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)