A little bit of...

I'm all done and dusted with 2013, time to split - cheers for your support over the past year. Share the love.

Rakinos shuts down

Rakinos. Photo:Flickr/Wonderferret

Long-standing Auckland venue Rakinos confirmed reports yesterday that it was shutting down. The High St venue has been in operation since 1991, opening with distinctive tables cut out of iron to mimic the shapes of all the islands in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

The cafe/venue has been thru several incarnations, boasting live music and DJs across the musical spectrum. I remember seeing a very early version of The Brunettes play live there, and also host numerous jazz acts. In recent years it has mutated into a hiphop venue, with noted DJs such as Dylan C establishing the long-running Loop Sessions, among many others.

It is the last venue in High St, dating back to the 1990s when that area had a range of spots with soul - from The Box/Cause Celebre nightclubs, to Rosinis restaurant, to Escape bar, to De Bretts... it's hard to believe High St ever had soul, looking at it these days.

Rakinos' Andy JV says on Facebook that "We have slowly and gradually found the going harder and harder to sustain, especially in the last two years - a non-renewable lease on a building that requires earthquake strengthening, the increasingly growing number of bars in our city.. the fight just got away from us and at the end of the day, our pockets simply aren't deep enough compared to some of the bigger groups to keep growing the brand and maintain a competitive edge. That, and we have done 13 years maintaining the business in the Auckland scene as shareholders - sometimes, you simply just get tired..." He also pointed to increased competition from Britomart bars.

Meanwhile, in Wellington, popular live venue San Francisco Bathhouse celebrates for the final time this year on New Years Eve, as they close down. ADDED: The venue will close for about two months, for repairs. Earlier this year the venue’s capacity was halved from 500 to 250 after receiving a complaint regarding fire safety requirements via the Wellington City Council.

"It's the first step towards getting the capacity back up to what it used to be. There are strong indications [getting it back to 500] is going to be possible, but there are few more things to achieve there. The building also require s earthquake strengthening." Source.

ADDED April 12 2014: Former co-owner Andy JV posted the photo below on Facebook, of the current state of the former Rakinos space - now converted to generic office space....

Adults vs orchestra

This cool gig is happening 30th January, featuring material off The Adults debut album, and some new pieces - maybe Shayne Carter might preview something off his forthcoming piano-based album... go on, Shayne! When you gonna get another chance to rock out with an orchestra, bro?

Adults meet the APO
Conductor Hamish McKeich; The Adults - Jon Toogood, Julia Deans, Shayne Carter and Steve Bremner, plus Ladi6 and Anika Moa.
"New Zealand supergroup The Adults, led by Shihad bandleader Jon Toogood and featuring Julia Deans from Fur Patrol, are no strangers to collaboration. In this innovative concert in the new acoustics of the Aotea Centre, The Adults join ranks with the APO, adding the power of orchestration to their unmistakable sound.

Alongside hits including ‘Nothing to Lose’, 'A Part of Me' and ‘One Million Ways’, The Adults present new ensemble pieces accompanied by full orchestra, with special guest appearances by Anika Moa and Ladi6.

From meditative and melodic to high-octane drama, this meld of band plus orchestra brings you contemporary New Zealand music at its best."

First Word Recs xmas goodies

Free download from the nice folk at First Word Records. Features some cool cats like Souleance, Ross McHenry, Riot Jazz Brass Band and more.

"The 10th instalment of our Two Syllables Compilation series. This is our Christmas gift to all of you who have made 2013 such a memorable year for us at First Word. Every artist who released something on the label this year is included, with tracks from Teotima, The Fontanelles, Tall Black Guy, Comfort Fit, Frameworks, Yosi Horikawa, Ross McHenry and Souleance. We also have a couple of new tracks from Essa and Riot Jazz Brass Band (look out for more music from both of them in 2014), and tracks from a couple of artists from our extended family in the shape of Sleepin' Giant and Strangelove."

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm, Dec 21

Lord Echo - Put it inside my head
Wally Badarou - Hi life
George Duke -Percussion interlude - Jeremy Sole edit
Dub traffik control - Fresh prince of babylon
The Orb feat Lee Scratch Perry - Hold me upsetter
Loopless - Pink blue hotel
Nathan Haines - Sonovabitch
Ramsey Lewis - Back in the USSR
Charles Wright - Doing what comes naturally
Betty Davis - Anti love song
The Tennors - Ride your donkey
The Pioneers - Trouble deh a bush
Lee Thompson ska orchestra - Napoleon  solo
Cheryl Lynn vs Kool Keith - Got2blarge
Ladi6 - Diamonds - Oddisee remix
James Brown - Santa Claus goes straight to the ghetto
Electric jungle - Funky funky christmas
Souleance - Mais um
Shriekback - All lined up - disco mix
Aretha Franklin - I am in love - Cutec edit
Jose James - Blackmagic - Joy Orbison's recreation
U-Roy and Francois K - Rootsman
Beat pharmacy feat Paul St Hilaire - Sunshine
Robert Glasper Experiment -Twice - Questlove's twice baked remix

Picassos at Wine Cellar this saturday

"Come Celebrate one of the wildest most liberating holidays of all Time The Wine Cellar & Whammy Bar are opening their doors together one last time in 2013 for festive madness. The Legendary Hallelujah Picassos joined by Wilberforces, Storehouse Blues with Harkness Tofu's Loud Ghost and Chris Cudby's new Power Nap project. other random acts of musical madness are bound to take place. "

Saturnalia, featuring Hallelujah Picassos, Wilberforces, Storehouse Blues with Harkness Tofu's Loud Ghost and Chris Cudby's new project Power Nap
The Wine Cellar & Whammy Bar, Saturday Dec 21, $10, 8pm

Lord Echo - Digital haircutz

Form Bastard Jazz Recordings: "Wig out" to this cheeky video for Lord Echo's digital haircut done by our neighbour & compatriot Navarro Stark, featuring a lovely cast of 1970's mannequins, meandering lips and flying afros."

on Bastard Jazz: http://bastardjazz.bandcamp.com/album/curiosities

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm, Dec 14

Shoes - El bantu
Liberators - Water somewhere
DJ Shinya - Nigerian reggae edit
Lord Echo - Molten lava
Junior Murvin and the Upsetters - Get ready - Bongo mix
Joe Tex and U-Black - Standardization
Jimmy London - I'm your puppet
Fat Freddys Drop - Hope -Sonsine remix
King Errison - Conga man
DJ Nu-Mark feat Aloe Blacc, Charles Bradley - Don't play around
Quantic - Linda Morena
Liquid crystal project  -Tribute to Dilla
Eddie Senay - Cameo
War -World is a ghetto - special US disco mix
Ariya astrobeat arkestra - Crosstown traffic
Onra - The anthem
Son palenque - Palenque palenque
Prince Charles and the City Beat Band - Cash (cash money)
Cameo - I just want to be
Prince and 3rd eye girl - Da bourgeoisie
Ladi6 - Diamonds - Oddisee remix
Dub traffik control - Fresh prince of babylon
Blood sisters - Ring my bell
DLT feat Mighty Asterix - One love
Adrian Sherwood - Zero zero one

Reva DeVito & Roane Namuh / HOT16

Some cool disco boogie remix ish plus some space beats...

"HOT16 and Roane Namuh's new digital and split 7” single bridges the gap between two other great releases on Liquid Beat Records, Reva DeVito and Roane Namuh’s “Cloudshine Deluxe” digital and vinyl LP, and the forthcoming 6 song LP by producer HOT16 entitled “1983”.

The two beatsmiths swapped remixes from each other’s projects to give each song a unique twist indicative of their respective sounds.

Side A finds HOT16 reworking Reva & Roane’s jazzy “C(h)ampagne” into a Modern Funk floor filler that will no doubt be a DJ favourite.

Side AA has Roane Namuh applying his signature soulful boom-bap sounds to the collaborative effort from HOT16 and up and coming Hip-Hop artist MC Melodee and their ode to love entitled “Falling”.

Run DMC

 
2013 is the 30th anniversary of the recording debut of Run-DMC. The release of “It’s Like That/Sucker MCs,” dropped on March 12, 1983. Then there's “Hard Times/Jam Master Jay,” which dropped on December 11th, 1983. RIP Jam Master Jay.

Nasty Jawns

Following up Mixed Jawns... "The smallest of professors has struck again with his newest entry into the 'Jawns' series, an ode to freaky thangs. Inspired by 9th Wonder's remix of Amerie's "Why Don't We Fall In Love" & random RJD2 vocal edits, NJ is mainly a continuation of a section of Small Professor's "Cool Story, Pro" album...the part of the story about sexy times, that is.

"On this short release, Marvin from "Sexual Healing" and Marvin from "Let's Get It On" are paired, as well as Isaac Hayes x Jodeci & Drake x Ron Isley...all combining to form a project that's absurd, funky, blasphemous...but most of all, nasty."

Scalper: new single

Dark, moody new track from Scalper, name your price over on Bandcamp, have a listen.

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm, Dec 7

Reuben Wilson - Got to get your own
Milton Hamilton -We have all the time - Danny Kriivit edit
Chic - Open up
Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd st rhythm band - Loveland
Sly and the Family Stone -You can make it if you try
Archie Bell and the Drells - A thousand wonders
Sister Sledge - Love dont you go thru no changes on me
Loraine Ellison  - Got my baby back
Esther Phillips - Just say goodbye
Ella Fitzgerald - get ready
Joanie Sommers - Dont pity me
Mark Williams - Yesterday was just the beginning of my life
Dalvanius and the Fascinations - Love train
OJays - 992 arguments
Erykah Badu  -Baglady
Nona Hendryx - B-boys
Electric wire hustle - Numbers and steel
Souleance -Mais um
Yellow magic orchestra - Comupter games
Kevvy Kev - Higher dread
Lord Echo - Bohemian idol
Busy signal - Well prepared
Lee Perry and the upsetters - Big neck cut
Junior Murvin - Roots, train, Police and thieves
Lee Perry - Jungle youth - Congo natty remix
Jose James - Desire - Moodymann remix
Andrew Ashong and Theo Parrish - Flowers

RIP Junior Murvin

Via The NME: "Reggae artist Junior Murvin has passed away at the age of 67.

The Jamaica Observer writes that the singer died at the Port Antonio Hospital in Portland earlier this morning (December 2). Best known for the Lee 'Scratch' Perry produced 1976 single 'Police and Thieves', Murvin - real name Murvin Junior Smith - was apparently suffering from advanced stage diabetes at the time of his death.

The 1977 album 'Police and Thieves' was Murvin's LP debut and saw him backed by The Upsetters. He released his last studio album, 'World Cry', in 1995. The Clash covered the song 'Police and Thieves' on their 1977 debut album. Scroll down to hear Murvin's original version, as performed on Top Of The Pops."

The Guardian: Junior Murvin has died but the story of Police and Thieves lives on

"... The tune was the soundtrack to the Notting Hill carnival in the summer it was released, 1976. The perfect groove for a hot and sticky August bank holiday on the streets of west London.

Eerily, the record had been pumping out of sound systems and shebeens in London W10 and W11 postcodes in the days and hours before the community tensions of the time erupted in an all-out battle between (predominantly) black youth and the (predominantly) white police on the streets of Ladbroke Grove. Everywhere you went for the following few
weeks – parties, blues dances and even university student unions – the tune was being rinsed out like it was the pick of the pops.

Every young rebel seemed to have a copy. Joe Strummer and his bandmates included. Even though John Peel had been playing Murvin for months, it was the Clash's version on their debut album that would turn the song into a punk anthem. Strummer told me he preferred Murvin's original. It was one of his favourite records..."

LISTEN: Police and Thieves original,  then Junior Murvin's versioning of the same riddim with Cool Out Son, and another great tune off the album, Roots Train. A classic reggae album you must own. 

NZ Soul All Dayer #3

NZ Soul All Dayer #3: Christmas 2013 Edition. What a wicked lineup!Privileged to be playing it. From midday, Saturday 7 December, at the Golden Dawn.

Featuring... Jennifer Zea and Bobby Brazuka (Latinaotearoa) (PA set), and there's gonna be a record swap too. Free entry before 6pm, $5 after 6.

Set times below...
Midday - Tido
1pm - Kirsty Hargreaves
2pm - Morgan Hammond
3pm - Scott Towers
4pm - Peter McLennan
5pm - Sene
6pm - Simon Grigg
7pm - Bevan Keys
8pm - Matthew Crawley, Tina Turntables & DJ Automatic
9pm - Gene Rivers
10pm - Jennifer Zea with Bobby Brazuka
11pm - Campbell Ngata
12am - Jay Jeffrey
1am - Kris Holmes

Florelie Escano vs Lotek

Tasty reggae rework by Lotek of a song written and perfromed by Australian soul singer Florelie Escano. The original is called "The Liberating Kind". Free download at http://florelie.bandcamp.com/track/the-liberating-kind-remix-riddim-by-lotek

Mimika - space jazz

Here's something delightfully twisted. Balkan space jazz outta London via Mars. Check it.

Some info from the band - "Mimika is set somewhere in Outer Space, but realises its dreams in London (UK). It is a 16 piece balkan space orchestra (big band for the youth, a mixture of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, Balkan Folk Music and Urban Hip Hop alongside everything else) run by the young composer Mak Murtić and involving a multicultural group of humans. The band is currently presenting a new project about a future Martian civilisation of humans and Earth's society collapse.

Mimika has performed on the London Jazz Festival 2012, The London Olympic Festivals, Pizza Express Jazz Club, Richmix, Hootananny's, The Bussey Building and other venues in London, UK as well as Croatia."

Teotima

From First Word Records... "We're proud to announce the debut album from 14-piece spiritual jazz ensemble Teotima.

Formed by guitarist-composer Greg Sanders, the album blends grooves from West Africa, Cuba and Brazil, adding the sensibility of classic American soul and funk. As an intrinsically live project, all the individual band members were key to the project and their improvisation is a central part of the album. 

Recorded live at London's Fishmarket Studios under the watchful eye of engineer Ben 'Nostalgia 77' Lamdin, the record achieves a synchronicity that only this kind of old-fashioned approach can produce.

You can check out the album teaser below, and the video for lead-track 'Orange Lamps' (as debuted on Okay Player affiliate site 'Revive') here.

Band-leader Greg has also put together an influences mix over at our Mixcloud page, you can find that here. Most importantly you can listen to, and buy the album right here. It's available on vinyl, CD and download. Londoners can see what is sure to be a rare live show at the stunning Wilton's Music Hall on December 10th. Details of that are here."

Ladi6 remixed by Oddisee

Remix of one of my fave cuts off the outstanding album Automatic from Ladi6 (features production by Parks, Wajeed).

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm, Nov 30

Romanowski - Why?
Wally Badarou - Chief inspector
MAW - Zoe
Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - Mama don't like my man
Jermaine Jackson - Let's get serious
War - Galaxy 2000
Shoes - In the mood for dub
Staple singers - Something aint right
Angie Stone - Wish I didn't miss you
Lee Fields - My world (live in Auckland Jan 11 , tickets onsale now)
Blackbyrds - Rock creek park
Beat pharmacy  - Ghost ships
Butch Cassidy sound system - Ready dread
Che Fu - Get up stand up
James Brown - The Bose - Geisha boys remix
Larry Gold - Aint no stopping us now
Philadeplhia allstars - Let's clean up the ghetto - Danny Krivit edit
Leon Huff - No greater love
Magic circle express - Magic fever

Fontanelles: Horns of Freedom debut

This a rather groovy record, give it a listen... "We’re delighted to announce the debut album from The Fontanelles. Originally formed to be the onstage band for the London run of Fela! The Musical, the band’s natural chemistry was such that they instinctively continued performing together when the show ended. They took the energy of the stage show and started working on original material, adding reggae, ethio-jazz and ska influences to the afrobeat source.

Their debut album takes in everything that defines The Fontanelles’ distinct sound. There’s uptempo Afrobeat thumpers (Gaia’s Revenge, the seismic Afrocat and recent single Criminality), mid-tempo dub groovers (Pinprick & Project 31) and the band’s unique take on lo-slung funk (The Wave)."

Out now on First Word Records - CD/LP/Digital.

Lorde’s Dance Moves: giftastic!

Via NYMag Vulture: A Complete GIF Guide to Lorde’s Dance Moves

here's a preview... The Mermaid Hair-flip
"Lorde's signature move. Mermaids everywhere clutch their seashell bras and seethe with jealousy."

Soul Fire 7" box set

From Truth and Soul Records: Available Black Friday Record Store Day special "Soul Fire box set" in stores November 29.

"Truth & Soul is proud to present The Soul Fire Box Set for Record Store Day, 2013. Soul Fire Records, started in 1999 by Phillip Lehman, produced some of the funkiest modern recordings to ever make it to 45.

Many of those 45’s from the Soul Fire catalog are nearly impossible to find today, and if and when they do come up for sale, they fetch top dollar. Soul Fire closed its doors in 2003 when Phillip stepped away from the music business to pursue other ventures.

He left the studio to Jeff Silverman & Leon Michaels, who then started what today is known as Truth & Soul Records. This box set contains some of the rarest sides from the Soul Fire catalog, 8 7” vinyls, liner notes from Phillip himself, and a Soul Fire sticker, all packaged in a woven silkscreened collectors box. Limited to 1000 pieces for Record Store Day."

BUY AT TRUTH & SOUL

Here's the latest podcast from the T&S Records posse...

Graff timelapse

Via Core77: "It went live on Friday, and quite deservedly went viral over the weekend: "Limitless," a brilliantly-shot-and-edited video from filmmaker Selina Miles, decides to have some fun with a warehouse in Brisbane that's on the demolition list.

Street artists Sofles, Fintan Magee, Treas and Quench were given what appears to be an unlimited amount of Ironlak paint and set loose on the structure's interior. Despite the painters' talents this could easily have been boring, but under Miles' expert shooting, directing and editing techniques, it's pretty riveting."

Downloaded: Rise and fall of Napster

From Radio NZ: "Napster is arguably the company that started the digital music revolution. A new documentary, Downloaded, charts the rise and fall of this peer-to-peer music service, from its first strokes of code in 1998 to the much publicised lawsuit brought against it by Metallica, Dr Dre and the RIAA.

Trevor Reekie talks to the director of the film Alex Winter. Listen over here.
Watch the film trailer above.

Jef Gilson - Archives

Jazzman Gerald says "Before Jef passed in 2012 he was kind enough to allow me to go through his personal archives which resulted in our 'Best of Jef Gilson' album.

Since then I've finally managed to go through his lifelong accumulation of tapes, acetates, records, photos, posters and music paraphernalia which has resulted in Jef Gilson - Archives, an album of previously unreleased demos, alternate takes and lost sessions. It's been a huge task requiring the assistance of many people and several months untangling tapes in the studio, but the results are definitely worth it.

Watch and share the video with all the recordings and pictures I made during all my visits below..."



Via Jazzman Records: "Since Gilson's passing in 2012, we have surveyed the substantial personal archive of his acetates, test pressings and reel to reel tapes with the kind permission of his widow, Geneviève.

The task has not been easy, it’s taken numerous trips to France and the generous assistance of a small army of translators, advisors, musicologists, amateur enthusiasts and record collectors, as well as the surviving members of Gilson’s musical entourage, for us to gather together the information required to make Jef Gilson - Archives (JMANLP/CD.063).

In it you will find music we‘ve chosen from having listened to literally hundreds of hours of alternate takes, rehearsals, live recordings, unissued sessions and personal recordings made from the ‘50s to the ‘70s; none of which has been officially released before.

Despite the limitations afforded by mastering some of these recordings from anonymous reels of twisted, buckled tape and scratched, dusty old acetate discs, we hope that the music contained herein affords a fascinating and otherwise impenetrable insight into the workings of one of the great unsung creative forces of European jazz.

There is also a companion deluxe 10" LP, Jef Gilson - Chansons de Jazz (JMANLP.064), that is a vinyl ONLY release and includes classic Gilson '60s repertoire with rarely heard vocal performances.

Both releases will be available worldwide on the 2nd December 2013 - but you can get them EXCLUSIVELY from our website all week."

Kim Dotcom: "Baboom! I made an EDM album"

Kim Dotcom previously announced his music service, Megabox, just prior to the shutdown of Megaupload, and his arrest in January last year. Since then he has changed the name of the proposed music service to Baboom, last talking about it's launch back in September.

Digital Music News reports that "Dotcom has spent nearly four years working on an “iTunes-Spotify hybrid competitor,” and just revealed details about the upcoming service to Wired. At first, Baboom will only show Kim Dotcom’s artist page… he’s releasing an EDM album [called Good Times]. A couple months later, the full site will launch.

The site will have free music and will compensate artists using ad-generated revenue. And all of that will be generated through a controversial ad-plugin component:

“Baboom users can install a little plugin that replaces the ads you’d normally see on the internet with ones that we control through our ad network. Just as advertisers go to AdWords to buy ads from Google for certain search terms, they’ll be able to come to us and buy these ads at half the price and still have ads shown against the same keywords. And 100 percent of the money is credited to the user, who can spend it on music.”

The Baboom site is being developed by a team of 22 people in Portugal. The site will launch in January 2014.
Read part one of a two part interview with Dotcom over at Wired. 

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm

Keith Le Blanc - Taxcider
Eric B and Rakim - Relax with pep
DLT - Duel of the assassins feat Billy TK
Electric wire hustle - Numbers and steel
Innerzone orchestra - Bug in the bassbin
3 generations walking - Midnight bustling - midnight rockers mix
Chosen few - Do your thing
Sugar Minott - Devil's pickney
Thievery corporation - 38 45
Jose James - Black magic - Joy Orbison's recreation
Ralph MacDonald - The path pt II - Lac's seeker edit
Betty Wright - Keep feelin'
Chic - Hangin'
Alexander O'Neal - Fake - extended version
Roy Ayers - Love will bring us together
Eddie Kendricks - It's not what you got
Lord Echo - Digital haircut
Wajeed - Jeedo suave
Shogun orchestra - Mifune
Ross McHenry - Distant oceans pt II
Adi Dick - Thief dub
Visioneers - Runnin'
Scratch 22 - Shivani strut
Beastie boys  -Sureshot
Slim - It's in the mix

Rich Medina: Lord Echo sampler mix

Via Okayplayer...Rich Medina makes a sweet blend of tunes off the brand new album Curiosities from Lord Echo, out now. Niceness.

Bill Adler on golden age of Def Jam

One day I want to go to New York and hang out with Bill Adler. Dude has seen it all. School yourself on when hiphop blew up.

"Elite Daily had an exclusive opportunity to dig deep into The Adler Archives, sit down with the man who possesses encyclopedia-level knowledge of hip hop, and talk the past, present, and future of the culture.

Be sure to check out the video, and to learn more about the history of Def Jam, chcek out Bill Adler’s book, “Def Jam: The First 30 Years of the Last Great Record Label,” co-written by Dan Charnas."

Picassos on Audioculture

Author/musician Gareth Shute has written a great piece on my old band Hallelujah Picassos over at Audioculture, 'the noisy library of nz music'. It's got a ton of photos too. Go take a look....

"In the mash-up culture of today, it’s hard to recall how rigidly bands used to stick within a single genre. When Hallelujah Picassos arrived in the late-80s, they blasted away at people’s conceptions with their feral mix of indie rock, ska, hardcore punk, and hip-hop..."

... The story of the Picassos began when a young black Dutchman named Harold caught what turned out to be the final performance of industrial duo, Death Korporation, at a late night event as part of the Auckland Fringe Festival, held at DKD Cafe, where Harold worked.

Harold had moved to rural New Zealand when he was 17, but left for Auckland as soon as he had the chance. It was the band’s haphazard cover of James Brown’s ‘It’s A Man’s World’ that took his interest and he approached the guitarist Peter McLennan a few weeks later in a local nightclub, raving about how the cover had made his night after enduring a string of bad poets blathering on. They swapped numbers and started making music.

The pair could not have been more ill-matched – Peter already looking like the Elam Arts School student that he was and Harold (AKA Roland) looking like a wiry street thug – but they hit it off...."

DJ Vadim “Forgotten Treasures Mix #14″

DJ VADIM (BBE Records, London) - MIMS' Forgotten Treasures Series by Music Is My Sanctuary on Mixcloud

DJ Vadim says: " Everyone has a different starting point of reference when it comes to music, so I made a mix in Montreal playing some of what I consider the foundation blocks of what I'm into.

It's not exhaustive and I did this on the fly! Basically, I tried to keep it prior to 1990, though after that of course groups like Massive Attack, Portishead, DJ Premier, DJ Muggs (OMG, the first 3 Cypress Hill albums were dope as fuck as well as Funkdoobiest, House of Pain..), Wu Tang, Tribe, Mary J, etc...hello world!"

Download the mix here.

Erykah Badu live, Akld April 10

Erykah Badu returns to NZ for a show on April 10th next year, at the Civic Theatre. She was last here for the Splore Festival in 2012. Tickets on sale November 21 at 9am through Ticketmaster.

Peru Maravilloso

"There's something incredible about the feeling of being transported to a new location through music. On Peru Maravilloso, the debut full length release from Strut-affiliated label Tiger's Milk Records, compilers Martin Morales (founder of renowned London restaurant Ceviche), Duncan Ballantyne (Soundway Records, Far Out, Naive), and Andres Tapia (of Peru's Resychled Records) make for amazing musical tour guides.

Covering a range of original Peruvian music from cumbia and salsa to latin jazz and psychedelia including some unique fusions, the compilation is about as close as you can get to Peru in the '60s and '70s without a plane ticket and a time machine. For a taste of the music, you can stream Los Ecos' cover of the Beatles' "I Feel Fine" below.


The first 50 orders of Peru Maravilloso on CD or LP from the Strut store will include a limited edition 7" featuring two tracks from the album." Digital out now, CD/LP out November 18, 2013.

Disco Illusion / Lypso Illusion

"For many this is the ultimate Disco Illusion, a record that should have been epoch making in its day, something that would have been a staple for David Mancuso, Larry Levan and Ron Hardy had it ever gotten distribution when it was originally released 34 years ago.

Somehow time passed it by and it was only re-discovered in a warehouse in Trinidad last year. Since then it has been gaining momentum fast, with DJ support from Moodymann, MCDE, Floating Points & Kon, as well as original copies selling for four-digit sums. Part of the illusion is in the structure of the record.

The A-side begins with beautiful, but relatively normal disco song, but suddenly an Egyptian sounding bridge turns the things inside out and the song opens up into a proto-house jam complete with bubbling Sun Ra synths and Black Ark tape delay action. The there’s the b-side, which sounds like Bob James after he had a taste of callaloo, with deep electronics and a mind-melting steel pan solo. Finally, thanks to Invisible City this record is getting the life it has always deserved."

Stephen Encinas ‎– Disco Illusion / Lypso Illusion - 12"  on Invisible City Editions

Ring The Alarm playlist, Nov 16

George Clinton - Do fries go with that shake
Bassomatic - Fascinating rhythm  -Henry's lost dub
Dennis Brown  - Hold on to what you've got
Devon Russell - Make me believe in you
Sly n Mo - Sensisms
Lightning head - Bokoor sound special
Lord Echo feat Mara TK - Put it in my head
Jurassic 5 - Quality control
Gil Scott Heron - The bottle
Dave Cortez  -Happy soul with a hook - DJ Format remix
War - This funky music makes you feel good
Dj Shinya - Nigerian reggae edit
Nicola Conte - Jet sounds
Roberto Roena - Take five
Shirley Murdock - Be free
Ardijah - That's the way
Aretha Franklin - I'm in love - Cutec edit
Roberto Carlos - O calembeque - XRS remix
Cooly G - Love dub
The Liberators - Cairo uprising
Souleance - Mais um
Dalvanius and the fascinations - Who said that
The Rekkidz - Royals

The Liberators: new album soon!

From the Record Kicks label: "Australian deep-afro-funk-jazz combo The Liberators are back with the brand new album "Power struggle", coming out next 25 November 2013 (CD/LP/digital).

Listen to the first 2 singles from the album "Water Somewhere feat Roxie Ray" and "Cairo Uprising" both on rotation on currently in rotation on FIP (FR) Jazz FM (UK), RADIO 6 (NL)"

MdCL: 1989 til now

Mark de Clive Lowe posted this great photo on his Facebook page, talking about gear... Mark writes: "Here's my own personal history of sequencers/drum machines - from the Roland PR-100 in 1989 through various toys old and new to the here n now - Native Instruments' Maschine. Twenty four years of my music technology history.

My favourite is the classic Akai MPC 3000 which is still one of my go-tos, and the one that got away (that I might have to still grab one day!) has to be the SP-1200. For functionality Maschine rules supreme, but sometimes it isn't about how many different things can a drumbox do. Beatmakers - what are your favourite drum machines?"

Deeper shade of soul

"Kae is a singer/songwriter originally from Serbia and Based in Treviso, Italy. Her music is influenced by hip-hop,neo-soul and jazz music combined with future beats.

After releasing her first mixtape 'Yasmine Bey' in early 2012, in March 2012 she was invited to join the first Italian Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp which was a life changing experience, and after that she released and EP called 'Quattro' - four tracks she wrote in a week using beats from fLako's tape 'Leftovers'.

Five Parts of the Soul is inspired by the ancient Egyptian concept of the Soul, which says that a human soul was made up of five parts : Heart, Shadow, Name, Soul and Spark."

Recorded in Venice, Italy, with music written by Kae. Listen to this sampler:

Out November 12th on Cascade Records, digital/12"vinyl EP.
Pre-order Limited 12" Vinyl | available now : Cascade Shop (worldwide) , Amazon (worldwide), Fnac (France), Jet Set (Japan)

Tiki Taane/OMC lost tracks

Pauly Fuemana. Photo via Audioculture's OMC page

It was reported a while back that there were moves afoot to release lost tracks from OMC, with tracks being reworked and added to by Tiki Taane, who has been working on the project for almost two years.

From Neil Reid of Sunday News, who updated the story in late October this year: "Almost four years after Pauly Fuemana's tragic death, aged just 40, fellow chart-topping Kiwi musician Tiki Taane is heading a project which is set to see previously unreleased tracks from the creator of global hit How Bizarre hit the airwaves.

Taane is in the process of going through the contents of about 100 CDs - some of which contain up to 30 songs each - of unreleased tracks that Pauly's widow, Kirstine, had asked him to listen to and decide if they could be released.

Taane described some of the songs as "definitely some of the coolest stuff I have ever heard", with the chart-topper currently working on improving the production quality of the tracks....

...Taane said proudly: "With this whole experience, I have kind of discovered this amazing talent, this amazing musician and songwriter who can tell a really amazing story."

Taane said the contents of the discs included songs which were "really progressive and original", "so punk, so gangster and so political . . . it is just awesome." Given the amount of "really amazing" material he had unearthed, Taane said the final release could be in the format of a double CD.

But given most of the songs were recorded by Pauly at his Auckland home, the production quality on the tracks was basic. Taane is currently working on "fattening up" the songs; including adding kick and snare drums and adding additional vocals from other leading Kiwi musicians.

But some of the songs which would feature on the final release needed little, or no, extra production.

"There is a beautiful version of How Bizarre that he has done with an acoustic guitar," he said.

"It is so deep, it is so beautiful and it . . . doesn't need anything at all. It is him, an acoustic guitar . . . and he is singing it in such a way that it is quite sorrowful. This version is like a man singing it 10 years after it has been released, it has made millions of dollars, it has gone around the planet, it has all these people taking from him and pulling him in this direction . . . it is so beautiful and so real."

Owiny Sigoma/Pilooski remix

Via Brownswood: "The third single to come from Owiny Sigoma Band’s sophomore album ‘Power Punch’ is ‘Sunken Wrecks – a thundering, hypnotic groove laced with flickering nyatiti licks, fierce nyiduonge drums, spacey fx and Jesse Hackett’s haunting vocals.

Pilooski steps up on remix duties, easing the tempo and highlighting the bump and swing of those nyiduonge drums. The result is a loose, loping percussive bomb adorned with sonar echoes and rich, sweeping strings, bolstered by booming, grainy 808s."

Record fair this saturday

"Sick of turning up to a record fair and all the good stuff is gone? Tired of fairs starting at 7am? What about the fact the guy selling to you stopped listening to new music in 70's?

If these get your goat then make sure you head to 'A Record Fair' presented by Flying Out.

Starting at healthy time of 12pm, Newmarket's The Lucha Lounge (1 York St, Newmarket, Auckland, off Khyber Pass) will host sellers of the latest vinyl, CD's, merchandise and aggregators of the finest 2nd hand wax.

To set the mood we have enlisted the help of Under The Radar's Angela Windust, Public Address' Russell Brown and Kiwi FM's Charlotte Ryan to spin tunes. In between the jams Able Tasman Graeme Hill will resurrect his Farfisa Organ to cover your favourite Flying Nun covers.

For those of you who like carbohydrates with your vinyl, Acting Up to sell you baked goods, while a sausage sizzle will run for you "Ron Swanson" types. Koha entry.

Rekkidz - Royals - re-edit. Oh Lorde!

Here's my re-edit of this cover of Royals. Chopped down and compacted to its funky essentials, focusing on the break. Hats off to the Rekkidz for the wicked cover. Hear it over on youtube...

TPPA: NZ copyright altered for US?

Creative Freedom Foundation report that 'TPPA looks set to secretly extend NZ’s Copyright Term'.

From CFF: " Last week the Creative Freedom Foundation participated in a group briefing and Q&A session with David Walker, NZ’s Chief Negotiator in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, and officials Angela Strahl and Yvonne Woutersen.

The meeting made it quite clear that, although the details aren’t final, we can expect to lose many remix rights and see a greater ‘orphaned works’ problem here in New Zealand in exchange for more dairy exports to the U.S. Rather than further protecting artists’ rights, this move will prop up a fundamentalist approach to copyright that will drain the pool of works currently accessible to artists who wish to freely build upon them. Our Big Idea article outlines some of the reasons why this is a problem for kiwi artists.

Orphaned works are works whose copyright holder can’t be found (hence the analogy to an orphan being unable to find their parent). With digital technology, and the lack of metadata about who owns particular work, this is becoming a major issue worldwide for artists, libraries, museums and archives.

Once copyright has expired orphaned work may be freely copied (and therefore preserved) by these institutions. However, with media such as cassette and VHS tapes, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs there is the added time bomb of technology decay that means these works may be lost forever if an owner cannot be located to give permission for the work to be copied. Extending the copyright term will inevitably grow the pool of orphaned works, meaning that those who are trying to preserve our heritage within the law are unable to do so by making copies without the copyright holders permission.

Thankfully, there is a relatively simple solution to the ‘Orphan Works’ problem in New Zealand: an opt-in system for any copyright extension. Such a system would keep the existing copyright duration of ‘Life+50 years’ but allow anyone who still wants it after Life+50 years to register their copyright with the government.

As you can imagine there are very few copyrighted works still needing copyright (or making money) after ‘Life+50 years’. In fact, this University of Illinois study has found that “Copyright correlates significantly with the disappearance of works rather than with their availability”. Surely, keeping our current copyright term is far more in line with the New Zealand national interest than an extension of copyright. An opt-in system for copyright extension would mitigate this issue, as well as appeasing the US desire to extend copyright terms internationally.

Returning to the meeting, Walker opened with a brief chronological summary of the TPPA negotiations thus far, finishing by unequivocally stating that all countries involved are intent on concluding the agreement by the end of this year (2013).

He carried on to say that some chapters had been concluded, and that others still required work. The IP chapter is one where there is still work to be done. Ministers involved have been tasked with concluding outstanding issues prior to the forthcoming Honolulu meeting.

The week of 18 November has been set aside for meetings that will aim to resolve these unconcluded threads, to a point where they can be put forward as recommendations to the Ministers.

Walker stated that he wanted a deal that was ultimately seen as “being in the New Zealand national interest.” It was emphasised that, in such negotiations, issues must be traded to achieve consensus. The problem is that trading off artistic rights (without gaining anything substantial for artists) in exchange for dairy can make sense in this context. Artists don’t have lobby group as powerful as dairy.

Angela Strahl, who is handling the IP chapter, stated that NZ’s Parallel Importing abilities are likely to stay unchanged, as is the ability to set our own limitations and exceptions to our domestic Copyright law. However, it was strongly hinted at that an extension of our Copyright Term is inevitable.

As Walker put it: only three of the twelve countries involved in the negotiations currently have a Life + 50 copyright term (NZ, Canada, and Japan); no-one has signed a trade agreement with the US that hasn’t included at least a Life + 70 year copyright term; and if you were to place a bet on what way NZ was going to go, those are some pretty big odds.

Walker also confirmed that the negotiating documents would not be released prior to signing the agreement.

As New Zealand artists, the CFF is opposed to a Copyright Term Extension for New Zealand."

New Electric Wire Hustle single

Via Okayplayer, Numbers And Steel is the first single of the second long player from Electric Wire Hustle.

"Lyrically, “Numbers And Steel” is very much a call to detach from the mechanical nature of metropolitan living. The group’s Mara TK explains:

“This track is a response to city life; there are references to capitalism in there, birds of prey, red lines, uprising, digging for change, Numbers and Steel’.”

With a few new additions to the EWH roster in Philly’s own Mario Crew handling the drums [following the departure of Myele Manzanza] and a new thumper in bassist Johnny Lawrence, the group’s production duo Mara and Taay, is itching to bring the new line-up and follow up to their critically acclaimed self-titled debut state-side. And we can’t wait to have them."

You can download the single “Numbers And Steel” for free through their site.

Aust/NZ tour date for late November...
Melbourne (Section 8) 21&22 November
Auckland (Cassette Nine) 23 November
Masterton (King St Live) 27 November
New Plymouth (The Mayfair) 28 November
Wellington (James Cabaret) 29 November
They are also booked to play at Northern Bass and Rhythm and Vines.

Stream new Lord Echo LP

Stream the entire sophomore album from Mike Fabulous (The Black Seeds) aka Lord Echo. Out on Economy Records (home to The Yoots, Shogun Orchestra), NZ release thru Rhythm Method/DRM on CD/digital/vinyl, out November 15.

The album is out on Bastard Jazz in the US, UK and Australia (Nov 12), Wonderful Noise in Japan, and Jakarta Records in Europe and South America.

More reading: Lord Echo: Curiosities interview.

Free download of Digital Haircut at XLR8R

Gene Dudley Group - new single

Via WahWah45s: "The Gene Dudley Group represents an outpouring of deep soul and funk music from obscenely talented 27 year-old multi-instrumentalist residing in North London, Gene Dudley.

The debut album, "Saturday Shifting", released earlier this year, caused quite a stir and quickly gained this deeply soulful producer a new army of fans, with Kenny Dope, Huey Morgan and Daz-I-Kue all singing its praises!

One of the most popular tracks from the album is the up-tempo, tropical flavoured cut, and brand new single, "The Hilo Bay Halfway". It comes complete with a pair of exclusive remixes – a "Disco Dub Remix" from Gene himself, who uses hand claps, synths and some seriously squelchy bass to take this club monster in another, equally foot friendly direction; and one from label mate Scrimshire, whose afro-flavoured guitar licks and quirky keyboard sounds guarantee similar dance floor destruction.

Add to that a brand new song from Gene Dudley, entitled "The Mall Walk", and the added bonus of Gene's never before released remix of the Scrimshire classic "Alignment", featuring the sultry vocals of Stac, and you've got a package filled to the brim with serious Wah Wah 45s talent! Single out November 11.

Look out for The Gene Dudley Group live, when they support Stones Throw artists Myron & E at London's Jazz Café in December.

New Souleance EP

Out now via First Word Records: "The brand new EP from Souleance is available now in all good record shops (including Bandcamp). With support from Gilles Peterson, Jeremy Sole, Laurent Garnier and Huey Morgan it's an absolutely essential release! Have a look at the teaser video here and pick up your copy here. If you buy the record from us you get an immediate download of the full EP - nice huh! As ever, artwork is handled by the super-talented Alice Dufay - magnifique!"

RIP Bob Gillett

 The Brew featuring  Doug Jerebine, Bob Gillett (2nd left), Tommy Ferguson,
John 'Yuk' Harrison and Graeme Willoughby.

Musician Bob Gillett has passed away - Audioculture say via Twitter: "Very sad to see the passing of the great saxman, producer and arranger Bob Gillett, who passed away this morning on Waiheke."

From Newstalk ZB: "American-born jazzman Bob Gillett, who was recognised as a giant of the New Zealand jazz scene, has died at his home on Waiheke Island this morning.

The saxophonist, bandleader, arranger and record producer arrived in Auckland in 1962, having led an 18-piece army band in Europe during the war and a member of the Stan Kenton Orchestra for two years.; and immediately made an impression on the local music scene, influencing such people as Bernie Allen, Claude Papesch, Alan Broadbent, and Mike Nock.

Mr Gillett formed his own radio band, was a musical director for some of the early TV pop shows, and produced Ray Columbus and others in the recording studio.

In 1972 Bob Gillett returned to the States for a holiday but encountered visa problems on trying to return to New Zealand and did not come back for 20 years. Gillett was 88."

Via sergent.com.au.. "The Brew are recognised as being New Zealand's first 'Underground' band. They were started in 1967 by Bob Gillett, who had decided to form a band capable of playing a new kind of music, unlike anything that was currently being played. Bob had originally come from Santa Ana, California and arrived in New Zealand around 1960. After playing many jazz gigs he decided to form his own band.

Bob recruited Doug Jerebine, who was keen to experiment with new sounds and equipment [prior to this Gillett employed Jerebine to work with his 18-piece New Zealand Broadcasting Service band, backing some of the top pop singers in the country - source].

Doug was a guitar wizard and had previously played with the Embers. Andy Shackleton of the Premiers was originally recruited to play drums, but never made it past rehearsals, before being replaced by Charles Gray and Puni came in on bass, having arrived in Auckland as a member of the Invaders. Tommy Ferguson wanted to be part of the experiment as the vocalist. There were no rules, they just wanted to create a sound that was not rock, pop, blues or jazz.

They were approached by the Tea Council to record a jingle to promote Tea to the teens. The council had been trying for months to succeed with their promotions, but had been unsuccessful. This association was where their name was derived from - the Brew. Rather than write a jingle they recorded the old standard "Tea For Two". At the same time they recorded "Bengal Tiger" [with Ray Woolf on vocals]. This single, in 1967, was the only release for the group.

On the strength of this single they secured the residency job at the new Picasso nightclub. Gray left and was replaced by Graeme Willoughby, who had begun his career as a member of the Truetones. The Truetones also having Eddie Low and Teddy Toi as members. Solomon also left and was replaced by John 'Yuk' Harrison on bass. With Gillett's influence, Jerebine started playing Sitar in the band.

About halfway through the band's life, John 'Yuk' Harrison left, to be replaced by Harvey Mann. Harvey was dissatisfied with the direction that the Underdogs were going and he wanted to be with the group he thought was the ultimate band at the time. Other musicians to pass through the group were drummers Jon Drinkwater, Ian Thompson from the Dark Ages and the Underdogs, as well as Bruno Lawrence.

After Tommy Ferguson left the Brew, the reformed line-up consisted of Bob Gillett on drums and percussion, Doug Jerebine on bass guitar, Harvey Mann on lead guitar (with a regular body and a bass neck), and Archie Bowie, from the Magee St line-up of the Underdogs, on vocals and harp. Archie stayed for about nine months and was replaced by another singer, Murray Grindley, also from the Underdogs.

Tommy Ferguson had previously been with the Astrobeats in 1965. They released a single called "Jenka Rock". He went solo after the Brew and released two singles during 1968 and 1969, "9 Miles From Nowhere"/"Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" and "Something Bad On My Mind"/"Shoot 'Em Up Baby".

Bob Gillett later formed a band called Breeze in 1971, which included Sonny Day, Dave Shepherd, Steve Wilson and Brett Neilsen. He later ended up in Space Farm."

In 2007, Radio NZ got Keith Newman to talk to Gillett for Musical Chairs, sadly this piece is no longer online Now back online, listen here...

Newman says Gillett started out in big bands touring with Stan Kenton and Anita O'Day, and played with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

"Bob Gillett produced and arranged for the likes of the Rumour and Ray Columbus, formed The Brew and was a member of the Underdogs.

Bob Gillett blew a mean sax and bought with him a host of musical influences from be bop to classical when he arrived in New Zealand from the USA in 1960. 

A band leader and arranger, Gillett took the reins of the broadcasting service big band, inspiring them and a host of other local rock and pop musicians to put some soul into the kiwi sound. 

Music reporter Keith Newman visited Bob Gillett at his home on Waiheke Island for Radio New Zealand National's New Zealand Music profile show Musical Chairs. March 2007."

When Jerebine returned to playing live in New Zealand a few years back, he used Bob's son Miles as his drummer. 

The Brew - at Audioculture.

Ralph Macdonald - The path

I first heard this song done by a crew called Concept Neuf, turned up as a tasty edit on a mean comp from Sofrito last year, called Sofrito International Soundclash.

Today I discovered the original is by Ralph Macdonald, off an album of the same name, from 1978. The album features Idris Muhammed, Miriam Makeba, and Grover Washington Jr among others. This is a slowed down edit.

And while we're on steel drum edits, here's my fave ever steel drum cover from the Esso Trinidad Steel Band, with the original vox mashed on top. 

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm

The Jets - Crush on you - extended mix
Set the tone - Dance sucker - Francois K mix
Orgone - Funky Nassau - Danny Krivit re-edit
St Maartens The Rolling Tones - It's a feeling
Michael Viner's Incredible bongo band  - Apache
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan - Stone cold dead in the market - Ticklah remix
Leroy Smart - Ballistic affair
Bitty Maclean - Cornerstone
Lord Echo - Bohemian idol
Lumidee - Uh oh uh oh
Shogun orchestra - Revolve (playing live tonight at Leigh Sawmill)
Universe crew  -What's inside my afro
The revolutionaries - Kunta Kinte - DJ Kentaro remix
Richie Phoe - I wanta do something freaky to you
Jackson 5 - Get it together  - 4hero remix
Kae - Spark
The Liberators - Water somewhere
Cold, bold and together - Someone's gonna burn ya
Village crusaders - Akiwawa
Gladys Knight and the Pips - Didn't you know (you'd have to cry sometimes)
Billy Hoyle - Mastablasta flip
Apenaut  - Fever
Lee Fields and the Expressions - Money is king (playing live in Akld on Jan 11 2014)
Menahan st band - Esma
Conroy Smith - Original sound
General Levy  - The wig

Luciano - Life - Da Lata samba creation remix
Rip rig and panic -Storm the reality asylum - extended version

Shogun Orchestra live

Shogun Orchestra venture northwards to promote their brand new album Black Lotus, playing a show tonight at Ponsonby Social Club from 9pm (free). Tomorrow night they play Leigh Sawmill.

"Shogun Orchestra, playing "Revolve" from their new album Black Lotus, to be released in October 2013, at the Opera House during the Wellington Jazz Festival.

Jennifer Zea - Vocals, Lucien Johnson - synth, Toby Laing - Trumpet, Barret Hocking - Trumpet, Dan Yeabsley - Saxophone, Joe Lindsay - Trombone, Justin "Firefly" Clarke - Guitar, Chris Yeabsley - Keys, Tim Jaray - Bass, Adan Tijerina - Congas, Paul K Hoskin - Drums."

Our new album Black Lotus can be purchased here:http://shogunorchestra.bandcamp.com/

Voodoo Ray steel

"Jeremy Deller's acclaimed exhibition at the 55th Venice Biennale runs from 1st June to 24th November 2013. In conjunction, The Vinyl Factory are excited to announce a collaboration with Deller on the musical soundtrack to the Turner Prize-winning artist's acclaimed new film, exhibited at the British Pavilion.

The soundtrack is a composition of three classic British songs; 'Symphony in D Minor' by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 'Voodoo Ray' by A Guy Called Gerald and 'The Man Who Sold The World' by David Bowie - covered by the Melodians Steel Orchestra, an English/Trinidadian steel band, based in South London.

Released and produced by The Vinyl Factory, the three-track ‘English Magic’ EP is out now. There is also a limited triple vinyl edition of 300 copies, hand-signed and numbered by Deller with record sleeve artwork created by the artist, including a 10x10” photographic print hand-tipped on the front cover.

AND then there's the Optimo remix of this version of Voodoo Ray, out Nov 11. And below that, David Bowie gets the steel drum treatment.






The soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road, in keeping with the British theme. The Melodians Steel Orchestra played live at both the Pavilion’s official inauguration on the 29 May and later that evening at The Vinyl Factory & British Council party on the Isla Vignole, Venice.

Below: Jeremy Deller discusses his show and accompanying EP “English Magic”, offering a glimpse of the making of the record at Abbey Road studios.

Lord Echo: Curiosities interview

Brendon Goldwasser over at Ground Sounds interviewed Lord Echo recently about his 2nd album Curiosities, out mid November worldwide, more info here. Here's a few IV excerpts...

Your debut release was back in 2010 and was no doubt one of the more creative, original sounding albums that whole year. Was the response what you expected?

I wasn’t expecting a response, apart from my friends in New Zealand who had grown so tired of hearing me say ‘this year I’m gonna release my album’. It was really heartwarming to find it made its way all around the world with no promotion or hype, and that’s something I will always be proud of.

Speaking of other artists, who are some current artists, bands, or musicians that you’re really into right now? Who would you really love to collaborate on music with or go on tour with?

I’m diggin records by Tame Impala, Opossum, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Lorine Chia, Julien Dyne, and Daughn Gibson. I’m heading into the studio with Victor Axelrod/Ticklah this weekend, so dream collab’s are actually happening! He’s really a fantastic player and engineer.

I want to talk about your newest tracks that have just been released this past month. Both “Molten Lava” and “Digital Haircut” have very distinct elements that are a little different than your previous material. What were some of your goals with these new songs and how has the response been so far?

Uggh, just for them not to suck. The response has been very good. I think I was trying to take elements of ‘dance music’ (which I really know nothing about) and dress them up with my preferred sound palette of the rough edges of 60′s production. It’s funny, those two songs – one took me about 2 days to make and I never touched it again (Digital Haircut) and the other I wrestled with for months and I’m not sure who won (Molten Lava). There’s always some songs on a record that for what ever reason are just a pain in the arse to make.

Overall, from previewing the tracks from your forthcoming release Curiosities, it seems like the songs are busier, faster, and definitely with a bit more jazz and disco. How long has this album been in the making and what sorts of recording techniques were used in the process?

I guess it’s been 2 or so years in the making, and definitely the last year fairly full time. The last record, I had to speed some songs up because they were too slow. This time I had to slow them down! Some of them were so fast, listening back I thought I must have been on crack. I do tend to get very excited when a song is in the honeymoon phase of being made though, so perhaps that was it. I made the record on a computer, with some tape machines and a couple of pre-amps. It was mixed in my garage."

Read the full interview here

Beat Box book

"Joe Mansfield's 200-page Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession is one of the best coffee-table books we've seen in a while. This features 75 drum machines from the author's personal collection, with more than 200 outstanding photos by Gary Land, and Foreword written by Dave Tompkins.

This collection of drum machines started nearly three decades ago in 1986 with a TR-808. Mansfield was a young hip-hop producer at the time who went on to produced for Ed O.G. ("I Got To Have It" and "Be A Father To Your Child") and later founded Traffic Entertainment and Get On Down. His obsession with drum machines continued all these years, and with this book it has finally spilled out of his home and climate-controlled storage space into the world at large.

At the core of the book are some gorgeous photos of the drum machines. Along with the pictures: background and facts about each machine gathered by Mansfield; archival advertisements; interviews with master drum machine programmers and innovators including Davy DMX, Schoolly-D, Marshall Jefferson and Roger Linn. The range of drum machines covered spans several decades, from the 1950s to the late 1980s..."

More photos of the book here.

In the Stonesthrow store BEAT BOX: A DRUM MACHINE OBSESSION

Hardcover, 200p. coffee table photo book. Includes download card with "bonus beats" from the drum machines. Pre-order for December 3rd release. 

Warsaw Afrobeat Orch

Out soon on Ubiquity Records, check the audio clip (free DL) and interview over at Okay Africa....


"Ubiquity Records is never one to hold itself to a uniform sound. So when the label received a three track demo from the Warsaw Afrobeat Orchestra, a band from Poland who had recently formed, they jumped at the chance to sign them. “What caught our ears immediately were the singers and the interesting interplay of their vocals against a tough afrobeat rhythm,” Ubiquity’s Enrique Estrella told us, ”It reminded me of 80s era female pop groups meshed with traditional African vocal melodies.”

The original track boasts a simple drum rhythm, but it’s bolstered by a strong horn section and arrangement. Vocally, it recalls Bananarama of 1980s pop music fame, as Estrella alluded to. The remix was produced by another Ubiquity signee, Bosq ofWhiskey Barons, whose debut album was just released in September. Bosq gave the track a house remix which complements the rhythmic horns.

The full 12″ releases on November 19th on vinyl and digital formats, with Okayafrica getting an exclusive premiere of the remix. A free download of the Bosq remix is available at Okayafrica for the next 2 weeks. Accompanying the remix and original versions on the 12″ will be instrumentals of each track. The band’s full album, as yet untitled, is slated for 2014."

Phoenix Foundation / Jet Jaguar

Following on from his previous tasty rework of Wellington's Phoenix Foundation, a new take by Jet Jaguar. Beautiful spacey electronica.

Then there's earlier remixes of the latest Phoenix Foundation album Fandango from SJD (here), Riki Gooch (here) Race Banyon (here) and Shes So Rad Disco Mix (here)