a really well done compilation Ð the first of what looks to be a great label from dakar! this well researched, fully annotated collection brings together rare work by idrissa diop Ð a great range of early 70s material done before his relocation to france, lots of it with a great blend of senegalese and cuban elements! the rhythms are wonderful Ð really spinning out in these hypnotic ways, and often encouraging a bit of descarga-like jamming from the musicians, especially on the longer tracks Ð and the full notes in the set really helps put the music in context. titles include -caridad-, -kaele-, -massani cisse-, -fonkale garape-, -gueth-, -yaye boye-, -cintorita-, and -dioubo-.

yuri mendez jr. has an amazing gift for composing good songs. he arranges them and records them brilliantly, and then groups them together on an album in an unpredictable yet cohesive way (his last album had 22 tracks. this one only has 8). uri mŽndez jr. is a true artisan in the best sense of the word. this is pajaro sunrises third album, and although the essentials havenÕt changed (good songs, great songs), the rest has certainly evolved. yuris voice sounds more and more emphatic, and with an extensive register full of nuances, he sings a story in every song. in doing this, he covers a stunning vocal range that dazzles from the first listen. yuri has been playing together with the same fantastic band for some time now. with them, he has rehearsed the tracks (many of which they were already playing in concerts), and then gone into the studio where almost everything was recorded with everyone playing live. the benefits of having a group that has already travelled together, as well as shared stages and life experiences are evident. and, if this disc breathes anything, its travel, highways, and familiar stories stolen from faraway places that also feel nearby. its a grandiose yet intimate album that thrills and grows with each listen.

om records 2011 with summer sessions 5 !!

a stunning return to form for one of the pre-eminent modern soul singers - with background vocal guests including jody watley, faith evans, lalah hathaway, shanice and the andrea crouch singers. a remarkably strong fifth solo album from a soul singer who defines the word classy. highlights are his trademark gorgeous ballads ( miss you and goodbye ), hypnotic mid-tempo grooves ( 6 am and stay with me ), and irresistibly funky dancefloor tracks (the instant club hit ghost featuring jody watley). the insistent, gospel-flavoured mountain top is unlike anything you ve ever heard, and features the legendary andrea crouch singers. the album is rooted in the classic principles of melody and poetic lyrics while embracing eighties r&b/pop as purveyed by prince and michael jackson. since his outstanding 1997 debut album for mca, rahsaan has evolved as a vocalist and songwriter, along the way writing songs for tevin campbell, brandy, ledisi, lalah hathaway and van hunt. now in 2011, with the assistance of his regular production cohorts keith crouch and jamey jazz, he delivers some of his finest work.

dave.i.d likes to think for himself. always has done. its the reason why his debut album didnt go quite according to his initial plan. he was going to make, to use his own words, >something pretty simple and straightforward<. but then he noticed lots of his friends were discovering new beliefs. some even tried to convert him. >im very open-minded to different beliefs, but i question and see things slightly differently,< he says. without necessarily wanting to, he found himself reflecting on existential questions. >the album is a record of the time that it was made, and thats what was going on in my life at the time. i didnt necessarily want to make the debut album like that. i felt i had to make it<. the cerebral inspiration catapulted him into musics outer rim. he beamed back a dark, dense sometimes confrontational sound, but ultimately compelling sound. but, in the end, it turned out to be a happy accident because the resulting record, called >response< appropriately enough, is mind-bendingly inventive, brilliantly off-kilter and constantly surprising. crucially, the tough sonics are paired with killer melodies: this is deep, heavy music you can hum. the records he was listening to while making >response< help make sense of his singular sound

in the impressive flow of new talent in 2011 on fokuz recordings we already had the pleasure to present the sound of brother, command strange and intelligent manners among others. the next flavour of the funky liquid melting pot called fokuz recordings goes by the name donnie dubson. berlin based irishman donnie o sullivan aka donnie dubson started releasing his funky rollers on have a break and influenza media and already featured on fokuz on the chronicles of the deep lp together with stunna back in 2007. the grapefruit / battlecat release on influenza media in 2009 got him a lot of attention and is still heard in dj sets today. now its 2011 and fokuz presents the beautiful debut album of donnie dubson! his sound can be described as refreshing and original liquid drum n bass with a touch of the well known atmospheric drum n bass vibes from the mid 0s. his basslines are the unique sellingpoint as well as his ability to create an organic feel in the music thats only done by the few who truly understand what liquid drum n bass is all about. pleasuring both critical listeners and the dancefloor audience this album is a perfect overview of the sound fokuz stands for. a great example of how music can be time-less in this decade of fast moving consumer goods.

everybody better bring some towels, because housemeister is about to soak the world in electro champagne. presenting his third full length music, the dirty don of club music did it again. touching ravers hearts and hitting ravers right on their heads at the same time. in arts, good ideas are hard to have, but easy to get - masterful musical output is pretty hard to create, but once itÕs done, itÕs about pure listening pleasure. and with a thousand shitty drugs flooding the streets of music today, it isnÕt everyday you get to consume the 100% stuff. Òmusic is awesomeÓ is that shit thatÕs straight from the kitchen, and housemeister has produced this bitch to the point like a 5 star chef. it seems playing clubs and crowds all over the world do add to a players game. add class and confidence. add experience and excellence, add balls as well as balance, and maybe it just takes 15 years of hardcore djdom to be able to come out and kill like this. music is awesome!

this release is a reissue of two of german producer udo heitfields albums for tresor, from 2000 and 2002 respectively. the passage of time has done little to tarnish the productions and of the two albums, the three untitled tracks from the ways of the bodies have some bearing with dub techno,unfolding in a dreamy, jazzed out manner over the course of 20-30 minutes each. timeless meanwhile is a more ambient work, but heitfield manages to keep the listeners attention with the hour-long all and you, two dreamy, abstract works. that they sound all the more relevant given technos shift towards off-beat sounds is testament to heitfields timeless sound.

hardrock !!

the new album, liquorice, from martin stimming wasnt initially planned to be an album. there was an intrinsic need for him to express what was going on in this period of life. relationship problems led to a very punk, off-whack attitude to his producing. with seven tracks done and dusted, he figured the work was more than just a collection of weird shit, it was a whole new music experienceÉ add another 5 months of studio work, he named it liquorice. definitely hard to pigeonhole - call it minimal, stripped back, dub, experimentalÉ we think >electronic free jazz< comes the closestÉ no sign of a typical 4/4 bass drum at all and stimming has incorporated his trademark use of field recordings, from a marble run, a pizza slicer, a trashcan, a coffee machine, and an ice train shuttling past to name a few. the stimming esque percussion, which is even more radical this time, has been thrown in with all these facets in his massive melting pot, coupled with some dark emotions to create this liquorice. >this time i didnt use all the main events a groove normally has<, recalls martin

space invadas is a project of two well-known artists: katalyst and steve spacek. space invadaÕs album soul-fi is receiving rave reviews and airplay from tastemakers around the globe as well as having 4 singles smashed on national radio in australia where the record has been released earlier this year. the album is being championed abroad by likes of gilles peterson on bbc1, garth trinidad on kcrw in la, tyler askew in nyc, andrew jervis (ubiquity) in san fran to name just a few. getting much love in the us and throughout europe where the record is yet to be released via bbe records. looks like its going to be a big year ahead for space invadas.

hercules and love affair Ð the name itself combines images of strength and vulnerability, masculinity and femininity, as well as a classic disco troupe. their music on their self-titled album debut followed suit. strident beats but sweetness at the core. music with a plan of attack but an identity as fluid as that of its creators. a gloriously burnished fusion of three decades of dance, from disco to house, acid to synth-pop, derrick may to giorgio moroder (and lets not forget yazoo), but sounding like no other dance record before Ð or since. and now theyve gone and done it again. the troupes second album blue songs represents the best that dance music can get Ð still bursting with freshness while in touch with its roots. as mainman andy butler says, >its a softer record in some ways, and at other moments a more aggressive record too.< the album also reveals more about his world and his songwriting, resulting in a more honest, and yet more universal, record

more than a portrait: a legend!
a movie/reportage (french & english subtitled) about one of paris oldest free party tribe. can be very interesting over 2 points of view: one just because you like hardtek tribe and free parties, or because you want to discover this movement with a sociological point of view.
the movie itself is very well done and the original soundtrack for this movie just good as expected: the life of this sound system is typical of what happens with techno tribes... for the best and for the worst. an important documentary, interviews are very honest.

man/machine: viennas elektro guzzi challenge the meaning of >live< in electronic music. bored of laptop sets? with a >classic< setup of guitar, bass and drums elektro guzzi quantize themselves to an unheard level of discipline, tightness and danceability. no computers, no pre-recorded loops, no solos. probably the first time techno is really played live. as sequential as they may sound, they couldnt be more analogue. but however traditional they may look as a band, they certainly do not sound like one. the quest for the ultimate live presentation of techno has come to an end. produced by patrick pulsinger (hercules & love affair, m-plant, cheap), the album is a masterstroke resulting in great dancefloor movers, state of the art analogue recordings and a prime showcase of elektro guzzis incredible creative capabilities. played live with no overdubs, this record breaks down the demarcation line separating man and machine. everything in techno has been done? you aint heard nothing yet. !!! elektro guzzi live at s—nar (barcelona), berghain (berlin), fabric (london), trouw (amsterdam), spring festival (graz), flex (vienna), rote sonne (munich), mellow festival (sofia) and maaaany more

exile began his musical career in 2000, releasing drum & bass on labels such as beta and moving shadow, but as the years progressed, his sound started to become more complicated and abstract. this was mostly due to his obsession with the reaktor software, which enabled him to spend much of his time creating new and interesting sounds from scratch. his debut full-length, 2006s pro agonist, saw him add elements of breakcore to his constantly mutating yper-breakbeats, but that gradual change in style is nothing compared to the total departure that hes taken on listening tree. long-term fans may be shocked to know that listening tree is peppered with exiles own vocal tracks, as he tackles issues such as britains buy-now-pay-later culture, and even the dynamic nature of the universe on family galaxy, the first single. >family galaxy< is about the constant process of change that underpins everything, explains exile. its a tale from a thingless world where nothing stays the same. as now shines its shifting shades on then, so our ideas of what we have done and will do continually morph.the result is an eccentric electro-pop album that is just as likely to appeal to fans of hot chip as it is otto von schirach