2011 release from british producer / remixer / dj adam gibbons aka lack of afro. gibbons combines his live musicianship and top notch studio production skills with rappers and vocalists into a skillful combination of compositions blending funk, hip hop and soul into a steamy stew of a breakbeat bonanza. as a multi instrumentalist, in-demand producer and remixer, a dj with his finger on the cutting edge of contemporary sounds, and an ear tastefully cocked to the hippest soul, jazz and funk music from the 60s and 70s, gibbons has already established an unrivalled reputation as one of the most crucial names at work in funk and dance music today.

dj andy smith Ð one of the worlds premier funk djs and the man who supplied portishead with their samples Ð joins forces with keith lawrence - renowned reggae collector and reggae dj from www.colourfulradio.com - to present the heaviest selection of funky reggae in the uk smiths comps have sold over 35.000 units inc. the acclaimed -document- series which included albums for greensleeves & trojanp>killer cover versions of stevie wonders you havent done nothing (sly dunbar), marlena shaws woman of the ghetto (hortense ellis) & william de vaughns be thankful for what you got (donovan carless) super rare cuts from bumps jackson, barry waite & sly dunbar tracks from impact, randys, demon, dynamic, hot shot, tent & various pama records offshoots various tracks from the pama catalogue which back-in-the-day was a contemporary of trojan inc tony scotts what am i to do now, pussy by kid longo, lloyd terrells i did it, ricos tribute to don drummond, d tony lees peyton place, lester sterling & stranger coles bangarang & children get ready by the versatiles.

the cocoon label presents the cocoon morphs tokyo cd, previously released exclusively in japan. presenting exclusive work by artists of the highest cocoon-caliber, cocoon morphs tokyo also celebrates the aesthetic partnership between world-renowned german photographer and artist andreas gursky and cocoon-head sven vaeth. gursky has published a cycle of large-sized pictures with -cocoon- as the central theme: the -cocoon- pictures reference current club culture, with gursky using the big techno events cocoon stages as inspiration. the architectural frame of his work refers to the design of the cocoonclub in frankfurt. the spatial concept was developed by v„th, together with the design agency 3deluxe. in gurskys cover art, you can see the idealized approach to the original cocoon club in all its fervent glory. here, excellent electronic music meets the work of the most important contemporary german artist worldwide - again, cocoon explores new frontiers and combines art forms of the 21st century. artists include: gerber & kalbata, tiefschwarz, pig & dan, vaeth vs. rother, schneider & galluzzi, ricardo villalobos, david k, and patrick zigon.

2011 debut from penguin prison aka chris glover. this effort is quite simply the most smoothed-out, hook-heavy, unabashed lovers disco around. from the miraculous slices of shiny, infectious contemporary pop of multi-millionaire and -golden train-, to the single -fair warning-, shimmering with spectral synths and breathless, honey vocals, to the mellow and mysterious album closer -someone got everything-, penguin prisons debut effort rolls you through a sleek, melodic world where all you need to worry about is whether youve got your sunglasses on and the right moves to keep up.

whilst barlande may be difficlut to classify in genre it has been described as having its roots in flamenco and some ramifications of contemporary classical music. but any attempt to pigeon-hole this album should be ignored beyond deciding what shelf or floor to place it on in a record store. barlande is about creativity and discovery and its story is both fasciniating and inspiring a father, pedro soler, and his son, gaspar claus have created something entirely unique. the opening track insomnio mineral is a gentle begining with sparsely plucked cello before being joined by a gently sweeping flamenco guitar. what takes place from there on in is difficult to describe in words. the language between the cello and guitar become unlike anything i have heard before. the cello comes alive, a voice at times, leaping and striding in near freeform before coming back to join in mutual step and melodic interplay with guitar.

berlin-based djs and composers ricardo villalobos and max loderbauer - two of the best-known names in contemporary electronica - share their admiration for music on ecm in a unique double-album of specially-created >sound-structures<. their project >re: ecm< will bring the labels music to a new listenership. it is certain to be one of the most talked-about albums of the season. using original ecm recordings as a starting point, villalobos and loderbauer create new music that bridges several worlds, including ecms world of space-conscious improvisation and composition and the worlds of ambient electronics and minimal techno. source materials on >re: ecmÓ include recordings of christian wallumr¿d, alexander knaifel, louis sclavis, john abercrombie, bennie maupin, arvo pŠrt, wolfert brederode, paul giger and more - looped, sampled, remixed and reworked in evocative new treatments. pleased with the duos creative response to his productions manfred eicher gave them carte blanche to carry on experimenting with the ecm titles of their choice. eicher subsequently supervised the mastering of >re: ecm< in munich, completing a unique sonic experience.

sunrise is the largest outdoor festival in poland and this year the cds are mixed by the two variables in trance / progressive namely by judge jules and marcel woods. judge jules has been a pioneer in the global dance scene and still hosts one of the most listened to dance programs on bbc radio1. expect beautiful melodies interspersed with great progressive tracks and you have a real jules mix cd 2 is attributable to the netherlands pride, marcel woods, who also made this years anthem, called ??sunrise. be ready for mix of house, trance, tech house and progressive as marcel woods serves it you all. this sunrise 2011 compilation is a perfect and complete overview of what to expect at the this festival and in fact at all contemporary festivals. get into the mood for festivals and join the sunrise trip 2011.

the thing return with guitars (gasp!) from none other than otomo yoshihide. recorded by jim o rourke live at pit inn in tokyo, shinkjuku crawl documents the different aspects of the thing and how they are shaping and melting together with the wonderful guitar magic of yoshihide. otomo yoshihide first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the noise rock group ground zero, and has since worked in a variety of contexts, ranging from free improvisation to noise, jazz, avant-garde and contemporary classical.

the cocoon compilation k, being the longplay flagship in the cocoon catalogue, adequately starts the second decade of the label with a musical imperative. but dont worry: even if the letter k has sometimes been misused as an indicator for the degree of hardness of some sonic noise in the past of the tech-house scene, >k< is definitely the deepest survey of contemporary electronic dance music that has ever seen the light of day on cocoon recordings

-love has no recession-, is the fourth album from husband and wife duo fatin dantzler and aja graydon and the follow up to 2008s arrival. it continues on a similar vein to their previous 3 albums with another album aimed squarely at the adult contemporary

press release: alto/soprano saxophonist sean khan is a multi instrumentalist visionary mixing classic jazz and incredible improvisation skill. the band leader of cult british soul-jazz outfit sk radicals, sean khan s debut solo record slow burner is soulful, eclectic blue note standard jazz. paying homage to khan s jazz heroes the album comes packed with pulsating grooves that mix contemporary urban sounds with classic jazz. slow burner features some of the best young jazz musicians on the london and european jazz scene laurie lowe (drums), mike edmonds (double bass), susan allotey (vocals) and tim lapthorne (piano).

the latin influence regeins supreme in south beach,miami,so who better to soundtrack the 2011 parties than spanish superstars dj chus & david penn.mixing classic vibes with contemporary flavours,this is a hedonistic indulgence of pure, beatdriven house.

when dial records started in 2000 with a bunch of friends highly inspired by deep house, detroit techno and cologne lovetunes, nobody of them ever thought about running a decent record label. the only concept david lieske, peter kersten and paul kominek had in their mind was never to be part of any proper record business, never to be controlled by any rule or trend, always to let the record label be a part of their love for music and arts. even the dial family was never intended growing that big, almost 70 percent of the artists on the first compilation are the same on >2010<, the history starting from a small label based in hamburg turned out climbing a high mountain. touching cities like detroit, tokyo, paris, berlin, buenos aires, releasing music like contemporary classic, drones and glitches, ambient, guitar pop, singer songwriter, deep house, minimal techno, discovering arts of protagonists such as michaela meise, sergej jensen, dirk stewen, hanna schwarz, anna mšller, cosima von bonin, all this fills a decade of dial records. but still the main part is the music and as we hold the 2010 compilation in our hands and listen to the tunes of phantom ghost, isolŽe, pantha du prince, carsten jost, john roberts, efdemin, lawrence, christian naujoks, dominique, rndm, pigon, kassian- we still have this enthusiastic feeling that wants to tell us: this is only the beginning

ashley, darren and this team of talented artists have steered this music of classic heritage into a contemporary context, the result being a modern and timeless musical adventure.

like hardly any other contemporary dj, catherine britton aka cassy is living at the interfaces between reduction and soul, jazzy deep house and geometrically structured techno. and it comes as no surprise, because being the english-born daughter of a caribbean father and an austrian mother, cassy started at a very early age to develop a sense for artistic aesthetics that draws its special magic from the >in-between< especially. being resident in berlin since 2003, she quickly gained a residence at the panorama bar, worked as a producer with such renowned musicians like ricardo villalobos, luciano, mathew jonson or swayzak and releases her music on labels such as perlon, ostgutton as well as on her own imprint cassy. simply devotion, cassys 2nd mix cd after the highly acclaimed panorama bar 01 compilation is a proof of her love for deep house of a different kind, which has - despite occasional flashes of souly vocals - nothing to do with garage house and handbag factor