Cerca:mile 1

De Sluwe Vos (Dutch for 'The Sly Fox', a name derived from Aesop's fable of the Fox and the Crow) is the newest addition to the Dutch house and techno scene. His productions are supported by artists such as DJ Sneak, Joy Orbison, Boddika andBicep. Moreover, De Sluwe Vos has a packed tour schedule and travels many miles for all his national and international gigs.

With strong hooks and dirty kicks as his specialities, De Sluwe Vos has released multiple tracks on labels like 4Lux and Slapfunk. Lately, this cheerful producer from Dutch city of Deventer has even been gaining a foothold in the pop scene. His gig at Noorderslag did not go unnoticed: national music platform 3voor12 named him the best act of the festival.

De Sluwe Vos mixes various styles to create his own 'signature sound' with which he manages to constantly keep himself at the center of attention. His 'OG Anthem' is possibly one of the most notable tracks of the moment, this underground hit found its way to the surface and received airplay on both Dutch radio station 3FM and BBC Radio1.

With his discography, De Sluwe Vos is constructing a steady career. But he's not one to stay hidden away in the studio: he's at his best when dominating dance floors in clubs and at festivals. His ultimate goal is to bring the crowd to a higher state of mind, where worries simply disappear and the music takes over. Time and time again, De Sluwe Vosprovides proof for the big bang theory with his performances. Whether it's at Awakenings Festival in the Netherlands or at Together Festival in Cardiff: during his shows he is pure energy. His duet between his Roland TR- 909 drum computer and turntables is always a bold endeavor, just like his stage diving.

The fact that he is a fixture of the club scene is proven by his monthly international gigs, his own night The Core and his notorious live act. With the audiovisual show 'Kontra live', De Sluwe Vos is well underway to becoming 'one of the greats'. And that's no fable!

Strut team up for the first time with respected French label Heavenly Sweetness for the brand new album by the inspired poet, novelist and musician, Anthony Joseph.The Caribbean is an influence that runs through Joseph's discography, obliquely or headon, suggested or on full display. It resonates on each of his albums, from the furious trance of 'Bird Head Son' to the more polished 'Time'. On 'Caribbean Roots', he has now decided to turn a guiding thread and a reference point into a communications cable - a powerful bond that makes light of distance and braves the seas to link his island to that of his friends in the Caribbean arc, dancing to the strains of tumbélé and mendé only a few miles
from Port of Spain where people live it up to rapso and soca beats. Caribbean Roots' represents a return to his roots for Anthony Joseph, who has always remained true to a powerful, deep-seated sense of his Caribbean identity. Having started
out as a joint project with the outstanding percussionist Roger Raspail (Cesaria Evora, Papa Wemba, Kassav), 'Caribbean Roots' swiftly grew into a creative force incorporating
the rhythms, sounds and vibes that rock the Caribbean from San Fernando, Scarborough, Kingston and Les Abymes to Port-au-Prince and Havana. Backed by a band made up
of a blend of local musicians, the album attempts to unite the different islands into a single entity whilst ensuring that the identity of each is in no way diluted by the mix instead creating a richer and stronger alloy. The saxophones of Shabaka Hutchings (The
Heliocentrics) and Jason Yarde, the trumpet of Yvon Guillard (Magma), the bass of Mike Clinton (Salif Keita) and the trombone of Pierre Chabrèle (Creole Jazz Orchestra) all combine to form a group of Caribbean All Stars to which Andy Narrell, the master of the steel pans, brings ringing drum beats. The album features bursts of catchy rhythms and slow percussive riff progressions, as on a film soundtrack, incandescent voodoo funk and rhythmic high-speed frenzies shot through with free-jazz sax. This reunion of the Caribbean diaspora was never meant to come up with a formula divisible into eleven separate tracks - its goal was to explore and discover new sounds. And all of this under Anthony Joseph's guidance, as he spins his lyrical blend of afro-futurism and surrealism, commemorating the Caribbean people's sometimes violent resistance to colonialism. Anthony Joseph, one moment a chronicler reciting his text against a background of simple percussion, the next a storyteller possessed by the power of a hypnotic bassline, then an adventurer chanting among mangroves where the rhythm section and the brass have created an impenetrable thicket. At turns, an MC too, strutting to a fat, throbbing groove in vocal tandem with Sly Johnson or David Rudder to pay tribute to Mighty Sparrow, the undisputed and indisputable king of calypso

Killekill catalogue number 025 is a jubilee release:
It's KILLEKILL MEGAHITS II !!
But it's not only a jubilee release. It's also milestone and turning point in the Killekill history, because with this release Killekill closes one chapter, and opens up another.
We are constantly getting too many demos full with good music in way too many different styles to squeeze them onto one label. So finally we have come to the point where we will start a line of new labels with different profiles to give ourselves the opportunity to feature even more daring artists and release whatever we like in the most suitable outfit for it.
So far, there is this compilation, which has been carefully compiled for your pleasure. Label regulars such as Cassegrain & Tin Man, Furfriend, Alex Cortex or Eomac have delivered high quality stuff of all kinds, but we are also introducing a lot of artists who will feature on the coming labels:
Umwelt with his epic and dramatic electro, who will release an album with us later in 2016, Dez Williams with his genre-crossing sound which works on every dance floor plus Power Vacuum's Bintus who delivers his portion of electro/acid madness on Record 1.
Record 2 features the legendary Detroit Grand Pubahs, who present their electro outfit Techmarine Bottom Feeders, The Fool's Stone, which is a new project by Hard Ton, electro legend Adriano Canzian and italian queer artist Brigida plus London's underground hero Jerome Hill, who lets it jack and roll with his Memory Machine.
On Record 3 Kamikaze Space Programme surprises with some bell-driven percussive techno and what can we say It is with great pride that we include the acid techno epos by none other than the legendary 'Prince of Techno' Blake Baxter.
This compilation is a trip through a big musical universe. Enjoy!

12 track Album from Derrick Harriott released by Dub Store Records

We here at L A MISSION like to whip out our politics in public. We kinda get off on it. And so we're especially excited to slip you B EANER' s first solo outing on the label . From track titles to sound samples to magazine articles to packaging, this record / magazine / performance package highlights im/migration, the brown experience, and stripped identity. La Mission knows from brown. The collective is run by a crew of devastatingly handsome deviants whose racial identity is, well...it's complicated. We've lived our lives being neither white enough nor brown enough to fit neatly into racial categories. And so we took some time out from our usual exploits (like our MultiDirectional Playground Tire Swinging' orgies and Elected Candidate/Dead Pig/HungerGames slashfic) to focus on brownness. People started talking about cultural appropriation' when Miley Cyrus started twerking. We couldn't throw shade fast enough. But cooptation and exotification runs rampant in all genres of music-including dance music. We here at La Mission feel pretty fucking awkward about it. We've seen queerofcolor culture turned into whitedudebro business ventures. And as brown folks with stripped and fragmented identities, we're never sure of what culture is ours to use and abuse, anyway. Can we honor our own roots if they're messy and broken When we're inspired' by the music of other cultural groups, is that solidarity or stealing Nothing we have is whole. We can only work with the fragments we have at hand, well aware that there's unfinished business... BLACKMOUTH is the live version of the classic soul/disco sampling house tune. Take the work o f o t h e r s w h o c a m e b e f o r e y o u a n d t u r n i t i n t o a d a n c e a b l e j a m . G O T B L U E S u s e s t h e w o r k o f a b l i n d 1930s blues bongo player to form a weirdo repetitive rhythm tool: another example of using a forgotten artist for one's own gain.

Reaching the milestone of its 100th single/EP release, Circus Company welcomes back Aquarius Heaven with a new EP of poignant, uplifting house music loaded with a meaningful message for these transient times. It's nearly three years since Brian Brewster delivered the Parallela Mundi 12', and in that time he has been on a relentless mission to spread his unique blend of house music, Caribbean roots and psychedelic magic across the globe in a whirlwind of live performances and collaborations. In a manifestation of his well-travelled soul, these new pieces call upon traditional influences in amongst the modern motifs that Aquarius Heaven has been built on, while lyrically dealing with the pressing issue of refugees escaping conflict, poverty and famine. The proud drum throwdown and carnival bleeps of 'Bato Chargé' conceal the seriousness of its theme. In Brewster's native tongue Creole, bato chargé translates as overloaded boat. With the Caribbean as equally rooted in the history of displaced humanity at the hands of sinister powers, the groove of 'Bato Chargé' takes on a defiant, hopeful tone directly inspired by the traditional percussive music style Gow Ka. '50 Drops' by way of contrast takes on a noirish tone with its gritty, street-weary tale and nocturnal melodics played out through enchanting arpeggios and warbling leads. Cooling off the tempo and heading into a digi-dub skank that plays off Brewster's roots in reggae and dancehall, 'Marie Galante' takes those same warm synths and runs them through a low-but-heavy stepping landscape; the perfect backdrop to the vocalist's dexterous ramblings on the mic. It's not often you hear Creole New Release Information delivered in contemporary electronic music, with a rare exception being the legendary work of Tikiman et al with Rhythm & Sound in the 90s.

Due to the release of Dial Record's 15 years compilation "All" one track seemed to be the most particular and praised: Dawn Mok's "Like Thought Or Moments We'll Fall"- an intensely touching piece produced by Berlin based artist Felix Mura. The label is honored to release the full length debut album "Eternal Love" a journey into deep and dark shades of future R'nB. Within a year of production and sound design, including the the mixing of Finland's Ville Haimala aka Renaissance Man, Dawn Mok created a milestone of contemporary dance musicand beyond. The Mastering by Rashad Becker (Pan Recordings) brings the longplayer to perfection and a disturbing artwork by artist Dan DeNorch completes a wonderful & surprising release.

Steeped in house history it was only a matter of time until the next next generation of Chicago House artist came to the forefront of the genre. Luckily we're friends with them.

'Classic Music Company presents Chicago Nouveaux' brings together the new-breed collective of exceptionally talented Chicago-based artists on a single release. Shaun J Wright & Alinka contribute 'Wang's On Broadway' and 'Matters Of The Heart' - the latter coming with a remix courtesy of Smart Bar's own The Black Madonna while Chrissy drops 'Join Me' with Miles Bonny on vocals, complete with a re-edit for the one & only Rahaan.
This is about as Chi as it gets.

Old School veteran Andrei Morant who's very much now school' making his debut appearance on 4trk here with a stripped down dose of pure, beatin, erky/jerky tracks that drill their point in your head. No need to pepper this one with a verbose intro. Listen and learn......!! Can't tell you equally how excited we are to tell you there's a couple more Andrei Morant tracks coming also on a v/a vinyl compilation soon to follow!!

Composer, musician and producer Nils Frahm steers the new edition of Late Night Tales, set for release on 11th September. A hypnotic voyage through modern and classical composition, experimental electronics, jazz, dub techno, soundtracks and soul; Frahm's Late Night Tales haunts and beguiles. It's not mixing, so much as gently layering, like a particularly fluffy goose-down duvet folding in on itself, the folds part of the attraction, the layers part of the overall picture being painted. Many of the tracks have been edited, effected and re-made. The subtly overdubbed parts on Rhythm & Sound's 'Mango Drive' adding to the haunting hypnosis, while choral interruptions aid Miles Davis' 'Générique' on its journey towards the light. Meanwhile, on Boards Of Canada's 'In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country', the tempo is somewhat sluggish, the organs slurred, as Frahm slows it down to a funereal 33rpm that nevertheless fits perfectly. The purring of his girlfriend's cat Cleo transitions playfully between Nina Simone's definitive version of 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes' and unearthing the gentle electronics of Dub Tractor. Eddy Arnold's 'You're The Only Star', a country tune that sounds like its transmitting from a mid-west diner wireless circa 1947, is straight from the soundtrack to an imaginary David Lynch movie, comforting and dismaying all at once. This crackly reality abounds, as on Finnish band Gentleman Losers' 'Honey Bunch', that adds an unsettling texture, with a sound that is modern but as nostalgic. Frahm's own tracks bookend the mix, opening with an inspired "rework" of the infamous silent John Cage piece '4:33' ("I sat at the piano in silence and worked from


there. I listened and took in the atmosphere and this is what came out of it") and ending with a solo piano version of 'Them', taken from his recently released score of the film 'Victoria'. The traditional Late Night Tales spoken word epilogue is voiced by actor Cillian Murphy (Inception, Batman, 28 Days Later), reading a short story by Edna Walsh (Hunger, Disco Pigs).

Berlin Atonal is proud to pick up on a tradition begun in 1984 with the publication of two volumes of live recordings from the 1983 edition of the festival. Those records bore witness to the most inventive, adventurous sounds of the festival, and therefore of their time, containing live bits
from Psychic TV, La Loora and Z'EV.

Berlin Atonal Vol. 3 carries this custom forward three decades with selections from four of the standout performances of Berlin Atonal 2014. Of course Cabaret Voltaire's lauded and historical rst show in over 20 years is featured, Richard H Kirk's no-nostalgia and machinery driven set rmly putting the Cabaret Voltaire project in a future-facing direction.

Miles Whittaker's surprising and muscular live performance also contributes a cut, as does festival favourite Fis with his characteristically lumpy, textural soundscapes.

Finally, two selections from Abdulla Rashim's memorable session gesture toward a possible future for synthesised music.

Roland Clark has without any doubt written house music history. Under names like South Street Player, Dark Clark and of course Urban Soul he has influenced the evolution of house music like only a few others. His different vocals on Fatboy Slim´s records are timeless, such as - What the f*ck and - Song for shelter .

Gourmets of old school house music become excited when they listen to Roland´s - Alright . The song, released in 1991, became a milestone in terms of soulful house, in the same way like Adeva´s - Respect and Terrence Parker´s - Love´s got me high .

Marc Romboy has re-explored this pearl for his series - Lost Treasures and was able to convince Roland to release it again, fort he nyoung generation and fort he old school lovers.

The package comes along with a respectful interpretation of no one else than Gerd (Clone, 4 Lux) and the fine remaster of the original club mix from more than 20 years ago.

Building on her first LP April Song Sara Mitra draws folk blues and psychadelic influences into her second LP. Recorded and produced by Ben lamdin / Nostalgia 77. The LP was previewed by Gilles Peterson on BBC 6 Music & Sara conducted an interview feature with Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2
Press quotes include the following:
Her skill as a songwriter and honesty as a performer shine through" Mercury Prize Recommends
Especially talented" The Daily Telegraph
Fresh sounding and free from cliche..., Sara is left to her own special devices and nails a good melody everytime." Blues and Soul Magazine
Mitra has a really fresh-sounding voice: a great night" The Sunday Times
I love her voice, I love her Englishness." Gilles Peterson

Ferox brings you four of the UK and Ireland's finest on this 4 tracker.

Manchester producer Hidden Spheres blends the interesting elements he finds within recordings into soulful dance music suited for clubs and the living room. Those influences combine Jazz artists like Sun Ra, John Coltrane, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Miles Davis along with the modern sounds of Detroit and German producers.

Having released individual tracks on Dirt Crew his first solo EP appropriately finds its way to Moods & Grooves, a label known its eclectic output. The Bloos connects the musical dots of his influences while expressing a love for house music. We believe you will enjoy it as much as we do.

After 14 years working with a huge spectrum of D&B greats, London based Irishman Cian McCann has long since established his place in the scene. From his early days in Dublin with the Bassbin label to working with the likes of Calibre, 4 Hero, Klute, Alix Perez, Rockwell and Noisia, he has never stood still. 2008's Cheap Shots LP for Total Science's CIA Records was a high point, with lead track Walk Away bringing vocalist Steo to the worlds attention. Also a noted remixer, he has retouched artists as diverse as Dillinja, Slam, Rolo from Faithless, Sabre, Lemon D and Lenny Fontana. Zero T's discography shows the diversity that his DJ sets have always shown, ranging from full vocal smoothness to darker, more technical styles. You are as likely to find his music on labels like Subtitles and Shogun as on Soul:r or Signature. 2010 saw two milestones reached; the Launch of Footprints, Zero T's own label, and compiling and mixing FabricLive052 for the esteemed London venue. After a short period away from the scene, 2014 sees the return of Zero T as a producer and DJ. Watch out for his collaboration with long-time cohort Beta 2 coming on Metalheadz Platinum soon and a follow up EP to the Roxy Music EP on Dispatch Recordings. Now The Prestige Music Group is proud to announce, 'Roundwood / Hurricane Charlie' due out in late September or early October

When  DFC TEAM (PERSI, COLLINO & GEMOLOTTO)  started their Atahualpa project Techno Music was far to be a cool trend in the venues. Even more innovative was to mash up acoustic, electronic,  traditional instruments as Peruvian panflutes and synthesizers while  evocative voices drive listeners to the world of last Inca emperor.
It was in 1990 when  ULTIMO IMPERIO by ATAHUALPA topped   in several countries around the world  becoming a milestone in the dance music history. 
Nearly twentyfive years later DFC LABEL releases 4 amazing new Remixes and the story goes on.

Esta es la historia de ULTIMO IMPERIO. HASTA SIEMPRE ATAHUALPA!

Here comes Strike150, the 150th Shitkatapult release. We're doing the same thing again that we did for the milestone releases Strike50 and Strike100: Sensational tracks, most of them previously unreleased, collected in the hope of presenting a certain contemporary attitude and music of the now.
Feat. Apparat, Oval, Phon.O, Christian Vogel and many more

Fokuz Recordings, founded early 1999 by Dreazz and Drum Origins, has been through a lot over a long, winding road. Thanks to the boundless dedication of our talented artists and the loving fans, we can now celebrate our 15th anniversary! Expect six 12'' records and a double CD packed with tracks by some of the most upfront names in present day drum & bass. This is 15 Yearz Of Fokuz - Episode 2.1.

We're proud to have the mighty Bcee featured on this milestone album. Once again he delivers effortlessly with 'Praying Man' and 'Magic Mirror'. Watch out for these deep, soulful emotional rollers dropping soon on Fokuz! Perfect material for those who like their beats with soul.

Around7 follows up his two laidback funk/jazz albums for Robsoul Jazz with his first ever venture into House music. His Double Crossing EP released through the main Robsoul Recordings imprint on 4th April 2014.The Parisian, who previously delivered the Back To Basics and Soul On Wire LPs to critical acclaim, continues his production style of sampling complemented by live, organic sounds. Producer influences such as J Dilla and DJ Premier continue to be in evidence, alongside the jazz of Miles Davis, Bill Evans and the legendary Blue Note Records, all given a 4/4 twist.The result is four stripped back tracks with a low slung, smoky atmosphere, packed pull of acoustic sounds and live instrumentation. Those who remember Joss Moog's early outings on Robsoul will also find parallels hereAround7's music career began as a bassist and trumpet player in a jazz/funk band. After learning to play keyboard and discovering the Akai MPC sampler and software such as Cubase, he merged all of his skills together to create his own tracks based around live instrumentation and samples.

Right after the tremdendous irritation caused by Pommes 001 has reached its peak, here comes - surprise surprise: pommes002 ! This time reviving the worst or the best 90ies club music had to offer. The A-Side belongs to Daniel Nentwig aka one half of The Working Elite, one third of the now defunct Extraproduktionen and Whitest Boy Alive's Keyboard-Wizard. He's wearing his brandnew D'Lonely Al sweater and presents "We can have it all" , a well hung slice of sparkeling proto house that could have fit very well on a KissFM Mastermix by Tony Humphries! Next up we have the pleasure to present to you the debut release of Cologne based Skateboard Pro Jeremy Reinhard aka Jeremaier, who teamed up with Paco Guedes and no other than Arj Snoek (whose track People Know had been and still is a true milestone for the Terre De Pommes possee!) . "Goldnugget " is something like the alternative college radio version of Show Me Love by Robin S! Good vibes galore-- - Just like Robin Hood - Terre Des Pommes takes it from the rich and gives it to the poor.. Probably the only explanation for the Trance Acid Remix of tech house outlaw Phillip Lauer.. Panflutes anyone

SHADELEAF reaches out to the tribes and comes home with a serious crop to see us through !

For their debut V.A selection 'Please Come Correct' Thatmanmonkz has pulled in some serious talent from the fringes of forward-thinking House

Ny*Ak fires the opening beatdown salvo,'U Don't Understand', and cooks up another of those loose, low riding, sample heavy and heady jams, reminiscent of Berlin via early Sound Signature that made last year's EP for Intimate Friends via Rush Hour such an essential!

Next up Cape Town's Jumping Back Slash, who's been making some serious music, fusing elements of S.A House with Kwaito and, well pretty much anything else he can throw into the mix to move your assets.
'Bloodlines' however could just as easily have emanated from 8 Mile, a captivating piece of pure, crisply rendered machine soul back lit with township chants and emotive chords.

Mr 'monkz himself handles B1, and to say this guy's on a roll would be something of an understatement!
Much like Graef and Co, 'imgettintiredofyou' is Deep House that dines out on a diet of Hip Hop, dirty hertz in the low registers and deftly manipulated sample work throughout - killer stuff!

Finally our truly global selection winds up in Moscow as another hotly tipped up-and-comer Lay-Far gives us 'Many-Sided'.
Fans of last year's excellent EP on Fifty Fathoms Deep will know what to expect. Again, a loosely pieced together cut, hinting at West London vibes,and shot through with creative sampling and an undeniable ear for melody and groove that really shines.

New label Back To The Balearics follow up the superb Maricopa EP with a stunner from Berlin based live music collective Spleen.
Part one in their musical odyssey 'Fusionary' consists of live jams and instrumentation over computer-based syncopation, their music has a strange yet organic flow to it, which is both hypnotic and rhythmic.
Think Kraut influenced, psychedelic dub funk with a touch of alt pop and you'll be on the right road, but still miles away.
Music is better than words...Spleen prove that.
LTD edition vinyl with beautiful printed sleeves.

We call them the rat pack of our beat scene. With all diversity in sound, the three producers are unified in their love for dope beats and high-proof drinks, both catered and consumed with style and expertise.

Suff Daddy, the globetrotting gin connoisseur and minimoog player with domiciles in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Sydney. He has released three solo albums and has worked with artists like Miles Bonny, Fleur Earth, Ta-ku and Elzhi. After a one year stint in Sydney, he returned to Berlin this spring.

Brenk Sinatra, the Wien-Kaisermühlen homeboy, Westcoast rap fanatic and producer of the forthcoming MC Eiht album. Last year Brenk released the critically acclaimed S3 album together with US singer Miles Bonny and has laced beats for an armada of MCs from both sides of the Atlantic.

And last but not least Dexter, the Stuttgart based trip maker and platinum producer with a day job as a pediatrician. This June Dexter released his second solo-album 'The Trip' a homage to the psychedelic rock era and one of the most innovative and genre bending hip-hop albums of 2013.

All three first met at the Hi-Hat Club, the producer series that we started a couple of years ago with the goal to push and celebrate the art of beat making. With their respective volumes 'Suff Draft' (Suff Daddy), 'The Jazz Files' (Dexter) and 'Chop Shop' (Brenk Sinatra) each of the guys put the instrumental hip-hop thing on a new and different level. None of their beats need a MC to be complete, they are full songs in their own right.

The official birth date of the Betty Ford Boys was the 2012 Beat BBQ in Cologne where Dexter, Suff and Brenk performed together for the first time. Right after the now legendary gig, that was ended by police forces Suff Daddy left for Sydney so that most the recordings for the Betty Ford Boys debut album took place in the cloud. Right after his return to Berlin, the Boys jumped on the bus and played their first club tour which finished with a gig at the Splash Festival.

On August 30th, the Betty Ford Boys release their first album 'Leaders Of The Brew School' on Melting Pot Music. The record combines the best of three worlds and has a surprisingly chilled Westcoast vibe. It's perfect summer music, it's edgy and relaxed at the same time and keeps you thirsty for more ....

For their first release of 2012 Modern Love deliver the second album from Suum Cuique, the analogue noise/experimental project from Miles Whittaker, one half of Demdike Stare.

One can hardly imagine the genre-busting, culture-crossing musical magic of Outkast, Prince, Erykah Badu, Rick James, The Roots, or even the early Red Hot Chili Peppers without the influence of R&B pioneer Betty Davis. Her style of raw and revelatory punk-funk defies any notions that women can’t be visionaries in the worlds of rock and pop. In recent years, rappers from Ice Cube to Talib Kweli to Ludacris have rhymed over her intensely strong but sensual music.



There is one testimonial about Betty Davis that is universal: she was a woman ahead of her time. In our contemporary moment, this may not be as self-evident as it was thirty years ago – we live in an age that’s been profoundly changed by flamboyant flaunting of female sexuality: from Parlet to Madonna, Lil Kim to Kelis. Yet, back in 1973 when Betty Davis first showed up in her silver go-go boots, dazzling smile and towering Afro, who could you possibly have compared her to? Marva Whitney had the voice but not the independence. Labelle wouldn’t get sexy with their “Lady Marmalade” for another year while Millie Jackson wasn’t Feelin’ Bitchy until 1977. Even Tina Turner, the most obvious predecessor to Betty’s fierce style wasn’t completely out of Ike’s shadow until later in the decade.



Ms. Davis’s unique story, still sadly mostly unknown, is unlike any other in popular music. Betty wrote the song “Uptown” for the Chambers Brothers before marrying Miles Davis in the late ’60s, influencing him with psychedelic rock, and introducing him to Jimi Hendrix — personally inspiring the classic album Bitches Brew.



But her songwriting ability was way ahead of its time as well. Betty not only wrote every song she ever recorded and produced every album after her first, but the young woman penned the tunes that got The Commodores signed to Motown. The Detroit label soon came calling, pitching a Motown songwriting deal, which Betty turned down. Motown wanted to own everything. Heading to the UK, Marc Bolan of T. Rex urged the creative dynamo to start writing for herself. A common thread throughout Betty’s career would be her unbending Do-It-Yourself ethic, which made her quickly turn down anyone who didn’t fit with the vision. She would eventually say no to Eric Clapton as her album producer, seeing him as too banal.



Her 1974 sophomore album They Say I’m Different features a worthy-of-framing futuristic cover challenging David Bowie’s science fiction funk with real rocking soul-fire, kicked off with the savagely sexual “Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him” (later sampled by Ice Cube). Her follow up is full of classic cuts like “Don’t Call Her No Tramp” and the hilarious, hard, deep funk of “He Was A Big Freak.”

Not long after his "Miles (inc. Nick Curly Remix)" release, DJ SODEYAMA's follow up on ARPA Records is about to hit the shelves.