Lord Echo, live in Akld!

From Lord Echo: "Here's a little treat in celebration of the Silo Session [Wynyard Quarter] show in Auckland on March 29th and the Japanese shows in Tokyo, Niigata and Kyoto on April 4/5/6. It's a live version of Street Knowledge that was performed in late 2012 at The Matterhorn in Wellington and you can download it for free! The band is killer."


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LORD ECHO (live) | ELECTRIC WIRE HUSTLE (sound system)
with DJs ISAAC AESILI | MARA TK | TAAY NINH
Saturday 29th March @ Silo Park
Family Friendly Event | FREE ENTRY

www.silopark.co.nz

With a penchant for heavy rhythms moving through a fresh fusion of soul-reggae, afro-disco, latin-boogie and more, Lord Echo has been blowing stereos and minds internationally with the release of his 2nd LP‘Curiosities’. Mike Fab (The Black Seeds) is the man behind Lord Echo, and will be leading the live band with himself on guitar and mixing desk. He will be joined on stage by extremely talented vocalists Ria Hall(Fly My Pretties) & Leila Adu (as featured on the track 'Molten Lava'), Mara TK and Taay Ninh (Electric Wire Hustle) on guitar & keys, Issac Aesili (Funkommunity) on trumpet and Lucien Johnson (Shogun Orchestra) on sax.

Electric Wire Hustle will also be performing their sound system set, which should feature a mix of their own material and tunes to get the dancefloor started. Rounding out the musical line up the day will also feature DJ sets from Isaac Aesili and Lord Echo. Come down for a brew, a browse of the Silo Markets and a boogie in the sunshine on the last Saturday of summer.

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

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.

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

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

Lord Echo newie!

News from Bastard Jazz: " The mighty New Zealander known as LORD ECHO will be releasing his second album Curiosities on Bastard Jazz in early November. Expect boogie-laced Funk, disco-primed dub, futuristic soul, and timeless African rhythms from this cult favourite.


Watch out for the first single - "Molten Lava / Digital Haircut" dropping digitally October 28th - Tune into Gilles Peterson's latest show on BBC Radio 6 for a taste"

Free Download of Digital Haircut at XLR8R 

Out Nov 15 on Economy Records (home to The Yoots, Shogun Orchestra), NZ release thru Rhythm Method/DRM on CD/digital/vinyl. The album is being released on Wonderful Noise in Japan, Bastard Jazz in the US, UK and Australia, and Jakarta in Europe and South America.

"Curiosities picks up right where Melodies left off, with the sun-drenched psychedelic dub sounds of tracks like “Bohemian Idol” (featuring vocals by Toby Laing of Fat Freddy's Drop), and the jerky funk vibes of cuts like “Digital Haircut” and “Street Knowledge”.

The album provides a wealth of DJ fodder, with forward thinking 70s-inspired disco tunes such as “Molten Lava” (featuring the soaring vocals of Leila Adu), as well as analog Afro-infused burners like “What Is That Feeling” and “Put It In My Head” (complemented by the golden-voiced Mara TK of Electric Wire Hustle fame).

Down-home spiritual jazz/electronic meanderings ("Ghost Hands", “Arabesque”) provide a counterpoint to Echo's driving cover-version of the Pharoah Sanders & Leon Thomas classic “The Creator Has a Master Plan”. His inspiring take on the track is uplifted by the soulful singing of Lisa Tomlins (who's notable vocals on Echo’s rendition of Sister Sledge’s “Thinking Of You” made it a standout hit from his Melodies album).

The finely-tuned collaborations throughout Curiosities underscore Lord Echo's pivotal position in the thriving New Zealand music scene. "I generally only work with people I know quite well personally", says Echo.

That personal and organic approach to creating his music is revealed as the album unfolds, layer by delectable layer. "I made this record primarily with DJs in mind," he continues.

"They are generally people who really love music and are often obsessed with various aspects of it. I'm not making music for people for whom it's just some background noise in their lives, I'm making music for people for whom it IS their lives. And for better or worse, I guess I am one of those people."

Lord Echo is currently splitting his time between New Zealand and New York. In New York he is recording with Victor Axelrod (aka Ticklah) who has been a key player in the NY scene for the last decade and is affiliated with the Daptone crew, Antibalas and Mark Ronson.

In New Zealand he is the house engineer for Wellington-based Economy records. Summer 2013/2014 will see him producing the next Lawrence Arabia album, the next Black Seeds album, and starting work on a 3rd Lord Echo album.




[CD]
1.What Is That Feeling
2.Endless Dawn
3.Bohemian Idol(feat Toby Laing)
4.Digital Haircut
5.Street Knowledge
6.Molten Lava (feat Leila Adu)
7.Arabesque
8.Put It In My Head(feat Mara TK)
9.The Creator Has A Master Plan (feat Lisa Tomlins)
10.Ghost Hands

[12"]
Lord Echo / Curiosities album sampler E.P.(12" Vinyl)
side A
1.The Creator Has A Master Plan
2.Molten Lava

side B
1.Digital Haircut (Dub Version)*only 12"
2.Street Knowledge

Biggie meets Lord Echo

From MonkOne: "I did this quick combo for a party I DJed a while back with DRM of Bastard Jazz, who put out the Lord Echo track." Free DLl too