quête:go march

This is the story of C POWERS. To understand OYSTERS, you must understand the man behind it all...
THE UNITED STATES TERRITORY OF GUAM, ca. 1989
Abandoned at the island nation's only beachfront techno club as an infant, young Christoph (C POWERS) was adopted by the club's owner, Geraldo Powers. During Geraldo's time as a naval officer, he traveled the world throughout rave's formative years, secretly going to the underground parties when arriving to European ports after having originally fallen in love with early house music as a teenager in his native Chicago via roller-rink parties and the legendary Music Box headed by Ron Hardy. Rear Admiral Geraldo, outed as a gay homosexual during the discriminatory days of Ronald Reagan's U.S. military, was forced to retire, but spared a dishonorable discharge thanks to his roster of medals earning during his exemplary leadership for the invasion of Grenada in 1983.
Throughout his three year stay at the local naval base, the now 30-something Gerry Powers had been struck by the natural beauty and unsettling mysticism of Guam and its peoples and made the choice to permanently set up shop on the island after his unexpected retirement. Taking his partner and newly-crowned Supreme Butch Queen of the New York vogue circuit--Amadeus Lector--with him and financed with $6669.69 in prize money, the new era of DAS POUNDHAUS LTD. was to begin.
In 1990, Gerry founded the notorious Guamanian club DAS POUNDHAUS (the name of which was strongly influenced by a two-week long ecstasy and Polish speed-fueled bender during 1989's inaugural Love Parade in West Berlin). Located inside a decrepit lighthouse originally built during Spain's reign over the island, the club played host to a steady stream of closeted, Pacific-touring U.S. military personnel and later, the party-craving barons of the dot com bubble. Outed in private usenet circles for its off-the-charts hedonism, the club's infamous parties would inevitably lead to its perilous demise, and the eventual deportation of Gerry Powers and his family to the mainland.
But there was one thing that could never be taken away from them...
...synesthesia...
You see, young Christoph was diagnosed with the "disorder" as a pre-teen after having been exposed to nearly a decade of DAS POUNDHAUS first-hand and at such a young age. The youngster was like a fish in water during his childhood in Guam, but when the family was deported in 1999, he began to show signs of anxiety and depression. His ability to hear colors and see sounds had simply turned into a stream of incomprehensible, uncontrolled static. He was now a pariah among his peers. Shunned and admonished. Assigned to sit by himself during school lunch. One of "those" kids.
By this time, his two dads' relationship was on the rocks and would quickly unravel. Amadeus, frustrated with Gerry's incessant ramblings about bunkering in Montana because of the Clinton-Illuminati conspiracy to enslave the middle-class, decided to leave Gerry in an attempt to become a backup dancer for Madonna during her "Drowned World Tour" in 2001 (which would have provided a significant sum of financial security to the family, considering their life savings had been destroyed thanks to the toppling of the NASDAQ from its peak of 5048 in March of 2000--and thanks to those dot com baron stock tips, the Powers were all-in). However, Amadeus' unflinchingly "authentic" vogue style was considered obsolete, and he would go to die in a Reno Motel 6, a victim of drug abuse and that kind of thing apparently.
>>>>Fast-forward to the year2012ish>>>>

2015 sees the return of Welsh psychedelicists White Noise Sound with their second album 'Like a Pyramid of Fire'.After honing their craft across the UK and through Europe - with the likes of Super Furry Animals, The Warlocks, Spectrum, Mark Gardener (Ride) and members of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized and The Brian Jonestown Massacre - WNS completed their debut album in 2010 with the assistance of Pete Kember (Spacemen 3 / Spectrum / E.A.R) and magician Cian Ciaran (Super Furry Animals). Released by cult California based label Alive Records (whose back-catalogue includes releases from The Black Keys, Beachwood Sparks, Iggy Pop and James Williamson and The Soledad Brothers) in 2010 (US) / 2011 (UK), the eponymous debut was greeted with widespread critical acclaim and WNS toured through Europe in its support. 'Like a Pyramid of Fire' sees the band take their trademark wall of sound - at once relentlessly pulsating and blissed-out - and conjure from it a sonic palette with range and depth. WNS worked closely with producer / DJ Phil Kieran and again with Cian Ciaran and the result is a metronomic and hypnotic onslaught of melody, groove and exploration which goes beyond the standard tropes of psychedelia.

White Noise Sound will be playing a special London show as part of the Convergence Festival on Monday 16th March 2005 (with label mates Eat Lights Become Lights and guest DJs Andrew Weatherall and Ben Osborne)

Dear reader,

since Ramona presented all her disciples work throughout the first Lifesaver compilation in 2013, it's now time for another episode of togetherness. Summoning all of her artists around Frankfurt and those who live around the world, Ramona is now ready to present the Lifesaver Compilation 2. 

Kicked off by one of the Frankfurt young guns, the compilation leans into a melody-driven warm-up with a slight hint of analogue soul - "Digital Revolution" by Orson Wells. Next up is the Italian-born and now Berlin-based Massimiliano Pagliara. His contribution "Phasing Down The Sea" enriches the second Lifesaver installment with some of his signature synth-lines paired with a classic chicago-driven beat. The secret weapon from Kilianstädten also known as Mr. Melody, who goes by the name of Lauer, delivers a dark-italo and wave-ish piece topped off with the famous Lauer-craziness called "Language". Roman Flügel, the man of the hour, reinvents classic UK bleep-techno with Tender Hooligan". Another member of the young-guns-club, Chinaski, brings his certain level of synthesizer-love to the table with a track called Futuresex". Portable, one of Ramona's most delicate flowers, teamed up with Lcio again - together they created a hieroglyphic and deep-driven piece of music: "Dive In". TCB, also known as the only member of The Citizen's Band, delivers "Byrdmap", a solid piece of spheric deep and broken music. "Brainwashed" by Benedikt Frey marks the end of the compilation and simultaneously shows his dimension of futuristic dark-disco acid-madness. 

The Lifesaver compilation will be released as a double 12"-vinyl. Additionally Live At Robert Johnson will release an Extension-10"-vinyl containing two brand new tracks by the infamous Hotel Lauer and Tuff City Kids end of March 2015.

Be prepared,
Ramona

Supporting Jesus & Marychain in Cardiff on 22nd February.2015 sees the return of Welsh psychedelicists White Noise Sound. This single is taken from their second album 'Like a Pyramid of Fire' out in April 2015.After honing their craft across the UK and through Europe - with the likes of Super Furry Animals, The Warlocks, Spectrum, Mark Gardener (Ride) and members of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized and The Brian Jonestown Massacre - WNS completed their debut album in 2010 with the assistance of Pete Kember (Spacemen 3 / Spectrum / E.A.R) and magician Cian Ciaran (Super Furry Animals). Released by cult California based label Alive Records (whose back-catalogue includes releases from The Black Keys, Beachwood Sparks, Iggy Pop and James Williamson and The Soledad Brothers) in 2010 (US) / 2011 (UK), the eponymous debut was greeted with widespread critical acclaim and WNS toured through Europe in its support. 'Like a Pyramid of Fire' sees the band take their trademark wall of sound - at once relentlessly pulsating and blissed-out - and conjure from it a sonic palette with range and depth. WNS worked closely with producer / DJ Phil Kieran and again with Cian Ciaran and the result is a metronomic and hypnotic onslaught of melody, groove and exploration which goes beyond the standard tropes of psychedelia.
White Noise Sound will be playing a special London show as part of the Convergence Festival on Monday 16th March 2005 (with label mates Eat Lights Become Lights and guest DJs Andrew Weatherall and Ben Osborne)

Little Hill goes dark!

A mysterious artist on the hill for this release named Vasco serving us, on Roman label, an ep with deep and glacial techno sounds; the two original tracks take us to the universe of the artist, cold and dark.

On other side the first remix is produced by Agazzi and follow the musicline of the originals so pulling out a paranoid march, other remix on bside is made by Valent and it's a peaktime modern techno percussive device.

Mastered by Rashad Backer at Dubplates&Mastering

Photo made by Valerio Gorga

The structure and the essence of this release, focuses on a current argument in which more and more people in this society are found to be the early protagonists, often without even realizing it.
The artist wants to tell and convey through his work, a point of view towards this theme.
As can be deduced from the title of the EP, the project is to express and represent a war of colors, which fight the monotony of everyday, always flat and dark.
The first track, "Daily March", wants to criticize this monotony through a full-bodied sound that recalls a real daily march, which many people are facing every day. All accompanied by a setting of hypnotic sounds that capturing the attention of the listener, carrying in a vicious circle in which one perceives the focus of the concept that the artist wants to communicate.
The second track, "Appearance Of Freedom" is the soundtrack for those who are trapped in slavery everyday life, believing to be free or at least trying to able to escape from the monotony, but then realizing that it is only an appearance. The sound of this second soundtrack fully embraces with the first, almost as if it were a single story that is going to evolve, arguing the rebellion that the artist wants to express in this state of being of the person in the present life.
To accompany the two original works of Kalos, there are two remixes by great artists, the first made by the Irish duo Lakker, which are able to communicate their idea of daily march through their strong version, being able to also expose them a very clear message.
The second remix is made by the Begian artist Yves De Mey, for the track "Apperance Of Freedom" where he captures in full the message of the track and re-edited, bringing attention to the full-bodied bass carefully distorted, creating a trip hypnotic evolving.

During the '70s, work days at Umiliani's Sound Workshop Studios were hectic; thousands of sessions were held in order to keep up with a very busy Italian movie industry: Hundreds of soundtracks alongside with music library were recorded and released on vinyl in very limited quantities for TV and film production use only. Those LPs are now proper collectors' items, extremely hard to find.

Filled with hypnotic bass lines, heavy drums and screaming fuzz guitars "Underground", the first LP of the fictitious group known as Braen's Machine, is one of the rarest and the most expensive of them all, always "reaching" sky high prices throughout the second hand vinyl market. A fast-beat jam with hammond scales and a twin lead guitar theme ("Flying") opens the A Side soon followed by "Imphormal", a classicfunk-beat-meetsfender- rhodes-and-psychedelic-guitar number. The music then switch to "thriller territories" with "Murder" which is based on prepared piano swells and a deeply hypnotic walking bass, reminiscent of the best Morricone's soundtracks for Dario Argento's movies. Two highly percussive songs complete the A Side: "Gap" is an improvised song with guitar and keyboards dwelling over an infectious drum rhythm while a marching snare and a vibraslap effect are the special features on "Militar Police".

The mood relaxes slightly on the opening of the B Side with a lazy jazz groove on "New Experience" but the rock influences are soon brought back on the following track "Fall Out". "Obstinacy" is all about keyboards with syncopated rhodes themes and distorted hammond sustained notes whilst the fuzz guitar is back again screaming through the left channel on the last song of the album, "Description". We could happly say that that was the golden age of the Italian music library. But who's behind the name "Braen's Machine" On the original cover the songs are credited to the composers Braen and Gisteri. Braen was a pseudonym often used by Alessandro Alessandroni, an extremely skilled and versatile musician, and one of Umiliani's closestcollaborators. He could write, conduct and arrange, he could sing (ever heard "Mah Na Mah Na"), he could whistle (ever heard Morricone's "For a fistful of dollars") and he could play almost anything: guitar, bass tuba, accordion, sitar and the list grows..... His first album "Alessandro Alessandroni e il suo complesso" (Sermi, 1969), had transformed the Italian library music from orchestral sound beds into the psychedelia we all love; the extremely fuzzy guitars are very "present" on "Underground" too. For a long time Gisteri's real identity was rather mysterious; often wrongly attributed to Umiliani. Gisteri was the pseudonym of Oronzo De Filippi, art name of Rino De Filippi, music supervisor to the Italian public broadcast company (RAI) between the '60s and the '70s. De Filippi composed other notable pieces such as "Riflessi" (Edipan, 1975) and "Nel mondo del lavoro" (Sermi, 1972).

De Filippi passed away few years ago but we were able to contact Alessandroni to talk about this LP. Remembering "Underground" recording session as one of the thousands he took part of, Alessandroni told us that this record was produced very quickly, in two days maximum. This was made possible by a team of wonderfully capable session musicians and the creative genius behind the mixing desk; this incredible combination helped to focus on the mood of each track even more. Unfortunately there are no liner notes but Alessandroni's memories and speculations, based on other music tracked in the same period at Soundworkshop by resident engineer Claudio Batussi, led us to identify this as the most probable lineup: Munari on drums, Majorana on bass, Vannucchi on keyboards and Alessandroni himself on guitar. For this reissue the sound has been restored and the cover art reproduced exactly as it was.

The second of the Decadub vinyl-only releases dedicates three of its four sides to a volley of woozy and twisted footwork from most of the key members of Chicago's Teklife crew. Side One starts with DJ Rashad and Gant Man's squiggly 303 banger 'Acid Life' and moves onto Taso & Djunya's Darwinian banger 'Only The Strong Will Survive'. Side Two descends into DJ Spinn's bombastic 'All My Teklife' and then Earl, Rashad & Taye's 'Bombaklot' which takes Hyperdub full circle with a yardcore bomb like a 2014 upgrade of the label's early days. Side Three leads with DJ Earl's immaculate diva vocal cut-up of 'I'm Gonna Get You', then moves on into DJ Taye's fizzling R&B jam 'Get Em Up' and the stone cold, warped humour of 'Icemaster' by Heavee. On the fourth and final side, Tokyo-based ally Quarta330 returns to craft 'Hanabi', an epic, uptempo synthesiser jam. Young gun Champion follows with 'Power Cut', its minimal, energetic and militant kicks and bass molded with cowbell and lots of tight edits, before dropping some neat keys and a warping bassline two thirds in. Ikonika finishes things off with the solemn march of 'Tug Zone', opening slow but building in flickering high hats and gaseous cymbals into a track which could have emanated from Battlestar Galactica.

Max Herre hat ein MTV Unplugged aufgenommen. Das rückt ihn in eine Tradition mit Udo Lindenberg, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, Jay Z. Mehr noch als ein konsequenter Karriereschritt und popkultureller Ritterschlag aber ist das Konzert eine Rückkehr zu seinen Wurzeln. Denn lange bevor er als Texter und MC einer ganzen Generation eine neue Stimme geben sollte, war er vor allem der Junge mit der Gitarre, der einfach nur spielen wollte. Das Gefühl, das er als 15-Jähriger im Proberaum suchte, hat er nun im 'Großen Saal'des altehrwürdigen Funkhaus Berlin Nalepastraße wiedergefunden.

Die Geschichte dieses besonderen Abends beginnt vor knapp 25 Jahren in einem Keller in Stuttgart-West. Dort jammte er mit Freunden zu dem Funk, Soul und Reggae, den er liebte - und legte, ohne es zu wissen, den Grundstein für das, was da kommen sollte. Zwei klassische Alben mit Don Philippe und DJ Friction als Freundeskreis zum Beispiel, die sich nicht nur weit über 500.000 mal verkauften, sondern eine ungehörte Musikalität in die deutsche Rap-Landschaft einführten. Drei Soloplatten, die den Bogen spannten von der '1sten Liebe' HipHop zu fragilem Folk im Stile eines Singer-Songwriters (und zurück). Eine Zweitkarriere als Labelbetreiber und Produzent. Und dazwischen immer wieder Auftritte, bei denen all diese Erfahrungen und Einflüsse auf fast magische Weise zusammenliefen.

Max Herre hat Rap immer in einem Bandkontext gedacht, HipHop stets in einem Kollektivgedanken gelebt. Das war Anfang der Neunziger so, als er als Kind der Kolchose seine ersten Live-Auftritte in süddeutschen Jazzclubs hatte. Das war später so, als er aus Freundeskreis die FK Allstars erwachsen ließ und mit ihnen über die größten Festivalbühnen des Landes tourte. Und das ist heute nicht anders, wenn er wie 2012 auf seinem fulminanten Gold-Album Hallo Welt! alte wie neue Inspirationen zu seelenvoller Rapmusik mit Ewigkeitsanspruch bündelt.

So ist es nur konsequent, dass für MTV Unplugged / KAHEDI Radio Show zahlreiche Featuregäste und Freunde nach Berlin gekommen sind: wichtige Weggefährten wie Joy Denalane, Afrob, Sékou, Gentleman, Samy Deluxe, Patrice, Sophie Hunger, Philipp Poisel oder US-Ausnahmesänger Gregory Porter, aber auch das 26-köpfige, eigens für den Abend zusammengestellte KAHEDI RADIO ORCHESTRA. Unter der Führung des musikalischen Leiters Lillo Scrimali kommen so mehr als 40 Musiker aus drei Generationen zusammen. Produzent Samon Kawamura und Host Fab 5 Freddy, einst erster Moderator der wegweisenden HipHop-Sendung Yo! MTV Raps, ziehen im Regieraum zusätzlich dramaturgische Fäden.

'Ich bin sehr dankbar und glücklich, dass ich für dieses Projekt mit einigen der besten arbeiten durfte: viele davon langjährige Freunde und Wegbegleiter', so Max über das mehr als zweistündige, komplett akustische Konzert. 'Sie alle haben nicht nur ihr Spiel und ihre Fähigkeiten eingebracht, sondern ihr Herz und ihre musikalische Vision.'

Den passenden Rahmen bietet das Funkhaus Berlin Nalepastraße am Köpenicker Spreeufer. In dem ehemaligen Hauptsitz des DDR-Hörfunks, in dem schon Barenboim und die Bartoli, aber auch Portishead und Sting gearbeitet haben, vereinen sich Feierlichkeit und funktionelle Strenge auf ganz erstaunliche Weise. Max Herre hat diesen geschichtsträchtigen Ort für MTV Unplugged / KAHEDI Radio Show neu erdacht, indem er seine ursprüngliche Funktion als Aufnahmeraum unterstrichen hat. Vom Publikum umgeben spielen die Musiker in einer 360°-Konstellation zueinander und empfinden gemeinsam nach, wie in den siebziger Jahren Soulmusik gemacht wurde.

MTV Unplugged / KAHEDI Radio Show ist ein erlebtes Experiment mit offenem Ausgang und maximaler künstlerischer Freiheit. Eine kollektive Verneigung vor Soul, Jazz, Funk, Reggae und Rap. Und die in Musik gefasste Botschaft, dass Zukunft stets auch ein Stück Vergangenheit in sich trägt.

Zumindest, wenn sie so klingt wie die Musik von Max Herre.

God is an Astronaut's seventh full-length album, Origins, is their first as a five-piece and cements their place as one of the world's most intense, musically- and visually-inventive post rock bands. Renowned for their searing live shows in which the music is married with provocative projected imagery, GIAA consider each of their albums to be a sonic 'photograph or snapshot of who we are in that moment of time' and Origins is perhaps their most saturated, striking snapshot to date.

*Origins is notable also in GIAA's return to Rocket Girl records, who licensed the band's breakthrough album, All is Violent, All is Bright in 2005. In the eight years since then, GIAA have continued to release albums and an EP on their own Revive Records (A Moment of Stillness EP, 2006, Far From Refuge, 2007, God is an Astronaut, 2008 and Age of the Fifth Sun, 2010), amassing a vast following on social media sites (150,000 fans on Facebook, half a million listeners on ) and touring extensively, establishing themselves as Ireland's most intense, incandescent live act.

*Comprising a dozen tracks, Origins fluctuates from controlled ferment ('Calistoga') to plaintive, piano-led reverie ('Autumn Song') to rhapsodic, unapologetically melodic fever ('Signal Rays') while never losing its focus.
Experimenting with 'a multitude of stompboxes', the newly bolstered line-up gives the songs an added richness, apparent on Origins perhaps most obviously on the first single, 'Spiral Code' which has already received numerous radio plays on specialist radio.

Lee Perry's time at WIRL Records, later to be renamed Dynamic Sounds Studios, was a very productive time
in his career. A run of great singles and the shaping of a new sound, the beginning of what we know today as
Reggae .
Lee Perry (b. Rainford Hugh Perry, 28 March 1936, Hanover,Jamaica) began his entry into the music business at
the age of 16.Moving up to Kingston Town and working around various Sound Systems, before finding
employment at Coxonne Dodd's Studio One set up, in the late 50's early 1960's. Perry started out as a record
scout, organising sessions and supervising auditions at Dodd's record shop on Orange Street. Helping to make
hits for Delroy Wilson ( 'Joe Liges','Spit In The Sky') and the Maytals, which would lead to his own vocal records
released through Studio One.The musical backing for which, came from legendary Studio One house band The
Skatalites. Another important relationship for Perry, his first recordings with Bob Marley came in the form of
the Wailers, also providing backing, alongside the Soulettes who featured Rita Marley. Cutting such tunes as
'Chicken Scratch' around 1965/1966. This tune was also to provide him with one of his future nicknames
'Scratch'. A dispute over credits and money saw Perry leave Studio One and work with various producers
including Clancy Eccles and J. J. Johnson, before arriving at the door of producer Joe Gibbs in 1967. Here he
would write songs and produce hits for artists such as, Errol Dunkley and the Pioneers. A tune cut during his
time with Gibbs, voiced a snipe at fellow employee Dodd, a trademark that would become an outlet for his
frustrations in the business.This particular tune 'The Upsetter' would also provide another moniker and a name
for his label 'Upsetter'. Again lack of musical credit and financial reward saw Perry move on this time to WIRL
(West Indies Records Limited) Records, working alongside manager Clifford Rae, who would provide studio
time and pay for pressings in return for helping to promote and distribute WIRL product, which Perry would
carry out on his trusted Honda 50 motorcycle around Kingston town.
This period at WIRL saw some inspired work from Perry. 'Run For Cover' was another musical blow to a
previous employer, Coxonne Dodd and featured the Sensations on backing vocals and Lynn Taitt's guitar
picking skills. 'People Funny Boy' was a massive hit for Perry going on to sell over 60,000 copies. Joe Gibbs
would be at the end of this musical attack. Perry had felt Joe Gibbs had turned his back on him, after he had
provided hits for groups like, The Pioneers amongst others. The song would be one of the first records to
feature a New Beat (Reggae) inspired by the sounds coming out of a Pocomania Church, Perry had heard one
night.The congregation inside, wailed in a more slower way than the current musical style of the time Ska!. Perry
worked up this new style with Clancy Eccles, who would come under attack himself in 'You Crummy'. Their
closeness, which as detailed in that song would find them, 'Even shared the same Gal' but 'Now it's plain to see we
reached the end'. 'Set Them Free' was an answer record to Prince Buster's 'Judge Dread' (which had
featured Perry on it) a plea to the Judges in Jamaica that handed out extremely harsh sentences to the young
offenders of the time. The track was cut on the same rhythm as 'Run For Cover' . 'Django Shoots First'
inspired by the Spaghetti Western film of the same name, features Sir Lord Comic. One of the early DJ's who
used a jive talking style over rhythms. 'Night Doctor' was a hit instrumental that featured the organ talents
of Ansel Collins, that really push the tune along. 'Something You Got' was a cover of an USA R& B track by
Chris Kenner and 'Wind Up Girl' was cut at the same session. 'Water Pump' was a rude style track that
was cut later and originally released in 1974.As was 'People Sokup Boy' a later version of 'People Funny Boy'.
'Labrish' which means idol talk and gossip, was one of the first great talk over tunes that features Lee Perry
and producer Bunny 'Striker' Lee talking about the Political situation in Jamaica at the time and their own
financial situation and stories of various comrades.The track was originally released in 1973.
Bunny Lee would play a major part in lee Perry's career around this time and they were very close, often
sharing sessions and rhythms. Ironically it would be Bunny Lee that took over Perry's roll at WIRL and become
responsible for the labels products in years to come. Clifford Rae who give control to Bunny for a lot of the
WIRL product and even gave him his shop 101 Orange Street. So here we have a collection of music born out
of a time spent at WIRL Records and providing an important chapter in Lee Perry's career and indeed to the
story of Reggae itself.
Hope you enjoy the set.

Almost exactly three years after the first, Redshape has readied his second Red Pack, due for co release by his own Present imprint alongside his frequent Dutch home, Delsin, in June.
Whilst the world is still enjoying the German's latest album "Square", the man himself has typically moved on once more. On Red Pack II he offers up six tracks new of hugely atmospheric and romantically industrial techno across two pieces of vinyl.

First up, 'Disco Marauder' has raw, jangling beats, traumatised vocal cries and plenty of sci-fi ambiance all coalescing into a filmic techno tapestry, before 'Path Dub' goes deeper and more streamlined with rattling claps peeling off taught synth cables in hypnotic fashion. The same track also comes in an original version, which is a much more jagged, roughshod and textured affair.

'The Source' is a track slowed to a crawl that almost seems to want to collapse under its own weight. Machines gurgle and gargle, the beats march on with a heavy heart and widescreen synths all that ever present sense of cinematism that makes Redshape such a unique producer.

Standout track 'Daft Mode' features a beautiful Reese bassline and rich layers of classic Detroit chords of the sort Inner City once championed. Redshape then pairs them with slicing percussion and loose limbed but tough edged beats and lets them roll on to a blissfully emotive oblivion... Fans of 'Mucky Bones' from the first Red Pack might see this track as a close relative. Last track 'Bulp Head' is one of Redshape's more euphoric tracks thanks to the glistening and pixelated melodies which rise up and up through choppy, metallic percussion. It closes out another release from Redshape that offers six more classic pieces that are as idiosyncratic as they innovative..

Kartel is delighted to announce the 18th March release on Soundway Records of Magical Thinking by Antibalas multi-instrumentalist, Chico Mann. Tipping a genre-bending wink at 80's funk, boogie and electro stylings, with just a hint of Afrobeat spicing the mix, Chico effortlessly merges a downtempo groove with timeless pop sensibility to create a contemporary dancefloor classic. UK/European dates for March/April will be announced shortly.

Wir wissen wirklich nicht, was alles im dänischen Trinkwasser landet, doch irgendetwas muß verantwortlich sein für den reißenden Talentstrom, der diesem Land entspringt. Man denke an WhoMadeWho, Jatoma, When Saints Go Machine oder Kenton Slash Demon: sie alle teilen einen ähnlichen Sinn für strukturale Komplexität, erlebbar gemacht durch Emotion und puren Willen zum Floor. Diese Leute haben ihre Scheren im Kopf schließlich schon vor längerer Zeit im Altmetall entsorgt und lassen nun umso befreiter die Hookline kreisen. Tatsächlich gehören zwei der oben genannten Acts bereits zur Kompakt-Familie, die anderen beiden sind Klassiker der täglichen Bürobeschallungsmaßnahmen, da war es nur
eine Frage der Zeit, bis wir die nächste Trüffel im skandinavischen Unterholz aufspüren. Womit wir zu Taragana Pyjarama kommen, dessen Output als gleichermaßen raffiniert wie chaotisch wahrgenommen und von manchen schlicht als Märchen mit Bass beschrieben wird.

Up and away / To your journey to the sun / Drink your rocket juice / Fly away (Hey, Shooter).
High up in the skies, amongst the clouds, Rocket Juice & The Moon was born. Literally. It happened back in 2008, when Damon Albarn, Flea and Tony Allen convened on the same Lagos flight, to play and exchange musical ideas in that city as part of the Africa Express collective. Relishing a shared enthusiasm for one another's work, and bonding immediately, there and then the triumvirate laid down the blueprint for Rocket Juice.
Still, more than a year passed before conditions were set for three weeks together at Albarn's West London studio, recording and refining two-dozen startlingly out and deeply funky instrumental grooves. The next stage was to invite onboard some extremely talented friends, with further sessions in Dallas, New York, Chicago and Paris... Erykah Badu, no less, queen of contemporary soul. Three companions from Africa Express: Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, whose debut album has topped World Music charts since its release last Autumn; her multi-talented compatriot Cheick Tidiane Seck, whose prodigious keyboardism has lit up releases by artists ranging from Youssou N'Dour to Hank Jones; the young, Ghanaian rapper M.anifest, quizzically existential, switching seamlessly between Twi and English. And the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, long-time stalwarts in the Honest Jon's set-up — since one of the team discovered them busking near the shop in Portobello Road, on his lunchbreak — with a second album for the label due in May... Finally, the tracks were dispatched for mixing to Berlin, to be meticulously honed, polished and envenomed by Mark Ernestus, one half of the legendary Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound partnerships.
The result is Rocket Juice & The Moon — out March 26, 2012, on Honest Jon's Records — a triumphant exploration and proliferation of kinetic Afro-funk rhythms: organic, exuberant, communal music-making, evidenced by the project's live debut on stage as part of the Honest Jon's Chop Up in late 2011, which hit London, Marseille, Dublin, and Cork to such great acclaim (witness the flurry of smart-phone film-clips uploaded in the days thereafter).
From the inaugural bars — that absurdly funky slice of instructional timekeeping, 1-2-3-4-5-6 — the liquid pulse of Fela Kuti's classic recordings drives the action through a suite of 18 shape-shifting compositions. The greatest drummer in the world has never sounded so good as he does here. His intricate cross-patterns jostle and lock with Flea's nimble, rumbling bass riffs. Joined by Seck on There and Extinguished — 'when you dispose of something burning, be sure it's out' — Albarn's keyboards spray synth fusillades up top, over, and under... splicing into the mess of wires running between the freaked Afro-disco of William Onyeabor and the space-jazz-moog of Sun Ra. The HBE brings extra intensity and drama to Leave-Taking — likewise Flea's trumpet to Rotary Connection — teasing out the haunting melody coiled in the mix.
Where the best of vintage Afrobeat sides sustained their concentrated energies over the course of sprawling, marathon jams, RJ & TM manages something altogether different: the group bottles the idiom into capsules of funk... and real songs. Beautifully buoyed by Erykah Badu's unmistakable vocals, Hey, Shooter brilliantly traverses metaphysical spaceways sans any semblance of noodling. Lolo and Follow-Fashion — featuring the open-hearted sensuality of Diawara's singing, M.anifest's quick, brawny science, and more brass blasts — play like its musical cousins or codas. Indeed, the album's shrewd sequencing creates the composite effect of tracks working both individually or within the context of an extended song-cycle.
The lovely ballad, Poison, is bittersweet and ruminative: 'If you're looking for love, beware the signs / They will paralyze you one by one / Poison, it will only break your heart.' Down-tempo and dubby, Check Out and Worries amplify the range of styles and moods. And by the time of Fatherless — a chugging Afro blues that evokes John Lee Hooker lost in Lagos, one gets the sneaking suspicion there's very little outside the reach of this collective's inventive musical grasp.
There is, in fact, a palpable openness pervading Rocket Juice & The Moon — the sense of a limber willingness to follow creative impulse — right down to how the group acquired its name. When Ogunajo Ademola — the Lagotian commissioned to do the album's cover artwork — dubbed his submission 'Rocket Juice & The Moon', it quickly morphed into the formal name of the project, like trying to hold onto mercury.
Surely, the stars above also approved.

Hailing from Dubstep's home town of Croydon, Wheel & Deal Records introduce Surge. With a signature deep and base driven sound you'll come to recognise instantly, trust us when we say, you'll be hearing a lot more from this guy.'Leech' starts us off with a hauntingly atmospheric vocal track featuring vocalist Phxis. Sub heavy with marching beats and harmonic tones, this is a perfect mix of angelic vocals, and hard metallic beats. With exclusive support from N-type & Walsh.'Swaying Mantis' sounds exactly as you'd imagine. Intelligent beats, heavyweight and dramatic, you may have heard N-type starting many of his sets over the summer with this one. Unapologetically bass driven with relentless sway this one will get in your head and stay, in a good way!