UK wave funk veteran DMX Krew returns to Abstract Forms with his latest double album project. Escape-MCP features 13 tracks of synth drenched electro and elastic techno grooves drawing inspiration from a 1983 computer game where the player is trapped inside a computer by a rogue processor. Fortunately DMX Krew isn’t trapped inside a computer and is still with us making killer grooves.
In 1979 Sorry produced his third LP for the Paris based Sonafric group. Long out of print Africa Seven is pleased to be re-issuing the LP with the authorization of the newly reformed Sonafric group. The re-issue benefits from extensive restoration and re-mastering to a spectral analysis level, bringing and polishing long lost and distorted sounds. The six track masterpiece opens with ”Mayel”. It blends Afro-space grooves, cowbell and swirling organ with psych guitar and punchy horns. ”Kanaga 78” was named after his band of the time. Sounding as fresh (if not more so) in 2016 as it did in 1979 the hypnotic bass, expansive drums, twisting organ and snakelike fuzz-guitar all combine to create a masterpiece of African psychedelia. ”Bayadjourou” closes off Side A of the LP with its pulsating, incessant organ hook-line and driving tom drums while adding in layers of Malian vocal from a female chorus and Sorry himself. Side B opens up with ”Tjamantie Kolo” which is powered by driving conga and drums layered with traditional vocals and distorted picked electric guitar lines. ”N’Nebakaidi” focuses on the song writing skill and delivery of Sorry who delivers a masterful vocal over grooves which somehow manage to sound melancholy but somehow also forlornly uplifting at the same time. The LP closes with ”Nani Nani” which is a brass driven wall of African sound.
The latest vinyl slice from Fly by Night Music sees us head to the depths of central Africa via Paris to track down a feast of rare seventies afro funky jams from Cameroonian master musician EKO. We’ve brought FBNM favourite Riccio along for the journey too, who has provided us with a fantastic Rerub coaxing out some modern dancefloor sensibilities and production sparkle. Eko Roosevelt Louis has had a music career spanning over forty years, born the grandson of a Kribi tribal chief, his musical persuasion beginning humbly with his village’s local church before his formal education at the Senegal conservatoire and Paris’ École Normale de Musique. EKO made a number of jazz funk and disco records in the mid seventies during a stint recording and touring in and around France before returning to Cameroon to take over his grandfather’s tribal chieftaincy, a role he still holds today! Alongside this position of office EKO has continued to work with music, performing, teaching and even leading Cameroon’s national orchestra! The tracks we have selected for reissue are all taken from EKO’s third album, Funky Disco Music which was recorded in Paris and released on his own Dragon Phenix imprint. Sung in a combination of English and EKO’s native tongue we’ve lined up a real excursion in feel good afro-jazz, funk and soul made purely for dancing feet and boogying butts.
Created by the inspired young Jared Hines and produced by master minds Ron Trent and Jonecy, this self titled follow up to ”Mother Confessor” features four etherial, lush tracks that have a live feel and are equally heavenly. Inspired by the Jazz Funk elements of UK outfit Atmosfear and the alternative Disco sounds of Dinosaur L, presented here, A Band Called Flash embrace the energy of “live” dance music. Reminiscent of the early 80’s Boogie sound, A Band Called Flash will surely capture the attention of the more eclectic, global dance floor.
A compilation of highly collectable and rare Surinamese 45’s and LP cuts. Compiled by Antal Heitlager & Thomas Gesthuizen this is the follow up to the Kindred Spirits released Surinam! compilation. This volume goes even deeper into the field of 70ties and 80ties funk music from the Surinamese dance floors.
In a world without hope, a world with no appetite for sonic adventures, there’s only one man who can save us all. He is… the Sample Jesus! From behind the enchanted pyramids of Egypt comes a man that has nothing to prove but a lot to give. Taught by a legendary Pharaoh, he has lived the life of an eremite for decades. Exhausted after years of asceticism there was only one goal on his mind: to blow all the misery out of our heads. On the constant search for the perfect sample he listened to the finest Mongolian folk to experimental Tuvan Throat singings. It was only recently that he was returning from his self-imposed exile to come up with a record that hits deep in everybody’s soul. Hallelujah, House-heads and Hip-Hop-kids, be prepared. Listen to the word of the Sample Jesus!
Left Ear Records went back to Coleman’s original master tapes for their vinyl reissue of the Commander’s 1981 private press album Mastership, a lost electronic funk classic. Truly nuts and really kind of essential. Check the instrumental cut, Mastership – a head nod synth voyage of the highest order.
Big Mean Sound Machine is a twelve-piece Afrobeat band native to Ithaca, New York. They tour 150 days a year and have a large and dedicated following up and down the East coast. Still, it is a crime that Big Mean Sound Machine is not well known elsewhere. The band’s tremendous sound combines a big band aesthetic while channeling a global sense of musicality. Their shows leave fans drenched in sweat from dancing as audiences absorb the West African, Caribbean, Jazz and Funk traditions that Big Mean Sound Machine carries forward.
Galaxy Sound Co. know how to repackage lost and rare soul 7″s, and this new two-headed funk bullet from Thelonious Gillespie is just painfully on target. The first edit is of “Soul Food” by Frankie Seay & The Soul Riders, a moody, dusty percussion bomb brimming with breaks and a grainy guitar accompanied by fine brass waves. Lyn Christopher’s “Take Me With You” is pruned and reshaped into a glorious soul ballad with a hard edge, and a driving rhythm led by gliding electronic guitars and an inimitable bassline.
Homesick #5 is the unplanned result of a tremendously funky DJ set by General Ludd in Hong Kong. Three tracks have been chosen by the Homesick team to reflect the intense disco inferno atmosphere we all felt on that unforgettable night.
Marvis Dee returns to In My Dreams for the second part of his EP series with the sparking, 80’s boogie-house 5-tracker, Dreams Of A Future Metropolis. Huge shimmering synths, funk-heavy basslines and serious grooves all sailing out with the setting sun.
A lot of folks feel like they know DaM-FunK, he is laid-back, affable and personable but to truly get the guy, I mean really understand him, is to know a deep love of music like no other. A more suitable reflection of this is his contribution to the beloved DJ-Kicks series. A snapshot into the mind of the pioneer of Modern-Funk music…get to know the man behind the shades. For fans of George Clinton, Madlib, Theo Parrish, Flying Lotus…
‘Periplo’ marks the solo debut of Early Sounds Recordings co-founder Pellegrino S. Snichelotto, following occasional contributions to other material from the label’s extended family of artists. Pellegrino goes for a periplus around Mediterranean savors, dispensing a multi-flavored cocktail of fast-moving disco groovers, spacey jazz-fusion experiments and sun-bleached funky melters. Stylistically, most of the tracks sit somewhere between jazz-funk, cosmic funk, and the kind of melodious Afro-Cosmic fare that was once a staple of Northern Italy’s eccentric club scene. There’s plenty of hazy musical humidity to enoy, too, with the impeccable “Ad Libitum” standing out.
Ahmed Malek was one of the most important musicians of the Algerian scene of the 1970s. His sountrack works that were composed for various Algerian movies of the time fuse Arabic influences with jazz, psych and funk influences. Dark cineastic soundscapes meet african Jazz at times reminicent of Mulatu. Original copies of his vinyl releases have been sold for enormous amounts. For this release we combined the strongest tracks from his releases with a selection of unreleased material straight from the families archive. The vinyl edition comes with a 8 page 12” size booklet, the cd version with a 16 page booklet with lot of unseen photos, an interview with the artist from 1978 and an introduction to Algerian cinema.
Philou has a combination of Congolese, Nigerian and Sierra Leonean heritage and it is in these roots that he has built his sound. This EP is a dedication to the Amsterdam based Alkebulan Project, the project brings artists from Africa & African Diaspora together. This time with Nigerian artist Villy and his group ”Villy & The Xtreme Volumes.”
Reissue of ultra rare 7” from the cult, Orchestre Rail Band of Bamako, one of the most prolific bands in all of West Africa. This legendary orchestra has launched, among others, the careers of Salif Keita, Mory Kanté and Djélimady Tounkara and has bequeathed in just fifteen years one of the most important work in Malian and West African music.
Two tracks officially licensed and remastered and never before issued on a 45 before. Taken from the self titled Hungarian album from 1981 Dimenzio ‘ Bamba’ is jazz dancefloor monster in the true sense of the word and is a Gilles Peterson club classic. On the flip the lesser known ‘Daimont’ from French artist Marius Cultier and taken from the 1975 album Ouelele Souskai .
Gary Gritness AKA Slikk Tim lands on Hypercolour with The Sugar Cane Chronicles Vol. 1. He displays a deft hand of producing futuristic funk sounds. A spot on blend of raw drum programming and blissfull jazz funk riffs, “Preachin Some Tight Game” sets the EP’s tone just right with its infectious melodies and cruising groove. Darker 1980’s soundtrack vibes are explored on “Stayin’ Strong Hand’ with its thick analogue atmosphere, whilst the laid back and freestyle vibes of Working Girls’ demands to be played in the Cadillac with the top down. EP closer, “Fly Shit”, continues with the tranquil melodies and G-Funk factor.
Nomade Orquestra came together in Sao Paolo in the year 2012, though they could just as easily have emerged fully formed into our world from a mystical land where spaced out jazz soundtracks daily life and the passing of time is rhythm and groove… such is their elusive, ethereal yet highly accomplished and deeply funky otherness. The time is ripe for ten of the most talented and daring musicians working in Brazil today to deliver their fully formed debut. Effortlessly weaving through the disparate sounds of Brazil’s diverse musical diaspora, the group describe themselves and their shared project as ‘the point where different musical expressions and strands meet and interact in a unique way.’ From funk and soul to Afrobeat, Ethio-grooves, dub and hip hop, their sound remains firmly anchored in the world of jazz while taking off to the cosmic stratosphere and incorporating electronic elements, alongside traditional Brazilian styles along the way
Finland’s Jimi Tenor is simply a great musician, a true visionary when it comes to dance – and non-dance – experimentalism, and one of the few truly imaginative minds left; yes, we know that’s a bold statement, but it’s what we truly believe. Here he is on Philophon with a deeply explorative 7″, starting with the psychedelic hymns of “Order Of Nothingness”, a song that seems to be drenched in 70’s mysticism, but that somehow also sounds utterly contemporary. “Tropical Eel” is more left of field, where digitised Eastern melodies bleep to a steady, jazzy rhythm that simply calls for a head-nod.
The Hipodrome Of Music 