massive, critically lauded K-pop group New Jeans. Fine is also a part of Clarissa Connelly Canons group back home in Denmark, and writes music under the moniker Coined with composer and songwriter Astrid Sonne.

But Rocky Top Ballads is a turn back towards a more personal, stream-of-consciousness songwriting style. Fine wrote and recorded these songs sporadically over the course of the last few years. In light of Chinah’s collaborative, piecemeal production style, Fine craved a more organic, intuitive process for these songs. Her work on the record combines sample-based production with the sounds of instruments she and her collaborators could hold in their hands, ones that inspired free-flowing improvisation: electric and acoustic guitar, even the Ensoniq keyboard that was in her childhood home. The resulting songs are equally inspired by the country and folk of her childhood, the hazy beauty of Mazzy Star, the avant-garde pop of Dean Blunt, and the songwriting of ’90s singer-songwriters like Suzanne Vega.

Fine describes her songwriting process as a “magical thinking method”: being in contact with the present moment and pretending as if she already knows the song she’s about to write. Many of the songs on Rocky Top Ballads use the original takes of Fine’s vocals, an attempt to capture a song’s initial essence and avoid disturbing the song’s generative idea as much as possible. You can hear that well-preserved spark on songs like “Losing Tennessee,” a minimalist and wistful reflection on the inherent loss and change of growing older. She wrote other tracks, like the piano-led “Whys” and the woozy “Coasting,” through a process of cutting and layering her improvisations, carefully merging multiple musical snippets into newly seamless compositions. And the stunning closing track “A Star” is the product of a slow process of evolution: beginning as an understated expression of sincerity before dissolving into a rich, distorted guitar-driven exploration.

As a songwriter and producer, Fine’s work often peers into the universes of experience that can be hidden inside a fragmentary moment. Sometimes she explores this literally — as in “Days Incomplete,” which she built off a short sample from “A Star.” This impulse — to zoom in, to recontextualize, to excavate — threads throughout her lyrics, too. What happens, her songs ask, when we pay close attention to those everyday images and physical realities we might otherwise ignore: the sky, the rain, the sun, the sea? On the spacious and swoony “Big Muzzy,” with its gentle sway and Cocteau Twins-inflected vocals, Fine sings about watching the “summer turn blue”; the grooving, propulsive “Remember The Heart” is a love letter to the sea where she grew up. In her airy voice, Fine traces meandering melodies that continually unspool with fresh insights.

A particular mantra guided Fine’s songwriting throughout the creation of Rocky Top Ballads: “Everything has potential.” In these songs, small moments are worthy of deep contemplation, and gentleness can evoke worlds of emotion. The resulting songs offer a gift of momentary pleasure, flowing and unhurried as a gentle breeze.

Marissa Lorusso

Scala Muziek presents its second vinyl EP, Next Horizon, building on the success of the debut release. After a remarkable year of music and events, this EP embodies the spirit of exploration that defines Scala. Produced by label head Pascal Benjamin, the four tracks blend hypnotic grooves with forward-thinking soundscapes—each crafted to leave a lasting impression.

A1: Personallity opens the EP with minimalist, richly textured rhythms. Its bouncy, infectious groove and subtle shifts in bass and melody create a dynamic flow, making it perfect for both dancefloor energy and introspective moments. Pascal’s attention to detail shines through, balancing personal and expansive sounds. A2: Progress delves deeper into rolling rhythms and uplifting sonic layers, with ethereal synths floating above a driving beat. The track unfolds gradually, building momentum with a continuous, evolving motion. B1: On the flip: Shifting Grounds brings a sense of exploration, with gurgling synths and subtle modulations creating a cerebral yet physical experience. It's an atmospheric, groove-laden track perfect for late-night sessions. B2: Far From Clear closes the EP with a moody, introspective energy. Eerie vocal snippets and sharp minimalism weave together to create a haunting, mysterious atmosphere, rounding off the release with a deep dive into uncharted sonic territory. With Next Horizon, Scala Muziek offers a refined selection that showcases Pascal’s artistic growth and the label’s commitment to immersive, forward-thinking music.

Two new SUPRAWAX releases by Eduardo De La Calle.

The four tracks on offer here bear testimony to De La Calle's search for the perfect loop. They are hypnotic grooves, almost entirely devoid of arrangement in a classical sense. But the tracks are not static. They suck you in by means of constant modulations, build free flowing structures of their own, hints of peaks emerging at the mercy of the low frequency oscillators' cleverly set phase relationships. These tracks do not need the in-your-face kick drums and squashed dynamics of the Brickwall Generation. By leaving space, they work on a different level than solely sound pressure emanated. The simple, repetitive structure coupled with the unhasty development find their way into the dancer's brain. Moving your mind—your ass to follow suit.

No represses are planned at present.

Acclaimed musicians Nitai Hershkovits and Daniel Dor will release their highly anticipated album, “The Garden Suite”, on Circus Company. Following their previous collaboration on Daniel Dor’s debut album, “Four Petals”, this new project sees the duo exploring uncharted musical territory with an innovative, Moog-based sound.
Inspired by the groundbreaking work of synth pioneer Malcolm Cecil, “The Garden Suite” marries electronic textures with the richness of orchestral sound. Drawing from a vast range of influences, including the works of Benjamin Britten and Fredrick Delius, Hershkovits and Dor meticulously composed each track, layering Moog synthesizer melodies to emulate various instruments from the orchestra - from French horn to percussion, guitar, brass, and woodwinds. The result is a sound that is lush yet light, deeply textured yet not dense.
“The Garden Suite” marks a significant evolution in the partnership between Hershkovits and Dor, with their new compositions shifting from the rhythmic focus of “Four Petals” to a more texture-driven approach. The album showcases their ability to create genre-defying soundscapes, blending Daniel’s rhythmic system, “The Flower,” with lush, ambient layers of sound created on the Moog.
Nitai Hershkovits, known for his extensive work in jazz and classical music, began his musical journey as a clarinetist before transitioning to piano at the age of 15. His early passion for improvisation and jazz earned him several jazz competition awards in Tel Aviv. Nitai’s career highlights include his fiveyear tenure with the Avishai Cohen Trio, and his numerous projects as a solo artist, including work with ECM and his band Apifera.
Daniel Dor, a drummer and multi-instrumentalist, was born into a family of musicians in Tel Aviv. He began exploring rhythm at the age of 10, building his first drum set out of household objects. His innovative rhythmic method, “The Flower”, gained attention with his debut solo piano album, “Four Petals”, which led to his collaboration with Hershkovits. Daniel has performed with notable artists such as NOA, Avishai Cohen, and Chano Dominguez, and regularly lectures on rhythmic symmetry and music.
With “The Garden Suite”, Hershkovits and Dor offer a unique listening experience that challenges traditional genre boundaries. Their seamless fusion of rhythm, melody, and texture creates a soundscape that is as experimental as it is captivating.

"Because it's the passion for music that drives the person behind the decks, a dj's debut is bound to exude authenticity. It's often themselves they're recounting in music, posing on the slip mats their DNA and what makes them who they are.

When you're just starting out, you're faced with a multitude of routes to take and styles to play. When you know just how devastating it can be to step out of line and empty the dance floor even faster than it filled up, it often takes a lot of audacity to break the unity of a funk evening with a punk track.

Over time, to evolve is to find oneself facing only two roads.

On the first one, to satisfy the greatest number of people and not lose the credit for his fees, the dj adapts to the trend. Whether he likes what he's playing or not, the road has become a freeway and, indeed, a very comfortable one. The audience already knows everything there is to hear and doesn't come to hear anything else. Thirty seconds, or even a minute of each track, is more than enough. Everything has to flow quickly. Everything is marked out and secured. Those who respect the regulations will (normally) make the journey without accident. Several times a week, several times a month, several times a year. Curiosity disappears altogether.

And then there's the other road. Where nothing is expected nor sometimes even ever heard. The road of an unquenchable passion for diggin' and the desire to always know more and more. A passion billed at the price of hours of research-finding spent in the discomfort and possible disappointment of never coming across anything exciting, as well as nights exploring platforms and multiplying clicks resulting in a good old headache. Until that moment of grace happens when, after thousands of fruitless shakes, the nugget stands alone in the sieve, without the slightest doubt as to its quality.

Coming from places never mentioned for their music, sometimes classics of their genre, they are also rarities miraculously saved from total disappearance, as much as current marvels, but threatened to never leave the immensity of the web. Even if the possibility of a text with substance is never excluded, they can tell long stories or be destined solely to make you dance till you're dehydrated. Scintillating with spirituality, some can also vaporize energy and replace it with a pure emotion capable of touching hearts in the bareness of simple percussions.

This road is marked by sincerity, singularity and surprises, but always in a communion between the dj and the audience, who embark on it together, with mutual confidence in the promise of hours of sharing and discovering. "

A killer fusion of bass, poetry and social consciousness from the King Midas Sound vocalist.

Roger Robinson is one of the most versatile voices in the dub poetry scene today, seamlessly blending the power of the written word with the raw energy of the soundsystem.

Teaming up once again with Dub wizard Disrupt to conclude an album trilogy that began with “Dis Side Ah Town” and “Dog Heart City“, Robinson pulls a wide range of riddims straight from the Jahtari vaults to create “Heavy Vibes“, a killer fusion of bass, poetry, and social consciousness.

With a voice oscillating between soulful falsetto and deep poetry thunder Robinson’s verses hit as hard as the bass, challenging the listener to confront uncomfortable truths, while Disrupt’s richly textured, dub-heavy production ensures the music moves both body and mind. You’ll find yourself dancing, but more importantly, you’ll find yourself thinking.

Coming with stunning cover art by Kiki Hitomi and featuring deadly riddims by Tapes, Naram, Jura Soundsystem, Maffi and Bo Marley, “Heavy Vibes” balances the weight of oppression with a glimmer of hope – the belief that change is possible, that the beat goes on, and that through solidarity and art, new futures can be forged.

Well-versed in vintage vernaculars, Oakland-based producer/musician Mike Walti is about to return with his sophomore offering under the Organi moniker – as new album “Babylonia” follows 2020’s “Parlez-vous Français?,” a landmark in vibe acquisition ever since.

Wyldwood Studios is a portal. It’s a secret gateway to analog spheres. Cross the threshold and you’ll feel the difference: you can pick any ol’ time, any place, any tongue or vibe, in fact. Hit the dancefloor in 1967, feel that plushy loveseat in the early 70s. It’s a welcoming place where better, saner vibes are still within reach. Fueled, at least in part, by those long-classic 12”s on the walls – just imagine the sepia-tinted countenance of Melody Nelson alongside actual Birkin sans wig, right next to Shadow’s immortal crate diggers, forever blurred –, and channeled through ancient time travel devices such as the MCI 416B only to arrive on classic 2-inch tape (MM1000 aka Ol’ Bessy), it’s a haven for all things organic, for all things imbued with that warm élan. Built and run by Oakland’s own Mike Walti, countless artists from many different genres have felt that flair, creating sonic spheres and moving back and forth along the malleable axis that is space-time. Capturing magic.

Emerging from this unique portal back in 2020, Walti’s aka Organi’s first studio album was a stunning answer to its titular question – “Parlez-vous Français?” It was a soothing, somewhat psychedelic trip so magnétique and alluring that it immediately brought back those bits of Franglais you never knew you remembered. Whereas the debut LP indeed felt like a spontané voyage to the French Riviera ca. 1968, its follow-up “Babylonia” is so much more than linguistic confusion and ancient Akkadian Rhythms. Using that hidden portal near Alameda’s finest port to access all kinds of remote regions and sonic spheres, it’s super tight and feels, well, decent, even though, just like the ol’ Babylon, it’s full of surprising tongues and dreams, schemes and melodies.

“Where do we go from here?,” someone asks in opening “Organii-“ – all majestically cinematic boom bap, buoyant bass, sick strings. A fittingly massive opener that feels like cracking open a cold one after long weeks at work (that ecstatic “ahhhh”), it perfectly sets the tone for another half hour of pure time traveling, globe-spanning bliss. Whereas that certain prédilection pour all things French makes “La Rockette” so tempting and tantalizing (think MalMalNonBien), the sophomore album’s Berlin-based guest singer Nana Lacrima soon takes us elsewhere: title track “Babylonia” spins ever so softly, like a magic lantern, with images of dreamier Stones Throw funksters or Savath y Savalas looming over the steady flow of an arrangement that washes you clean like an ancient, unpolluted River Euphrates or Brazil’s actual Amazon. A sexy Portuguese-flavored anthem, occasional guest singer Alix Koliha also enters the scene to add yet another layer of French chic to this Brazilian landscape. Next, we’re back at the Riviera, but the “Italiano” version of it, splendido sunsets and bell towers in the distance, the ragazze laughing and shaking it up, perhaps even some Portofino Gin so you can really feel that “me ne batto il belin,” as your fingers align form some half-serious “ma che vuoi?”

Tim Maia-penned “Padre Cicero” (1970) deals with the stunning transformation of the titular hero – “De reverendo a lutador,” and what a soaring, sensual hook –, and Organi’s take on Elephant Memory’s “Old Man Willow” (now an “Old Man Waltz”) perfectly underlines what Walti’s Wyldwood endeavor is all about: Easy-Going Experimental Dream Pop, fueled by Gainsbourg, Broadcast, Stereolab, etc.

Later on, even though something seems to be tres complique in “Remembering Anna,” it all sounds carefree like a spontaneous Friday afternoon with a bottle of fine wine. Right before the outro, key album guest Yea-Ming Chen (of Yea-Ming & The Rumors) returns to the mic, adding her dark and dusky trademark timbre to melancholy anthem “Pictures Of Your Face”. Reminiscent of Nico and Trish (rip & rip), it’s a track that’s both dark and strangely propelling, hypnotic and hip-shaking.

A third generation Bay Area native, Mike Walti aka Organi has been running Wyldwood Studios in Oakland CA for some 15+ years (recording artists like Tommy Guerrero, Spelling, Why?, Latyrx, Del, Dan The Automator, and Big Freedia, to name but a few). A multi-instrumentalist who’s obviously in love with the 60s/70s, he loves to work with analog equipment (“We just love us some analog!” “Just listen to those relays purr…”). Recorded and mixed by Mike Walti at Wyldwood, “Babylonia” will be released on vinyl/digital by Alien Transistor.

Silky Steps hustles towards the scene trailblazed by Nile Rodgers, and currently held by the likes of Jungle, L'imperatrice and Parcels. The 5-piece hailing from Estonia's summer capital Pernau have their own concoction of neo-soul, nu-disco and pop-funk to offer, though. At the helm, a combo of male-female lead vocals sing about the X-rated side of life. Plentiful synths and suave basslines get all the right juices flowing. All the while a musical guest will pop in here and there to provide a sax solo, sing a ref or throw down a little rap.

The latter is especially true for their upcoming LP "Universal Language," as 2023 sees the group step up their game in a big way. Their 2nd single "Fly, Goodbye" took off as the title suggests and got its first BBC 6 airplay on the revered Cerys Matthews show. Robert Linna of Lexsoul Dancemachine lent his falsetto to the latter track, while MC Roki raps on "Falling For You" and Rahel collabs on the title-track. In total, there are 10 tracks on the album that's put out digitally and on vinyl via Funk Embassy Records - the Estonian imprint that recently won Record label of the Year at the local music industry awards.

Get ready to sail into the vibrant rhythms of Romperayo with their new single, "La canoa del soldado," now available on Little Beat More!.

Romperayo brings a fresh take on Colombian tropical music by blending traditional coastal sounds with essential electronic elements and mixing nostalgic tropical vibes with modern beats.

The single also features a remix by Captain Planet with his fusion of global roots music adding a unique danceable twist to the original track.

Let’s paddle on Romperayo’s eclectic sounds and get your hands on the limited 7-inch vinyl that will carry you through sun-drenched landscapes and the bursting stream of millennial water flows.

Pedro Ojeda: Drums, percusion, composition, mixing.
Ivan Medellín: Accordion
Marco Fajardo: Clarinet
Nicolas Eckardt: Bass
Juan Manuel Toro: Synth
Recorded by Daniel Michel at MamboNegro Studios, Bogotá, 2023

Remix produced and mixed by Captain Planet

Master by Simone Squillario
Artwork by Michael Boulton

Habibi Funk is excited to announce the release of Samh Almea'ad, a new 7" record by Libyan artist Cheb Bakr, hitting the shelves on December 6, 2024. Recorded in the early 2000s, Bakr’s music fuses the pulse of Libyan pop with R&B and hip-hop influences, bringing the energy of Benghazi to the dance floors of New York in the early 2000s. Cheb Bakr’s sound is a unique blend of styles that captures the essence of two worlds and includes production and vocals by Ahmed Ben Ali.

Our journey with Cheb Bakr’s music began when Yousef Alhoush, whose father Najib Alhoush led The Free Music from Libya, generously lent us boxes of cassettes to digitize. With the help of a journalist traveling from Tripoli to Cairo, we brought the tapes and a high-quality deck to Egypt. For three days in a hotel room on Zamalek island in Cairo, we sifted through nearly 100 tapes, finally landing on several from Cheb Bakr that dated back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. His albums stood out for their fresh, genre-defying sound—Bakr’s vocals flowed effortlessly over R&B and hip-hop beats with touches of jungle and drum and bass percussion, creating a fusion that crossed cultural and musical boundaries.

Returning to Berlin, we took a deeper dive into the digitized tapes, identifying bands, singers, and producers that excited us. In the process, we noticed familiar rap verses on a few of Bakr’s tracks—verses by none other than Ahmed Ben Ali, who was about to release an album with Habibi Funk. When we asked Ahmed about his connection with Bakr, he explained that they’d collaborated closely at Jamaica Studios in Benghazi, with Ahmed even producing some of Bakr’s songs.

Despite having lost touch for years, Ahmed helped us reconnect with Cheb Bakr through mutual friends. Their reunion took place in Bakr’s living room, where we joined them on a video call to discuss Bakr’s career and his influences. He explained how he sought to reinterpret eastern Libyan folk sounds for a new generation, blending them with contemporary genres.

This 45 marks the beginning of our work with Cheb Bakr, offering a glimpse into his unique musical style, with a full album to follow at a later date. The release includes two standout tracks that showcase Bakr’s dynamic range. Side A features “Samh Almea'ad,” a reinterpretation of a 2003 New York classic with Bakr’s signature spin. Since our first listen in that Cairo hotel room, it’s been played at every Habibi Funk set without exception. Side B, produced by Ahmed Ben Ali, features “Rjana Lamta,” a track that hints at American influences alongside a nod to Ahmed’s “Dameek Majeb.” Bakr’s artistry ties these contrasting elements into an original, dancefloor-ready track that remains as captivating today as it was two decades ago. As always, this 7" release comes with a booklet detailing some of the Cheb Bakr story. Samh Almea'ad will be out on vinyl December 6th.

Licensing info: These songs were licensed from Cheb Bakr. We pay the licensing partner 50% of the profits of this release. Only project related costs are deductible from the gross income, research and travel costs come out of our own share. Publishing was not included in our agreement (We feel it’s important to be transparent about these deals, therefore we will include these infos in all future releases).

Jabu return with ‘A Soft and Gatherable Star’, an LP that sees the Bristol-based trio evolve from a uniquely spectral take on trip hop to proffer a singular vision between cloudy, downered dream-pop, off-kilter ambient, and the warm, low-end throb of sound system culture. This development is aligned with contemporaries like HTRK, Dean Blunt, Tarquin Manek, YL Hooi and Rat Heart Ensemble, whilst also harkening back to the likes of AR Kane (with whom they are set to play shows and release a collaborative single), the languorous drift of 'Victorialand' era Cocteau Twins or The Cure circa ‘Disintegration’. Comprising Jasmine Butt (vocals, guitar), Alex Rendall (vocals, keys) and Amos Childs (production, bass guitar), the trio’s method may have shifted but the feel remains consistent - slow, spatial, sensuous and gently melancholic. With a career arc unlike almost any other current guitar outfit, Jabu sit within a strong lineage of off-centre Bristolian music, and a very British strain of home-spun DIY bands. Self-recorded between Jas and Amos’ home in South Bristol and Amos’ mum’s house in rural North Somerset, the album came together via a process of trial and error - learning to play on borrowed instruments, using the equipment “wrong”, staying up late recording and slipping into strange, semi-conscious sleep deprived/inebriated headspaces. Having captured over 50 tracks, they honed in on those they liked most, shaping them further, whilst carving out space to allow input from people they love and admire - Daniela Dyson’s voice and Will Memotone's clarinet on ‘Ashes Over Shute Shelve’, Birthmark's synth on ‘Gently Fade’ and ‘Sea Mills’, Rakhi Singh (Manchester Collective) and Sebastian Gainsborough (Vessel)’s strings and arrangements on ‘All Night’, Josh Horsley’s cello on ‘If I Asked You, You'd Tell Me’, and Lorenzo Prati’s sax, again on ‘Sea Mills’. The album was mastered by Amir Shoat (HTRK, ML Buch, Dean Blunt, Carla Dal Forno). Influence-wise, the guitar-based material recalls the bands Amos listened to when younger, and Jas’ more folk-leaning inspirations. Deep-lying dub, hip hop and soul influences are also evident in both the way the LP was mixed, and the space ingrained in their subconscious. Tinged with melancholy, the songs cohere as a set of soliloquies and ruminations on love and tenderness. The album’s title comes from a poem by Amos’ late father which hangs on his wall and seeped into the record. ‘Ashes Over Shute Shelve’ is formed of lines from another poem of his. Recited by longtime collaborator Daniela Dyson and with Will Yates (Memotone) playing his mother’s clarinet, the track was imagined as a conversation between his parents. Geography and location also play a big part in the record, with several significant places name-checked in songs. Shute Shelve itself is a hill near Amos’ mum’s house, who explains “There’s a tree at the top with a 360° view of the Mendips, where my dad’s ashes were scattered. We used to go up there when we could first buy booze from the petrol station down the road, get drunk, light a fire, listen to music from my little battery powered CD player and sleep out without tents.” Titled after a Bristol suburb near where Amos’ grandparents lived and where Jas would spend time as a teenager, ‘Sea Mills’ references her being abandoned by friends on the Downs while high on mushrooms, stranded and missing the bus back. ‘Kosiše Flower’ references the city in Slovakia where Amos and Jas holidayed shortly after getting together and a flower he gave her, which she pressed in a book after an argument. ‘Oceanside Spider House’ is a location in Nintendo 64 game The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, where someone seeks shelter from the falling moon. Genre: Electronic / Ambient / Dream-pop

Jonathan Bockelmann is a classical guitarist and composer based in Munich who first made waves in 2023 with his debut album ‘Childish Mind’. His entry into composing were arrangements he had made of pieces by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Some of these have been released digitally in three editions and are now available on vinyl for the first time. The record comes in high quality packaging with an embossed art print and features both some of Sakamoto’s lesser-known works like the ‘Suite for Krug’ as well as iconic pieces like ‘Bibo No Aozora’.

Indulge in the smooth vibes of Luke Beats' latest album, 'Cream', dropping now on Little Beat More.
Inspired by the Italian saying 'ci sta una crema' ('as good as cream'), which indicates the utmost satisfaction, this work is the perfect dessert for your musical gluttony, kneaded by the skilful hands of Luke Beats for all hip hop lovers. In a world where the saying 'Cash rules everything around me' (once again: C.R.E.A.M!) still resonates loudly from the days when Method Man and the Wu-Tang rapped it, the love and passion for music can continue to shine.
With nods to sounds that have defined this genre in its origins, especially in the melodic and synthesiser parts, 'Cream' blends tradition and novelty, love for the classic and curiosity for the contemporary, creating a dreamy, mellow atmosphere that takes listeners on a creamy journey.
The 18-track album features the collaboration of drummer Federico Romeo on '404 Fun 4 Days' and guitarist Danny Bronzini on 'JamDilla', while Luke Beats himself played bass parts on 'P.T.H', 'JamDilla', 'Cookin' and 'The D'.

Once again, Matteo Baracco's artwork adorns the EP, with a closed but squashed tube of tempera, which perfectly complements the nostalgic yet fresh sounds within, telling of an approach to production and beatmaking still anchored in the “old school” sound craft principles in which getting one's hands dirty is the prerogative needed to shape a sound that is personal and respectful of its history.

A further tribute to the golden era of hip hop is provided by the format of the release, in an iconic timeless audio cassette to dust off your ghettoblaster!

2025 Repress
Key Vinyl welcomes on board Turkish born and Amsterdam based Beste Hira, delivering an EP that brings together funky rhythms and soulful vocals. Known for her versatile style and vibrant approach to production, Beste Hiras new offering is an uplifting blend of loopy material, infused with percussive
elements and emotive atmospheres perfect for different moments across the night.

The A-side, Remember Me, opens the EP with a groovy, vocal driven track that sets the tone with its infectious energy. The funky vocal line is layered over a well structured rhythmic base, creating an upbeat, driving experience that feels both positive and dance floor ready. The track maintains a balance of groove and flow, offering a feel good excitement thats certain to resonate with diverse crowds. On the B side, Observe follows with yet another example of the producers inclination for blending vocals with polished production. This track leans on textured soundscapes, while percussive elements and subtle
layers bring depth and sophistication. Its a charming cut that works well in the mix, providing DJs with material thats both dynamic and versatile. Rounding out the EP is Flew of Cliffs, characterized by a thick bassline, while delicate atmospheres give it a sort of ethereal edge.

This ones for the diggers, the dancers, and those who appreciate a sound thats as uplifting as it is refined.

Probably in another life David Edren (DSR Lines) was a visionary biologist or chemist. In this new sound adventure, he becomes the narrator of anatomical and cellular symphonies, catharsis of invisible biochemical processes, painting the micro-dimensional flows of the subtle body or imaginary geographies of hidden micro-bodies. Here, his organic electronic music is enriched with new lymphs that also vaguely recall the influences of non-European music, especially Chinese and Japanese music (stick and chimes percussions) in an intimate and twilight dimension, poised between exotic ambient and cinematic suggestions. A miniaturistic description of liquid currents, labyrinthine veins, weaving streams, molecules and particles in multi-orbital dances, muscular chords, drowning bubbles, light waves; all in a confident compositional overview that is absolutely unique and fascinating.

Probably in another life David Edren (DSR Lines) was a visionary biologist or chemist. In this new sound adventure, he becomes the narrator of anatomical and cellular symphonies, catharsis of invisible biochemical processes, painting the micro-dimensional flows of the subtle body or imaginary geographies of hidden micro-bodies. Here, his organic electronic music is enriched with new lymphs that also vaguely recall the influences of non-European music, especially Chinese and Japanese music (stick and chimes percussions) in an intimate and twilight dimension, poised between exotic ambient and cinematic suggestions. A miniaturistic description of liquid currents, labyrinthine veins, weaving streams, molecules and particles in multi-orbital dances, muscular chords, drowning bubbles, light waves; all in a confident compositional overview that is absolutely unique and fascinating.

2025 Repress

Demi Riquisimo’s Semi Delicious celebrates its 20th release with a peak-time 4-track EP from Leeds-based production talent, Kepler— another stand out addition to the label’s impressive catalogue, dropping on 29th November.

Opening the Ep is ‘Step Up,’ a sub-bass-driven journey that layers relentless percussive grooves, squelchy acid lines, and proggy chord hooks, encapsulating the quintessential Semi Delicious vibe.

Next up, ‘Swoon’ glides in with a playful FM- bass lead, steering the track’s flow while staccato vocal stabs and soothing pads create a perfectly balanced, dancefloor-ready arrangement.

On the B- side, ‘Acid Flow’ delivers as promised, with classic 303 leads and smooth basstones, set against Kepler’s signature drum palette for a distinct yet timeless feel.

Rounding off the EP, ‘Separation’ brings a swing-infused, stab by house vibe—a nod to classic US house, yet unmistakably stamped with Kepler’s unique UK tech-house sound.

“Music is my forever cove,” writes Portland, Oregon’s Luke Wyland of the ideas that give shape to Kuma Cove, his latest album under his own name. Though named after a real place on the Oregon coast, Kuma Cove casts its gaze far beyond the sightseer’s line of vision. Recorded live in the studio and blurring obvious lines between computer-based composition and electro-acoustic instrumentation, it is an album about flow, borders, transitory states, and shelter. Composed of discontinuous ripples and repetitions (“I’m forever searching for a better descriptor than looping, which feels too simple and flattened by overuse,” Wyland says), shaped into richly emotive arcs, and informed by his experience as a person who stutters, it is also an album about identity, self-expression, and the energies that sluice through and across what we perceive as linear time—like floodwaters seeking an exit, like streams running into the sea.

Artist’s Statement:
I made this record while spending significant time in the woods by the Sandy River in Corbett, Oregon,
where I've had my studio for the last five years. It is a diary of spontaneous live recordings edited to highlight the moments of clarity that emerge from long-form improvisations. These compositions express a slowing internal rhythm. An unwinding. A somatic recalibration as I enter middle age. A newly empowered vulnerability.

Here are the internalized cadences of my stutter, flowing freely from my fingers. The musicality of my disfluency is revealed in its frictions, elongations, and foreshortenings. Disruptions in linear time, where the bubbling cadences of my stutter find unexpected pathways, reveal the elasticity of the present moment. This is my idiosyncratic language, shaped and inspired by my disability. Subliminally mirroring internal processes, neural firings, cognitive entanglements...

The title, Kuma Cove, refers to a beloved cove on the coast of Oregon my wife and I return to yearly. There has always been something so magnetic about coves. The way they cradle one from the overwhelming enormity of the ocean beyond, muting a primordial fear. I experience these improvisations as ecosystems I'm able to inhabit for stretches of time, embodying the particular rhythms and sensorial textures within each. Music is my forever cove. Everything you hear is created live in Ableton on a setup I've been honing for 15 years. I celebrate MIDI and computer music as an extension of self and strive to make it as expressive as any analog instrument. I was a visual artist for the first half of my life and quickly adapted those skills to composing and producing on a computer. The transition felt natural within the landscape of DAW's interfaces, especially as a synesthete. Ableton and its community of Max creators continue to surprise me with its expansiveness.

I'm forever searching for a better descriptor than looping, which feels too simple and flattened by overuse. I envision sonic loops as tangled masses of time, three-dimensional knots spinning on tilted axes, or overlapping wreaths refracting out a myriad of colors. My practice is continually refocusing my ear to what is revealed in the repetitions, searching for the fingerprint of each. I find it incredible how technology lets us manipulate time like this. Nothing on this record is quantized or locked to a universal bpm. Experiencing numerous tempos at once feels important. Recordings as mirrors. Freedom from expected (conversational) flow as we hold time for each other.
-Luke Wyland, August 2024

Artist Bio:
Luke Wyland is an interdisciplinary artist, composer, and performer based in Portland, OR (USA). Wyland has been releasing critically acclaimed records for the past 20 years in the groups AU and Methods Body, as LWW, and under his own name, working with such labels as New Amsterdam, Beacon Sound, Balmat, The Leaf Label, and Aagoo Records. As a person who stutters, Wyland’s approach to music is informed by his idiosyncratic relationship with language. Wyland believes deeply in the cathartic power of live performance as a means for collective healing. Through an interdisciplinary art practice that focuses on improvisation, somatic embodiment, bespoke tuning systems, the cadences of disfluent speech, and time manipulation technologies, he’s collaborated with choreographers, high-school choirs, filmmakers, sound designers, and renowned musicians such as John Niekrasz, Holland Andrews, Colin Stetson, and Abraham Gomez-Delgado. He’s also the co-creator of the “It’s A Fucking Miracle” dance class with Tahni Holt.
Wyland has toured nationally and internationally and performed at the Whitney Museum, Ecstatic Music Festival, Issue Project Room, PICA’s Time-Based Arts Festival, End of the Road Festival, and Les Nuits Botanique, among others.

In 2006, Danger Mouse is King Midas of the music world. He has an uncanny knack for creating jagged, dense, frenzied beats and odd, eerie, vivid soundscapes that never compromise the music's natural flow. Meanwhile, rapper and singer Cee-Lo, a veteran of Atlanta's Dirty South scene, has never been one to be constrained by hip-hop conventions, and is a willing partner in adventure. The result is an intrepid psychedelic blend of pop, hip-hop, soul, and rock that consistently challenges and delights. It's no wonder that "Crazy," with its modest riff, irresistible hook, and disarming opening line ("I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind") became a worldwide Internet sensation a full six months before the official release of St. Elsewhere. But that relatively simple soul-pop gem is the tamest track on this wide-ranging, often dark and introspective collaboration. (In fact, the duo considers Gnarls Barkley to be a wholly new creation, as opposed to a collaboration of existing artists.) "Everybody is somebody, but nobody wants to be themselves," Cee-Lo croons on "Who Cares?" He and Danger Mouse try very hard not to be their old selves as they creatively and confidently break down boundaries, but the brilliant cores of their musical personae--Cee-Lo's eccentric spiritual soul man and Danger's bold sonic explorer--remain. --Marc Greilsamer

The dark lord of the dance returns to Sneaker with the 'No Favours' EP, another ominous set of non-conformist shellers rough-cut from obsidian and set in steel.

We first broadcast our love of Christoph de Babalon's distinctively destructive, hard-boiled hardcore via the Evident Ware compilation back in 2020, but a longer release has been an ambition of ours ever since. From his early years on Digital Hardcore through his prolific return in the 2010s across a broad tapestry of underground operators, de Babalon has left a fascinating trail of albums, EPs and scattershot tracks behind him that feed into the cult fervour around his music.

As this EP demonstrates in reliably gritty fashion, the magic in the German producer's music lies in his ability to take the tropes of jungle and hardcore and subvert them through signal chains which owe more to noise and industrial than dance music. The structure of his tracks is equally maverick, pushing and pulling according to its own whims rather than following the dancer-centric energetic flow of a standard club record. Somewhere in this alchemy between classic ingredients and confrontational experimentation, he evokes the original chaotic spirit of hardcore when it seemed anything was possible within the music.

'For Nothing' is the perfect example — a tunnelling odyssey of ferrous atmospheres, roundhouse drums and bass bloated into the red on a force-fed diet of saturation. 'Total Deceit' turns up the pressure on the break chopping science de Babalon is capable of, teasing gamelan flurries and elegiac swirls that hit at the emotional depth he can wrench amidst such bludgeoning material. 'Jaded Memory' funnels Mentasm bass into a strange new form amidst staggering, tightly clipped drumfunk, leaving enough space for haunting ballroom reveries stretching out across the mid-section. That leaves it to 'Dearth Mill' to mop up with gloriously creepy detuned piano notes slopping over each other in between the most ferocious blasts of drums on the whole record.

You didn't expect something straight-forward, did you?

With a career spanning over 50 years, U Brown is one of the last legends of Jamaican reggae. Singer, toaster and producer on the famous Hits Sound label, he has spanned the decades, leaving an indelible mark on roots reggae with hits like “Weather baloon”, “Superstar” and “Tu Shung Peng”.

His discretion and humility, despite being one of the world's greatest toasters like U Roy or Big Youth, make him a cornerstone of this music.

After many years of collaboration on stage and in the studio, U Brown and French label Irie Ites Records have teamed up to produce this new album entitled 'Still Chanting Rub A Dub'.
Comprising 12 tracks, this opus showcases U Brown's inimitable voice.

U Brown's inimitable voice and flow, recognizable from the very first notes. The themes addressed revolve around current social issues, in which the artist encourages us to surpass ourselves on a daily basis and to fight against the corruption of the most powerful. Lyrics that will speak to a wide audience!

Musicians on the album include the cream of reggae songwriters such as Roots Radics, Naram & Art, Med Tone, The Ligerians, Irie Ites All Stars, Nambo Robinson and Dean Fraser. Mixed by Roberto Sanchez and Irie Ites for a rootsy result in the image of 70s albums. A host of roots reggae greats feature on various tracks, including Eek A Mouse, Cornell Campbell, Frankie Paul, Sugar Minott, Linval Thompson, Glen Washington, Al Campbell, Naggo Morris and Trinity.

Still Chanting Rub A Dub is an album that will undoubtedly mark U Brown's long career as one of his landmark albums. A must-have for all fans of Reggae Roots and Rub-A-Dub!”

DJ Marky, Makoto & Nookie reboot Adam F’s revisited rework of 1997 hit, ‘Music In My Mind’

Adam F enlists jungle royalty to modernise his 1997 track, ‘Music In My Mind’, from his anticipated forthcoming rework album, ‘Colours Revisited’

Legendary drum ‘n’ bass producer Adam F announces the ‘Music In My Mind Revisited Reboots’ EP, out digitally on 20th September via 181 Recordings, featuring reworks of his acclaimed 1997 track by DJ Marky & Makoto and Nookie.

Further launching this underground dance classic into new dimensions is Brazil’s DJ Marky and expertly selected Japanese producer Makoto. Together, they effortlessly bring the jazz-infused track to the attention of today’s ravers with re-jigged, amplified drums. Certified 90s jungle veteran Nookie goes more liquid with his version, heightening the vibes and setting the scene with immense violin strings.

‘Music In My Mind’ was originally featured on Adam F’s 1997 album, ‘Colours’. Now, as part of the Liverpool-born producer’s much-anticipated ‘Colours Revisited’ album, out in 2025, the jazzy, vocoder-loaded track inspired by Bob James, Lalo Schifrin and Chick Corea, has been given a modern reshape. 

“‘Music In My Mind’ speaks to the power of music to transport, heal, and uplift our spirits,” says Adam F. “This song resonates with those who find solace and freedom in the melodies and rhythms that exist in their own minds and bring back memories of a time when I felt an overwhelming connection to music.”

“This song holds a special place in my heart, and I believe it carries a deeper meaning that resonates with anyone who can relate to finding consolation and liberation in the power of music.”

There’s no better time to keep an eye on Adam F, as he uncovers yet more gold from his elegant and timeless back catalogue. Adam F is as fertile and contemporary as ever with more new production ready to launch unto the legions of listeners hungry for great music as his creativity flows brighter than ever.

Clear vinyl. Edition of 500

The Danish-Chilean composer Molina (b.1992), explore the transformation between organic and synthetic musical landscapes. She weaves her own tapestry of dreamy guitar surfaces, soaring flutes and atmospheric vocals.

"Join the Kyle Shepherd Trio on 'A Song More Sweetly Played' as they explore, collaborate and improvise on the ‘songs we like to play’. The album’s title is a dedication to the celebrated South African artist William Kentridge, with whom Shepherd collaborated on a joint-work “Waiting for Sybil” that has toured world-wide. In addition to ten Shepherd originals, perhaps most unexpected is the inclusion of an exquisite reading of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ and a deconstructed take of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, a favourite rock anthem that Shepherd describes as a ‘guilty pleasure’.

‘The inclusion of the Massive Attack and Journey tunes – that’s something out of character to me,’
observes Shepherd. The selection rests well within the grand jazz tradition of repurposing popular songs as vehicles for improvisation, thought, and pleasure. ‘It just came down to playing some tunes that we like and we can flow with, so that we can be inspired and express ourselves in a very natural organic way,’ he says. ‘We walked away from the from the studio feeling like – you know, we actually really enjoyed playing this record! I felt less attached to any sort of predetermined concepts except that we would play some music that I wrote that we like – a selection of things that we like to play. It felt like a bit of a tonic – every musician gets a chance to breathe through the music, and the music just flows and moves as organically as we could make it.’

To hear one of South Africa’s foremost pianists play with intention, freedom and enjoyment, in the tradition and beyond it, is above all a gift to the listener, and Matsuli Music is proud to be able to share the Trio’s first album in a decade, A Dance More Sweetly Played.

Kyle Shepherd is one of South Africa’s leading jazz, film and theatre music composers and pianists of his generation, internationally recognised for his distinctive compositional style and performances. He was the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year for Jazz in 2014 and the UNISA piano competition winner in 2019, and has performed in 28 countries around the world, including 11 concert tours to Japan."

The Kyle Shepherd Trio: Kyle Shepherd (Piano), Shane Cooper (Double Bass) and Jonno Sweetman (Drums).
All Compositions by Kyle Shepherd except “Teardrop” by Massive Attack and “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey.
Recorded May 2024 at Sunset Studios, Cape Town
Recording Engineer - Jürgen von Wechmar
Mixed by Martin Ruch.
Mastering by Frank Merritt.
Artwork and Design by English Designed and produced with support from the Baxter Theatre, Cape Town.

Led by Sommer, the release signifies the first chapter of the drummers much much-anticipated Nordic trilogy on April Records, aiming to capture and document Nordic improvisation and composition across three carefully curated ensembles. Bassist Arild Andersens storied career stretches back to the 1970"s as one of ECM s first recording artists, collaborating with household names of the genre including Jan Garbarek, Don Cherry, Bill Frisell, John Taylor, Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea, and the list goes on. Welcoming the opportunity to work with and nurture younger artists, the ensemble was born when Daniel Sommer selected Andersen for a project during his studies at the Danish National Academy of Music. Later, impressed by Luft s performances in Ireland and Norway, Andersen suggested expanding the pair into a trio. A transcendent musical voyage, As Time Passes " blurs the lines of conventional trio roles, and celebrates the evolution of jazz as a fluid, versatile form of expression. By providing each musician the freedom of becoming a key contributor in the melodic discourse, the trio channels the spirit of jazz veterans such as the Bill Evans Trio and free free-jazz ensemble Air, while echoing the sounds and innovations of pan pan-European contemporary jazz. Mixing pensive rubato ambience with energetic grooves, instrumental dexterity, a modern ECM ECM-esque sound and folk undertones, the record s compositional clarity combined with the spontaneity of a live performance flows across and between genres, borders and generations alike. Luft s intricately over- dubbed layers of acoustic guitars, vast reverbs, and contrapuntal melodies expand the sound of the three piece into an immersive world of textures. Rendered in the stark beauty of Andersen"s bass lines, the nuanced strokes of Sommer"s drums, and capped with the lush, expansive timbres of Luft"s guitar, "As Time Passes" is a testament to the enduring and ever ever-evolving wonder of Jazz.

For centuries, the drum and its practitioners have been stewards to the physical and ancestral planes.

Detroit afroteknologist Huey Mnemonic advances his sound into a tomorrow unheard with his latest Subsonic Ebonics record, Brainscraatch, a 4-tracker of his researched and highly developed Afriko Tekno.

A portal tears open with the speaker splitting ‘Ankhobi’, blurring the lines between ritual and rave. An opening ceremony of a drum circle in the year 3000, knocking on the door of a domain beyond our own.

Entering the gateway with ‘Brainscraatch’ , a peak time percussive calling where a high pitched whine of sacred electronics becomes the foundation for a slippery hypnotic rhythm. Warranting a double take for the heads in the back fully immersed into the moment.

The portal collapses onto the unknown with the dramatic closer ‘Slipping Into Madness’. Rushing you beyond the dance into a flow state where time and space behave a little differently.

Offering his own perspective, Sard shares a jacking ‘Rescratch’ of the title track, leaning into an acidic groove faithful to the timeless freak funk of the midwest.

With this release, Mnemonic forges ahead to the borderlands of techno, leaving us with an ancient-to-the-future message,

DITC’s legendary producer Buckwild is back with his second producer album of 2020, aptly titled “Music Is My Religion”. His devotion to the craft has made history and continues to do so, with the Bronx’s producer collaborating with more and more interesting new names in today’s game. On this new offering he has gathered guest appearances by Fred The Godson (RIP), Willie The Kid, Planet Asia, Milano Constantine, Has Kingpin, Flee Lord Daniel Son, Rim of Da Villins and Jay Royale among others.

Where would a painter paint if it were not on a white canvas? Where would a composer compose if it were not on the stave and the spaces in between the lines? How would a musician play his instrument if there were no melodies composed, written down, painted for him to follow?

The magic of art needs a frame, a somewhat solid container to hold the freedom that can only be found once we integrate some form of structure. And that also holds in every other area of life. We all need a frame, a structure, a rhythm, or else, we fall apart. This human form needs the body, and yet it transcends the limitations of the body - through art.

Consistency being one of them seems oftentimes less tangible, for it resides more in the act of doing, and showing up for the practice, for devoting energy and presence. Strangely, if we consistently show up for our practice, regardless of its form, the solid frame of the hour we devote to playing the instrument, learning a language, doing the sport, sitting silently for that meditation: It feels different every single time. It feels new every single time.

The repetitive consistency in being present again and again allows for nothing short of magic to happen. Magic feeds consistency. Consistency feeds magic. Consistency sets a foundation that strengthens over time. It allows us to slowly but surely develop any kind of skill, to find and hence to embody expertise. On the fertile grounds of such a solid foundation, creativity fosters, and innovation blossoms.

Establishing consistent rituals and routines can bring a sense of comfort and safety into every-day-life. For routine beholds repetition and its frame enables our experience within to change. In the familiar, we dare to explore, maybe even experiment, merely because a part of us remembers we depart from, and always return to, a safe space. We do not get lost. We do not fall apart. As we practice, again and again, we build resilience in overcoming obstacles or literally persevering through challenging situations and stretches of time.

While consistency gifts steadiness and stability, its overdose risks to result in what may appear as uniformity. It feels like constantly - consistently - dancing on the fine line of freedom within a structure. Life is filled with unexpected twists and turns, adjustments need to be made to accommodate change and avoid rigidity. By striking a balance between consistency and flexibility, we can create harmony in our lives, just like a beautiful melody that flows smoothly from one note to the next.

Within the magical waves of music, skills are needed, too. Consistency is key to show up and do the work. It frames the freedom of magic that resides beyond and only beyond effort. Learning to play an instrument, learning to sing, does never happen within the blink of the eye. It takes time. Time to show up for the practice, to do precisely that: practice. Again and again, every single time, again and again. Precision feeds perfection that falls apart inside the structure of a song, a line, a rhythm, dissolving into magic.

Consistency in practicing, in composing and sharing music with the world regardless of the form allows any musician to refine his style, to carve out his uniqueness. For any artistic expression is, after all: Unique. And this uniqueness is born inside the vessel of any structure, over and over again. Sharing music in the form of new releases and public performances nourishes the bond between artist and audience. And for that to unfold, both parties need to show up - while the underlying beat of this never-ending practice is presence fuelled by consistency.

Led by pianist/composer Barbara Fiig, the ensemble is made up of three creative communicators self described as blue sheep " of the jazz world. First stumbling into each other at the music education program at Classical Music Conservatory DKDM, their sound is rooted in collaboration and community, drawing on elements of musical poetry, jazz, folk, Nordic and Classical traditions. Regarding the name Blåly , the trio explains that it is a made up word open to interpretation. Derived from the wordly "", meaning shelter " in Danish, it is reflective of the shared feelings of safety and introspection the trio find in their music making and that they hope to impart onto their audience. Exploring themes of motherhood, new beginnings, mental health, identity, and the cathartic potential of music, the record is built around Fiigs personal approach to the piano. Combining gentle lyrical melodies and colorful melancholic harmony, Blåly perform and interpret each piece with a mature, spacious and textural sound palette, ebbing and flowing between the composed and the improvised in a collective exchange of ideas and energy. Driving drum grooves, hypnotic piano patterns and ethereal timbres from bowed double bass craft a stripped back sound world that is simple, immersive, honest,

2024 Reissue

The syndicate manifests its sonic potential in full glory. Giving rise to this collection of colossal heavyweights, Sentry demonstrates its spotless record of selecting certified heavyweights for the discography once again, twenty-fold. Stepping into the ring are some of the scene's most prolific artists alongside a plethora of promising, choice newcomers.

Boasting more than an hour of supercharged sound system pressure with names like Caspa, Truth, Bukez Finezt, Nomine and Youngsta himself on the controls - the subsequent inferno proves to be an authoritative display of quality bass music, that is sure to reach roaring stacks of speakers all around the globe for years to come."

"Vintage flavours transmute into fiery low-end excursions in 'Sun Ra' as Onhell reigns with fire and brimstone and makes way for what's to come. Rolling on, Taso lays waste with dimly lit half-time flows as we enter the smoke-filled mansion of Argo's meticulously crafted 'Since Then' - a prime cut of hip-hop infused breakbeats and bass.

Abstrakt Sonance & Substance set the heater into overdrive and blunts aflame as we proceed into the shelling of 207's 'Gypsy Dub' - then promptly being crunched to bits by 'Crocodile' - encapsulating Dayzero's cold-blooded dance floor armaments. Brace yourself for battle as we step to the drums of Caspa's tribal warfare, full-frontal assault engineered for the club.

Unrestrained power surges propelling us onwards in Coltcut & Ourman's decidedly high-grade collaboration as listeners march through Khiva's haunting sound system belter 'Teeth' and a zealous dosage of Dubstep as envisioned by Truth. Led through eerie alleys and pressure-ridden environments with LSN on the buttons, the onslaught proceeds with the relentlessly driving 'R U Broke' in Mr. K's signature style.

Opus merciless injects straight fury in an auditory form in the spiked 'Lime Pickle' - Bukez Finezt keeping pace with a murderous Cembalo-ridden thug anthem, lunacy! Minimal instrumentation to its fullest effect, Sukh Knight's 'Modulate' keeps it spicy - as does the claustrophobic sub-bass chiming by Leftlow. Thanom ignites what's left of the residual air in 'Tumble It' - dangerous goods.

The subsequent time bomb armed by A:Grade & Feonix, cast into the abyss that is Nomine's space-bending 'Judas' - big speaker business. The clock strikes its final hour - Youngsta & Cimm finish off the survivors with a no-holds-barred showdown, the 'Last Judgement' executing its massive verdict.

Michael Mayer albums don’t come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. It’s been eight years since his last one, the collaborative & released on !K7; its predecessors, Mantasy (2012) and Touch (2004), took their sweet time, too. It’s no real surprise, given the many hats Mayer wears – globetrotting DJ, revered remixer, inveterate collaborator, and boss of both Kompakt and Imara – that his solo productions are relatively sparing. But this also speaks to their quality: Mayer’s name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that’s both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that’s as exploratory as it is functional.

On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ides of the industry he works within. There’s that iconic album title, for a start. “The album’s mindset,” he says, reflecting on those four words together. For Mayer, it’s partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing: “Being a free minded spirit that transcends genres has become an uphill battle.” A battle worth fighting, though, and with The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that’s varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable.

Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs: “It’s a DJ album by a DJ that’s easily bored.” Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. It opens with “The Problem”, which looks back to look forward, embracing the rickety way early house productions threw samples together with gleeful abandon. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout.

It’s followed by “Vagus”, a slinky, sensual minimal house number that Mayer describes as his “musical catnip”. The flow of these two opening cuts defines the dynamic of The Floor Is Lava, defining the dialectical drive at its core: thesis and antithesis leads to synthesis, but with a welcome prickliness that means you’re always excited, always engaged. It’s also productive in the way it derives energy from rubbing genres and sounds against each other, in unexpected ways, for maximum musical frisson. There’s psychedelic techno on “Feuerstuhl”, more minimal techno with “Ardor” (Mayer mentions ‘Immer 1’ era 90s minimal as inspiration), slippery, Shepard-tone breakbeat through “Sycophant”, a lovely, lush vocal turn on the poppy “The Solution”.

The album closes with the melancholy “Süßer Schlaf”, where Mayer sets a poem by Goethe to one of his most haunted, moving pieces of music yet, in abstract tribute to a lost friend. It’s one of the most affecting moments on The Floor Is Lava. There’s also an update on 2020’s wild Brainwave Technology EP, with the surrealist glitter-stomp of “Brainwave 2.0” (check out those handclaps!),where Mayer’s thinking about the socio-political precipice of the now: “I’m reading with great interest about this whole complex of how humanity is about to cross so many lines and the implications that the resulting financial and educational inequality will bring.”

That’s The Floor Is Lava: then and now, brainwaves and nerve structures, problems and solutions, genres on fire; the real, the unreal, and the surreal. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album’s spirit: “Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music.”

Michael Mayer veröffentlicht nicht oft Alben, was einer von vielen Gründen ist, warum ‘The Floor Is Lava’ ein echtes Ereignis ist. Es sind acht Jahre vergangen seit seinem letzten Werk, dem Kollaborationsalbum &, das auf !K7 erschien; seine Vorgänger, Mantasy (2012) und Touch (2004), ließen ebenfalls auf sich warten. Es überrascht nicht wirklich, da Mayer viele Rollen gleichzeitig erfüllt – weltreisender DJ, vielbeschäftigter Remixer, unermüdlicher Kollaborateur und Chef von sowohl Kompakt als auch Imara – weshalb seine Solo-Produktionen eher sparsam ausfallen. Doch das spricht auch für deren Qualität: Ein Album mit Mayers Namen auf dem Cover steht für Qualität, für Musik, die sowohl in die Zukunft blickt als auch auf die Vergangenheit verweist, die das Gleichgewicht zwischen den Anforderungen des Dancefloors und des Wohnzimmers hält, die genauso erforschend wie funktional ist.

Auf The Floor Is Lava scheint Mayer sowohl die Musik um ihn herum (vergangen und gegenwärtig) als auch die Strömungen der Branche, in der er arbeitet, zu reflektieren. Da wäre zunächst der ikonische Albumtitel. „Die Grundhaltung des Albums“, sagt er, drückt sich in diesen vier Worte aus. Für Mayer ist es teilweise eine Kritik daran, wie die Industrie sowohl Produzenten als auch Hörer in Schubladen steckt, sie auf Genres, auf den Markt und auf das nächste große Ding fokussiert: „Ein freier Geist zu sein, der Genres überschreitet, ist zu einem steinigen Weg geworden.“ Ein Kampf, der sich jedoch lohnt, und mit The Floor Is Lava ist das Ergebnis ein Album, das vielfältig, eigenwillig, charmant und tiefsinnig, aber auch süchtig machend ist.

Im gesamten Album findet Mayer Freude an der Erforschung und Gegenüberstellung von Stilen, lässt unerwartete Dinge erblühen und gibt ihnen Raum, überrascht den Hörer mit spannenden Wendungen: „Es ist ein DJ-Album von einem DJ, der sich schnell langweilt.“ Entweder langweilt er sich schnell oder er ist unendlich neugierig – The Floor Is Lava ist reich an Ideen. Es beginnt mit „The Problem“, das in die Vergangenheit blickt, um nach vorne zu schauen, und die wilde Art, wie frühe House-Produktionen Samples mit fröhlicher Unbekümmertheit zusammenwarfen, aufgreift. Mayer nennt Pal Joey und die Szene um Rockers Hi-Fi und ihr Label Different Drummer als Referenzpunkte, und dieser freie Geist zieht sich durch das gesamte Album.

Es folgt „Vagus“, eine sinnliche Minimal-House-Nummer, die Mayer als seine „musikalische Katzenminze“ beschreibt. Der Fluss dieser beiden Eröffnungstracks definiert die Dynamik von The Floor Is Lava und den dialektischen Antrieb im Kern: These und Antithese führen zu einer Synthese, jedoch mit einer willkommenen Schärfe, die dafür sorgt, dass man immer aufgeregt und engagiert bleibt. Zudem gewinnt das Album Energie, indem es Genres und Klänge auf unerwartete Weise aneinanderreibt, um maximalen musikalischen Nervenkitzel zu erzeugen. Es gibt psychedelischen Techno in „Feuerstuhl“, mehr Minimal Techno mit „Ardor“ (Mayer erwähnt ‘Immer’ Ära Minimal als Bezugspunkt), gleitenden Shepard-Ton-Breakbeat in „Sycophant“ und einen lieblichen, üppigen Vocal-Auftritt im poppigen „The Solution“.

Das Album schließt mit dem melancholischen „Süßer Schlaf“, in dem Mayer ein Gedicht von Goethe vertont und eine seiner bisher eindringlichsten und bewegendsten musikalischen Kompositionen schafft, als abstrakten Tribut an eine verschiedene Freundin. Es ist einer der ergreifendsten Momente auf The Floor Is Lava. Ebenfalls gibt es ein Update der wilden Brainwave Technology-EP von 2020, mit dem surrealistischen Glitzer-Stampfer „Brainwave 2.0“ (hör dir diese Handclaps an!), in dem Mayer über den sozio-politischen Abgrund der Gegenwart nachdenkt: „Ich lese mit großem Interesse über diesen ganzen Komplex, wie die Menschheit dabei ist, so viele Grenzen zu überschreiten und welche Auswirkungen die daraus resultierende finanzielle und bildungstechnische Ungleichheit haben wird.“

Das ist The Floor Is Lava: Damals und heute, Gehirnwellen und Nervengeflechte, Probleme und Lösungen, brennende Genres; das Reale, das Unreale und das Surreale. Ein Album für die schnell Gelangweilten und die unendlich Neugierigen. Mayer hat das letzte Wort und sagt uns alles, was wir über den Geist des Albums wissen müssen: „Brennen für die Sache, leidenschaftlich sein, süchtig nach der Hitze der Nacht, den überschwänglichen Kräften der Musik.“

Having spent the last 10 years tinkering with his songwriting through his extensive catalog with folk/rock group Mapache, as well as his debut solo album ‘Off My Stars’, Sam works alongside co-producer Johnny Payne for his follow up sophomore solo album ‘Real Life Thing’ via Calico Discos.

Sam was born in Los Angeles in November 1994 and currently lives in Ojai, CA. Having had residence in Los Angeles, CA / Coahuila, MX / Orem, UT & New Orleans, LA - it’s safe to assume Sam will be on the move again soon and with more fresh energy to give of himself through his art. Determined to live by creation, Sam is the type of artist that is always creating something, maintaining a sort of inexhaustible hunger to make his music. Expressing himself through sound has now gone beyond joy and into being second nature and Sam’s real first language.