born in cameroon, vicky began banging the drums at the age of 9. by 13 he had moved onto bass and within a couple of years he was playing every night from 10pm to 5am in the castel douala cabaret. at the age of 19 vicky moved to paris to study banking and commerce and cram in even more music. he took classes at Épinay-sur-seine conservatoire music school and it was here that he met bandmates of his dikalo project. word spreads and he soon becomes one of the most sought after bass players in the afro arena. his session work features on many scenes stars, manu dibango, eko tala am, kemayo, sammy massamba, toto guillaume and many more. a chance meeting with the gibson brothers also see him play on two of their hit albums. in the 80s vicky moved to the us for spell and excels as a session bassist and touring musician. we pick up the story in 1981. with his stature as a musician and bass player riding high he takes a detour to nigeria to record with the afrodisia label in lagos. the thank u mamma album is the result. it is repressed for the first time, here in 2018 on the revitalised afrodisia label. musical proceedings open up with the heartfelt ode to his mother thank u mamma, smooth pop meets afrobeat boogie. marina driv slows things down with its smoldering jazz. side two opens with its not serious a catchy vocal number underpinned with funky guitars and striding basslines. stormy rain is lazy guitar jazz swansong. we close off the album with the ever so funky you. slick funk grooves powered along with a dose of slap bass. as a side note vicky actually plays left handed but with a upside down right handed bass. this upside-down precursor making his effortless slap playing even more impressive. vicky went on to record a two other albums and still tours and plays as an ever-in-demand session musician.

having carved out a reputation for some of the finest cosmic house productions on labels like omena, dirt crew and quintessentials, the lithuanian based producer delivers three new cuts on this release, which comes ably backed by a remix from italian producer fabrizio mammarella. on the title track, alex pletnev (ponty mython), goes for breezy synths and wandering melodies over a chugging mechanical beat and an fm style bassline, whilst fabrizio mammarella (bear funk/les disques de la mort) toughens things up slightly on his remix, plunging into a darker sound aesthetic for a great reinterpretation of the original. on “time spiral” an unhurried groove is laced with layer upon layer of meditative synths and percussive rolls for a fat dose of eighties soundtrack vibes, whilst ep closer, “appreciate it while it s not too late”, settles down to a head-nodding pace with funky bass and key melodies and live drum samples for a real earworm of a track.

support by: in flagranti, toby tobias, andy black, munk, bottin, babyg, massimiliano pagliara, dicodromo, rayko, clap rules, love supreme, club silencioà after record, slow motions follow up û wrong era ep is set to catapult this small italian label into the big time. this time around and its all about the charms of italys very own motorcycle boy who delivers two stunning original tracks backed up with white hot remixes from the heels of love and old school disco legend fabrizio mammarella. try begins as a sleazy electro disco cut, thats swaggers along until breaking out with melodic strings that lighten the mood, before things drop back down to a perfect 4am groove that john carpenter would have been proud to call his own.