The making of Congo Funk!, a journey to the musical heart of the African continent, took the Analog Africa Team on two journeys to Kinshasa and one to Brazzaville. Selected meticulously from around 2000 songs and boiled down to 14, this compilation aims to showcase the many facets of the funky, hypnotic and schizophrenic tunes emanating from the two Congolese capitals nestled on the banks of the Congo River.
There are mysterious records. Records hiding and showing something at the same time. This is one of them. It is made from two records that were most probably released in the mid-1970s, most probably primarily by Turkish Roma. It brings together what Anadolu pop music lovers always dream of: Anatolian geleneksel (traditional folk tunes), disco and funk, jazz and hard rock, psychedelic sounds, hard-hitting drums, Arabesk percussion, and hip-hop friendly breaks. Put together in a careful, smooth production with a warm, relaxed and dance-friendly vibe. Here you get it: Roma-nized instrumental Turkish pop music in all its facets of the 1970s.
The Den Haag label, Bakk presents it’s closing release. This concluding compilation contains a selection of the many artists that took part on the label, from the first demo until the last drop of ink printed. 11 years, 11 tracks. xoxo
More about the world has changed than not in the decade since dance production dyad Frank & Tony, the project of house legends Francis Harris and Anthony Collins, released their last full-length record, 2014’s “You Go Girl”. Despite, or perhaps in spite of, this shifting landscape, house music has managed to stay fundamentally reliable (either a bug or its greatest feature, depending on who you ask). Where previously, Frank & Tony have been celebrated for their contemplative, studious approach to the genre, with 2024’s “Ethos”, the Brooklyn/Biarritz-based duo return amidst metastatic cultural upheaval to prove out those scholarly credentials — with an album that serves to remind listeners why dancefloors and liberatory politics consistently share the language of movements and revolutions.
After being featured on BERG AUDIOs “Horizons” compilation, Bucharest’s Jay Bliss is back on the label with his first solo release in more than seven years. What to expect? A delightful blend of deep, dub, minimal & even a disco influence for the highly awaited track “Neuromancer”.
That true beauty lies in the essentiality and meticulous combination of a few elements is sometimes not just a cliché. The delicate blend of Roland CR-78, acoustic guitar and dissonant organs that intertwine in ‘Open Windows’ is a vivid demonstration of this. It is these few elements, now distant and hinted at and now close and deafening, that paint the backdrop of melancholic nostalgia where laconic whispers move the listener within the paintings that bear the sonic signature of Human Figures, the project of Daniel Lewis known also as Daniel Holt. In the 8 canvases of Open Windows the folk tradition is repainted in a more contemporary guise: the sweet and sad litanies are alternated with fast and frenetic stornelli in which the combination of tradition and experimentation constitutes the stylistic signature. The open window through which the listener has the opportunity to look out in this album does not, however, give onto a natural external panorama. It projects into an inner world where introspection and silence are the only chance to grasp its sublime beauty.
Cold wave duo The KVB are back with their new album ‘Tremors’ on Invada Records. The KVB returns to the darker sound that embodied their earliest releases whilst retaining the infectious pop of their last album ‘Unity’. The band have dubbed their new album ‘dystopian pop’, and wrote it with the live show in mind; full of energy, hooks and dynamic moments. Writing the album between Manchester and Bristol, and recording alongside James Trevascus (Billy Nomates, RVG), the band have drawn on their own back catalogue and the music that inspired them at the very beginning of their artistic journey. The end result is the most complete album from The KVB to date, full of emotive impact and pop hooks presented in a uniquely shadowy atmosphere and with an idiosyncratic detachment that adds to the cinematic quality of their sound.
Morphology debut on the Belgian De:tuned label with the vibrant eight-track electro album ‘Fractures’. The Finnish duo, Matti Turunen and Michael Diekmann, lay down a versatile blend of cosmic string harmonies and powerful bass work-outs merged with techno and acid elements suitable for the floor, late night driving and home listening sessions. Skillfully produced electro science in their own signature style transports you into a darker realm.
Luke Eargoggle joins forces with Dataintrang for a seasonally appropriate ice-cold electro outing on Return to Disorder. It kick off with side-long opener ‘Top Of The Pyramid’ which is full of sidewinding synths and squealing analogue lines over corrugated bass. After that one comes the manic and high tempo electro-shocks of ‘Not Unique’ with snappy snares and darkened vocals. Last but not least is the most brutal assault of them all – ‘7 Days A Week’, a melange of wild acid lines and liquid metal leads with turbulent bass and a general sense of intergalactic warfare.
Neither Timothy J. Fairplay, nor Norwell are strangers to the Dalmata Daniel family and their DDS09 split EP is here to present 4 tracks full of outer space lights, eerie vibes, mesmerizing beats and cosmic energies.
Cold Transmission presents the second chapter of their Zeitgeist Chrome series, dedicated to the finest electronic music. Includes songs by Grey Gallows, Kalte Nacht, Oliver Decrow, Rina Pavar, Teatre & Years Of Denial.
META MOTO presents the fourth solo artist tape, “Counterfeit” by Disappearer, recorded and produced by Johan Skugge, half of Harlem Electronics. The album showcases a fluidity between electronic sounds and genres, characterised by a deliberate elusiveness. Oscillating between eerie atmospheres and funky beats, the artist constructs an enigmatic sonic landscape, evoking a sense of hiding in the shadows while emitting smoke screens. With its electrifying compositions, this album promises to captivate audiences with its bold electronic aesthetic.
A well balanced and versatile EBM meets Detroit Electro EP on Marcel Dettmann’s Bad Manners label by Nite Fleit. Her signature blend of high-octane techno, acid and electro shatters expectations and perfectly fits the label’s sonic playfield. Brace for a bold proclamation of sonic supremacy, emphasizing Nite Fleit’s ascent through the ranks of electronic music hierarchy.
Continuing Four Flies’ dedication to delving into lesser-explored periods of Italian music, Africamore takes us on a captivating journey into the intersection of Afro-funk and the Italian soundscape during the six years between 1973 and 1978 – a time when disco was looming on the horizon and the nightclub market was rapidly expanding. Before reaching Italian shores, the infectious sound originating from African and Afro-Caribbean roots traversed both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, landing on New York dancefloors, where DJ Dave Mancuso discovered “Soul Makossa” by Manu Dibango. In 1973, from Mancuso’s Loft parties, the song’s hypnotic groove spread to the rest of the globe, including in Italy, where it sparked a wave of imitations and variations. Tribal influences thus found their way into Italian soul-funk and early-disco productions released between 1973 and 1978. Combining feel-good vibes with driving rhythms, world-style percussion, and even synths, all these productions pushed the boundaries of dance music at a time when disco had not yet taken over. In doing so, they sowed many of the seeds of the later Italian cosmic scene and its unique mixture of African elements, disco-funk and electronic music.
The next chapter in Axis Expressionist Series curated by Millsart, an alias of Jeff Mills, of his most eclectic and transcendent compositions that derive from his Every Dog Has Its Day project aswell as new unreleased works.
The Hipodrome Of Music 