Artwork by Lewis Heriz
For their second album for Olindo Records, the Venezuelan trio Insólito UniVerso have gone deep into their country’s musical heritage, exploring rhythms and musical strains whilst adding their own psychedelic, experimental vision. With guests including Stereolab’s Lætitia Sadier, the trio have produced a brilliantly written and produced record that is our favourite album of the year so far and one likely to stay in our boxes for a long time. Read / Listen
Read MoreCreated in the late 1950s, the bossa nova genre never seems to fade away and here on Peanut Butter Wolf’s Stones Throw Records label, a new and fresh addition to the canon has been unleashed. Featuring Pedro Dom and Azymuth's Ivan Conti Mamão, Gabriel da Rosa has delivered a sparkling, lushly orchestrated tribute to the genre and to his childhood memories. Read / Listen.
Read MoreWe are hyped to premiere the first track from a brand new E.P. from Nottingham MC veteran J Littles. Produced by fellow Notts hip hop Don, Zoutr from The Elementz, 'Out The Way’ is a soulful but direct stare into the struggles of our times. Also featuring the singing and rapping skills of another local legend Alex Mighten, the universal message of hope against despair goes beyond the city limits. Read / Listen.
Read MoreNeed some warmth and sunshine? Voila! We have the pleasure of hosting the premiere of 'When The Sun Rises' from South African MC & producer EMAMKAY . A sunlit dose of positive conscious vibes on a bed of beautifully played live jazzy hip hop with vocals from himself and the soothing soul voice of Bokang Ramatlapeng. The first single from his forthcoming album on Kid Fonque’s STY TRU BTS label is what we need right now. Read // Listen
Read MoreWe are mightily pleased to premiere ‘Udaipur’ from Nick Walters’ forthcoming album ‘Padmāsana’! Built up from field recordings of a trip to India and transformed into a funky modal composition with stellar contributions from collaborators 22a’s Tenderlonious and Kieron McLeod. Read // Listen
Read MoreIndian musician and multidisciplinary artist Seljuk Rustum has an astonishing album coming out in Feb on the brilliant Brighton label Hive Mind Records. Playful, surprising and joyful, alongside his fellow first take collaborators and musical freedom travellers, he explores some very strange tales. Traditional sounding Indian techniques are abstracted and repainted with sweet electronics colliding with Indian strings, guitars and synthesisers, field recordings and more. It’s brilliant. Read / Listen.
Read MoreThe brilliantly named Bantu Spaceship have a brand new single out on 20th Jan and we are pleased to offer the PREMIERE of this unique creation that harnesses the guitars and vocal harmonies of the classic ‘Jit’ sound of 1980s Zim bands like the Bhundu Boys and throws it into the future with the addition of speaker-busting electro drum machine rhythms. Read / Listen.
Read MoreLate last year, Tel Aviv based outfit Sababa 5 released their debut album for Batov Records and it is instrumental funk of the highest order. Touching on the melodic and rhythmic traditions from across the SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region, we can hear the reflections of East Africa segueing into Turkish and Afro-Disco vamps, their influences never cloaking their own melodic and rhythmic talents . Fans of Daptone Records and Khruangbin should be all over this! Read / Listen.
Read MoreHamburg-based drummer and composer Silvan Strauss has created a debut album of ten short but dazzling micro-instrumentals. With fifteen collaborators in total, his creations veer between Madlib style jazz cut-ups to filmic beatscapes that showcase his brilliant drumming chops, never taking the focus away from the audience. “I wanted to make it so that people love to listen to it. It’s a little wonky, sure a few imperfections but fuck it, it’s fun and alive!”. Read / Listen
Read MorePhoto: Justin Turford
A remarkable and emotional evening with South Africa’s greatest living jazz musician, Abdullah Ibrahim. A Cape Town legend with the entire story of his life and country at his fingertips, played the piano without amplification to a sold out Barbican Centre for the 30th edition of the EFG London Jazz Festival and it was a singular experience that will live with me forever. Read / Listen
Read MoreSouth African producer and artist Felix Laband’s new album for Compost Records is a unique combination of 4/4 grooves, cut-up techniques and social commentary. Blessed with bright as day production and a visual artist’s eye for the obtuse, it’s an exceptional listen. Includes the first play of ‘7 Rise 7 House’! Read / Listen
Read MorePhoto: Ash Knotek
An extraordinary musical and human encounter that started at the Barbican Centre and ended the next day at the Total Refreshment Centre. An all star cast from the Chicago label International Anthem and some of the brightest talents from the UK’s jazz and improvisational music community came together for a celebratory musical communion that will be long talked about. Read / Listen
Read MoreWe are super pleased to showcase the title track from Hamish Balfour’s forthcoming album for Shapes of Rhythm! Exquisitely played brukish jazz fusion and a stunning vocal from Hospital Records’ Elsa Esmeralda makes this something special. Read / Listen
Read MoreThe Amsterdam based outfit known for their hard-hitting tropical-fused grooves have returned to Bongo Joe with an album that sounds like an updated soundtrack to a night at The Hacienda circa 1982. Post-punk scratchy funk, cracked dub and all kinds of retro-future experimental sounds galore that will wobble the floor as well as your head. It’s great…. Read / Listen
Read MoreProbably my fave Agile Experiments record to date. Spacious, abstract experimental jazz with krautrock, funk and electronica in the mix played by a trio of exceptional improvisational musicians that include bandleader Dave De Rose, Jon Scott (Go Go Penguin) and George Crowley (Melt Yourself Down. Read / Listen
Read MoreCheck this brand new EP from the UK trumpeter and composer Jackson Mathod. Five tracks that explore tight as a rubber band jazz-funk, bossa, abstracted hip hop and more with a host of standout guests from the UK’s relentless conveyor belt of contemporary beats and jazz talent! Read / Listen
Read MoreWe present the PREMIERE of Edrix Puzzle’s second single from their forthcoming collision of cosmic jazz and heavyweight dub-funk - ''Coming Of The Moon Dogs” - released on On The Corner Records, the single is a militant yet loose drum and free violin number, a march to the cosmos through burning stars. Read / Listen
Read MoreOn his 35th album, the great Ghanaian bandleader Gyedu-Blay Ambolley has masterfully carved out a record half full of original highlife gems, the other half containing superb interpretations of standards from the modern jazz playbook. Coltrane, Shorter, Monk and Miles get the treatment and the results are something else. Vibey, funky and a masterclass in rearranging a song into your own vision. Read / Listen here
Read MoreA heavyweight collision of ‘Mwandishi-era Herbie Hancock meets space-weight electronics, classical violin & instrumental analogue noir’ is contained in this forthcoming album from the Planet Battagon spin-off Edrix Puzzle. Nathan “Tugg” Curran and his London-based outfit have dropped an interference in the order propelled by cosmic dread and serious improvisational chops. This is heavy post-punk-jazz-dub Juju. Read / Listen / Pre-order
The inspirational São Paulo-based DJ, producer and compiler, Tahira, has set up a new label and the inaugural album release by the labels is ‘Kan’ by the Brazilian/French duo Alabê KetuJazz. The record is an exceptional blend of Pharaoh Sanders-esque lyrical saxophone and the intricate ritualistic rhythms of the Candomblé religion. Both are practitioners of the Brazilian faith and their sensitive and deeply felt beliefs make this a truly ‘spiritual jazz’ record. They are spinning the tales of the Orixás into new shapes and it is seriously good. Read / Listen here
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