31.7.2007 von mk.

When Groove Armada and their closest - equally music mad - friends decided to stage London’s first weekend festival, little did they know that five years later they’d be promoting Sly & The Family Stone’s first return to the British Isles after a 20 year hiatus. Sly’s thrilling mix of rock, pop, pyschedelia, soul and R’n'B, which came to be known as funk, matches all that Lovebox promotes and stands for - genuine original, energetic diversity.

Lovebox has always embraced soul, house, and breaks, but has increasingly welcomed world music, indie, rock, salsa, opera, and even a little line dancing, into its fold. There’s pop, folk, Latin, baile funk, hip-hop, techno, electro, punk funk, disco, country, rock & roll and reggae… Yes, the music policy is a broad church. Live, singalong bands unite the crowd, new, upfront music leads it futurewards while the classic anthems kick everything - arms, smiles, sun hats - skywards. Warming and spiritual, interesting, edgy or just plain good fun, Lovebox Weekender is the premier musical package.

This first Lovebox Weekender compilation is a selection of tracks compiled by Groove Armada’s Tom Findlay and Andy Cato, two of the nicest blokes in the business, who harbour a simple desire to share good music, in good company. The Summer of Love 2007 is here, as a 2-CD package. Frolics in festival fields can be relived time again. Snap open the cans, pop open the rosé, throw open your back doors and let the elusive sun shine in.

Label: lovebox

Listen & Buy

Geschrieben in Review | 1 Kommentar »

24.7.2007 von mk.

Timewarp inc - Dub My Funky Groove - Remixes & Reworks. This double cd album includes 26 remixed & reworked tracks from our first release “Timewarp inc - Dub my funky groove”. Many artists from all around the globe have participated in this cd. Shanti Roots & Scheibosan, Ed Royal & Enne and Stefan Obermaier represent the Austrian scene. Geriba from Germany, Mod X from France and Rephrase from Australia. Greece is represented by Atiko Minus Project, Quasamodo, Blend, Basement Freaks, So.T, Cayetano, Digital Alkemist, Medras, Sundayman, Dj Didis, Nonion Breed, Mr. Lookman, Djfree, Vectorman, Niqo Lyberi, Direct Connection, X-Angel and Aiora. The musical style of this cd is also multi cultural and multi mixed. From downtempo ambient tunes to funky breaks, dub, house and electro soundz. In its whole it can be featured as freestyle as it includes tracks that refer to all the branches of modern electronica: Shanti Roots & Scheibosan, Stefan Obermaier, Mr. Lookman and Niqo Lyberi transform “The Obssession Bug” with electrohouse-funk, downtempo, deep-tech and freestyle breaks. “Latin Fiesta”, from Cayetano, Vectorman, Nonion Breed and Mod X is introduced with freestyle house, electro broken beats tunes. Ed Royal & Enne, Geriba and Rephrase remixed “Afrofunk” based on funk and minimal soul. “FunkE” and Epic Tones remain in chill out beats from Medras, Aiora, Sundayman and X-Angel.
Quasamodo, So.T and DjFree worked on “Diskotekk” using funky breaks. Jum Jazi, Soulfiction, Dop Smoker, You cant be me, Enjoy the Silence and In Jazz from Digital Alkemist, Atiko Minus, Basement Freaks, Dj Didis, Direct Connection and Blend represent dub and downtempo funk. Finally Flamenco and Dub Master from Nonion Breed and Quasamodo is now progressive and house.

Label: timewarp music

Listen & Buy

Geschrieben in Review | 1 Kommentar »

22.7.2007 von mk.

Berlin DJ DANIEL W. BEST, who, with his booking agency Best Works is a long running companion of JAZZANOVA and Sonar Kollekiv, has an impeccable musical intuition and aptitude for spotting talent.
For some time now his label Best Seven has concerned itself with the interface between soul and reggae. With early releases that became underground hits such as Midnight Marauders by JOE DUKIE and DJ FITCHIE (behind which is none other than DALLAS TAMAIRA and CHRIS FAIMUMU - singer and producer of New Zealand reggae superstars FAT FREDDYS DROP), BEST has made his contribution to the worldwide popularity of the New Zealand collective.
Similar to FAT FREDDYS DROP, THE BLACK SEEDS are already superstars in their home country of New Zealand. The eight piece band, who have been active for nearly 10 years, have gold and double platinum status at home. Finally with the release of their third album Into The Dojo in summer 2006, it’s now time to introduce THE BLACK SEEDS, through Best Seven and Sonar Kollektiv, to people here as well.
the song The Answer is one of the highlights on Best Seven Selections Vol. 2 with such lyrical intensity and the longing mantra ‘Don’t be so cold…!’. It’s a huge tune, which in all its melancholic depth is a perfect example for THE BLACK SEEDS other side; they’re not just about light pop music but also telling highly emotional stories through the power of a tight live band.
Dub instrumentals such as The Prince also provide an excellent calling card for the band. Again to compare them with FAT FREDDY’S DROP, the band posses an incredibly coherent and ripe style that makes them a name well worth remembering. These guys are sure to gain an enthusiastic response from fans far beyond their home in New Zealand.

Label: sonar kollektiv

Listen

Geschrieben in Review | 1 Kommentar »

19.7.2007 von mk.

Berlin based DJ DANIEL W. BEST is with his booking agency Best Works a long running companion of JAZZANOVA and the Sonar Kollektiv.
Indeed its as a booker that BEST has the best connections - together with DIXON he is the co-organizer of the legendary “Innercity” club night in Berlin’s Weekend, which draws crowds from all over Europe. Another DANIEL W. BEST event is the JAZZANOVA club night “Kaleidoskop” (for which the cream of international DJs such as GILLES PETERSON, KING BRITT, PETER KRUDER, RICHARD DORFMEISTER, CARL CRAIG etc have all been invited), as does the now well established “Apollo Soul Festival” at the Appolo Saal of the Berlin Staatsoper, and last but not least a regular reggae club night.

Label: sonar kolletiv

Listen

Geschrieben in Review | 1 Kommentar »

13.7.2007 von mk.

Belleruche are a new signing to Tru Thoughts. They describe their sound as handmade hip hop blues soul, like Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Christian and Cut Chemist stuck in a dusty second hand record store with wine and a sampler, Belleruche make turntable soul music.
Their sound is pure soulful jazz with scratch and samples aplenty. Influences range from DJ Vadim to Nina Simone to Hendrix resulting in an album likened to a weird trawl through a dusty basement full of the best records you’ve never heard, whilst a voice you can’t quite pin down sings hooks you can’t forget.
Their new album named ‘Turntable Soul Music’ includes tracks that conjure thoughts of Stax Records recording Django Rheinhardt with Dr Dre controlling the mixing desk. Or Eryka Badu jamming with Mixmaster Mike recorded onto analogue tape by the Dust Brothers.
The threesome is made up of Kathrin deBoer (vocals), Ricky Fabulous (guitar) and DJ Modest (decks). The band was formed after Ricky and Modest, who played bizarre turntable and guitar sets in London bars, bumped in to Kathrin in the market one day. She did some singing over a cup of tea with the pair and Belleruche was formed.
The trio have attracted attention from luminaries in the UK underground music scene; with vocalist Kathryn deBoer recording tracks with DJ Vadim and performing with the Bonobo live band, and remixing tracks for labels including The Elephant, Trojan & Quannum.

Label: tru thoughts

Listen

Geschrieben in Review | 1 Kommentar »

13.7.2007 von mk.

It’s been five years since the first issue of Sambass and Irma’s one is still the only compilation in the World that brings you the freshest tunes from Brazil with that distinctive off-beat. Every time Frank Siccardi, the selector, discovers new artists and picks more unreleased material that is packaged exclusively for you in this unique product.
Among the newcomers this time are Sao Paulo based David WS, delivering two gems in true Sambass style, both already DJ Patife’s favorites in his club and radio dj sets, and the team called Sambabeat (aka TheEgo from Santiago, Chile and DJ Roots from Salvador, Bahia), with the exclusive ‘Gente’, featuring Janaina Lima from Kaleidoscopio on vocals.
Other new Sambass stars are: DJ LK (aka Lucio K), with the hilarious opening tune and his remix for Lu Horta; DJ Farrapo & Yanez, well known for their release on Afro Art last year, with the unreleased ‘Frango Assado’; Mustafa with his D’n'B remake of the touching classic Sao Salvador.
Usual Sambass suspect Mad Zoo, under two different monikers, Cosmonautics and Deeper & Pacific, produced two smashing monsters specially for volume 4: ‘Brazilian Nights’, featuring the classic voice of Cleveland Watkiss, and ‘In The Summer Breeze’, with Geanine Marques’ soothing whisper.
Two Sambass musts are certainly Seu Jorge’s unmistakable voice, here in a Leo Gandelman song remixed by Bossa Cuca Nova, and Marcelinho Da Lua, with a preview from his forthcoming new album ‘Social’.
Last but not least, two of the most classic acts featured in all previous issues of Sambass: Drumagick, this time with a stunning remix for UK label Mr. Bongo, and Kaleido (formerly Kaleidoscopio) with a glimpse from their new album, so far released only in Japan.
A special mention goes to one of the most prominent names of the Brazilian D’n'B scene, XRS (of Marky & XRS fame, of course), who is part of the show with his previously unreleased ‘Puro Brazil’, a special treat for those Sambass fans that prefer to go for the vinyl edition, where you can get the full extended mixes of all the exclusive tunes of the compilation!

Label: cuadra

Listen

Geschrieben in Review | 1 Kommentar »

5.7.2007 von mk.

Since eight years Mo’Horizons are releasing constantly albums on highest level. Now its time for the fourth longplayer, first time on their own new imprint Agogo Records.
`Sunshine Today`- the positive energy of the sun was always inspiration for the music of Ralf Droesemeyer and Mark ‘Foh’ Wetzler. touring around the world - Australia, Brasil, Puerto Rico, South Africa and nearly complete Europe - and collecting music from all over, this new album contains a package full of clever used quotes from the last 50 years of music history.
Soul Sugar, Latin Fruits, Jazzy Juice and Shakin’ Clubbeats are the ingredients of this self-titled ‘Groove Cocktail’. A brillant mixture of songs with jazzy attitude - think of Ramsey Lewis or Jimmy Smith -, kind of percussive spiritual dance, straight latin, big downbeats or clubby dancefloor like Maceo meets Tito Puente.
12 compositions by Mo’Horizons and one latin coverversion of Bill Withers classic ‘Lovely Day’ ( ‘Dia Encantador’ ). 5 singer, 10 musicians from 7 different nations ( Italy, Belgium, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Senegal, Germany ) are part of this soulful piece of music. Some of them are part of the Mo’Horizons Soundsystem, like Afrosoulsinger Denise M’Baye, Grammy winning percussionist Néné Vasquez or Camille de Bruyne from Belgium

Label: agogo records

Listen

Geschrieben in Review | 1 Kommentar »

5.7.2007 von mk.

Es gibt sie noch in Deutschland: die kleinen, engagierten Labels, die aus Liebe zur Musik Platten – und zwar kein Hip Hop, Electro oder Techno - veröffentlichen. Poets Club Rec. aus der Metropole Hofheim ist so eins. Label-Head und DJ Christian hat einen breiten Musikgeschmack, da erstaunt es wenig, dass auf seinem Label seit 10 Jahren breit gefächerter Sound veröffentlicht wird. Da ist einerseits das elektronisch-orientierte Projekt „Atomhockey“ aus dem Berliner Jazzanova/Sonar Kollektiv-Umfeld, andererseits reggae-lastiges von Kieser/Velten und Zilverzurf.
Für das 10 jährige Jubiläum hat man nun 7 Samurai (alias Tom Wieland, Les Gammas, Panoptikum) für einen Dub-Mix durch den Labelkatalog gewinnen können. 7 Samurai stellt eine spannende und abwechslungsreiche Tracklist zusammen und mixt diese nicht spektakulär aber mit dem richtigen Flow. Herausragende Tracks sind definitiv Grantmagneto´s Coverversion von „Tainted Love“, Kieser und Veltens Remix von Digital Jockey´s „Ever burning“ und „Stay… and come“ von Slop Shop im Remix von der Legende Brian Eno. 7 Samurai steuert dann noch den exklusiven neuen Track „Feel the same“ mit Desmond Foster bei.
Auf den international erfolgreichen DJ Eastender wurde überraschend verzichtet. Interessant ist auch, dass einige Titel mehrfach verwendet werden – allerdings in unterschiedlichen Versionen/Remixen. Macht aber nix, da es insgesamt ein schöner Mix geworden ist, der für das sommerliche Chillen am Baggersee genauso geeignet ist wie für das Glühweinschlürfen auf dem Balkon in ein paar Monaten. Also Musik für fast jeden Moment und damit ist die Scheibe nicht nur rund, sondern fast perfekt.

Quincy Jointz (5 von 5 Punkten)

Label: poets club records

Listen

Geschrieben in Review | 1 Kommentar »

3.7.2007 von mk.

LOUNGE-RADIO.COM - enjoy this light summer-plate consisting of downtempo and fresh beats of nujazz - dipped into the warmth of brazil electro and finely served with a breath of ambient

Listen

Geschrieben in Stream/Podcast | 1 Kommentar »