The Matthew Herbert Big Band - There's Me & There's You
www.k7.com
Tadaa ! Another Herbert record has come our way. . . As usual there is some highbrow concept connected to these recordings : the cover is a petition for the idea of music as 'a political force of note and not just the soundtrack to over-consumption', but as usual with Herbert, that doesn't stand in the way of the listening pleasure. Well, it's pretty hard to ignore the political slant of his lyrics and even sounds (cut-up credit cards, 100 people saying yes...). It's something that will probably render this album incomprehensible/unlistenable in some years time, but that is part of his point I guess. No Dani Siciliano this time, but Eska (who already worked with Uschi Classsen, NSM, Cinematic, TY, Troubleman,...)! Her golden voice is perfect against the backdrop of mix-n-match horns, clicks , crackles and pops from the band. Most songs have a really spiritual (as in -gospel/-jazz) feel, with very dynamic passages alternating with almost silent parts. Closer 'Just Swing' is my favourite (strangely, the least political?! - does that mean i'm part of the problem ?). Anyway, the live shows will surely be the best way to enjoy this album. But if you can't make them,then listen to the record (ehhh, cd or mp3 actually), it's urgent !   (10/10/2008)

Uncle Funkenstein - Together Again
www.jazzmanrecords.co.uk
This must be the rarest jazz/groove record ever to come out of Indiana, as this 1983 session was only ever privately issued (you could find a edited- track on Ubiquity's ''Feelin' Good'' compilation). But here comes Jazzman Gerald to the rescue. He is starting a ''Holy Grail'' series of (strictly limited to 500 numbered copies) vinyl reissues of impossible to obtain jazz and funk rarities. The fact that he chose this as the first of the series must tell you something. The first disc of this two lp set is in fact one massive song, or at least three variations on the same funky latin theme. With a super bassline and plenty plenty solos of all instruments including composer Russel Webster's heavy sax, it's a must have. This is a simply irresistible, epic groove ! Disc two is a more traditional affair with a few typically forgettable 80s styles thrown in for good (or bad) measure. . . But the magical trio of ''Uncle Funkenstein'' makes this an inevitable record. Buy before they're all gone (hey, you can always buy the cd. . .).   (10/10/2008)

Thievery Corporation - Radio Retaliation
www.thieverycorporation.com
A welcome return to the golden formula for the Thievery guys ! After the less successful (or did I miss something) pop experiments on 2005's ''The Cosmic Game'',
mssrs. Garza & Hilton serve up their trusted recipes for chilling out. All the usual elements are here : dubby bass, sitars, jazzy horns, funky guitars,...you must know them by now. And if you look very carefully, you'll notice their political engagement too. No, just kidding, the whole deal screams eco-consciousness freedom warriors : from the nice orginal packaging (recycled paper, soy based inks...) and cover picture (balaclava!) to the songtitles (''Vampires'', ''El Pueblo Unido'', ...) and lyrics (''Sound the alarm, order the attack...''), it's clear that they're no supporters of the status quo. And if you're not ready to commit to the ideas on this album, you can still enjoy the delicious grooves. Joined by some great guests (Femi Kuti, Seu Jorge, Anoushka Shankar, Chuck Brown,... !), the 'Corporation'are clearly back on track...   (26/09/2008)

Herbie Hancock - Hear O Israel -A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz
www.jonnyrecords.co.uk
Thank you Jonny Trunk ! If it wasn't for the tireless efforts of this vinyl junnkie, we would have probably never heard this gem. Originally commisioned by a Jewish organization and privately issued in 1968, it never received proper distrbution and only a couple of hundred copies were ever sold. However, composer Jonathan Klein managed to gather a stellar array of players for the execution of his pieces : Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Grady Tate, Thad Jones all accompaniy the Hebrew (and English) readings and chants from Scripture. But this music is not just for people of the Jewish faith, even a fervent heathen like myself can't help being moved by the spiritual force of this album. Ranging from extensive jazz swirls to bossanova (?!), the pieces all convey a sense of wisdom, faith and hope for humanity. A rare treat in these weary times, so do yourself (and your soul) a favour and check this out...   (08/08/2008)

J.A.M - Just a Maestro
www.brownswoodrecordings.com
Did you ever wonder how Soil & ''Pimp'' Sessions would sound without those killer horns ? Well, now you can find out, because that's exactly what J.A.M is ! The trademark ''death jazz'' sound is wonderfully transformed to a sometimes very energetic (it's still the guys from Soil & ''Pimp'' !) and sometimes more cool and collected, classic trio form. On ''Jazzy Joint'', there's excellent vocal support (including some scatting!) from massive talent (and label-mate) José James. It's like a lounge album for extreme gourmets, by which I mean all you hepcats !   (07/07/2008)

Kaleta & Zozo Afrobeat - Country Of Guns
www.tramprecords.com
You either like Afrobeat or you think it all sounds a bit the same. If that is the case : move along, nothing to see here. But for those of us who like the repetitive, hypnotic grooves of the genre, this one is a little gem ! Fronted by Nigerian exile Kaleta, this band has Fela's fire and is not too proud to pass it on. In just four songs , this vinyl-only album (suck it, digital chickens !) brings us some driven, complex vision with sophisticated rhythms and jazzy and funky elements thrown in for good measure. Shake Your Nyansh !...   (06/06/2008)

Various - I Like It Like That !
faniarecords.com/fania
Remix-fever in Latin-Land ! That is how you could describe this varied offering. The remixers read like a veritable who's who of contemporary Latin-influnced producers : Bugz, Louie Vega, Quantic, 4 Hero,... all taking on mythical songs from the massive Fania catalogue. Done with utmost respect for the (let's face it : fantastic) source material, the guys update the classic Fania sound for the discerning dancefloors worldwide. Sinden's take on La Lupe's 'Fever' might be too full-on for some, but that's just them gettin older. Muy Caliente !   (06/06/2008)

Thomas Dutronc - Comme Un Manouche Sans guitare
www.thomasdutronc.fr
Yes, it's Jacques Dutronc & Françoise Hardy's son. But don't let the whole ''rockstar-baby'' thing stand in the way. This is a little gem ! Bitten by the Django-virus, Thomas picked up the guitar and started strumming, ulimately resulting in this little gem (he was also involved in the ''Triplettes De Belleville'' soundtrack)! Gypsy-jazz, chanson, even bossa gets a look in here. And his lyrics are really up to par (if you understand French, that is). Highlights : the title song is the most signifying : uptempo smoky bar gypsy-jazz. First single ''J'Aime Plus Paris'' sounds like an acerbic answer to his dad's ''Il Est Cinq Heures,...''. I'm sure he's jealous of his son's songwriting talents. ''Solitaires'' sounds a bit like the classic ''Havalina'' from Pixies, but with a nice female voice (Marie Modiano's) added. He covers Kurt Weill's ''September Song'' inna Django fashion, which works great. My fave is nonetheless the odd one out : ''N.A.S.D.A.Q.'' is a great little bossa with excellent lyrics (''Je blanchis mes dents, mais aussi de l'argent...''), that will last me a while. Recommended...   (06/06/2008)

The Herbaliser - Same As It Never Was
www.k7.com
Aha, aha ! The return of the Herbaliser crew. Capitalising on the prowess of their live band, they have wisely decided to keep the scratches and loops to an efficient minimum, allowing the instruments, including the guest-vocalists, to shine. In fact the title says it perfectly : ''Same As It Never Was''. Whether on their funky cinematic breaks as from old (''The Next Spot'', ''Amores Bongo'', ''Blackwater Drive''), that typical boiling funk sound with Jessica Darling as high funk priestess (''On Your Knees'', ''Clap Your Hands'' and others) or Jean Grae with some ghetto wisdom over an Isaac Hayes/Lalo Shifrin style groove (''Street Karma''), the Herbaliser deserve some attention. Oh, and be sure to catch them live this summer (fro example at the fantastic GentJazz festival). Getting down guaranteed !...   (06/05/2008)

The Lions - Jungle Struttin'
www.ubiquityrecords.com
A west coast collective of players from Orgone, Breakestra, Sound Directions and Connie Price & The Keystones make up The Lions ! Imagine a reggae project issued by Stones Throw, and you've got half of the sound. And since this one's on Ubiquity, it's got a bit more of a straight funk groove at times. Add some Latin and Etiopian Jazz in there and you've got it. Great stuff all around, and as cherry on the cake a skankin' hot version of Lyn Collins'semina funk classic ''Think''. Yah mon...   (05/05/2008)

Various - Andy Votel's Brazilika
www.faroutrecordings.com
After Kenny Dope and 4 Hero, it's now weird-music maestro Andy Votel to show us the diamonds and pearls he dug out of the mountain of MPB (Musica Popular Brasilera) that was released in the late sixties - early seventies in Brazil. And what a treasure trove he has come up with ! The usual artists maybe : Os Mutantes, Os Novos Baianos, Os Brazoes, Azymuth,... but a great selection of tracks handpicked by Andy Votel and all originally released on Brazil's Som Livre and RGE imprints. Distorted guitars, wacky percussion and vocal arrangements give these recordings an individuality exclusive to Brazil. None more so than the fuzz-ridden, re-workings of classic national favourites exemplified by Moraes Moreira's version of ''Se Voce Pensa'' previously recorded by both Gal Costa and Roberto Carlos. Also represented is Brazilian funk legend Tim Maia with a track from his ''I've joined the Mundo Racional mystical sect'' days (best known song from that era ''O Caminho Do bem'' featured on the ''Cidade De Deus'' Soundtrack) : ''E Necessario'', a funky ditty with blazing horns and a (mystical ?) choir. The tracks are partly mixed together which gives the experience a distinctly ''Dj Gone Mad'' feel, but I can dig it !...   (05/05/2008)

Jamie Lidell - Jim
www.warprecords.com
We already knew for Jamie's 'penchant' for Motown soul from previous album ''Multiply'', but ''Jim'' goes even further into (classic) R&B territory. Old style, but not old-school, Jamie keeps things fresh. Opening track ''Another Day'' places Lidell alongside renowned crooners such as Stevie Wonder, while ''Out of My System'' channels the funk strut of late 60s, and ''All I Wanna Do'' is an old-school slow jam in the vein of ''You Send Me''. ''Hurricane'' which features backing vocals from electro diva Peaches, takes up the hillbilly funk sound once thrown down by Parliament. Tepid ballad ''Rope of Sand'' is an anticlimactic closing track but mostly because the rest of the album exudes such joyous verve. Old is made new again in the best possible way on what could surely be the perfect soundtrack for a sultry, soulful summer.   (05/05/2008)

Hal Singer & Jef Gilson - Soul Of Africa
www.kindred-spirits.nl
For years now, people have been coming up to me when I play something from this album to ask what it is and then slinked away when I pulled out the cover and they saw an album they would have a hell of a time tracking down. Well : the guys at Kindred Spirits (Build An Ark, Jackson Conti,...) have made things easy and have lovingly re-issued this spiritual jazz gem. Originally on cult French label Le Chant Du Monde, this album represents (for me) the best work of Hal Singer. You may know him for the classic "Malcolm X", but most of the time, his style was a bit too r&b for me. Here, with the help of French avant-jazz pianist Jef Gilson, Mr. Singer goes out to the stars with his sax. Every track's a winner, but my personal fave is "Garvey's Strut" : a killer cowbell/drum groove, heavy bassline, magic chords from the piano and magnificent melodic swirls from the saxophone . One of my top ten tunes of all time. Oh, as an extra, there are two extra tracks (with kalimba!) from the rare ''Jef Gilson septet avec Lloyd Miller''10'' released on Jef Gilson's own label Spirit Jazz. Well worth checking !!!   (05/05/2008)

Various - Jazz & Milk Breaks
www.jazzandmilk.com
Good music and good covers - that's the trademark of the Munich based Label Jazz&Milk and its founder Dusty. Five successful 12"s and several remixes have been released so far, including the vinyl-ep series "Jazz&Milk Breaks". This label compilation is an experimental playground for international artists that share one passion: Jazz and Funk influenced music, no matter what style or tempo. Afro-funk, downtempo, electronic beats and classic Jazzbreaks represent a gripping fusion of melodic elements and heavy breakbeats. Get into it...   (06/04/2008)

The Stance Brothers - Kind Soul
www.ricky-tick.com
Teddy Rok is back ! This time round in trio version, with the mysterious funky Stance Brothers. No mystery actually, but it helps to create a classic 60s & 70s feel to the album, as if it was a long-lost CTI-session or an unreleased soundtrack, which it kind of sounds like. But this is no retro-funk at all. The breaks are fresh and sound almost as cut-ups (maybe they are), and the grooves are infectious and timeless. One of the finest Ricky-Tick offerings, as far as I'm concerned...   (03/03/2008)

Various - Nicola Conte presents Viagem
www.faroutrecordings.com
Whan you see the name Nicola Conte crop up, you have certain expectations : "Viagem" is a compilation of Brazilian bossa nova and hard edged samba jazz from the vaults, as you would expect. Tenorio Jr sets the tempo for the album with his pacey two minute piano laden anthem "Nebulosa"(how many times has it been sampled now ? - I really don't know : ) ). "Samadhi" is the other Tenorio Jr cut featured and is a much slower and more emotive affair also taken from his 1964 album on RGE. "Canto De Ossahna" needs no introduction as it's regarded as one of the defining tracks of the era originally on Baden Powell and Vinicius Moraes' seminal "Afro-sambas" LP. Trio Maraya recreate the atmosphere originally intended with added vocal harmonies enlightening the experience. Ana Lucia also offers a moody and classic introduction to "Balanco Do Mar", later bursting into life helped by a supreme piano and flute solo. Other anthems come from Yvette with her uplifting rendition of "Preconceito". With the help of flautist Hermeto Pascoal, Claudia & Brazilian Octopus produce an obscenely positive and smile inducing version of "Gusto De Ser Como Sou". Djalma Dias provides equal measures of goodness with the help of Sambossa 5 and their track "Cidade Vazia". Nicola proves (onece again) that he knows his chops. So do yourself a favor and get this album...   (03/03/2008)

Various - Laurent Garnier & Carl Craig - Kings Of Techno
www.bbemusic.com
We should have informed you earlier about this series from BBE (especially the jazz part), but we hope we'll be forgiven for jumping on a little late by informing you about this superb new volume. Kings Of Techno is the 7th instalment and compiled by two living legends - not only in techno but in music in general. Laurent Garnier is more or less the godfather of techno in Europe, while Carl Craig is the personification of the multi-faced music scene in Detroit. BBE thought it would be a good idea to have Laurent do the Detroit perspective and Carl the European perspective. And so Laurent focuses on Detroit with punk, hiphop, jazz, techno and funk from Jay Dee, The Stooges, Funkadelic, Alice Coltrane and Underground Resistance, while Carl goes back into time with wave and electro from Art Of Noise, Yello, Flying Lizards, Black Dog, Nitzer Ebb and Liaisons Dangereuses. Carl even introduces the tracks as they come along, in his own crazy way. As you can see the mix is eclectic to say the least, but these boys wouldn't be who they are today if they couldn't blend it into a great musical journey to the roots of techno. Listen and learn.   (23/11/2006)

Ty - Closer
www.bigdada.com
''Everybody wants to be the best in the world, I just wanna have sex with my girl''. Yes, the mighty Ty is back! And a new album from Ty is like coming home. On ''Closer'', his third, he brings the familiar lyrical mix of serious and hilarious, backed by superfunky hiphopbeats and sweet soul. ''Don't Watch That'' has an oldskool feel, while ''This Here Music'', with Speech from Arrested Development, is futuristic - as in: bring on the summer! Speech isn't the only guest from across the Atlantic. Bahamadia and De La Soul also represent. Closer to home, broken beat fans will be delighted with ''What You Want''. Elsewhere, his collaboration with Tony Allen left it’s marks on ''Sweating For Salary'', a duet with Wunmi. London soul diva Eska again delivers quality on two songs (this lady is slowly becoming an underground legend, I tell ya!). Although a few songs are a bit, well, cheesy, Ty re-establishes himself as one of the UK's most celebrated rappers and performers - don’t miss the European Tour!   (23/11/2006)

The Heritage Orchestra - The Heritage Orchestra
www.theheritageorchestra.com
The first band to release an album on Gilles Peterson's new Brownswood Recordings, currently performs with 43 musicians on stage - it's a big band but not as we know it. They take the format in a thrilling new direction. "Mothers And Daughters Now Mothers", the opening track of this fantastic album, immediately sets the mood: cinematic orchestrations with room for solos and an important place for the rhythm-section - it's jazz/funk, but not as we know it. THO is the brainchild of Jules Buckley (composition and orchestration) and Chris Wheeler (production), both still in their 20s but already a phenomenon in the UK jazz-scene with this extraordinary project. And who better to help them than saxman Chris Bowden, who has worked with 4Hero and The Herbaliser and released his own material on Soul Jazz and Ninja Tune. The result is inspired and totally fresh; a stunning piece of music from a bunch of young jazz rebels. You need this!   (23/11/2006)

[re:jazz] - Expansion
www.infracom.de
Jazzin' up popular (dance-) hits has been fun, and [re:jazz] are clearly the masters of the ''genre'', but is that enough ? That is the question bored beardstroking beatjunkies are asking themselves. And i'll gladly leave them to it, while i listen once more to the soothing grooves of this album.
This time round the re-jazzers have transformed Coldcut's ''People Hold On'' into a jazz swinger, turned Herbie Hancock's ''Rock It'' into a smooth bossa thingie (?!!) and house-classic ''Plastic Dreams'', originally by Jaydee gets a sublime dark jazzy makeover. Add to that some attractive compositions of their own, vocal support from Alice Russel and Ernesto, plus fluegelhorn-master Ack Van Rooyen and you get a delightful cocktail of (granted) lounge-jazz that i certainly dig. It seems to me that the band has gotten tighter and i'm sure they are an absolute delight to experience live (hint, hint, all you concert-promotors reading this...). So if you're in need of some relaxing jazzy grooves (aren't we all ?), get this on your stereo and chill...
  (10/11/2006)

Kid Koala - Your Mom's Favorite DJ
www.ninjatune.net
''Idiotic yet completely charming'', a lady says at the beginning of the record. Yep, the wizkid from planet Turntablizm is back! 'Some Of My Best Friends Are DJ's' had a twisted, dark kind of humour, but on his new ''album'' the Kid again touches a lighter note. In his own unique style he throws in breaks, stand-up comedians, jazz-swingers, Gremlins, blues, educational films and some heavy raaaawk guitars. The album looks back to his seminal mixtape 'Scratchscratchscratch' from a decade ago and his first full release 'Scratch Happy Land' (Charlie Brown: ''I Gotta Rock!''), but also hints at stuff he’s got in the pipeline, like a musical puppet show and Slew, a turntablist rock band(!). But before we get to see any of that, these 45 crazy minutes will make your life a lot more fun.   (13/10/2006)

Paul Murphy - The Trip
www.afroartrecords.com
Mr. Murphy and his Afro Art imprint have brought us some great delights these past few years (Black Science Orchestra, Spiritual South,...). His own ''Jazz Room'' is still doing damage on discerning dancefloors worldwide, and here he is with his album debut. ''Proper'' instruments (like the vibraphone and trombone) mixed with electronic wizardry in jazzy moods is the recipe here. And it tastes like more !
From more danceable tracks like ''Soul Call'' and previous twelve ''Budapest Chachacha'' to more atmospheric offerings like the fitting tribute ''Herbie Mann'' or the delicate ''Mr. Cosmic'', the whole thing is wonderfully scored and masterfully executed. It's really more than just a dance-album. The influences are really integral parts of the songs and not just gimmicky add-ons (you hear me Jaxx ?). You can almost smell India in the title track and the acrid smell of fear and terror is almost palpable on the claustrophobic ''Baghdad''. And his cover of the theme of Kurosawa's film classic ''Seven Samurai'' simply puts him in a league of his own. In fact, the whole album proves that Paul Murphy is at the top of his game. You could call it acid jazz, but then it's Acid as in Gorbies (now THAT was acid !) and not as in The Brand New Heavies, you dig ?
  (12/10/2006)

Georgia Anne Muldrow - Olesi: Fragments Of An Earth
www.stonesthrow.com
This lady's voice and charisma first impressed me when I saw her jamming with Wajeed's PPP in Amsterdam and Berlin last year. Together with Tiombe Lockheart she also did a couple of tracks on the 'Triple P' album, to much critical acclaim. Now this 22 year old has a Stones Throw record deal under her belt and has just released her fantastic debut album. Like Madlib, she is also connected to the progressive jazz scene from the 60s and 70s. Her father made instruments for Eddie Harris and her mother was a singer with Pharoah Sanders. Georgia combines that influence with the equally progressive hiphop visions from her Stones Throw colleagues - and she does it all by herself too. Opening track 'New Orleans', an eruption of raw, avant-garde soul jazz, immediately grabs you by the neck. Then, over 21 miniature tracks, she takes us on a journey through her life and experiences. At times soulful and seriously funky, elsewhere on the twisted boom-bap tip, she talks about her quest for true love but also about the issues in today's society. The album quickly moves from one short track to the next, which demands a little effort from the listener but at the same time makes it all the more interesting and compelling. 'Olesi' needs to be experienced in one take, as an expression of sublime passion and creativity. An overwhelming debut and in my book, one of the year's top releases.   (11/10/2006)

Various - Jazz Travels
www.hitoprecords.com
Crate-digger, producer & dj Oli Stewart, better known as Casbah 73 (his album "Moods and Grooves" was also reviewed in these pages) has made his own compilation of tracks that he has encountered on his many collecting trips (hence the title). And here it is, released by the gentle people of HiTop Records.
Taking the spirit of open-mindedness which so inspired this 'scene' in all its shapes & forms, he has put together these 12 tracks ; a collection of songs from around the world, spanning three decades, from the 60s to the early 80s, all connected by a certain jazziness of style and in many cases infused with a healthy dose of latin feeling. Most have never been reissued since their original release and only obtained minimal exposure at the time, making them extremely difficult to find in their original format. So definitely worth a listen !
  (30/08/2006)

Bugz In The Attic - Back In The Doghouse
www.bugzintheattic.co.uk
Although they have been working together for almost a decade, it's no surprise we had to wait until now for the Bugz' debut album. These 8 cats have been taking the (jazz)dance underground by storm with a serious output of singles, remixes and albums. Need a few hints? Seiji & G-Force, Orin Walters (aka Afronaught), Alex Phountzi, Daz-I-Kue and Kaidi Tatham (aka Agent K) are all members of the collective; Alex, Orin and Kaidi are the threesome behind the Neon Phusion album; Daz and Kaidi record as Misa Negra and together with Dego from 4Hero they are DKD; both Afronaught and Agent K have released albums; Kaidi plays keys, drums or flute on a million tracks, has toured with The Herbaliser and Mark de Clive-Lowe, and is the partner of IG Culture in Likwid Biskit.
Last year V2 released the 'Got The Bug' remix compilation with now classic reworks for 4Hero, Vikter Duplaix and many others, plus a new, P-funk inspired track 'Booty La La', which became a suprise hit and convinced V2 to sign the Bugz for an album. Although it had surfaced in their remix for Macy Gray as well, the P-funk injection in the Bugz-sound came as a bit of a surprise too. Those of you who listened to their contribution to the 'Life:Styles'-series however, will know these guys have a deep love and respect for 80s soul and funk.
'Consequences' and the Prince-esque 'I'm Gonna Letcha' are good examples of how the 80s revival really should sound like. There's even a bouncing cover version of Yarbrough and Peoples' hit 'Don't Stop The Music'. These boogie-tunes are confronted with trademark broken beats ('Inna Row', 'Redhanded'), future funk ('Move Aside', 'Knocks Me Off My Feet'), latin sounds ('Sounds Like...'), soul ('Worla Hurt') and superphat r&b ('No More', where I suspect a heavy productional stamp from Seiji). Put this all together and you have a great album of quality dance music. 'Back In The Doghouse' is less experimental than the Bugz' other projects (with none of the tracks passing the 5 minute mark) and is aimed at a larger public, but it certainly does not disappoint. Like Basement Jaxx before them, Bugz In The Attic bring a vital breath of fresh air into dance music. Fantastic!   (20/07/2006)

Jamie Lidell - Multiply Additions
http://www.jamielidell.com/
His fresh take on soul music was definitely one of last year's highlights for both the press and the public, and now Mr. Lidell has handpicked a collection of live versions and remixes to form "Multiply Additions". Not that we expected it, but he didn't exactly pick the remixers to gain more chart succes ('Multiply' went Top 40 in Holland, ladies and gents). Yes, Freeform turn "When I Come Back Around" into a 4/4 club stomper with the help of some 80s Paisley Park samples, but Four Tet created a less obvious banger from "The City", which balances on the (apparently) thin line between disco and electronica. Weird! Luke Vibert delivers another one of his killer reworks, with old skool synth stabs swirling around a familiar but killer break, that inspired Lidell to rerecord his vocals. Herbert and Mocky do what they are expected to do, only Herbert does it much better. Surprise of the pack is Mara Carlyle's touching vocal + ukelele cover version of "Game For Fools", proof that Lidell's creations are good songs in the first place. "Additions" is an appendix worth checking out.   (30/06/2006)

Dwight Trible - Living Water
http://www.ninjatune.net
After last year's extraordinary collaboration with the beatmakers of L.A. (''Love Is The Answer'') and Build An Ark, Dwight Trible rereleases this gem from 2004 on Ninja Tune. No funkjazztical tricknology in sight, ''Living Water'' is a pure, solid jazz album, inspired by Horace Tapscott and his Pan Afrikan's People's Arkestra and John Coltrane's spiritual message of universal peace. Dwight Trible is a vocalist in the tradition - and league! - of Andy Bey and Leon Thomas. Like Thomas, Dwight at one point was the vocalist of the Pharoah Sanders Quintet, where he was able to refine his soulful, technical brilliance with a heartfelt dedication. He has gathered around him a fantastic band, featuring bassist Trevor Ware, drummer Daniel Bejerano and pianists John Rangel and Bobby West, and guests like percussion maestro Derf Reklaw. Listen to their take on Wayne Shorter's ''Footprints'', Coltrane's ''Africa'' or Andy Bey's ''Celestial Blues'' and be amazed, be very amazed. Dwight Trible sings, talks, whispers and roars himself through nine songs of unbelievable beauty, bringing the right message at the right time. The world NEEDS Dwight Trible.   (30/06/2006)

David Borsu - Insight
http://www.davidborsu.com
Fresh sounds from the city of Liège, Belgium. After a remix for Marc Moulin and two highly acclaimed EP's, David Borsu releases his debut album on UK label Counterpoint. As the title promises, we get an insight in the man's musical journey from 70s jazzfunk to today's urban sounds. However, the album opens smoothly inna 40s jazz/Koop-stylee, with the beautiful voice of Damia Da Costa, and perfectly builds from there. 'Reminiscent' reveals his fusion influences, 'Hosanna' is pure gospel-injected funk, while 'East Beaumont' and 'Syncopassion' will go down well with the fans of Domu and Jazzanova. Check the many killer basslines! He also invited some friends to play well-placed rhodes, flute, sax or percussion, adding a live feel to most of the tracks. The most remarkable guest is souljazz goddess Navasha Daya from Fertile Ground, who sings, beautiful as ever, on electrofunk stomper 'Move' (also present in a Mark de Clive-Lowe remix). The future jazz of 'Coltrance' and 'Way Of Life' complete this great debut, which will hopefuly put David on the global nujazz-map. Skilled production, good songs, no fillers. Well done, David!   (20/06/2006)

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble -
www.planet-mu.com
Nominated for my "bandname of the year" award (last year was Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, of course), the Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble bring us exactly what you would expect from such a combo : a mix of live instruments and subtle electronica, cinematic soundscapes and late-night jazz, oozing with dark tension and moody melodies. Apparently started as a project to make music for silent movies (à la Nosferatu and Metropolis) around the turn of the century (the 21st century, of course), this collection of tracks was mixed and mastered in 2005. Opener "The Nothing Changes" sets the tone : a blunted double-bass rhythm, a guitar loop and some horns and strings to spice things up. In "Pearls For Swine", things go a bit Squarepusher (read : over the top) in the middle and then drop back to some ambient-y post-rock. "Adaptation Of The Koto Song" and "Parallel Corners" go on a more rhythmic path, you could almost dance to them, while "Lobby" takes us on a horror-trip (those strings !), as do the drones of "Amyghdala". "Vegas" sounds like a deserted airport in a David lynch movie and the overlong "March Of The Swine" closes the album (it runs almost 70 mins ! - the album, of course).
So if you'd like to hear some Amon Tobin without the breaks or a darker, more ambient version of Tortoise, this one's for you !
  (29/05/2006)

Various - Spain Is Different ! vol. 2
www.hitoprecords.com
As some of you may know, HiTop is one of my favourite labels. I've been following them since their first release back in 2000. Axel Krygier, Javi P3z, Casbah 73, the numerous compilations,... HiTop has proved to be a very tasty label and now they're back to showcase what Spain has to offer for the oh-six on this second installment of Spain Is Different.
Hip-hop, jazz, latin, reggae, flameco,...the influences range far and wide on this selection of tracks. Gecko Turner kicks things off nicely with ''En La Calle, on The Street'' : a bluesy hip-hop shuffle. Next up are Los Rumbers with a crazy flamenco/hip-hop mash-up on ''Viva Lo Guenno''. Beat Nation team up with toaster Ben Jammin for the skankin' ''Ask Me No Question''. Then it's time for one of my faves : the latin killer ''Charanga Pa Gozar'' by JP Duet, who hail from Tenerife, of all places ! Don Matias is up next with the slowly building latin-jazz of ''U-Ba''. Then it's the jazz-bossa of ''Summertime'' by Soul Dynamics featuring the delightful voice of Wanda Felicia. Mojo Project (representing another hip Spanish label Lovemonk with Gecko Turner and Wagon Cookin') get almost broken afro on us with an instrumental version of their classic ''Nana For Child''. Professor Angel Dust (from Barcelona - where else?) keeps things hot with his latin floorfiller ''Give Satisfaction''. The ''Big Hit'' on this compilation is Wagon Cookin's killer re-work of ''Cabo Verde Strut'' by Casbah 73 (a massive 12'' from last year) and to finish things off in style and beauty, there's the soulful guitar-driven ''Umba'' by Pablo Sanchez.
So get this album and discover what's heating up the barrio, it's sure to heat up your summer as well. Famoso !
  (18/05/2006)

Muallem - Frankie Splits
www.compost-records.com
On his debut, 26 yo. David Muallem from München covers a handful of genres in little more than an hour, but succeeds in making them his own. Confusion strikes at first listen, but the second time around I was hooked. Muallem's first love is hip hop and he managed to bring some big underground names to his studio to drop some rhymes. Beans is confronted with a dirty electronic beat in 'New Thunder', while Lyrics Born can be his own funky self on '2Hot 2Cold 2Tough'. Although the production is flawless (and the mc's great ofcourse), these songs didn't really surprise me. 'Some Loving' (with Martine Girault, remember her?) is a nice piece of electronic soul, but when the spacedisco of 'Shanti Dance' hits, the album really takes off. We're treated with soulpop featuring Shawn Lee in 'Cheerleader', breakbeats in the horny 'Sweat' featuring one Audrey, slamming acidhouse in 'Down 2004' and some more funky hip hop in 'Have Fun With It' (featuring Brooklyn's Wordsworth). Although it covers many genres, Muallem still manages to put them together in a consistent album, thanks to his production skills. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets quite a few phonecalls, asking for his help in the studio. 'Frankie Splits' is cool, sexy and hip. Don't sleep on it.   (11/05/2006)

Nicole Willis And The Soul Investigators - Keep Reachin' Up
www.nicolewillis.com
Nicole Willis started her career doing background vocals with Brand New Heavies and Deee-Lite, then became the lead singer for soul-acid-jazz-outfit Repercussions (first ever 12'' on Mo'Wax!) and ultimately fell in love with Jimi Tenor. After two largely ignored but solid solo outings, she has now teamed up with Finland's deep funk ambassadors The Soul Investigators. ''Keep Reachin' Up'' will easily become one of the year's top albums. Motownsoul, deeper funk combined with Isaac Hayes-like strings and some bluesy ballads make the album a joy to listen to... again and again. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Alice Russell & The Quantic Soul Orchestra and now Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators: 3 bands to secure the future of deep soul and even deeper funk. Essential purchase.   (10/05/2006)

Cecilia Stalin - Straight Up
www.ceciliastalin.com
I only recently got my hands on this 2005 album, but it shouldn't fall between the proverbial cracks.
Who doesn't remember the magical 'Waltz for Koop' ? Well, Cecilia Stalin was the angelic voice on that track. This Swedish songstress (Ricky Tick, Raw Fusion, DNM... what is going on up there in Scandinavia ?) has toured with Koop, performed in various NY jazz-clubs and leads her own Sextett (cd "Plays"- 2004).
On this album of straight jazz (hence the title), she can really show off her impressive improvisational skills. Spread over seven tracks, ranging from upbeat and uptempo to emotionally charged, Ms. Stalin convinced me that she is one of the jazz-voices to look out for (i'd love to see her live). Classic vocal jazz à la Carmen Lundy or Dee Dee Bridgewater, that's the recipe. And it certainly tastes like more. Bring it on, straight up !
  (28/04/2006)

Various - Paz e Futebol - compiled by Jazzanova
www.sonarkollektiv.com
When Germany is hosting the football world-cup, surely every German has a right to exploit the hell out of it ! Lucky for us, it's not all football-shaped beermugs and tasteless silly-ass hats...
Jazzanova take this opportunity to present us with a selection of some of their favourite Brazilian (or Brazilian-inspired) music. The title track is another Marcos Valle gem from the 70s (from his ''Garra'' album), and there's plenty other gems here... Not really obscure or hard-to-find or even themed around football, just really good ! From old school classics like Edu Lobo's ''Vento Bravo'' or ''Nebuloso'' by Tenorio Jr. (as sampled by A Forest Mighty Black = Rainer Trüby) to Chris & Nina's ''Mash Banana'' (from an Especial 12'') and Sirius B's ''Samba Selvagem'' (previously on Freestyle Records) or even two Jazzanova's themselves as Pathless on the glorious ''Goddess''. In short : ideal for those hot afternoon barbecues that are sure to come(...we all hope) and for celebrating when Brazil win their sixth 'copa' !
  (27/04/2006)

Gotan Project - Lunatico
www.gotanproject.com
They've made their first album 'La Revancha Del Tango' last five years, touring extensively and gaining critical and commercial succes.
And now it's time for 'Lunatico' ! The taster 10'' with 'Diferente' and 'Domingo' was just that, an 'amuse bouche' if you will, giving us what we already knew. The main course starts with the first track on the album : 'Amor Porteno',
recorded with Calexico in a sort of Twin Peaks meets Tango style. Heady stuff ! The second track 'Notas' livens things up a bit with some Spanish spoken word over one of those typical Gotan beats. They try out some new things as well : 'Mi Confesion' features some Argentinean rap, courtesy of Koxmoz. A risky cocktail, but they pull it off. The closing track is also worth mentioning, a magical cover of Ry Cooder's theme from 'Paris, Texas' (man, i loved that soundtrack : 'I knew these people, these two people...). Almost unrecognizable, but still managing to transfer the feeling of vast empty spaces like the Pampa Argentina. I think they've passed the ''Difficult Second Album''-test succesfully...
  (04/04/2006)

Hugh Masekela - The Chisa Years -Rare & Unreleased, 1965-1975
www.bbemusic.com
Hugh Masekela shouldn't be an unfamiliar name to the readers of these pages. If only because his 'Burning Spear' track keeps popping up on jazzy compilations here and there (i think i've got about four now). Here is a collection of hard to find and unreleased tracks from his Chisa label. Almost all tracks are collaborations so there's some different things going on here : from Fela-style afrobeat ('Ahvuomo' with golden-voiced Miatta Fahinbulleh) to r'n'b ('Afrobeat Blues') and tropical flavours ('Awe Mfana' with the Johannesburg Street Band). Most famous guest is Letta Mbulu, (who got into the limelight again recently through her work with Axelrod) with a couple of beautiful tracks. Certainly worth a listen.   (03/04/2006)

Marc Mac presents Visioneers - Dirty Old Hip Hop
www.bbemusic.com
When even electronic pioneers embrace live instrumentation, you know things are changing... Marc Mac (½ 4Hero) has put together this project with a specific purpose. To quote the man himself : “The Visioneers idea was in my head long before we recorded the first record (extremely limited 7'' on Omniverse from 2002 - ed.). Visioneers is not a band, it’s a studio project. I wanted to pay respect to hip hop producers like Jazzy Jeff, Jay Dee and Pete Rock for introducing me to Jazz and I needed to produce the tracks like hip hop records that sound phat in a club and not like dinner Jazz, it's about reclaiming Jazz.'' And judging by the sublime selection of hip hop covers ("Runnin", "The World Is Yours"), classic breaks ("Ike's Mood I") and originals (the smouldering "It's Simple" or the aptly named "Funk Box" featuring the vocal stylings of Capitol A.), he is doing just that ! Let's hope mr. Mac and his mates take this out of the studio after all and on to a stage near you soon (eh, Bart ?!).   (25/03/2006)

The Bamboos - Step It Up
www.thru-thoughts.co.uk
Another month, another retro funk-band ! That's the feeling i got when i first heard the album. Granted, the ingredients were all there : the funky guitar, the soulful organ, the tight rhythm and the groovy grooves. It even had the obligatory dance-cover : Afronaught's "Transcend Me". Plus Alice Russel lent her golden tonsils to some tracks. But i couldn't help but hearing the originators through every note, the Meters and Booker T. especially. That being said, i'm sure these Aussies can bring any room to it's knees with their funky jams...Nice but not essential.   (19/03/2006)

Coldcut - Sound Mirrors
www.ninjatune.net
Well, they certainly take their time, don't they ? It's been nearly ten years since we last heard from Jonathan Moore and Matt Black and while their music has always been hailed as 'essential' and 'groundbreaking', it has not had general appeal since the Yazz days...
"Sound Mirrors" is hardly gonna change that. While they've drummed up a relative who's who of guests (Robert Owens, Jon Spencer, Saul Williams, Roots Manuva, Mpho Skeef,...), for me they fail to produce a song (or even a hook or line) on this album that stays instantly embedded in my skull. I'm not saying that repeated listening didn't bring any pleasure, on the contrary : it's engaging, adventurous and everything else you would expect from a Ninja Tune album. But for me it just sounds patched together from nine years worth of jamming...sorry.
  (24/02/2006)

Alif Tree - French Cuisine
www.compost-records.com
The buzz around town last year was that compost had lost the plot. But here once again is some proof to the contrary ! 'French Cuisine' is some gourmet s#*t ! It even made it as Gilles' "Worldwide album of the week". High praise ideed for this Frenchmens third album.
I must say i hadn't heard any of his previous work (though he has composed for tv and cinema and has worked with ao. Bugge Wesselthoft and Helen Merrill), but this is excellent. Loungey and funky cut'n'paste hip-hop beats ('Deadly Species', 'I Feel Blue') sit comfortably side by side with jazz grooves ('Forgotten Places', 'My Soul'), actual songs ('Belle', the tangoesque 'L'Amor Nunca Muera') and even a tribute to minimalism ('Mélismes Extatiques') ! You'll recognize the great voices of Shirley Horn, Anna Karina, Nina Simone and David Linx, who make this album tastes like its title : delicious. Oh, and as dessert, Alif supplies actual dining suggestions for every track. So tuck in !
  (16/02/2006)

Roy Ayers - Virgin Ubiquity Remixed
www.bbemusic.com
BBE recently released two volumes of “virgin” Ubiquity material and now launches a series of remixes by some of today’s illuminati. Unfortunately not all of them do a great job, but when Herbert, Osunlade and Wajeed are involved, we listen very carefully. And you should too! Herbert’s ‘Touch Of Ass’ is a scorching down tempo groover, with sparse vocals and instrumentation but a FAT bassline. Enough to make it a killer. Osunlade introduces ‘Tarzan’ to gospel and Afrobeat, of course with that mighty and familiar Yoruba Soul touch. Wajeed’s Platinum Pied Pipers keep the ‘Funk In The Hole’ with added hiphop beats and electronic soul elements. On the house level Kenny Dope and Basement Jaxx do nice things, but unfortunately the rest is filler. Our advise: go dig in the vinyl crates where all remixes are spread over several 12”s. You might also encounter the beautiful Âme remix which, to our disappointment, is nowhere to be found on the cd. ADDED INFO: THE OFFICIAL RELEASE IS A 2CD SET WITH ALL THE REMIXES, INCLUDING ÂME, VIKTER DUPLAIX, PEPE BRADDOCK AND MANY MORE...   (06/02/2006)

Various - Ready Or Not: Deep Jazz Grooves From The CBC Radio Canada Archive 1967-1977
www.dorightmusic.com
Apparently there are still enough unexplored vaults in the world to fill beautiful compilations like this. The Do Right-label has now discovered the archives of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Recorded between 1967 and 1977, these sessions were released in the Radio Canada International (RCI) jazz series, but pressed in very limited quantities. Label boss Jon Kong and researcher Tim Perlich have compiled “a strikingly fresh sounding collection of modal movers, spiritual swingers and Latin flavoured cookers”, so read the liner notes. Although some of the artists (Billy Robinson, Maynard Ferguson and Kathryn Moses) are already household names in the crate digger’s world, this album was a revelation to me. Bring on more gems from the CBC archives!   (18/01/2006)

Novalima - Afro
www.novalima.net
I got this a few months back from by buddy in Peru (thx ced !), and the cd was stuck in the car-stereo for a time but now that mr. Bongo is going to release it, it's time to tell everyone.
As the name suggests, Novalima hail from the Peruvian capital (and Barcelona, London & Hong Kong, but let's not dwell on that !). The desperate lifestyles of the masses form the inspiration and backbone for this, their second album.
Based on traditional songs of the black workers/slaves, some of which are over 100 years old, the musicians of Novalima use afro-peruvian and latin percussion mixed with more up-to-date beats - from broken house to dubby downtempo stuff - to liven up these simple chants. It's a similar concept to the mexican Nortec Collective, who updated the Tijuana sound a couple of years back, but this is really more serious, done with respect and imagination. Kind of like the Peruvian version of Gotan Project. If you were getting bored with (remixed) latin music, you have to check this out, it'll cure what ails you...gracias doctor Bongo !
  (15/12/2005)

Various - Timeless Finest Jazz - compiled by Kindred Spirits
www.dopenessgalore.com
Dutch hipsters Kindred Spirits were allowed in the Timeless Jazz vaults and came out with this collection.
Timeless was (is ?) a Dutch jazz-label that brought great americans (in all jazz genres) over to Europe, and you can hear some of them here : there's Pharaoh Sanders with 'Moonchild' and 'Africa', Benny Golson with 'Times Past', Rodney Jones with 'Articulations' and 'The Gift'. For the latin-minded Batida do great versions of Brazilian classics 'Ponteio' and 'Vera Cruz' and there's the super soft bossa of Samba Trio's 'Aquelas Coisas Todas'. All positive vibes and spiritual grooves. So reasons enough to check this great comp and shake it, don't stir !
  (14/12/2005)

Various - Hip Hop Gold Dust by Prince Paul
www.antidoterecords.co.uk
Prince Paul has always been a firm BTJ favourite. From his work with Stetsasonic and De La Soul to the Gravediggaz and Handsome Boy Modeling School, he always came with the freshest ideas. So the 'Various' label on this package is misleading, because make no mistake : this is all Prince Paul's work!
So what do we find here ? A dope, unreleased (but unsatisfyingly short) Stetsasonic joint : 'Stet Live WNYU', a great alternate mix of Gravediggaz '1-800-Suicide' - a collaboration with the Abbot (RZA). 'My Mindstate', another previously unreleased jam from De La Soul. And 'The Monolith' by Last Emperor, an MC who deserves more recognition, judging from this monster ! There's also the A.I.D.S.-awareness classic 'No Rubber, No Backstage Pass' by Chubb Rock, Justin Warfield's swingin' 'K Sera Sera' and more than ten other tracks full of more proof of Paul's genius, which I'll leave you to discover at the nearest record-store listening-post. To all serious headz : get this ultimate mix-tape of one of the greatest hip hop producers in history ! To all non-serious headz : get into some "real" hip hop with this...
  (13/12/2005)

Super Numeri - The Welcome Table
www.ninjatune.net
Don't read any further if you're insterested in music that makes its statements in three-minute bursts. Super Numeri like to stretch their tracks to say the least : opener 'The First League Of Angels' is 24 minutes long !
Cosmic rhythm and blues is how I would classify their music, as if Can are jamming with Miles Davis in his 'On The Corner' period, while Photek is playing on the radio. Insistent grooves and repetition are the name of the game, but the noodly solo excursions we usually associate with jazz-rock are thankfully absent. So if you're looking for a sound environment for your next LSD dinner-party, pull up a chair at 'The Welcome Table'...
  (06/12/2005)

Various - OST - Original Block Party Edits
emi
2005 really is the year of the re-edit ! Splicing together the 'dancingest' parts of old disco-gems and forgotten funk anthems is 'de rigueur' for any self-respecting producer nowadays. An evolution from the times when dj's did this sort of thing on the live and direct (for a deeper historical pespective : read 'Last Night A Dj Saved My Life' by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton - essential !). Now all us lazy-ass record jockeys can enjoy the fruits of these studio-wizards' knowledge, thanks to Frank Tope and Dean Rudland's OST imprint.
Which brings us to this collection : from the outset, this is a strong set. Opener "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" gets a right rinse by Dj Harvey (the twist comes at the end !). There's more delights, courtesy of Tim 'Love' Lee, who treats Ray Barretto's 'Soul Drummers' with some loving action. The Wiseguys chop up the legendary 'Shack Up' and Fug dirty up the flowerpatch of Minnie's 'Les Fleur'. Oh, and Pressure Drop return to lay some boobytraps under Timmy Thomas' 'Why Can't We Live Together'. Add some Fatboy Slim, Phil Asher and some Zongamin and it becomes a splendid album. So get your booty shakin' to the original block-rockin' beats.
  (06/12/2005)

Jazzanova - Remixes 2002 - 2005
www.sonarkollektiv.com
3 years have passed since 'In Between' and in that period Jazzanova have picked up the remix job again. Although the Berlin collective still has that unique sound, this new compilation has more diversity than it 's predecessor. The earliest tracks of this package, with Roy Ayers and Shaun Escoffery, are vintage Jazzanova : syncopated house rhythms, deep keyboards and tons of Soul. For the Blue Note Revisited project Eddie Gale got a dark, electronic break beat treatment that we hadn't heard from them before. The result was however mind blowing as usual. Then there's the beautiful, uplifting reworks for Heavy and Free Design (pure soul !), while Marcos Valle takes a trip from Rio to Detroit in 'Besteiras Do Amor`. There's a wide range of feelings and tempos on this album and the quality level is high from beginning to end : an undeniably perfect and crystal-clear but at the same time incredibly warm and soulful production. Not just a filler between two albums, this set is essential in any collection. And if you buy the cd-version, you'll get an empty cd-r in the package which you can fill with a choice of exclusive downloads on their site. Progress !   (26/11/2005)

Various - Freshly Composted
www.compost-records.com
Compost may have taken a slightly different (electronic) path over the last year and the competition from former employees in Berlin may be strong, but this, the label's 200th release, is proof that Michael Reinboth's label is as fresh and as relevant as it has ever been. The idea of 'Freshly Composted' is to showcase a bunch of new talents and bring some vinyl only remixes to the cd-public. In the latter category are strong contributions from techno-God Laurent Garnier, household name Beanfield and the ubiquitous Domu. What this man can do with a drum computer is simply amazing and here he delivers one of his strongest remixes to date. Another talent to watch is Henrik Schwarz, a true heir to Carl Craig and Kenny Dixon Jr., who combines jazz and the deepest house you've never heard. Nu-jazzers Intuit and Truby Trio also get a proper house treatment and although the Truby Trio remix album wasn't quite onvincing, the Whignomy Bros. remix works pretty well on this album. The new name on the roster - Muallem (dark and sexy beats), Felix Laband and Jean-Paul Bondy (both jazz and electronica, not jazzy electronica) - can stand up to all this electronic establishment. Keep an eye open for their upcoming albums. 'Freshly Composted' is a strong, well sequenced, nicely packaged compilation - I 'm very willing to forgive them the 'Heart Of Glass' cover. Keep up the good work, Michael, and congratulations !   (25/11/2005)

RSL - Every Preston Guild
www.ninjatune.net
Jazz, funk, latin, bossa nova and house, these guys mix it all up. It's mostly instrumental music, sure (although Julie Gordon can certainly carry a tune). But it never gets boring or too experimental to stand in the way of enjoyment. 'The magic Of Spain' (from the first album 12") and 'Wesley Music' already classics, but there are lots of great tracks on here. In fact I'm not sure I can find one I don't like. In fact, don't read this review : go out and buy this, put it on and it's fiesta-time !!!

  (24/11/2005)

Gerardo Frisina - The Latin Kick
www.ishtar.it
As the title of Mr. Frisina's third album already suggests, this is Afro Cuban Jazz for the next century. With track titles like 'Gods Of The Yoruba' (Horace Silver cover - was on 12") and 'African Seeds', you know you're in for some percussion-laden goodness. There's some Brazil ('Gosto De Que E Bom' - 'Batucafro') and some Bop ('Cohete' - partytime!), a cover of Freddie Hubbard's '7th Day' (sleeper-track of the album) and more latin killers. I won't waste any more words on this : if you liked his other albums, you'll love this. If you don't know him, check it out. It's summer on wax !   (24/11/2005)

Various - Impulsive! - revolutionary jazz reworked
www.impulserecords.com
It seems the only thing we review these days are compilations of re-worked jazz- and funk tunes. But when they are as good as this, we're not going to complain !
Impulse! was one of the key labels of the sixties/seventies (both John and Alice Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Pharaoh Sanders, Oliver Nelson,...) and the freedom the artists enjoyed is echoed in this collection.
RZA takes Mingus' "II B.S." to the basement for some blunts, Prefuse cuts "Mizra" by Gabor Szabo into diamond-shards, Boozoo Bajou dub out "Astral Travelling" and Gerardo Frisina does his latin-magic for Dizzy's "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac". These are all perfect transpositions of the songs into the respective producers' universes. Sa-Ra surprised me with their wild dancefloor-bomb re-work of George Freeman's "A Helluva Town" and Telefon Tel-Aviv hired a full string orchestra to play "Stolen Moments". The one I love best though is Mark De Clive-Lowe's delightful "El Toro", caliente !
The closing track is based on a poem by John Coltrane, "At Night" with music from his son Ravi, who plays a fitting tribute to his father. As this whole album is a tribute to the original impulse! tracks...
  (15/11/2005)

Joyce in Brussels 1/11/2005 -

As the last date on the european leg of her tour for the new 'Rio-Bahia' album on Farout (review section), Joyce performed @ theatre 140 in Brussels. I met her beforehand (thanks, Waldo @ rough trade !) in the swanky hotel the people of AudiJazz had graciously put her up.
I had just arrived in the lobby and was going to ask for her, when she walked with her husband (also the drummer in her band) Tutty Moreno, after a walk in the historic centre of Brussels, hunting for good chocolate and looking for changes since her last visit, over ten years ago. I quickly introduce myself and BTJ and she proposes we get started right away.
BTJ : First of all, congratulations on the new album, i love the classical Brazilian feel that it has.
Joyce : Yes, this time I really wanted that more traditional feel and that's why I invited Dori Caymmi to join me on this project. I've known him for many, many years. He did the arrangments for my first album, back in 1968 (smiles)
BTJ : Did he influence you to start composing ?
J : No, no. I have a thirteen year older brother, at that time a guitar-player, who was friends with all the bossa-nova players (including Roberto Menescal, Luis Carlos Vinhas, Leny Andrade,...), who were all very young. This was the early sixties. He had this group 'Bingo Sete', that played in 'bailes' in social clubs, bars and dance-halls - it was a middle-class thing, they didn't play the 'gafieiras' (popular dance-halls) - it was strictly bossa-nova ! Bassist Sérgio Barroso Neto was in that band, the drummer was João Palma and there was also a young Eumir Deodato, who played accordeon !
BTJ : So all these people knew each other, were friends ?
J : Yeah, it was a Rio thing : all twentysomething musicians. And I was growing up and listening to them, because they came from my neighbourhood and played with my brother. But I didn't play guitar back then - I was only around 12 years old - I just listened and listened !
BTJ: So later you started composing songs yourself. Do you have lyrics in your head first or...
J : No, no, no. I am a musician first, so the music always comes first and then I have to find the sounds, the hidden lyrics if you will. There are syllables that the music suggests and from there I try to put words to the chords. Sometimes I use the scat-form and sometimes the music is just right without vocals, you know...
The Portuguese language is very adaptable and Brazil is a very mixed country : the rhythm is very important, because of the strong African roots.
BTJ : Who are also very present on the new album...
J : Yes, but that comes spontaneously.
BTJ : Spontaneity is always present in your work, none of it sounds 'overproduced'.
J : Well, I record most of my albums in three to five days ! I never stop to think : now I'm going to do this kind of thing or that kind of thing because the market, you know : the "market" is really into this, that or the other. Anyway : who is this market ? Do you know ? Because I don't and frankly, I don't care ! If the music I make touches the people that happen to hear it, that's enough for me.
BTJ : Speaking of "markets" : didn't you move to New York in the nineties ?
J : I had signed a contract with Verve records and I thought : Wow ! Verve, the home of half of my idols : Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horne, blablabla...But then, I had to spend all my energy and time fighting for what I thought should happen with my music over there. The people who signed me suddenly wanted me to sing only in english, the American musicians I wanted to work with weren't the ones they had in mind,...it was all too much of a battle for me. I made some good friends though, like Kenny Werner, who is also on the new album. And there's one album I did for Verve, 'Astronauta', which is what I really wanted. The jazz musicians are there, but the rhythm section is Brazilian, which for me is fundamental, otherwise it's going to sound funny, you know ?
BTJ : So that was the fusion you were looking for in the States ?
J : Hmm, fusion...For me fusion is mostly con-fusion (laughs). There have to be some rules !
BTJ : I always thought Brazilian music was excellent for fusing with other things ?
J : I'm not saying that other people cannot do it, Brazilian and Cuban music - rhythm-driven music - lends itself to that sort of experimentation. It's just not for me...
BTJ : Well, you've got some rap on the Verve album 'Language & Love'...
J : (laughs)Yeah, Jon Hendricks ! I was very lucky yo get him, he's such a wonderful guy. You know, he created that at that very moment ! He said 'give me five minutes to think' and there it was ! Like magic. But that's one of the joys of being a musician. Exploring other cultures, meeting all kinds of people. Just living, I would say...
BTJ : Well ,it's not easy to keep track of all your albums.
J : Maybe some of the older albums, but you can find them all in Japan ! (laughs)
BTJ : Yes, I saw that there are some Japan-only releases...
J : Yeah, for example there's a duo album I did with Toninho Horta of Jobim songs. We were in New York and a Japanese producer and he said to us : 'why don't we book a studio and record tonight ?'. And that's how it was done, one night ! But we've now acquired the rights for outside of Japan, it might still see the light of day ! I'd like that very much. You know, it was recorded just after Jobim died, and we loved him dearly, so it's a very emotional record and he had such wonderful songs !
BTJ : Yes ! It seems to me that in Brazil, the song is more important than the singer .
J: Well, it's still the interpretation of the song that makes the performance ! Like when João Gilberto started out : he played other people's songs, but it was his recordings that became classics !
BTJ : No, I mean : Brazilians can all sing along to any number of classic sambas...
J: Oh yes, that's one of our strong points, I think. I've been told to quiet down by many a waiter who says we are bothering the other guests with our singing and playing. But in Rio you can definitely find music anywhere, altough things have changed of course. There's this big influx of people looking for a better life. Like it says in my song 'Saudade Do Rio' : 'Everytime you open your ayes, there's a new favela...'. This creates a violent mood of huge inequality. We have 180 million people who all need education, jobs, shelter,...it doesn't make an easy country to run...
BTJ : Do you think Lula's doing a good job ?
J : Not too much unfortunately ! I think he's got too much stars in his eyes and is just working on the pr-part of his job. The serious part, he delegates to the wrong people, the same as ever...People who voted for him, did so because he comes from a working-class background, and now he's travelling round the world, getting his picture taken !
BTJ : And your colleague, minister for culture Gilberto Gil ?
J : He runs a ministry that has no budget at all, so it's difficult. But I also thought he would be more present. Apparently, he still wants to combine his music-career with politics, which I think is not such a good choice. He should never have taken that job in the first place. He's a wonderful musician, a very important person for Brazil, just by playing his music, so why he meddled in politics, I don't understand. It's very strange...
BTJ : I'll stop now, before this conversation gets too heavy ! Thanks again for meeting me and enjoy the Belgian crowd tonigh at the concert !
J : Thanks for enjoying my music...

So later that night, we go to Theatre 140, where surprisingly few people have made it, but that gives us a chance to sit (it's a theatre, right) at the front to better see and hear the show...
The line-up is : Joyce - guitar & vocals, Rodolfo Stroeter - bass, Tutty Moreno - drums and Nailor Proveta - sax & clarinet. A minimal, but dynamic arrangment.
They kick off with 'A Banda Maluca (a little bit crazy)', their trademark song I guess, as the bass-player seems to be made of rubber as he twists and turns on his stool. Next up are some rousing renditions of some classics including 'Upa, Neguinho' (spectacularly arranged with a totally different harmonic structure and rhythm), 'Você é Eu', 'Aguas De Março' and 'Samba De Uma Nota Só' (with some 'Surfboard' thrown in for good measure !). Then it's time for some songs from the new album : the title track 'Rio-Bahia', about the differences of the two cities. The forgotten bossa classic 'Joãozinho Boa-Pinta', a delightful story of a good-looking young man, who gets the cold shoulder from the girl he loves. And the haunting 'Saudade Do Rio', about the sad changes in the 'cidade maravilhosa'. She also lets the musicians free reign in a jazz workout, where saxophonist Nailor Proveta and drummer Tutty Moreno whip each other into a frenzy of references and seem to thrive on the pure and simple act of performing music. What a pleasure to witness that enjoyment. Then it's the home stretch with 'Feminina' (+ Nailor's insistent but brilliant phrasing of a Pixinguinha song I can't put my finger on). And as an encore a joyful arrangment of Ary Barroso's hymn 'Aquarela Do Brasil'.
We saw a group of musicians doing what they love doing, carried by the inexhaustible songbook of Brazil.
If you'd like to get an idea of what Joyce concerts are like, there's a couple of live albums (even a DVD). I especially like the one she did for Mojo-Club in 1995. Essential !
  (11/11/2005)

Sound Directions - The Funky Side Of Life
www.stonesthrow.com
Madlib does it again ! This time round he has used the services of Yesterday's New Quintet (remember 'Shades Of Blue') + drummer Malcolm Catto (of Mo'Wax fame) to re(e)value(ate) some classic funk anthems and b-boy breaks.
The 12" that came before the album was already some fingerlickin' hot wax ! With an explosive version of 'The Horse' (which all you dutch-speaking people will recognize as Veronica's theme-tune!) and a psychedelic workout of Billy Brooks' classic 'Forty Days' (with ATCQ - sample), it sent expectations way up high, but have no fear : the real killer tracks are on the album ! Amongst them their cover of 'A Divine Image' (Axelrod - classic) is simply the bomb, plus it has the blessings of the 'Axe' himself ! They also make 'Wanda Vidal' by Marcos Valle into a mellow funky monster and take on the mythical Oliver Sain (check waxpoetics!) in 'On The Hill'. Add to the wonderful playing the majestic producer-skills of Madlib (you never seem to know what is going on, the sound is so dense - yet still crisp !) and you get one of the funkiest albums this year, and that's saying something !
  (08/11/2005)

Steve Reid Ensemble - Spirit Walk
www.souljazzrecords.co.uk
Despite of a long career (over 40 years !), Steve Reid is not a musician of wide recognition. At seventeen he played drums on Martha & The Vandella's iconic Motown hit “Heatwave.” He spent three years travelling in Africa, playing with Fela Kuti in Nigeria and later with Randy Weston in Morocco. Returning to the US at the height of the Vietnam war in '68, he joined Sun Ra's Science Myth Solar Arkestra before serving two years in jail for draft evasion. He's played with Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, Sam Rivers, Charles Tyler, Lester Bowie, Miles, Arthur Blythe, and a host more A-listers. It goes to show that an impressive CV doesn't guarantee star status.
On this album, his collaborators are Four-Tet's Kieran Hebden (electronic sonics), Russian keyboard player Boris Netsvetaev (also arranger), soprano saxophonist Chuck Henderson and bass saxophonist Tony Bevan. And they lay down a really heavy, riff-based album. It's more about the groove and rhythm, than about harmony and melody. There's two glorious exceptions though : 'Blind Tom'. A sublime blend of Gnawa and Tibetan music ! and 'Drum Story' or the history of Afro-American music in fifteen minutes. Get educated !
  (01/11/2005)

Boards Of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
www.warprecords.com
Boards Of Canada's music pretty hard to put into words. The artists themselves seem quite content to let their releases speak for them. Music Has The Right To Children (1998) and the EP, In A Beautiful Place In The Country (2000), made their reputation, Geodaddi (2002) cemented it . Boards Of Canada seem to live in a universe of their own, where natural beauty and technological advances are not mutually exclusive, but rather are two sides of a human coin.
This time round they've added some twisted guitars in the mix and the vocal samples are far and few between. This makes for a more easy sound at first, but as you discover more tracks, you realise that it's a natural step in the Boards' sound. Creating space in their music so the listener can project his/her own emotions. Using mid-tempo, almost hip-hop rhythms, to subtly lure you into a myriad of details, it's certainly not a minimalist album ! So much so, that it can get a little bit much, a little too beautiful, if there is such a thing...
Ultimately, it's an album for daydreaming those dreary autumn afternoons away, if you can't go picking mushrooms, pick this album instead. It's a trip !
  (01/11/2005)

Dijf Sanders - To Be A Bob

The title is already a give-away. Is it about designated drivers (they're all called Bob in Belgium) ? No, this belgian young buck has the audacity to combine Tom Waits' growly beatnik jazz with Plaid and Aphex Twin's electronic mayhem. (hence the title be-bop !?).Well, there's lots of things going on. Jazzy, moody soundscapes with muted trumpet (courtesy of Jon Birdsong, cf. Beck) and bass-player Benjamin Dousselaere (also in The Violent Husbands together), more electronic atmospheres,... there's even an 'Air' moment on 'I Only Have Eyes For You', a floating cloud of a song. Worth checking. And worth checking live @ de Kreun on december 3rd, when he appears with Xploding Plastix !   (01/11/2005)

Curumin - Achados E Perdidos
www.quannum.com
This album from 2003 finally sees its worldwide release thanks to Quannum works (where Blackalicious and Lyrics Born have also found a home). Curumin (= precocious child) hails from São Paulo, a metropolis of monstrous proportions and has spanish/japanese roots, so he kind of represents the globalization of urban culture all by himself !
Mixing samba, rap, soul, dub, bossa and funk, he constructs his own musical universe, referring to all his heroes (the album's title means "Found and Lost"). There's Jorge Ben (throughout the album - opener "Guerreiro" could be him ), Stevie Wonder (a cover of "You Haven't Done Nothing" - in english ), Novos Baianos (the delicious "Curukurombo" ), Trio Mocoto ("Cadê O Mocoto?" with some help from Trio Mocotó's Nereu) and more contemporary styles (think soulful and downtempo urban grooves). The result is a very entertaining set, ideal for those pre-party vacuums...check it!
  (01/11/2005)

Alice Russell - My Favourite Letters
www.thru-thoughts.co.uk
She's been called "The New Aretha", "Better than Joss & Angie Stone put together" and other equally absurd comparisons, but it has to be said (again and again), this girl can Sing !
If you're a reader of these pages, you might know her as the voice of the Quantic Soul Orchestra and that should be enough to send you rushing off to the record-store (if you haven't already).
Soul, Funk, Hip-Hop, Lounge-Jazz,...everything gets a look-in on this gem of an album. Under the excellent musical direction of TM Juke (his own album is worth a listen - also on TruThoughts), Ms Russel takes us on a wonderful Journey...The instruments used to accompany her voice are not always what you expect : when's the last time you bought an album with oboe and french horn ?
In short : Essential Soul(food) !   (20/10/2005)

The Mizell Brothers - Mizell: The Mizell Brothers at Blue Note Records 1972-1976 and Beyond
www.bluenote.com
Larry and Alphonso Mizell finally get their dues ! This often-sampled (Quest, De La, Nas,...) production duo (Fonce worked at Motown on 'ABC' and 'I Want You Back' to name but two of the biggest and Larry produced Donald Byrd's seminal 'Blackbyrd'...) not only handpick their favorite tracks from their own vaults, but also remix three previously unreleased gems, including one of their own 'N R Time' that will heat up some dancfloors for sure !
Many of the songs on this 11-track collection are fusions of genres of their previous works bringing a pop approach to jazz music, with a disco twist. So their trademark sound is what hits you most when listening to this comp. Featuring songs by Donald Byrd ('Wind Parade', the super remix for 'Think Twice'), Rance Allen ('Reason To Survive'), Bobbi Humphrey (mmh 'Blacks and Blues'!!!) and Gary Bartz (unreleased 'Funked Up), it's really the production that takes center stage...so move your feet to the store, listen to this album and move 'em some more !!!
  (04/10/2005)

Recloose - Hiatus On The Horizon
www.peacefrog.com
When i saw this album in the shop i thought : "hope it's not as techy as his first on K7!". And it's not !!! It's a much more soulful affair. We already knew 'Dust' with the ubiquitous Joe Dukie on vocals from GP's Worldwide, but that is just a warm-up, as far as i'm concerned (i don't care too much for his Robert Palmer impressions).
The album really hits its stride in the instrumentals : ranging from acid jazz ('Still Beyond Me') and broken beats ('Makutu Man') to funky afro stylings (the superb 'Turkish Delight') and latin (the massive 'Why I Otta') with some skankin' ska added ('Mana's bounce' should be the next single) for good measure, this one covers all bases. Mr Recloose proves his worth as a well-rounded musician/producer well beyond the realms of the sweaty bodies and thundering beats of his 12" releases ! Rooted in the past (good songs) but firmly looking to the future (that production), this is hopefully the start of a great sonic adventure in years to come. Go, man, go !!!
  (26/09/2005)

V.A. - Farout 100
www.faroutrecordings.com
This compilation is the 100th release of one of my favourite labels : FarOut ! Home of 'forgotten' Brazilian artists (Azymuth, Os Ipanemas, Joyce,...) and remix 12"s to die for (Jazzanova, Incognito, Kenny Dope,...), Joe Davis and his FarOut crew have built a solid reputation over these last ten years and this comp is their way of saying thanks, i guess (do not pay more than 10 euros!). With some exclusive sneak previews of what's to come : that new Offworld track is sick! and Joyce (In concert in Brussels 1/11 @ theatre 140and) sounds her (un)usual magical self, some top remixes from the likes of 4Hero and Global Communications and some label classics (I still love Aricia Mess's 'Super Legal'), you can not go wrong ! This cd has been stuck in my car-stereo these last few weeks...   (19/09/2005)

V.A. - Keepintime : A Live Recording
www.keepintime.com
In search of the origins of the breakbeat, acclaimed photographer and film-maker B+ brought together some of LA's greatest drummers with some of the West Coast's most renowned hip hop DJs. What started out as a photo shoot, resulted in a massive live jam and a film of the event that you can now watch headnoddin' in the privacy of your own home. See how drummers Paul Humphrey and James Gadson jam with Cut Chemist, Madlib, J Rocc and many more - all at once! Furthermore, the multitrack recordings of this session were
handed over to some of the worlds most respected producers. So in addition to the DVD you get a superb compilation of exclusives from the likes of DJ Shadow, O.H.N.O., Quantic, Ammoncontact and a huge broken future funk moster from King Britt. Totally essential for everyone with a heart for funk and hiphop.   (18/09/2005)

AUTUMN BREAKS - Some Beats To Warm Your Feets...

MUDD & CHICO HAMILTON : Kerry's Caravan (Rong 12")
Another jazzdance stormer from Paul Murphy with a little help from jazzdrummer Chico Hamilton and Ray Mang on remix duties...

MARK DE CLIVE-LOWE : State Of The Mental rmxs. (ABB 12")
The keyboard-wizard remixed by some other wizards, with vocals from Bembe Segue. Hot, hot, hot !

BUILD AN ARK : Remixes (PlugResearch 12")
The best one has got to be the J. Rocc one : pure dancefloor bliss (flashes of Soho's seminal 'Hot Music'...), the others are on a more experimental tip.

REBTUZ presents (white 12")
A massive(ly illegal ?) twelve with a funky Quantic Soul Orchestra original 'Follow Me (left & right)' and two superb Nostalgia 77 remixes of Sun Ra ('Benificent') and Archie Schepp ('Sea Of Faces') respectively. Will be stuck in many a Dj-box for some time...

V.A. : MIZELL (BlueNote 12")
This twelve spares you the cost of the full album : the 2005 remix of Donald Byrds 'Think Twice' and Gary Bartz's 'Funked Up'. You had all the others at home already, right ?

DAVID BORSU : Reminiscent ep. (Counterpoint 12")
Another fine effort from our man from Liège. 4 tracks - 4 styles (from jazzy to broken). Definitely worth a listen...

YNQ presents SOUND DIRECTIONS (StonesThrow 12")
Madlib gets busy with 'The Horse' to update this classic ! On the flip we find a more jazzy groove on 'Tribe' (do i hear a Quest sample ?)

PIANO OVERLORD : Torture ep. (MoneyStudies 12")
This is Scott Herren (Prefuse 73) in another one of his many guises. Rap on the A-side, but the B-side harbours the gem : the Blu Jemz K.Kings version of 'No Community', a bossa with breaks. Delicioso !

GWOTET - OSUNLADE Yoruba Soul rmx. (3D Family 12")
Osunlade brings his trademark beats to the table, but check the radio Nova remix contest winner on the flip for the real Afro-goodness !!!

JAZZ JUICE : Bugablue (Freestyle 7")
It seems Freestyle is one of those labels that you know only release quality material. Some jazzy d'n'b and lounge action on this single !
  (09/09/2005)

12" PRESSURE - more beats to heat the summer

NOSTALGIA 77 : THE HOPE SUITE (truthoughts) - spiritual ánd groovy. this is some deep afro-s**t !

LEGENDS OF THE UNDERGROUND : CAFIRA seiji re-rinse (kindredspirits) - dancefloor-filling...

BENNY SINGS : NEW BED 4hero rmx (sonarkollektiv) - from smooth popsong to dancemonster, mmmmh

TOSCA : HEIDI BRUEHL rmxs (k7!/g-stoned) - 4 remakes of Tosca's stoned excursion. love the super soulful Sa-Ra one...

WAGON COOKIN' : 70'S SAMBA (appetizers) - the title says it all : a fusion-bomb ! there's also a groovy Watch Tv rmx. dig !

GANGSTARR : DWYCK littlekids rmxs (littlekids) - super bossa re-edits of this hiphop classic. picante !   (16/08/2005)

Beatfanatic - The Gospel According To Beatfanatic
Soundscape Records
Everybody who has gone out these last few years has danced to a Beatfanatic tune ('jogando capoeira' for one!), even if they don't know it...this mighty swede has used his encyclopaedic knowledge of breaks and beats to constuct the perfect saturday-night soundtrack. With hip-hop as a foundation, he cuts and pastes disco, afro, jazz and funk into the mix with booty-shaking results. This second lp may have some flaws (some tracks are a bit long and sound tired...), but there's still plenty of things to keep your ears busy : see how many samples you can recognize !!!
And for the beat fanatics (haha), the first copies contain an extra 12" or cd filled to the brim with goodness...   (06/08/2005)

HOT TWELVES - keep an eye out for these...

SANDBOY : WANDERLUST rmxs EP's (hinterland)- 1/2 of Beanfield remixed by some fresh blood, amongst which we find our pal Philarmonix in his first offering under his (and his buddy David Alexander)'SMILES AHEAD' moniker : excellent!!!

JAVI P3Z ORQUESTA : REMIX EP (hitop) - bulls-eye!!!

BEBEL GILBERTO : AGANJU Spiritual South rmxs (atlantic/ziriguiboom) - the Spiritual boys remodel Bebel's softspoken original into a dancefloor monster.

TANGOTERJE : 4 Mixes (supreme) - it's re-edit time once again. Thanks, dr. Terje...

POVO : HI FLY (raw fusion) - both sides again killer ! these guys keep 'em coming.

MARCOS VALLE : BESTEIRAS DE AMOR Jazzanova rmxs (farout) - love the Dixon edit !

MPHO SKEEF : COMING FOR YA (phuturelounge) - second release on Phuturistix own label and i like it more every time i hear it.

  (22/07/2005)

Robert Strauss - Quasars & Phasars
www.freerange.co.uk
Canadian Robert Strauss has released productions on Osunlade's Yoruba imprint before this album debut on Freerange, so you might be thinking : strictly house. Well you'd be wrong ! This is more of a futuresoul/broken kinda thing, but not only. Clearly a child of the 80s (the first track is called "Born in 1983" and opens with that typical 'Galaga'/arcade sound), Robert Strauss has absorbed the sounds of his youth (from disco and hip-hop to electro and detroit) and filters them through today's technological possibilities. Boogie beats, lush atmospheric soundscapes, top-notch vocals (that Saidah girl can sing!!), if you like your party-music with some substance, this one might provide you with what you need. And the more downtempo tracks will surely put you in the mood to go right out again. Positive vibes all the way !   (19/07/2005)

Missy Elliott - The Cookbook
www.missy-elliott.com
A new Missy Elliott album is always something to look out for. The queen of hiphop has a habit o catching her listeners off-guard and by golly, she does it again ! Usual producer Timbaland takes a step back, producing all of two tracks (opening the album), allowing for some diversity in the overall sound. Really, if you thought she covered all bases on her previous efforts, wait till you hear what she's cooking up (ha!) now. Look, Missy's bigger than life and this album is the first that lets her fully explore all of her persona(e). The guests (Slick Rick, Mary J., Puba, M.I.A.,...) and producers (Neptunes, Rich Harrison, Missy herself - notably single "On and On") act as a supporting cast for Missy's sublime songwriting, rapping and singing...
Why am i telling you this ? If you like Missy, you've got the album and if you don't it's your loss and i couldn't care less...
  (11/07/2005)

Jamie Lidell - Multiply
www.jamielidell.com
Oooweee! White boy's got some soul!!! Jamie Lidell updates the classic funk&soul sound for the 21st. century. If you know him from his Super_Collider project with Christian Vogel or his previous solo outings, you're in for a big surprise! No "massacre at the puppyfarm"-sounds this time round. Now you can hear Prince, Funkadelic, Stevie, Sly, Marvin, Al Green,...but this is no nostalgia-trip. On the contrary : this hybrid son of the P is firmly focused on the present/future. With guests like Mocky and Gonzales, you know you're in for some freaky-deaky, but Jamie Lidell's excellent songwriting keeps everything in check. By rights this should top the charts, but are the "sheeple" ready for this much soul ? Don't YOU miss out on this future classic...   (15/06/2005)

V.A. - Atlantiquity
www.rhino.com
Will there be no end to the deluge of remixes of older, funky material. Apparently not, but once again giving the new masters the opportunity to remix the old masters has paid off ! Only 12 tracks on these two heavy-duty vinyl discs, but there's not a stonker among 'em (except maybe Charlie Dark's massacre of "Pick Up The Pieces"), a feat not many comps can boast these days ! Most of the album will only work on the dancefloor i'm afraid, but all you dj's out there catch my drift...If i've got to pick some favorites it would be the Daz-I-Kue remix of Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" - it's completelely different and will rock any floor ! And Quantic's take on "Getting Uptown (To Get Down)" is simply sublime afrobeat goodness. Gourmets rejoyce !!!   (09/06/2005)

Sabrina Malheiros - Equilibria
www.faroutrecordings.com
This is the debut album from the daughter of Azymuth's Alex Malheiros, on Joe Davis's "lable of love" FarOut. On top of that it's produced by Daniel “Venom” Maunick who “happens” to be the son of Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick of “Incognito” (legendary jazz/funk/soul collective) fame. If that's not enough to send you running to the record-store, consider this : imagine Azymuth and Incognito jamming, fronted by a golden-voiced angel and you're nearly there. "Equilibria" fuses that smooth Rio 70's sound with the rhythms of today's worldwide melting pot. Take "Passa", it's pure r&b. Rhythm & Bossa, that is ! I would have liked more tracks pushing the envelope like this, but that's just me.
Anywayz another fine release for FarOut on their 10th birthday...   (25/05/2005)

M.I.A. - Arular
www.xlrecordings.com
It's official : Baile Funk is the sound of 2005. After a couple of dope compilations (like "SlumDunk presents Funk Carioca" on Mr Bongo) presenting the sound of the favelas, here's the first big British take on the phenomenon that puts together the booty-shaking beats of Miami Bass with the young urban voices of the street. M.I.A. (her real name is something like Apu's in the Simpsons -oops, stereotype alert!) is the London bad-girl that brings together Baile Funk, Missy, Ragga, Grime and Pop in one swift dancemove. A kind of guerilla-collage-fashion statement that could only have come from London. A bit opportunistic and gimmicky perhaps, but with beats like that, this girl is sure to heat up every dancefloor from here to Papua New Guinea this summer. And rightly so. All together now : "Ga-galang-alang" !   (17/05/2005)

Jeremy Ellis - The Lotus Blooms
www.ubiquityrecords.com
After losing not one but two laptops loaded with songs ànd the advance money for a new album on his return from Puerto Rico, things didn’t look so good for Jeremy “Aryo” Ellis. Fortunately his trip to the island was a huge inspiration. A true DIY-artist, the keyboard wizard made a new album from scratch at home in Detroit and went back to Puerto Rico to finish it off. The result is an astounding combination of exciting bomba-rhythms, Detroit techno, uplifting soul and broken beats. In the adorable title track (a ‘Family Affair’ for the new millennium) his voice is recorded in multiple layers, giving the song a gospel feel. Hopefully he brings his legendary, all DIY live show to these shores in the near future. The title of his hard to find debut album said it all: ‘electronic love funk’. Don’t sleep on it.   (15/05/2005)

Platinum Pied Pipers - Triple P
www.ubiquityrecords.com
Formerly with Slum Village, Wajeed is one of the key players in Detroit’s rich music scene. Together with multi-instrumentalist Shaadiq, he has now formed Platinum Pied Pipers. Their debut album is causing a storm far beyond the frontiers of hip-hop, with its electronic street soul feel and flawless production. When it comes to creating innovating beats, Wajeed is one of the best and there’s plenty of those on ‘Triple P’. For vocal input, people like Steve Spacek and the relatively unknown but charismatic Tiombe Lockhart were brought in, as were Jay Dee and extremely hot L.A. threesome SA-RA Creative Partners for assistance on production. The result: one of the best street soul albums you’re likely to hear in 2005.   (15/05/2005)

Mark De Clive-Lowe - Tide's Arising
www.markdeclivelowe.net
2005 is bound to be a big year for good music. Here’s another one that’s pushing the envelope. Keyboard player Mark de Clive-Lowe has been a key artist and producer in the nu-jazz/broken beat scene for many years, with contributions on numerous projects and classic underground singles such as ‘Relax…Unwind’. Now he releases his second album on American label ABB Soul, which should bring him wider recognition. But of course it’s the music that counts and in this case it’s none other than phenomenal. The combination of jazz, house, hip-hop and broken beats puts soul music in a whole new perspective. Assistance to the revolution comes from nu-jazz queen Bembé Segué and bassist Pino Palladino (from D’Angelo fame) a.o. The future of soul music? Time will tell. In the meantime, ‘Tides Arising’ is a strong contender for the album of the year.   (15/05/2005)

Me'Shell Ndeg'Ocello presents The Spirit Music - Dance Of The Infidel
www.meshell.com
A new set from the First Lady of Nu-Soul (sorry Erykah) is always something to look forward to but this time Me'Shell is going in a different direction. Having worked with the likes of Herbie Hancock, jazz has always been an essential element in her music. Now with 'Dance Of The Infidel' she's made a straight up jazz album, which reminded me of the spiritual jazz movement from the 70s (Tribe, Black Jazz records) and Miles Davis. The Spirit Music Jamia sees her working with an incredible line-up of musicians, from Jack de Johnette (drums) and Michael Caine (piano) to Cassandra Wilson (vocals). No vocals from Me'Shell this time but her trademark bass gets all the space it deserves. Pure bliss.   (15/05/2005)

V.A. - Brazilian Beats 6
www.mrbongo.com
2005 is a big year for Mr Bongo records. Its their 15th birthday, and to kick off the celebrations in style they've released a kick-ass compilation. Volume 6 in the series is surely one of the best ! A mix of old and new. There's not a thing on here i don't like. Funky stuff. Si vocé gosta a musica brasileiro...compra este disco. Oh, by the way : a portion of the proceeds from this album go to the Bongo's "Street Angels" foundation. So you'll be helping some very needy children as well. Worth your hard-earned neuro's ! Check the DVD later this year (june ?)...   (01/05/2005)

Casbah 73 - Moods and Grooves
www.hitoprecords.com
Another stormer from Madrid-based HiTop Records (i love this label). More than four years in the works, this album is the labour of love of vinyl connaisseur (15 000 + records) Oli Stewart. Containing many influences, the album still works as a whole. Oli plays guitar, bass and keyboards for the organic touch and his beats are crafty and tight. There's the dance-y stuff like the singles "The Way I Am" and "Cabo Verde Strut", both disco-ish, or the fantastic "Brazzaville Express", like the name implies, a percussion monster. And then there's the more laidback stuff like "Strollin'" or the superb remake/cover of "Motherless Child". If you like some diversity in your listening-fare, don't sleep on this album.   (01/04/2005)

Red Astaire aka. Freddie Cruger - in Halle
by : Alexander Deforce
In 2003 ‘Follow Me’, the bossa-flavoured remix of D’Angelo ’s ‘Left and right’, kick-started a true GAMM/Raw Fusion craze. Picked up by Gilles Peterson for his Worldwide Winners chart of the year, DJ’s around the world have had their eyes on Stockholm ever since. Or how Sweden is more than Agnetha, Frida, Benny and Björn. Introducing Freddie Cruger a.k.a. Red Astaire...

BTJ : Let’s start with the song that put you on the map, ‘Follow me’. How big is it for you?
RA : I had the song, but in another format. And then I had the acapella. I had already mixed the two, but not in that way. Then I just thought let’s see what I can do and I started working with the acapella and it became what it became. I really didn’t think about it. For 10 years maybe I’ve been using acapella’s on my music because I want to know how the beat sounds with an artist I like. To see if it’s good enough, if it works.

BTJ : How did GAMM records came into play?
RA : With ‘Follow Me’ I had the song and I talked to (Mad) Mats and he liked it. There was just something with the bass that was to muffly, or something like that, so I EQ’ed it and that was it, we released it and people liked it. I think it was out of print 4 times.

BTJ : The rest is history but did you know how big a tune it was at the time?
RA : Not at all. I knew I liked it because I had listened to it for maybe 500 times and still wasn’t tired of it and I get bored very quickly.

BTJ : How did it feel when you saw people dancing to it for the first time?
RA : Fantastic. I think it was at the Raw Fusion club. I think Mats tested it. That’s where it all started. People already liked it, back when it was circulating on CD-r. Every time he played it, before it came out on vinyl, people were screaming. Plus, he sent it out to people like Gilles Peterson and all these types of different DJ’s who liked it. I mean, I had the question before and I said I could have made a very bad song. People ask about making bootlegs. I think, if you make a good bootleg, that’s very nice, but I could have ...

BTJ : Fucked it up?
RA : Exactly! So... when you make music I don’t think you really know until it happens. When people really appreciate it in that way.

BTJ : All of a sudden Gilles Peterson picks it up and a couple of months later you’re a World-wide Winner.
RA : Yeah. I think I would be more happy if it would happen today, though. I mean, the song is still selling and people play it. But when you do something like that, and get that much attention, you don’t really take it in. Until afterwards.

BTJ : You’ll have to make a part two then!
RA : Yeah, but the whole world is making bootlegs nowadays.

BTJ : That’s the movement of European editors you started, don’t you think?
RA : Re-edits or bootlegs have been around for ages but I guess it was a new thing for people. I guess the combination of Latin with hiphop, the bass-line and everything just connected and people liked it. I can just say I was happy. It was just that song, somehow. Now there’s like 5.000 bootlegs out there, and some of them are really good.

BTJ : Does that mean you won’t be doing any edits any more?
RA : No. You know, I have worked with artists, but when I sit at home I just test something on top of the music and if it fits I may keep it. If I had an artist I could work with off course I’d put them on the music. But if they’re not on that level... I mean d’Angelo ... you don’t find a person like that easily.

BTJ : Did D’Angelo got to hear ‘Follow Me’?
RA : Yeah, he heard it. I know Don Freeman (Raw Fusion affiliated bass player) has a friend who is a bass player in D’Angelo’s live band, and Matts told me that somehow they’ve talked and he said he liked it. That’s cool to me, you know he could have said: “Ow imma sue him”.

BTJ : Did you get any news from Erykah Badu?
RA : No, but I know they have played ‘Rolin Stone’ in Atlanta. I guess as long as it’s on vinyl people just think it’s cool, they respect the vinyl record in that way. It’s the real thing, even though you’ve taken stuff from people. It’s more important if you do good or bad, for people. I mean I wouldn’t mind if someone would sample my music, but you have to be good. I take stuff of people so I’m not the one to say others can’t do that, but at least they’d have to do it properly.

BTJ : You’ve been around the world, I even saw a line-up where you played a venue longside Kenny Dope. How big was the influence of the whole GAMM/Raw Fusion hype on your carrier?
RA : After these songs, off course it got a boost. I didn’t really got to meet Kenny Dope though.

BTJ : You must have met some big names when touring, right?
RA : Yeah. Danny Krivit. I mean, I didn’t even know about him. Even if I do remixes, I didn’t know this guy, who’s supposed to be ...

BTJ : The Godfather of Edits!
RA : Yeah, exactly! He was like: “I have to meet you guys”. I had been playing records the day before and he came down and heard me playing ‘Boogiedown Stureby’ and he was like “Wooaah, I need this record”. So the next day he came down to pick it up and gave us a lot of promos. That was cool. To get him out of his house to go and get one record. I mean, a person like that, you’d think he gets everything. But the Raw Fusion/GAMM thing was really big in New York!
I got a lot of questions about the sound of the records. They said: “It’s sounds genuine”. Because it sounds like New York, or that type of foundation, but it’s not! It has the European touch, off course, because we’re from here. They were very interested in our influences because it sounds the way it sounds. But I mean, I’ve been around for a while, so...

BTJ : The Latin movement in Sweden is very strong, right?
RA : Yeah, I think so. We have had a lot of reggae people too. Bob Marley lived there for a while .. Jimi Hendrix .. I mean... A lot of people, basically came to Europe, and still do. It’s just that Sweden has a reputation of having beautiful women.

BTJ : And is it true?
RA : (pause) It’s true. My wife is from New York, so I can’t say but Sweden has a lot of beautiful women.
But, getting back to your question, it’s amazing.

BTJ : How strong is the influence of a city like Stockholm on your music? I have the impression things are moving over there.
RA : There’s a lot of people into music because the government paid for music schools. In the 80’s or the 90’s a lot of people could just learn an instrument for free. I think that’s a big part of the whole Swedish music movement. Most of it is pop, but there’s so much more, like hiphop, house, techno, .. they’ve been around for a while. Maybe in the category that I’m representing, we haven’t had much to export. The Swedish Brandy thing, for instance, I did that before I met Mad Mats, and those records are selling today.
I mean, ‘Follow Me’ was one thing but it’s a chain of a lot of things.

BTJ : Does it frustrates you that most people just know you because of that one particular song?
RA : Yeah, yeah. Most people know about that song, and that’s it. But a lot of people check out the other releases after they’ve understood that I did them too.

BTJ : When ‘Follow Me’ was just released, nobody really knew who was this new kid. Did you pick up any speculations about who was hiding behind Red Astaire?
RA : People will always want to talk in that way. But I’m really not thinking about it. I mean, I’m happy with that song, but I have so much more music. With ‘Follow Me’ I was just happy the song was played in houseclubs, hiphopsets or alternative sets even.
Jean-Claude from If Records (famous record-store in London) said to me: ”You’re my man. You can die a happy man because you’ve made it.” That was when Rollin Stone came out and he said: “This one is not the same. It’s good, but it’s not the same. If you combine a Massarati with a Porsche, then you have a Follow Me. But that happens only once.”

BTJ : How do you feel when people say things like that?
RA : That was fucking nice. I can understand that people say: “That is not the same”. No, it’s not the same thing at all. It doesn’t even have the same elements or whatever.

BTJ : You’ve just got to play the songs at different times.
RA : Exactly, but for me, the essence is the same. Follow Me, you can play almost any time. Rollin Stone, you can play it later or ... Sometimes I just play it in the middle of everything, just to see peoples reaction. It’s not really a peaktime-track (laughs). The groove is totally different.

BTJ : Did you get to make any money, or maybe a living, out of the success of Follow me?
RA : Not in the position that I’m in, in my life, at the moment. I have a child. I have an apartment. I lived of my music before though.

BTJ : As a DJ?
RA : No, I was making music. I met this guy who had produced ABBA. His son asked me to make drum beats and I got like 1.100 Euro per drumbeat. He saved me in that situation but it’s not what I want to do.

BTJ : What projects are you talking about, exactly?
RA : I think it was for a Swedish project he was working on. He released a record but nothing happened. He had the idea to take a guy from NYC and make him pop. What he wanted to do was to take my productions, to make it feel more genuine, but with pop arrangements and that didn’t really work. I got paid though, so I was happy.

BTJ : You’ve been into music for how long now?
RA : A long time... I’ve been making music for maybe 12 years now.

BTJ : You’re famous around the world but you don’t have superstar-status, is it any different back in Stockholm?
RA : Not really. Swedish musicians don’t really get recognition. That’s how it always has been. I may be the first person that gets so much attention. People come to say:” I like your music”. And not just for being Swedish. Because that’s always the issue. They think: “He’s good, for being Swedish but internationally you have other people that are better.”
My success, in one way has inspired other people to do the same thing. They saw that it works. And that’s something I’ve always believed in. When I do something, I’m going to do it, you know. Sweden is too small to build something but all over the world you can really find people who feel about music the way you feel it.

BTJ : If you’re not making a living out of your music now, how does the average Red Astaire day look like?
RA : I get up, I go to work. I’m a ‘coördinator’. I work with exhibition, like car-exhibitions. I make sure that everything, is in it’s place. I make sure that they have everything they need.
For me, somehow ... you know, if I was 22 or 23 years old, it would be something else. But now I need to have this money. When I worked on my music, full-time, I felt like that was everything in my life. But I needed something else for my head. I needed to talk about sport or just other things than: ”Can you put this on?” In the studio where I worked it was just people who make music, which is fantastic, in one way, but somehow.. I guess I’m just a regular guy.
Now in my life I have a good balance. The time I do spend on music, I do it much better. I’m much more focused than when I worked full-time. Back then, at the end of the day I maybe had worked 5 or 6 hours, but I can still do that now. Nowadays the money I do make of records I can buy more stuff with. I don’t have to worry about food or whatever, because I make that money anyway. That gives me even more drive.
A lot of people, like Mad Mats, say: “You know you can just make it now, you can just quit your job.” But it’s not that simple.

BTJ : I suppose Mad Mats would know, though
RA : Yeah, he knows. But he lives the way he has been living for all of his life now. He never really had a ‘regular job’. He always DJ’ed or was into music one way or another. But that’s his way. I guess I have a different background.

BTJ : A full-time job and a music career, you probably don’t get much sleep then.
RA : It’s not easy to combine. I guess in the last 15 years ... I haven’t really got that much sleep (laughs). Honestly. Normally I get to work at 8h30 PM and I go to bed at 3h00 PM. Or later even, because when I get into it I can’t stop. And I guess I’m going to continue like that no matter what. But it’s hard, yeah. Like last year I was going to finish my album. But when I had my son everything became chaos. I wasn’t even thinking about finishing the album.

BTJ : How far did you get finishing the album?
RA : I have a lot of songs. But, you know, I just want to have fun. I’m more focussed than before, so I do finish up more songs than I’ve ever done. That comes with the times also. You may be working on 5 or 6 songs at the same time. So I have like 2 jobs, or 3 actually, with the kid (laughs).

BTJ : How old is he now?
RA : He’s 1 year and 3 months.

BTJ : Do you take him with you in the studio?
RA : Yeah, he wants to be in my studio all the time. He’s banging on the drums. He doesn’t really know what he’s doing yet, but he likes it. I hope he will get into music, if he wants to. At least I will give him a good selection of music, hopefully. Jazz, soul and funk, you know. But most of all I want him to play for Barcelona. (laughs) Than I can really relax.

BTJ : Before you start relaxing too much, what can we still expect from Freddie Cruger, Red Astaire and others?
RA : Last night I was working on 5 songs that I want to release as 3 Foot People. But that probably won’t be on Jugglin’, I think it’s too laid-back.
As Red Astaire I have a couple of things coming up. I gave Mats a song already, it’s more of a re-edit, it has this type of breakdance vibe. I know he’s gonna release it, I just have to find an A-side. That’s coming out on GAMM.
I have a bunch of stuff. If only you’d see my computer! In May I’m going to New-York to work with some mc’s.
I’m also working on a new EP with Lynn, the Swedish soul singer. She’s amazing. We’re working on a live set too...
  (28/03/2005)

Plantlife - The Return Of Jack Splash
www.counterflowrecordings.com
The name on everyone's lips from Gilles to Mos Def is Plantlife : an LA - based collective that is bringing back the 70's funkband sound. I know that's not saying much these days, when even the Brand New Heavies are back trying to get a piece of the "live-sound" pie, but these guys really pull it off. The similarity to Outkast's last album is striking : their vocalist, Mr. Splash sounds eerily like Andre 3000 and they also pull off mixing all kinds of styles. But here, there's definitely a band at work. Organic, intelligent, full of humour, the album takes you on a ride your ears are sure to enjoy - shit is fresh!!! Most of the songs are even too short in my opinion, but the plethora of remixes that this album is sure to spawn will soon remedy that ! Album of next year's summer !   (01/03/2005)

James Collins - Fertile Ground - De Kreun, Bissegem 19/02/2005
by : Alexander Deforce
A cold saturday night, and a hair-raising ride (check your brakes Vic!), but no matter the weather, down for whatever, such as an impromptu interview...

BTJ : James, thanks for having us, we hear you�ve only got two hours of sleep�

JC : Ah, sleep that�s for them. I don�t need sleep. I�m ok, I�m a vampire.

BTJ : You work at night?

JC : I work all the time, man. During the night, during the day, whatever I can do. I don't go to bed until 4-5 in the morning every night. I get up at about 10-11.

BTJ : It's amazing how Fertile Ground has been growing to worldsucces the past couple of years, selling over 250.000 albums, independently!

JC : Yeah, we've been independent since day one.

BTJ : How did you pull it off then?

JC : Yeah, one at a time (laughs). It's a lot of work, a lot of touring, a lot of business-sense, you know what I mean? We are taking our time. We have a very organised business and we work with other very well organised businesses around the world. Selling one cd at a time.

BTJ : With you being the mastermind behind the business?

JC : Well, I'm the pusher, you know what I mean? There's a lot of small masterminds who get it going. I recognise masterminds. (laughs)

BTJ : Having toured around the world, what would be your favorite places and/or spaces?

JC : All of it. Every time.. On this tour we played about 15 cities and each promoter did a wonderful job. You know ,for instance Paris, we have very limited distribution there. But we sold out the venue. Because the promoter is very smart and knows how to get it done. And each city is a similar story. The promoters are just very smart on how to get people to come out. And after that it's up to us to give a decent show and make people come back to our following. And we couple that with meeting with distributors and stores. Actually not even distributors, we work directly with stores. We call stores and we work directly with them. We ask them to contact distributors. I don't know distributors names but I know store-owners names. It's very important. I know probably 150-200 store owners names, you know. They'll call me and tell me tell me they need 20 CD's. They call me, not someone else or anything else. We have people to help us. I don't ship them myself. (laughs)

BTJ : Not much people tried it that way, before.

JC : Yeah. It's different.. Just a different way of thinking. If you'd approach it without any sort of preconcepts I think it would make perfect sense. It's like when you're selling t-shirts. We just take the same logic of selling t-shirts and apply it to selling records. So no video, none of that stuff. This is one way of selling a record. But how do you do it if you don't have the money to do print up one million copies and just put them in the shelves and see if people but them. We don't have that kind of money. So we have to be a little more creative.

BTJ : Your last album (Black is...) was highly-anticipated, did that come as a surprise?

JC : It's an age-thing I think. The older the band, the more the anticipation. Nobody anticipates our first album. Nobody anticipated our second. By the third a little bit and by the fourth we actually created a buzz. But to some people our fourth record is the first thing they�ve ever heard. So city by city, CD by CD, person by person.

BTJ : Looking in the future, where would you like to see Fertile Ground,? In, let's say, five years?

JC : We just want to keep moving as fast as we've been moving. If that happens, you know. It won't only just benefit us. It will benefit all of the people who try to make good music. There's not just one pathway of how to, there's many different pathways to get music out. Today, if you want to push yourself, there should be a way to do it. And we're trying to create promoters and things that create assistance where you don't have just one way to push yourself. Not to do just videos or radio, but through touring, concerts, through creative ways, small record-chains, recordstores individually. Crew that help you promote and get behind you and do parties and remixes. Each city has it�s own strategy. But I'm going to do music over 5 years. I can plan for 2 years from now. We haven't been to Montreux Jazz Festival but we've been trying to play there since 2000. But if it comes in 2006 it's fine, the door only has to open one time.

BTJ : You mentioned Montreux as a place to be, do you have any other favorite cities in Europe, or the States?

JC : No. City by city. Maybe Kortrijk versus Chicago or Baltimore versus L.A. or Paris versus Detroit, you know. It's city by city. No favourite spots. I love every city that loves us. Equally. I love seeing new faces, I love seeing old faces, I love sharing music, you know.

BTJ : Rumours are there is a Fertile Ground dvd coming up...

JC : Yeah we do have a dvd coming up. At this point we're 7 years old. We have some expertise that we're trying to venture out and broaden our catalogue. We doubled our catalogue this year. We're excited about that. It'll probably come out in April or May.

BTJ : Thanks for your time, James and keep on keepin' on !
  (19/02/2005)

Gilles Peterson - Motives Festival - Genk
by : Alexander Deforce
Probably the hardest DJ to introduce, the term ‘homo eclecticus’ used in the program folder of the Motives Festival covers the package that is Gilles Peterson the best. Mostly known for ‘inventing’ Acid Jazz and Talkin Loud fame he still holds it down as a radiohost for BBC Radio One on Sundays. As the Worldwide Family extends, we met him in Genk, Belgium, for what we call a proper interview.
“Belgium is a funny place. I like coming here. It reminds me of techno. In a good way. The whole gabber thing, obviously I didn’t get that. The girls are hot here. Not tonight. (laughs) but I remember before, thinking, there’s some ladies around. I’m happy to do interviews as long as we don’t talk about acid jazz. It’s cool, I like it but it’s just been so many times.”

BTJ : You’ve been DJ’ing for almost 25 years now, that’s about the average age of the crowd that comes to your gigs. Have you ever thought about it in that way?
GP : (laughs) Yeah, and that’s really important to me. I suppose that’s why I just carry on doing what I do. I think the reason I’ve lasted this long, is because I get my inspiration from the energy that I get from the new generations all the time. When you see young people, in their eyes you can see they are feeling how you felt when you were young. You get it through them, you know, it comes to me that way. It’s a selfish way to take peoples excitement. Suck them of that, suck their adrenaline.

BTJ : When you first started as a DJ you were only fifteen years old. You sneaked out behind mothers back to go spinning, didn’t you?
GP : Yeah. She didn’t know. I had to lie, man. It’s a bad sort of live, it’s not a healthy lifestyle. My mother wasn’t really happy with that, but she had to accept it.

BTJ : And now she’s in the studio, getting props by the Amp Fiddler, live on the air. That’s amazing.
GP : She lives in Switzerland, when she‘s in London, she comes to the studio, checks me out. I make sure I don’t smoke to much. (laughs)
It’s true, she did come to that, that was great, actually. You know, my mother has been through a hard time, because my father passed away a few years ago. She’s kind of find herself. When my father went, she became young again. So I took her with me to things. I don’t take her to clubs, but she came to the studio. She was jealous of my producer, who is a girl, Karen P. My mum found out what she would have loved to have done. Which is nice really, mums are good.

BTJ : When you look at it, you came a long way on your own. Are you the prototype of the self-made man?
GP : Well, it happened, you know. I was happy, I was lucky, just good-timing. I never thought it was going to be a ‘job-job’. Until maybe when I was 25 years. I was thinking, ‘actually, if I play my cards right, I could do this for at least another ten years’..
One of the things that is really good at this job is meeting so many old musicians. Old guys, you know, they’re the best. Roy Ayers, Wayne Shorter, Sun Ra, Pharaohe Sanders, all these people, the jazz guys, really. At the end of the day, when you complain about your life, as a DJ... These guys were doing two shows a day, every day, like six-seven days a week, non-stop, until they died!
I think the DJ’s get to much attention, we just play records man. I mean, some DJ’s deserve to be what they are, but...

BTJ : Did you ever have the ambition to make music yourself?
GP : Yeah! I’d liked to have done that, it’d like to still. But I think, sometimes you’ve got your role. My role was more to be a communicator of music, an ambassador, more than a music maker. I can see myself producing more stuff. I think when I was running record labels, I was kind of producing anyway, but more in an executive role.
In a way, I regret not having made music when I first started. But then if I’d have done that, I wouldn’t have done the other things I did. If you’re making music, you become less neutral, you’re in a different position from the people that are listening to you. It’s good the way it is.

BTJ : Your collection is legendary, is it true you had to buy a second house for it?
GP : Yeah, it was my family or my records, man. I was lucky I could move out. I bought a house for the family, so now my family is in one house and my music is in another one. It’s like an apartment in London, Arsenal, where the football is. That’s where my records are, that’s where I go when I escape my misses. When I need to get away from the screaming children. I wish it was in the same house though.

BTJ : That does say a lot about your obsession with records.
GP : I’m into records, like crazy man.
It’s a big thing now, with Radio One. Am I on in Belgium?

BTJ : Yes you are, Sunday nights, on Studio Brussels.
GP : Great. So yeah, we get a lot of stuff sent, I don’t really listen to enough though. There’s so much music man, sometimes it’s just to much. This week I maybe had like fifty CD’s, I look at them, and I’m like ‘no, I can’t do it.’
Karen (producer) cuts out a lot of stuff. We must receive at least a hundred records and forty CD’s a week. I’m tired just thinking about it. The thing is, what you do is, you find producers, at the end of the day you know what to look at. I mean, I’ve been doing radio shows since I was 16-17 years, every week. Nearly every week of my life. So in the end, you do hear a lot of music.
The other thing I do a lot, I go to record shops. It’s very easy not to go to record shops. A lot of DJ’s just live of the records they get sent. That’s wrong, a lot of the music that I like, I don’t get it sent. When you go to record shops, you kind of get involved in the social aspect of the music thing. That’s really important, because then you hear what people are liking. That’s my life. To me, there’s nothing better than to go to London, into town, on a Wednesday or a Thursday morning, nine to eleven in the morning, when it’s quiet. I walk around, have a coffee and go to four, five, six different record shops. I try to do that every week.

BTJ : So, after you’re paid for a gig, you run directly to the local record shops, big-spending?
GP : I uses to do that, yeah. Nowadays I make sure the promoter pays my agent direct, so I don’t get paid now at the gig. Nowadays, I get record dealers coming to me as well. I’ve got a couple of dealers in London, a couple of dealers in Europe. They send me stuff, or they come to my house with little bags, with special stuff. Old stuff. I look forward to that.

BTJ : Jeff Mills once stated ‘nobody made a law that says music has to be enjoyable everywhere at every moment’. After twenty-five years of experience, do you still know the fear to put on a bad record?
GP : I don’t think you’re ever 100% sure, I still have bad gigs, man. It’s hard to be in the mood all the time. If I’m not happy, I’ll just show it. That’s not very professional. But that’s how I am, I can be terrible man, I can be so bad sometimes.
Confidence is a funny thing, as a DJ. Every year I want to stop. Every year I say I’m going to give up DJ’ing! For maybe a week, and then I’m fine, then I kind of get it together. I’ll then have a week off and after that I’ll do one gig. If the gig is great I’m like ‘everyone loves me and I’m fucking great, everyone is happy, ow wicked, the girls love me, the boys love me’ you know. But then I’ll do a bad gig and I’m like ‘what am I doing, I’m forty years old, I don’t want to be here’. But that is DJ’ing.

BTJ : What would you do if you’d retire from DJ’ing?
GP : I don’t know ... I don’t know, man.
I’d sell my records, and become priest. (laughs)

BTJ : Okay, give me a call then.
GP : It won’t happen, man, don’t worry. (laughs)

BTJ : Looking at the future, what do you think will happen in the next two or three years? Musically speaking.
GP : (Sighs very deeply) Hard one man. There’s a few things I’m really into at the moment. Euhm... (thinks very deeply) I’m into jazz man. I don’t think that’s going to be big though.
I do try to play jazz on the radio now. I have this fantasy in my head, these kids listening to Radio I and they hear John Coltrane or Sun Ra. To me that’s great. That’s what I’m about. I’m imaging this bloke in Scotland driving his car, on his way to see his mother in law, or a postman, or this young guy who’s hearing Sun Ra for the first, looking over to the sea. You know, I have these images, that’s important to me. That’s the good thing about radio, as you know.
I think what’s going to happen in the future is just people being more open-minded about different types of music.
...I need something to get me going, I feel ill. Do you have vodka? Vodka could work for that.

BTJ : eerh...One last question, do you have any rituals before you go on?
GP : I put my earplugs in. I fucking hate them man, I hate them! But I have to wear them though.
  (20/11/2004)

Xploding Plastix - The Donca Matic Singalongs
www.sonymusic.be
Roughly 2 years after their debut album the dynamic duo from Oslo is back with another longplayer,on a major label this time. First of all the album feels a lot cooler, with a very thight production.The sweet cinematics, headthrobbing breakbeat breakouts, urban noir feel..it all fits perfectly into its frame. Seems here they focused more on fresh electronics and computer games instead of the fingerlicking spy-jazz cuts from their first album. Slightly dissapointing but still very tasty! This time there’s even a vocal contribution from Eek A Mouse, and you should definitely search for the sleazy George Moustaki sample somewhere in there. A very fresh and diverse album, one that every electronica-lover out there should have a taste of. Sweet!   (01/10/2003)

Missy Elliott - Under Construction
www.missy-elliott.com
So let's follow the new, slim-line Missy Elliot. Takin' it back to the old school. Although Tim's still on board, so no matter how simple the grooves seem, they ain't. They squelch and burp and then they break down into classic soul breaks, and Missy goes "rat-atat-tat" or something, simple, like.
Take : 'Gossip Folks'. Missy tries some new, almost ODB-crazy vocal stylings. Ludacris shows some Southern Ho-spitality and it's just great. And you know 'Work It', the phenomenal comeback that cemented her reputation as hip-hop's first lady. The remix with 50ct is good as well. This album is all about taking it back "to when hip-hop was about fun" : "Whatever happened to the good old days/It was all about good music/It helped to release some stress/British Knights and gold chains," she raps on 'Back In The Day', the best song of its type we've heard in ages. Check the Slick Rick references, and even a Jay-Z guest spot can't mess it up. Actually, he's really good on it. This LP is messing with our preconceived ideas. At thirteen tracks, plus remix, there isn't really anything in the way of filler here. Lyrical gems ("My attitude is bitchy because my period is heavy" rhymes with "Bloody Mary"), nice breaks ('Hot', 'Play That Beat', 'Slide') and lush soul, most notable on 'Pussycat' ("Pussy don't fail me now/I gotta turn this nigga out/so you don't want nobody else"). Hell, this gets better by the second : her flow is immaculate, her beats are funky, fresh and F.A.T, this is better than anyone could have expected. Damn!
  (01/08/2003)

Nightmares On Wax - interview
by : mustik
When there’s a new album, the artist has to do the rounds to promote the damn thing. It’s the same for everyone, whether you’re Britney or whether you’re George from N.O.W., you’ve got to meet a parade of dullards, dumbwits and dunces and awnser a plethora of asinine questions. In Britney’s case, I guess the problem never arises, but I understand that George is armed with some headache tablets when I meet him on a rainy morning in the offices of distributor Zomba. He greets me with a yawn and things get underway…

BTJ : First I’d like to compliment you on ‘Mind Elevation’, you seem to grow from strength to strength.
NOW : Thanks, I’m pleased you like it.

BTJ : I got to know N.O.W. through ‘Nights Interlude’, which must have been on a hundred compilations. Is that track the cash-cow that allowed you to get more recognition.
NOW : I wish I knew how many times it was used (). But that is definitely the song that shows how the band has progressed. If you listen to the three versions (samples, part-live, orchestrated), you can hear how we’ve grown.

BTJ : I was kind of hoping for yet another version, but I didn’t know what you could come up with…
NOW : ()The version on ‘Carboot Soul’ could be considered the pinnacle of what could be done with that song. That said, the ultimate version would be a live version, with a full orchestra. So : watch this space is all I can say…

BTJ : Are you planning to tour for the new album ?
NOW : Oh, definitely. In the beginning of november we do a European tour. Germany, Paris, I’m sure we’ll be doing Brussels, and then some dates in England. But then in February next year we’ll be starting a full tour, festivals,… and this time round we’re taking a thirteen(!) piece band : keyboards, guitars, a horn section, we going the whole hog. You see, we can’t do it any other way : the production on this album has taken it to this level. Obviously when I told the label how many people needed to be on the tour they went : AAAARRGGH!!!!, but I managed to convince them in the end. How else can I perform it ? It has to be done properly.

BTJ : That’s quite a change from your dj-ing days.
NOW : Oh yeah, but coming from a hip-hop background, I’ve always wanted to make records and from there on. Doing ‘Smoker’s Delight’ and then going on tour with just bass, guitar and keyboards just opened up my eyes, or my ears. I realised through the musicians I had around me at that time that I could take it much further. It’s alright going on sampling beats and breaks and this and that, but why have I got these marvelous musicians around me, you know what I mean ? I knew that, with the melodies I had in my head plus these guys, I could make up my own sounds, get them to play like samples and using that hip-hop approach, the groove aspect… You see, coming from a dj-background, you pick up on completely different hooks and melodies than straight-up musicians. I got into situations where I wanted them to play something discordant and they’ve got to get their heads round it, because they’ve been musically trained and for them it’s like crossing a boundary, breaking the “rules”. I have no rules.

BTJ : Does this stem from your vinyl-addiction ?
NOW : Definitely, being open to all kinds of influences does come in handy when you’re out hunting for records. What I like best is when I’ve bought a record, found a sample, made a track and hear it back, I go : ‘hm, I remember, I bought that record in Boulogne for next to nothing’, you know : the full story. It’s the journey, man. The whole journey.

BTJ : ‘Mind Elevation’ certainly took me back. I thought I was back in good old 2 tone days when I heard ‘70’s 80’s’.
NOW : Well, our generation are all 70’s babies and 80’s children, so it refers back to those days when we had a lot of political issues in England, which still affect us to this day. That Thatcher era was a bad era, privatizations, closing the mines, that shit is not over. You know, when we were doing the track, we were just vibin’. But when it was finished, I knew it really said something serious, albeit in a very tongue-in-cheek way. Keeping it positive. I think this is the most positive album I’ve done so far. I come from a spiritual point of view, and if there’s any way that I can promote positive awareness through my music, then that’s what I want to do. It’s about sharing. If you’re feeling good in life, then you should share it. Because at the end of the day, when you’re with somebody and you feel good, they feel good. You’re getting back what you’re giving away. Not that you’re giving it away to get it back. You’re giving it away for you to feel good. And I believe that I’ve built a platform to do that. I’m in such a strong position now to give out good vibes, that that’s all I want to do now. Music is just my tool to promote more awareness. The whole idea behind ‘Mind Elevation’ is that people elevate their minds every day, but that doesn’t mean they’re aware of it. I’ve only just realised for myself the last six years, you know.

BTJ : Do you think consciousness is at a low point in society ?
NOW : Well, I think it certainly gets represented that way. But I think it’s on the rise, definitely ! I find myself having these kind of conversations day in, day out. Before I would be going through personal experiences, but they don’t seem to be that personal anymore, you know what I mean ? People are not using the word hippy anymore, because the awareness is there. It all comes from the power of thought, everything comes from the power of thought. When you visualize something, you can make it happen ! If you believe something is impossible, then it is. We’re all subject to that mind-control. The trick is to keep on functioning in society when you’ve broken through. I’m not saying I’m totally enlightened, but I’m certainly on a permanent soulquest. I’m on the right path to awareness.

BTJ : We’re drifting heavily into philosophy now, let’s go on to lighter subject matter before everyone has clicked away. Are you still such a big herbhead as before ?
NOW : No. I’ve not stopped smoking altogether, but I only use it occasionaly. At one point I quit and there was a ‘backlash’ period, when I wouldn’t go near it, but one night I had a puff and in the car I put on one of my demo’s (I always check py sounds in the car!) and all these ideas came flooding in and I realise that weed is a good tool, but like anything : you can have too much of a good thing (). You gotta respect the weed !!!

BTJ : Right on ! Since this is Nightlife-Unltd. : do you have a favourite club ?
NOW : Ehm, that’s quitedifficult, because I don’t have a resident spot at the moment. But I do enjoy playing at Electric Chair in Manchester, the Unabombers’ night. The people that go there really know their music.

BTJ : And for going out ?
NOW : Since I’m away from home so much, I prefer to have my friends over for a drink and be around my loved ones…You know it’s a funny situation in Leeds, and the rest of England I suppose, because the whole ‘bar’ thing has really blown up and people think : ‘why should I pay entrance to a club, when I can dance and hear some dj in a bar ?’

BTJ : I hear ya ! Thanks for your time and see you on tour…
NOW : It was my pleasure.
  (01/01/2003)

Dzihan & Kamien - Gran Riserva
www.couchrecords.com
Thanks to the ‘Refreaked’ remix project from their ‘Freaks & Icons’ album, dZihan & Kamien have found the time for this album. They apparently started from samples of their fathers’ recordings (mr. dZihan was at one time named the ‘Joe Morello of the East’ ! ) while on an extended working holiday in Tuscany. The relaxed atmosphere there has influenced the result. ‘Gran Riserva’ is more coherent than it’s predecessor. Deeper, but more playful and with more attention to detail (live instruments !). You’ve probably heard the 12” ‘Stiff Jazz’/’Ford Transit’. It gives you a nice hint of what’s to come. Sometimes clever electronica for the dancefloor (‘Basmati’, ‘Sliding’,’Deep Kitsch) and sometimes more chilled out jazzy grooves (‘Drophere’,’Thrill’). Featuring a fine vocalist : Ma. Dita, the legendary Sammy Figueroa on percussion and their friends from the scene in Istanbul, Vienna and London. They certainly deserve your attention !   (08/01/2002)

V.A. - The Shrine/Afro-digital
Ocho
The name ‘the Shrine’ comes from Fela Kuti’s legendary Lagos club and you can certainly hear Fela’s legacy on this superb double album. There is no defining style to the album as the featured artists come from all over the African continent. Tony Allen gets to kick off with a version of his classic ‘Ariya’. After that, we move to Mali for some ‘diva-business’ from Mamou Sidible, to Senegal for some headnodding hip hop and to Nigeria for a ‘jump-up’ rmx of Femi Kuti’s ‘Sorry, Sorry, Sorry’ by François K. Also appearing are Algerian ‘mémé’ Cheikha Rimitti, South African disco king Chicco and Cesaria Evora from Sao Tome. But the track that makes this album most worthwhile has to be ‘Goor Fit’ by Youssou’s niece Viviane N’Dour : a superb r&b track ! in Wolof (Senegalese) ! from Africa ! The use of traditional percussion makes this track true world music ! A must for every music lover !   (01/01/2002)

Spacek - Curvatia
Blue/Universal
Highly awaited after ‘Eve’ on Gilles Peterson’s comp, Spacek delivers the goods. 21st. century soul that D’Angelo wished he could have made. It’s not that they sound like him, but their sublime downtempo minimalism should certainly have the prince of r&b sweating at night. The fragile vocals of singer Steve make you shiver with their subtlety. The instrumentation is also perfectly spaced and provides the album with a feeling of near perfection : everything is in its place. Add to that perfect production and i think i can safely say that this album will end up in many ‘best of’ lists at the end of the year. Get a bottle of wine and the companion of choice, put on this album and have a good time.   (01/01/2002)

a talk with Amon Tobin - in Brussels - 2002
by : mustik
His new album ‘Out From Out Where’ sounds even more dense and hectic than last year’s ‘Supermodified’, so i jump at the chance to get the lowdown from the man himself, as the press release contains the usual superlative platitudes. Setting up at distributor Zomba’s headquarters, the microphone seems to be broken down. This is what stuck to the interviewer’s sorry excuse for an internal harddrive…

BTJ The new album really seems to be recorded in outer space…

AT Yeah, thanks. I really meant it to have a sci-fi feel. The sounds had to have that wide, enormous feeling. Originally, I wanted to make a real psychedelic album. At least, my – perhaps mistaken – interpretation of that whole era : the Byrds and stuff like that. One definition of psychedelia is ‘not knowing what’s gonna happen next’, that was what I was after. I wasn’t around at the time, but I can still listen to the music. The production on some of those albums was phenomenal…but while I was arranging and recording, I kind of drifted into something else, you know ? I lost interest and decided to take it somewhere else. I wanted something more dense.

BTJ That it certainly was ! It was an intense listening-session. The rhythms sound like they were recorded in the space shuttle hangar…

AT (lol) Well, it was my intention to have that big, brash sound. You know Adam F’s Kaos album ? That over the top production, everything wide open. I wanted something like that to reflect what I feel. I wanted that intensity. It’s not something negative, if you know what I mean. The world is just not always a pretty place…and I don’t mean to bitch about the USA. All the music I love originated there : blues and jazz, funk and hip-hop. Even techno and house started off in the States. When you hear producers like the Neptunes, how can you dis that ? They take things to another level, as I try to do with my stuff. And unlikely as it may sound. I’m doing really well over there, which goes to show that they can’t be all bad (lol).

BTJ Going back to the album. There’s definitely evolution in what you do. I found that the ‘soundtrack’ aspect was more in the background now. The feeling was more emotional, somehow.

AT I’m glad you picked up on that. We all need more of that. When you’re in a room where there are only boys, you know things are gonna go bad at some point. It’s probably that need to control. Like scratch dj’s that like to ‘break it down’. I like Kid Koala better : he’s the scratch dj for the girls ! He manages to make it something more musical, more emotional. As for the soundtrack thing, I’d love to do one, but nobody’s ever asked.

BTJ Just call David Lynch yourself !

AT (lol) I couldn’t, could I ? I’m afraid I’d get fucked good by the Hollywood machine. But maybe I should just give it a try… I know I won’t, though. I can’t be bothered really. I just want to get on with it. Make music.

BTJ That’s fine by me ! How does it work ? Do you obsess for weeks over one sample ?

AT No way ! I tend to get my arrangment and ideas in order rather quickly. It’s the production part that’s taking up more and more time. There’s so much stuff around nowadays. On top of that I tend to layer my tracks fairly dense. I learned and am learning more from doing it. I make it up as I go along really. It’s a kind of natural process for me. I tinker with the sounds, ‘til I’m satisfied that they sound like I like, or how I meant them to sound. It doesn’t ever get perfect, but there’s always next time. I never studied music, I’m just enthusiastic.

BTJ So are we going to see you live.

AT Sure, sure. I’m coming over at the end of november for two gigs : AB and somewhere else, but I can’t remember the name (takes a big puff)…

BTJ Thanks and see you there…
  (01/01/2002)

meeting Mr Scruff - Ghent - summer 2002
by : mustik
A hot, sunny day in july. The second saturday of the ‘Gentse Feesten’ and Six and me are off to meet Mr. Scruff. His new album on NinjaTune ‘Trouser Jazz’ is great and I’m looking forward to spending some time with the Scruffmeister. The rendez-vous point is the hotel that most of the 10 Days artists are staying at, right next to the infamous ‘street of glass’. As I am the last ‘interviewer’ on the list today, Andy Carthy (Mr. Scruff) seems to be tired out by the barrage of inane questions he’s had to answer the past hours (‘are you influenced by hip-hop ?’) and he’s not really in the mood for any more. His website takes care of all those boring details as far as he’s concerned. I tend to agree and ask him what he’d like to do. I’m not surprised when he answers that he’d like to find some records. The girl from the record company (sorry, your name escapes me – short term memory loss eh ?!) wants to find some reggae, Waldo from distributor Zomba (thanx 4 da hook-up) wants to tag along as well and so we decide to go to the Vinyl Kitchen, where there is a good selection of all kinds of stuff.
On the way, we pass the King Kong record store which is not open, unfortunately (not awake yet Andre ?) and talk about the differences of living in Ghent and Manchester : Andy marvels at the absence of cars in the city centre and admires the historic buidings around us. We arrive at the shop in due course and our guests are pleasantly surprised. They’d been to the Vinylla store the day before and found some stuff, but this was something else, as you can listen all you want at VinylKitchen. They both start diggin’ in the crates instantly and it transpires that I’m not going to get much out of Mr Scruff anymore. I’m not bothered though and we laugh and joke about the wonderfully weird stuff that is on sale (never thought you had a record with your name on it eh Waldo ?!). Six finds a real Brussels record – with dialect dictionary, but has to leave for his Skeemz soundcheck at the Blue Note Festival (heard you rocked the joint, bro !). We’ve been in there for two hours ! And it’s not over yet, as Andy seems to accumulate an extraordinary amount of records. He’s already got a ten inch stack of twelve inch vinyl (see pictures section) when he notices the singles crates. He grabs them one by one and rifles through them. More finds. The girl from Ninja warns him about the time and he finally calls it a day. He’s bought lots of different things (James Brown, easy-listening, eighties funk,…), but I particularly notice there’s quite a few disco 12” s. Andy explains that he can sell them in the UK for five to ten times what he paid for them. He says that that’s the way to get even more records. I ask him for a number and he says he’s stopped counting at fifteen thousand. Phew !
We return to the hotel with the loot and part ways as they have to freshen up and get some food.
Around midnight, I arrive at 10 Days just in time to see The Bays, who blow away the competition (if there would be any) with a super set. Then it’s time for Mr Scruff to take the decks. And we’re off ! Mixing up a track from the new album with Brandy’s ‘What About us’. James Brown (he’s using what he bought !), Coldcut, ragga,…and going on to newer styles : Osunlade, TroubleMan, John Beltran vs. Fantasista’s seminal ‘BotaFoga’. The man has some wicked mixing skills ! He ends his set with a super spinbacked version of his own classic : ‘Get A Move On’ and Jamie Odell (Jimpster,…) takes over on the same level.
The night isn’t over, but I don’t manage to get a hold of Mr Scruff to thank him for the wonderful music. Oh, well. Never mind, I’m sure to be there next time when he’s in the neighbourhood. As should you !
  (01/01/2002)

Antibalas - Liberation Afro Beat
www.ninjatune.net
Antibalas, from the french ‘anti-balles’, means bulletproof and that’s what they are ! A multiracial band from N.Y., they number 20 (!) and insist that despite the tight, funky, ‘Fela’-sound, they are not a revivalist band , but they are pushing Afro Beat forward ! If they are, they are using far less radical methods than Tony Allen, but they are just as effective ! The grooves are hot and the lyrics are combattive, a great cocktail for a super album. Let’s hope we get to see them live before too long.   (01/07/2001)

Xploding Plastix - Amateur Girlfriends Go Proskirt Agents
www.beatservice.no
Xploding Plastix – a duo from Oslo, Norway, probably could have been booked permanently at the residence of Jabba the Hut in Star Wars. On this their first album they deliver a very sophisticated and creative statement that definitely should appeal to a lot of different people. Eclectic beats, mad drums and a strong jazzy feel created through smart sampling, humour and an exquisite taste for film noir.The whole thing just grooves wonderfully well, you get sucked in ! Sometimes it feels like Tom Waits is going ‘Aphex - berserk’ creating a rhythmic tension with dark latin-samples or intimate pieces of jazzhistory sliced with hectic drum programming. A mixture of future-like breakbeats, movie car-chase scores, sometimes funky, sometimes melodramatic and always very rhythmic ! Get on board...   (10/04/2001)

Atjazz - Labfunk
Mantis
Atjazz aka Martin Iveson has been leaving a trail of sensual synth sounds, tribal rhythms and some great remixes for some years now. The ‘That Something’ album from 1999 was a firm favourite with dj’s and music-lovers in the know. Well, now he has perfected his skills and delivers a smooth album, full of spacious and atmospheric, funky tracks. The tracks are maybe a bit interchangeable, but the superb production easily outweighs this drawback. The main influence and inspiration for these tracks is probably Herbie Hancock, as they sound like an update of his mid-seventies ideas about composition and harmony. It’s hard to define the ‘genre’ of Atjazz. It’s great new music.Or as Mr. Iveson says : this is Labfunk.   (09/01/2001)

Gerardo Frisina - Ad Lib
Schema
We first heard from mr. Frisina with his 12” ‘Descarga’, a jazz/latin-percussion workout of classic proportion. If you thought the album was gonna be salsa-heaven, think again. What we get is a very eclectic album, with straight jazz cuts (e.g. ‘Slow Burning’) as well as some more exotic elements like bossa (‘Mas Eu Quer Ser’-’Helen Samba’) and rumba (‘Brascubas’). Gerardo Frisina’s vision of jazz is typical for the Schema imprint : humorous, playful and groovy. You’ll find no ten-minute noodle-solo’s in here... All in all a very interesting collection of songs that begs the question : will there be live shows of this material ? If so, you’ll find me in the front row !   (06/01/2001)

Joyce - Gafieira Moderna
www.faroutrecordings.com
English label FarOut have a fine taste. They have put out albums by Brasilian artists that don’t get much attention in Brasil, where (just like everywhere) commercial crap rules the airwaves. This year alone has brought us great albums by Marcos Valle and Os Ipanemas. Now it’s Joyce’s turn, and she does a great job (again). A ‘gafieira’ is a dancehall where all kinds of people meet to spend a free evening. The samba of the gafieira is influenced by American bigband jazz. Horns are included and the tempo is not too slow for dancing. Joyce proves on this album that she masters the style. On ‘Samba da Silvia’ she gets vocal support from Elsa Soares, known for her classic cover of ‘in the mood’ : ‘Edmundo’ (available on ‘Favela Chic’). The cd version of the album apparently features a short video, check it !   (01/01/2001)

Tamba Trio - Avanço
Philips
This Rio De Janeiro pop-jazz trio is one of the most popular and frequently cited of the early '60s bossa-nova jazz acts. Pianist Luiz Eca was the compositional genius behind the group, composing and arranging tunes with a harmonically rich, lush romanticism. Percussionist Helcio Millito and flautist/multi-instrumentalist Adalberto Castilho (aka Bebeto) rounded out the sound. On this outing, their second album, the Trio add MPB-4-ish vocals into the mix, while tackling well-known hits such as ''Girl From Ipanema'' and Jorge Ben's ''Mas Que Nada.'' This would appear to be an overt nod towards commercialism (gasp!) but it doesn't get in the way of a swinging beat. For an authentic Brazilian loungecore sound, this is hard to beat. Breezy, but fun.   (01/01/2000)

Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto/Astrud Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto
Verve
THE classic jazz-bossa nova crossover album, the one everyone's gran has in her collection (if she likes jazz or bossa anyway). A startlingly intimate and sparse record, where you can hear every tremble of Stan Getz' saxophone reed and every breath from Joao and Astrud's throat. This session contains the global hit : ''The Girl from Ipanema'', which helped make bossa nova a household word (how many cover versions have you heard already ?). Gilberto's guitar work and whispery vocals are the ultimate in Brazilian soulfulness, while his then-wife Astrud perfectly captures the 60s cool sound. Antonio Carlos Jobim plays piano and the percussion by Milton Banana is a study in economy. There are gazillions of pressings and reissues of this album -- don't worry, they all have the same magical music on them...   (01/01/2000)

Joao Gilberto - Joao Gilberto
Polydor
This is Gilberto's "white album" -- a beautiful and spiritual recording. In my humble opinion one of the best Brazilian records ever made. Sparing and gentle, graceful beyond the reach of practically any other musician alive, this includes revamped acoustic takes on several bossa nova and pre-bossa oldies. My favourite is Ary Barroso's "Na Baixa Do Sapateiro", but the others are ace as well. There's also some newer material such as the lullaby for his young daughter, Bebel (yes, THAT Bebel), and one song each by the upstart tropicalistas, Caetano Veloso ("Avarandado") and Gilberto Gil ("Eu Vim Da Bahia"). Gilberto sings barely at a whisper, while his percussionist (Sonny Carr) is the absolute model of economy and restraint. A truly delicious album !   (01/01/2000)

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