BeatJoint News !!
 

Welcome back to the second edition of our Beatjoint news section.

First of all believe that this is nothing but quality here, as for example we bring you the full catalogue of this very ecclectic and always on point, damn fine label from the great North…Raw Fusion Scandinavia. From local Norvegian talents like the well named Future Beat Investigators (DJ Lil Tony from Nuspirit Helsinki) and his two partners Roberto Rodriguez (Sähkö) and Kimmo (Oksanen) with their beatdown techno / house grooves packed with futuristic bass lines and deep synthesizer sounds… to many international maverick producers pushing the right sound worldwide such as Brighton’s very own Spiritual South aka Mark Robertson’s spicing it up in
a latin jazz house flavour or Quasimode classy jap-jazz extravaganza, passin through the unique deep house / electric boogie moods of West London’s Dons, Restless Soul (aka Phil Asher and family) and all the way to the furious broken beat / high tech jazz fusion of Poland’s newcomers Innocent Sorcerers or even NYC producer Arch_Typ (aka Charles Noel, Arch Tight, Monochrome). Let it be known: it’s getting hotter and hotter up North!

Next up, here comes yet another bombastic tracky EP on his already classic Real Tone label, this time called “The Renegade” from our dear friend, THE man in Paris…Franck Roger. Mister Roger who delivers “Ninted House” and “The Clash”, two slices of dancefloor smashers instigating a dark and sexy atmosphere with an heavy dose of old school underground influence and a powerful vision to reinvent the content of house music today.

We continue with the last offering from the excellent label who brought us Franck Roger’s first album a few years ago, Seasons records. Their brand new twelve presents the soulful garage house sound of Kemal feat. Leslie Carter “Can't Help Remixes” with new tasty versions from Halo & Abicah Soul.

In the same elegant vein we couldn’t recommand enough the superb remixes of Atjazz feat. Ernesto “Put In On”, specially the deepest one made by Osunlade aka Yoruba Suite. A sweet and sensuous song that has already made his proof on the dancefloor for a little while…one of those great melodies that you can’t never get enough! Yes for those that know Atjazz rarely disappoint right?

And to move on here’s another funky German cousin of Atjazz, the sweet and discreet man who goes by the name of Lars Bartkuhn and his new project “Dimensions” on the very clever Sonar Kollektiv label run by Jazzanova outta Berlin. New signature in their staple Lars aka Passion Dance Orchestra from Frankfurt gives us his finest moment to date since the release of his classic album “Dreamland” on his own Needs imprint…heavy grooves, harmonies, complex strings and keyboard arrangements and creating something really timeless and unique over a syncopated funky beat and a colorful keyboard. On the flipside Marcus Worgull of Innervisions fame comes up with a very effective and DJ friendly remix, where the tension rises beat after beat. His version is a surefire crowdpleaser that will undoubtedly be pitched by DJs such as Dixon or Ame and that will make your heart beat faster and stronger on the dancefloor!

Which is also the case of Jimpster’s “Dangly Panther EP” On Freerange. Following recent remixes and productions for the likes of Sandy Rivera, MotorCitySoul, Justin Martin and Robert Owens, Jamie has managed to find the time to come up with this slow burning, deep house nugget which also includes his own Audiomontage Remix as well as a killer rub from Joris Voorn. The original mix of Dangly Panther should keep those who enjoyed his recent Square Up track on Buzzin Fly or his last Freerange 12 A Love Like This very happy indeed. The vibes are deep and rolling of course but with enough energy to keep the discerning floors reaching for the rafters. Joris Voorn ups the tempo for techier edged Black Panther version which will appeal to those whove enjoyed his recent output on Rejected or his amazing LP From A Deep Place. Finally, Jamie dons his Audiomontage cap to push the original in a more minimal, electronic direction, introducing a rave hook thatll wedge firmly in your head.

And we switch it up again with “Computer Incarnations For World Peace II”. Following the critical acclaim of the first volume Sonar Kollektiv and Gerd Janson of Running Back Records team up once again to the greater joy of all the Disco music lovers. Whereas the first opus of Computer Incarnations for World Peace focussed on the early 80s with a selection of forgotten gems from the new wave era, the second episode shows the recent evolution of Disco music, with 13 tracks from artists and producers who proudly reasserted their love for this kind of music and injected some new blood in the veins of a genre that deserted the dance floors in the 90s. Starting off with 3 previously unreleased tracks. Alex Storrer aka Lexx comes on board with an instrumental version of “Mahogany”. The Swiss DJ and producer, whose unconditional love of Balearic and Disco music is only matched by his passion for Hip-hop, has had releases on pioneer labels such as Bear Funk, Mindless Boogie and Permanent Vacation. He delivers here a stunning cosmic piece made of lovely keyboard melodies, guitars riffs and tight drum parts over dreamy pads and female choirs and with a very nice cosmic edge to it. The second track called “Reinbågan” from Nordic disco darlings Todd Terje and Prins Thomas, who released music and remixes for labels such as Rong Music, Eskimo Recordings, Bear Funk, Clone, Rekids, Compost, Feedelity, and Mule Musiq amongst many others.
This tune originally released as B-side of Terje’s 12“ Eurodans on Soul Jazz is a superb dub-disco cover of Cloud One's “Don't Let My Rainbow Pass Me By”. It is also a very sought-after cut, as only 60 copies of it have been pressed! The third track is an unreleased slow motion corker with beautiful layers of pads and ever-rolling arpeggios called "GRN Aventurine" from French dynamic duo Chateauflight aka Gilb’R and I:Cube of Versatile records fame. The cruise goes on peacefully with Keep On of British band Crazy Penis and reworked by neo-disco pioneers Daniel Wang and Brennan Green. The fine little label Sentrall hailing from L.A. is represented twice on the compilation with a heavenly cut called Blazer taking you higher with wonderful steel-drum parts and ethereal layers of synth and with the funky Maurice Fulton remix of Rollmottle’s Take A Break. Also selected “Lullaby for Robert” by Al Usher released in 2004 on Out Of The Loop Records, the groovy boogie disco number “Oddysey” by London’s Woolfy, “Fighter” by Birmingham’s wonderboy Mark E, which is a deep Balearic affair exclusively released on this compilation, and the electronic Soca-disco cut “To and Fro” from Ray Mang a.k.a Raj Gupta. To complete this retro futuristic disco journey, “Tyrant of Nat Rabb” aka San Serac originally released on Trevor Jackson’s Output Recordings in 2006. And with the dreamy and Balearic delight Shulme of Paul Murphy aka Mudd of Rong records fame and “Walking in The Rain” of Frontera, aka Pete Herbert and Phil Mison, who released a handful of records on Eskimo Recordings under the moniker Reverso 68, this incredible travel ends up as sweetly as it started.

Phew! You’ve had enough of this hectic disco dance? Well well let’s bring it down a notch with the phunky sound of Reggie B’s “Go”. Who’s Reggie B? A wonderful american artist fusing a decent futuristic soul album, with a wide range. So what is it? Hiphopsoulfunkalicious …with a voice and a care-free attitude which remind us Prince the purple dwarf as well the whole P-Funk movement of George Clinton, Bootsy etc…check it.

And we’re ending with some deep hip hop style strictly for the discerning beat heads! Super Smoky Soul “Cycling”. Six track ep from this Japanese trio , who were discovered when featured on Rush Hour “Beat Dimensions” fondamental headnod compilation as well as on Fat City's Producer 01 album. Various laidback and soulful instrumental hiphop outings, all very J Dilla inspired, and a definite check for those into Sa-Ra, Spacek and the likes.. Contains a mental remix by Hudson Mohawke (Heralds Of Change) too!

And last but not least The Big Payback “The Big Payback”. A duo consisting of French producer Onra (a great beatmaker we got high hopes for, check our previous new section for more on him) and his american net buddy, Byron (also featured on Rush Hour’s Beat Dimensions compilation). Various soul drenched offbeat- and hiphop cuts with keys on this 12. Features the vocals from Isis, Neco Redd, Peter Hadar, Dal-Gren. We go deeper!

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Welcome back to our Beatjoint news section. This week we go even deeper indeed as we are starting with a spotlight on –hear me now- the complete catalogue of Basic Channel records! Remember who brang back the classic reggae dub sounds of Wackies (check our blog section for a full focus on Wackies)? Yes Basic Channel did! Who? Basic Channel, the legendaryminimal techno production team and record label, composed of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus from Berlin, Germany… always hidden in the shadow, remaining elusive as their music is…but they are still strong and they are actually in the business since 1993. We bring you nothing less than their extensive collection of essential dub techno releases (which had been -ever since it came out- rare and highly collectable items, vinyl-only tracks under various aliases that became some kind of holy grail for many Detroit Techno and Dub appreciators to the point where it is regarded reverently like King Tubby or UR best works). The mysterious duo set up a studio in Berlin, in a building which was eventually to house Mark Ernestus’ distributing company and shop Hard Wax, and the label's mastering studio Dubplates & Mastering, set up to ensure a unique sound with a desired dynamic quality for the vinyl.The Basic Channel imprint ceased business in 1995 (apart from two releases almost a decade later that were originally issued on Carl Craig's Planet E label), but were followed by a string of similar labels. Among the most important were Chain Reaction, which released non-Von Oswald/Ernestus productions and helped launch the careers of dub-influenced minimal techno producers such as Monolake and Porter Ricks; Basic Replay, which specialises in reggae and dancehall re-issues; Main Street, for house-related releases; and Burial Mix and Rhythm & Sound, which saw the duo's sound move away from the Detroit blueprint and closer to vocal-lead dub and reggae. Their With The Artists album, released as Rhythm & Sound and featuring celebrated reggae and dancehall vocalists such as Sugar Minott (not forgetting all the aforementionned re-issues for Wackies).

Next up, as we announced you before right here comes Robert Owens on Michael Reinboth’s unstoppable German label, Compost records hitting us with a new album, “Night-Time Stories”. On this splendid record the man proves that he was and still is ever on point ever since the birth of house music in the early 80’s (he was the voice behind anthems like Mr Fingers’s (aka Larry Heard) “Can You Feel It?” or Franckies Knuckles “Tears”). To make his first artist album in ten years Mister Owens has hooked up with Wahoo, Charles Webster, Jimpster, Atjazz and Kirk Degiorgio to create a beautiful soulful journey…night times stories as sweet musical alegories that evolve from r’n b to techno and a lot of deep house moods in beetween.

We slow it down (like Brand Nubian used to say ha ha ) with another voice to be reckon with…the man they call OlivierDaySoul (we were some of the firsts to big up this singular soul singer– also hold tight for a focus on him in our blog section very soon)…now hear this all soul and beat headz, keep your ears widely opened as we keep digging…somewhere far out and exuberant between Prince or Andre 3000 / Outkast, Madlib, Wajeed and Flying Lotus…there lies gracely OlivierDaySoul from Washington DC! With a bad first album called “Kilowatt” on 4 Lux confirming his promissing vynil debuts full of dope modern day soul songs (remember our recommandation for "Brain" a tight leftfield joint à la Spacek produced by him and Paulo. while the flip "Potion 9" produced by Unknown explored more R'n'B territories), well don’t you stop boucing and check this record produced by Oddisee, Unknown, Planet Mohawk, Hudson Mohawk, Gerd, Paulo and the phunky polymorphic Dutch dude known as Gerd.

Also check Eye Beta Rock “Super Rock Body Shock”, great limited re-issue of an obscure disco synth bomb from the early 80's by Daryl Cameron. Includes a very nice Gerd dub. Just a 400 copies limited edition run, no repress. electro-disco alert !

And again rejoice! Who said you can’t find nu soulful voices in the music game nowadays? Yet another one to show them wrong! Memorize this name: Middle Child. She’s teaming up with J.Rawls on a project simply named J.Rawls & Middle Child presenting an album with a even more simple title “Rawls & Middle” (here available in his prestigious Japanese edition). Spread the word: Middle Child is a golden voice from Youngstown, Ohio who hooked up with local producer, the very talented J.Rawls. Her voice is kind of reminiscent to India Arie and her lyrics are clever and catchy. For those connoisseurs who praise him for years to the average hip hop head-nodeer J.Rawls reminds us his great taste and diversity beatmaking wize, from making classic R&B to soft rock to hip-hop sampladelic jams. A lack of decent soul this year you said? Maybe on Mtv Base ‘s whack playlist but look further, there is more than meets the eye…like Rawls & Middle who definitely hit raw in the middle! Such as Nicolay & Kay from North Carolina. A dynamic hip hop duo influenced by Tribe, De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers and the whole Native Tongues family…hip hop like we’ll always love…here with the release of their “Time:line” which is a concept record about the life cycle. Hard to sell? Well even with a great LP on BBE a few years ago, Nicolay still doesn’t get a lot of mainstream attention but it won’t stop them, as striving dedicated indie artists they maximize on the quality of what they do and keep it up. Just like them we believe that true good music with integrity lasts longer than big disposable quantity. Support the cause! An ethic close to DJ Buzz on a adequatly named label, Personal records. Having all those good examples in music history in mind, no matter if it is Jazz, Hip-Hop, Brazil, Rocksteady or Disco, the Personal team celebrate their[/strong] ten year anniversary with DJ Buzz “In Between Blue & Black”. Their brand new recent release after a 4 year hiatus with some 7-Inch biz from DJ Buzz, well known as 1/3 of Austrian Hip-Hop/Funk/Electronic-Combo Waxolutionists and mastermind of the Supercity Soundsystem. The Waxolutionists Band with Rappers Deph Joe & Manuva and Musicians like the Twin Towas, etc... Too much names? Just let the music do the talking!

And let us also recommand you Metropolitan Jazz Affair’s “MJA”. Metropolitan Jazz Affair is the initial project from 3 main figures on the French Jazz and Soul scenes. They intend to dig a little deeper in a modern souljazz direction, without forgetting what originally is : a music for the soul that can shake your legs ! This album, originally released in 2003 is produced by Patchworks, a French producer known for his successful projects such as The Dynamics, Uptown Funk Empire and more ! The crew features Stephane Ronget (also know as the Rongetz Foundation) on trumpet and Benjamin Devigne on Pianos. Guest vocalist Mr Day is performing too on this record. He brings a soulful flavor to the MJA vibe ! This album was followed by a second one in 2007 on the german label Infracom.

And we finish off with Mombasa’s “African Rhythms And Blues 2”. Mombasa being a very respected afro-funk band created in 1976 by Lou Blackbun, Doug Lucas, Bob Reed, Don Ridgeway and Alan Tatham. This here is the seminal re-issue of their original second LP release by the legendary cross-cultural Mombasa band: Deep Afro Jazz Funk by Lou Blackburn and his wicked group recorded 1976 in Germany -a top rare album formerly released on the rare german Spiegelei label only, contains the sought after DJ-spins "African Hustle", "Yenyeri" and "Shango II", mastered in 2008 from the master tapes, with original cover artwork, and re-released for the first time. Monster album! Far out we went, from dub techno to afro-beat and beyond…roots & future we are for ever! So until next time: one love!

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Greetings, we’re back with some digital freshness for all groove diggers.

As we begin this wild ride with a futuristic p-funk fanatic, the voice called Reggie B. Remember the “Go” album released on Circulations in Japan around September 2007? Also his 12” with Daru previously released on 4lux White? Well this time here comes his solo project “A Few Steps Forward“ here in the form of a tasty album sampler (perfect introduction to his second album “Get down with me” out soon on 4lux) with on the A-side the booty-shaking tittle track “A few steps forward” produced by the prolific cat called Saadiq from Platinum Pied Pipers. Also “Do your dance (testify)” produced by 4lux boss Gerd and Paulo (who just released the Milez Benjiman project on Ubiquity and Tru Thoughts). On the flip side we got the bouncy “Spiritual Fi”, a club banger produced by hip hop producer Lenny Dee (not to be confused with the hardcore techno dj from New York!) then let’s grind to the seductive sound of “Evil Woman” a slow and nasty dancefloor bubbler and slide finally to “Outergalactic Funk” an instrumental bonus track with a sleazy spacey groove oozing with sweat and sweetness.

Next up, big up to our tough number two: C.O.N.E."Electric Theory Vol. I" on Bagpak Records! Remember those letters.: C O N E…an up and coming Dj/Producer/live act hailing from Rotterdam. An eclectic, smokin’ hot dude whose production influences range far from Broken Beat to Detroit Hip Hop to Dancehall riddims and beyond. C.O.N.E. is a bad man…and he’s also currently working on the Crazybreed LP (alongside veteran singer, writer, producer and musician Colonel Red whose debut album "Blue Eye Blak" was released with People Records back in 2005 and who has been dazzling audiences with his soul-drenched vocals, compositional vision and production talents with also Alex Attias or the Bugz!). This volume 1 album features the future classic “Victim”, also released on the almighty Coopr8 (CO-OP). A must for all appreciators of Afronaught and IG Culture twisted beats. Hear this massive: broken beat ain’t broke yet!

Third release in this third Beat Joint news section… "Thirdiq" by Monologue. A Japanese combo sweet like candy, showing us a bit more laidback side of the land of the risng sun (much more mellow than Soil & Pimp for instance)! This original jazz combo with nuff keyboards, guitar, trumpet, drums, and percussion sometimes hits an electric 70s jazz-funk fusion style with echoes of Herbie and Miles, at other points they're much more introspective, nicely experimental without going too far out though! Best titles include "I Hear The Music", "The World Is Wideopen", "Fragment", "Monologue" and "Break Of Dawn Before 4AM".

Our number four is strictly for the discerning dancefloors, Roberto Rodriguez on Compost’s Black Label #33. And yes, for those who did’nt knew yet Roberto rodriguez is part of the Future Beat Investigators (Raw Fusion). And fyi Mister Rodriguez is also known as the man behind Track n Field's "Marathon" album on Nine2five recordings and some might also have heard of him as a part of the Acid Kings (Sähkö recordings) or for the 90s deephouse he dropped via Stereodeluxe. So you can expect nuff quality tunes like "Ride With Me" a killer bumpy track feat. Max c's old school-ish vocals. The inspiration to "ride with me" initially came from an Al Green song. Max C came up right after with the idea of combining vocal elements from modern hip hop club tunes with classic house vocals. The b-side "too late" is a pure deep house odyssey in the vein of Innervisions deep techy house. And while we’re on the subject of Reverend Al Green look out soon for his new album with mad beats from Quest Love from The Roots.

As we glide all the way live with number five : Nneka “No Longer At Ease” Heard the name before? You won’t forget it. The Nigerian sensation Nneka (now living in Hamburg, Germany) has made a big name for herself in a few years as a very special singer, creating a intimate link beetween African blues and his American incarnations like soul and hip hop through songs full of life, wisdom and experience.Working closely with DJ and Hip-Hop beatmaker DJ Farhot, this phenomenal woman behind the mic is aiming high as she’s willing to be one of those few carrying the torch of afro revolutionnaries like Fela Kuti and Bob Marley into the now. A nu soul right (indeed…but much better than another “nu soul” named Yaelle Naim even though Nneka hasn’t got the same huge popular appeal yet, but in a near future who knows?)… Nneka stands out as a potentially mainstream artist with much soul and sincerity in the vein of Mos Def and Lauryn Hill. Also check her performing live we heard she’s fire!

Number six in the mix, we switch to Mister Modo And Ugly Mac Beer “Modonut”. After those two being previously the creators of Mo Dougly Weird Stories (feat. Mike Ladd, Thirdsight, D-Styles, MF Grimm, Monsta Island Czars) on Pascal Rioux’s Favorite Records, they’re back in full effect! Watch out for the dangerous combination of Mister Modo and Ugly Mac Beer as the awesome duo hit us this time with the first 7" off of their album to come, “Modonut”, a respectful headnodder’s nod at Jay Dilla’s Donuts beatheadz classic. As many of his contemporaries following Dilla boom bap path, Modo is an insatiable loopdigga, and his dexterous MPC feels like the extension of his hand. Mac Beer (the boss of the label Diess Prod with hyperactive turntablists such as DJ Troubl', DJ Kodh, Le Jad, Scratch Science) is a gifted scratcher and sequencer. On side A, after an intro reminiscent of blaxplotation moods, the duo welcome the warm voice of soul-jazz singer Jessica Fitoussi. The B side holds a Gainsbourg-inspired instrumental track and a jumpy interlude, both working up ones curiosity as to what lies ahead for the second 7 and their album to come. Give me Mo’!

Seven… we’re on our way to heaven with a top notch selection by Karen P... "Broadcasting Ep" : Following on from Jazzanova and Dirk Rumpff (Off Track), up and coming radio producer, DJ and media consultant Karen P recently delivered what is already the 3rd in the successful ...broad casting mix series. Now Sonar Kollektiv releases an exclusive 12" vinyl release including three of the stand out tracks from the mix CD. Karen started out on Gilles Peterson's acclaimed Worldwide show and she keeps going from strength to strength. This superb EP kicks of with a raw track by Stereotyp (discovered on G-Stone then Compost, Klein Records, Kitty Yo, Fabric and Ninja Tunes) “Take The Wait” in a warm and soulful house vibe. Si Begg (best know for his work on Novamute but has also released under his aliases Si Futures and Buckfunk 3000 on other labels such as Tresor, Cheap, Skint and Shitkatapult) signs “Into The Deep Water” which takes in elements of dub-step and soul to make a fresh sounding track (exclusively available on this 12"). Like “Into The Deep Water”, “Unite” by Tettorybad also features new Swedish vocal talent Fatima (Hudson Mohawke’s famous flatmate relocated in the UK). Nuff talents to seek out for…

Like this week’s number eight from Break SL “Laguna Seca”. Dresdens Sebastian Lohse aka Break SL with the follow-up to his respected debut on his own imprint, Philpot Records. Four tracks that range from raw dubby house to floating ambient techno, showing his massive skills on the buttons, creating moody atmospheres to get lost in like a warm never ending night.

The number nine is nothing but a mighty fine album by beatdown scientists going by the name of Soulphiction "Do You Overstand?!". Following on from his 2006 LP “State Of Euphoria”, Soulphiction aka Jackmate, and Michel Bauman brings us a fresh new album on Sonar Kollektiv. As well as having had releases on Sonar Kollektiv and his own labels Philpot and Phil E, Soulphiction has also put stuff out through Perlon, Playhouse, Moon Harbour, Liebe/Detail, DIY, Mule, Resopal and Freude am Tanzen.The album is full of suprises such as “Ghana Wadada”, a dark dance-floor romp displaying haunting flute melodies and ethnic African chants. Or the brillant “Prison Song” on which the beat is the rhythm of a genuine chain gang. Soulphiction moves in so many musical directions at the same time, taking in influences from hip-hop and jazz resulting in a truly experimental feel: there's a great roughness to their sound, a minimal deepness making sense in the vein of some Theo Parrish, Moodyman or Omar S works.

Last but not least, the number ten on this list comes from the very gifted Mark E “Slave 1” on his Running Back label. After many great disco / r’n b / beatdown house edits, the Birmingham wizard now returns to Running Back for another EP of original productions. Always delivering relentless sensuous and effectively simple tracks of pure dancefloor bliss. Number one song is “Slave 1" that keeps building up untill you’re locked in and hooked for ever. The flipside flips the script with first “Pulse Friction” full of synthesizers for your long lasting pleasure. Finally, the incredibly bouncy “Human”, another oh so joyful moment thanks to Mark ...and don’t forget, E stands for ecstasy! Enjoy!

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Beatjoint news section number four…you want more???!!! Well you got it as we still explore the whole wide world in search of good music for you…First off let’s say it again one more time: underground or overground it doesn’t necessarily matters for us, what really counts at the end of the day is quite simple: does it moves us, does it grooves us or not???!!!

So we stand our heads up high and proud, yes we keep saying it: even though Mister Tellier’s character is a bit ludacris, even though he’s not Gainsbourg (or even Gainsbarre) yet and even though our man hasn’t won the Eurovision contest last week-end with his delicious and easy to sing along weird and beautiful pop song “Divine”, well he’s still a champ in our eyes! And we also recommand the video to this track, it’s absolutely hilarious…Sébastien Tellier? Divine indeed! Daaaamn right! Vive la France!

Next up, still coming from our French Capital, we offer you the wonderful sounds of Kif recordings…old and new…but always sooo fresh! Firsts on the menu we got Jazz Liberatorz, unique beatmakers proudly hailing from Meaux-town (in the suburbs of Paris) showcasing a timeless boom bap concept full of deepness in the path of Pete Rock, Madlib or even 4 Hero’s Visionneers project... a refined approach taking in from the classics to bring out their quintessence while reinventing itself constantly. A strong nodd to jazz is displayed throughout all this chef d’oeuvre with the help of bad ass french musicians - Soul Clan, Ky and not forgetting two Oliviers, M'Sellem and Portal; and on the mic la crème de la crème of soulful indy US hip hop. Who? The list itself is not so impressive as the cohesion reigning between everyone here. Judge for yourself: after prestigious twelves over the last five years on Kif records with none others than Wildchild, Aloe Blacc or Fatlip (ex-Pharcyde, on the eloquent “Backpackers” 12” amongst others), they’ve brang in even more leftside charismatic mc’s to the table to make this unpeccable album which is “Clin D’Oeil”, a long lasting piece of true hip hop music. Inviting people in full sync with Jazzlib’s sincere direction like their old friend T-Love (sublime singer / poet often compared to Erikah Badu for her audacity -based in Paris after residing Detroit, Londres and Oackland), Sadat X (Brand Nubian), Captain Buckshot (Blackmoon) or even the gracious Lizz Fields (who stoles the show on the divine "Speak the Langage"... a soul jazz ballad constituting the climax of this remarkable record before the last track, a daring cover of Ahmad Jahmal’s “Ishmaël” spiritual jazz anthem). An elegant yet humble and personnal effort which also transpires in the simple, old school black & white artwork paying tribute to the old Black Jazz record label iconography. And still on Kif, on the reissue camp this time… we bring you two remarkable examples of sweet french touch flavours from the 70’s. First of the two, “Mélodie En Soul Sol”…a superb french rare groove compilation set up by Michael Darmon (boss of Kif records) in 2002. A rare collection of tracks demonstrating that in terms of jazz, funk, jazz funk, soul, soul jazz and other psychedelic moods our hexagonal musicians were highly influenced by the american sounds of the 70’s. Big tunes from Vladimir Cosma, Martial Solal, Claude Vasori and Vincent Gueminiani, Daniel Janin, Jean-Claude Pierric or last but not least Nancy Holloway and her astounding hit “It Hurts So Bad”. The second reissue being Harlem Pop Trotters’s eponym LP, “Harlem Pop Trotters”. A lost jazz fusion classic (the original version appeared on the highly collectible Les Treteaux). This is their only album released in 1975. A little piece of heaven made by liberated library musicians. The conductor being J.C Pierric again (with the help of Francois Rolland). Jazz freaks inspired by Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, and George Duke…some funky bizness indeed!

And we continue with a Beatjoint Promo Exclusive from our dear friend Jazzamar on his Jazzmin records imprint from Strasbourg to Paris via Tokyo....two tracks from the very awaited Sleep Walker’s brand new album. This amazing Japanese jazz band featuring Masato Nakamura (sax), Hajime Yoshizawa (piano), Kiyoshi Ikeda (bass) and others gives us a great follow-up to their debut eponym album “Sleep Walker” from Especial records and to the more recent singles “The Voyage featuring Pharoah Sanders” and “River of love” (not forgetting their Especial Records compilation album, “Essence of Especial”). Two wicked tunes: “Brotherhood”, a brillant cover of a Yusef Lateef gem and “Resurrection". A taste of this fat album to come out soon!

Still not out of breath? Check this out: here’s more live music to be reckoned with: Sonar Kollektiv Orchester “Guaranteed Niceness”. A Sonar Kollektiv super-group made up of label artists and friends from Jazzanova's label to celebrate its 10th anniversary. SKO's repertoire is a cross selection of tunes from the SK label back catalogue, the original styles of which cover a wide range from deep house and broken beats to reggae and experimental hip hop. From “L.O.V.E. & You And I” (a cover of the Jazzanova track which was the opening number on their acclaimed 2002 album “In Between” on Compost) to the verypopular “Midnight Marauders” by Fat Freddies Drop’s singer Joe Dukie or even Ame's dance-floor hit “Rej”. Also on SK check out Frost & Wagner “Remixes” with nuff dub reggae vibes…like their remixes of Torch Of Freedom (originally written by Cleveland Watkiss), Eva Be “She Walks Alone”, Taxi “A Certain Something”, Deyampert “The Sweetest Delusion”, Onejiru “We Carry On over”or “Everything” by Clara Hill. Dub wise bizness!And to finish off this special SK delivery we keep bigging up the ones called Soulphiction! This time they bring us a fresh new 12” with two remixes of tracks taken from their excellent second LP “Do You Overstand?!" (to be found reviewed in our previous Beat Joint news section). Nice reinterpretations by Losoul and Kalabrese. Losoul (from the Playhouse label) remixes “Cargo” into a slowly builder for the floors. On the flipside, Kalabrese (of Perlon records fame) takes “Reclap” in a chilled laid back mode. German beatdown house at his finest!

More from other German cousins, Compost records in the shape of their “Compost Blacklabel series vol.3” compiled by Jay Shepheard. A sub label to put Compost back on the dancefloor map with less jazz and soul but more house and tekky stuff. The outcome is not the typical Compost “nu jazz” sound anymore which people related with the Munich based label. This is bleepy and creepy, dark and pumping! Once again the third volume unites the brightest moments of the successful 12" series on a CD compilation - this time in form of a special DJ mix done by uprising Blacklabel act Jay Shepheard (who did their debut for the label on an EP recently, “Blacklabel #19").

And finally we go even furhter into deep German waters with the exclusive Scape label’s compilation, “Round Black Ghosts”. An album compiled by label owners Stefan Betke (Pole) and Barbara Preisinger together with Tim Tetzner (the heart and mind behind Berlins Dense Records shop), throws a spotlight on dubstep sounds from Berlin. Merging the classic uk dubstep heavy basslines and breaks with the more hypnotic deep German techno grooves. From Martyn in a Detroit style on “Velvet” to Syncom Datas “Beyond The Stars” (which reminds us Basic Channel’s dub techno minimal approach). A quality selection to please all dub, dubstep and
techno diggers.

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First of here is a perfect example of an amazing piece of music you might never have heard of ever, and I mean never ever -if it wasn’t for the patience and dedication of deep collectors putting out priceless reissues such as our friend Antoine Rajon from Heavenly Sweetness: Al Rahman! Cry of The Floridian Tropic Son. A very rare album –rare indeed, in every sense of the word- from pianist Doug Carn (husband of Jean Carn) famous for his many classic recordings on theBlack Jazz label. Mystic –at times arabic- soul-jazz songs with a disco twist under the common influences of Earth Wind & Fire and John Coltrane. Doug Carn is one of the most famous artist of Black Jazz records (the cult spiritual jazz record label of the 70’s). After four albums considered as soul jazz classics in the seventies, Doug Carn left the Black Jazz label and he converted to Islam. He changed his name into Abdul Rahim Ibrahim, and cut this nice record of spacey soul. Best track being the spiritual jazz classic "Al Rahman", a fifteen minutes prayer to the creator. As original liner notes said : “Part of the purpose of this album is to show the members of the funk-pop-rock and jazz-afro-cuban-latin and the traditional-blues-gospel oriented subcultures in western societies, that the Arabic language and Islamic Din are note necessarily alien to them. And more specifically, to show that the syllabilistic expression of the be-bop language and the evolved musical ideas of the great innovators John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner are equally Arabic in nature, as Jazz itself is a word of Arabic Origin”…

Next up, Peter Herbolzheimer R C & B “Bigband Bebop” on Mons records. Another odd, slightly special or at least quite confidential in his own way, Peter Herbolzheimer’s project from Germany which was spelled R C & B (standing for Rhythm Combination & Brass). An international soul jazz big band very active in Europe from the 1970s right up to today. The German composer and bandleader Peter Herbolzheimer has, through this, and many other ventures, revolutionised European big band music. In the late 1970s the band even toured successfully with guest stars like Esther Phillips, Stan Getz, Nat Adderley, Gerry Mulligan, Toots Thielemans and more.This adequatly called RC&B big band was unique in that it had a line up of eight brass, but originally only one saxophone. The rhythm combination consisted of two keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and percussion. And big it is!

Now let’s switch it to the opposite -just to prove the point that at Beat Joint we’re not nerdy elitists (or at least not all the time!)- we also propose the most obvious but still the most tasteful soul artists… like the timeless Afro-american hero that is Sam Cooke and his “Forever” anthology on Not Now Music. A mighty damn fine retrospective of the early career of one of the greatest soul voices that ever graced this earth, Mister Sam Cooke. This two cd box features his debut album for the Keen Label as well as a selection of the best of his recordings with the Soul Stirrers. Among the 30 tracks is the hit number "You Send Me" plus two rare bonus tracks "Lovable" and the title track "Forever" (which he originally recorded and released as Dale Cook, a name he used in order not to alienate his gospel fans when issuing his first (so called devilish then) pop recordings). A must for any fan of Sam Cooke or just a lover of gold old soul music!

Our fourth choice is something Pascal Rioux (our man from Favorite records) confessed he had a personnal affection for (when we interviewed him a few days ago, check it in the Blog section)…”Cut Basic” by another innovative beatmaker in this very competitive game, Dal Gren. An American dude who banged his first tunes out of his Playstation and keeps digging and growing larger while getting inspired from all angles from jazz to rock, soul, funk, hip hop and electro. Living in tune with his machines, forgoing clichés and fashions to create his very own staple of moody and timeless hip hop seemingly stemming from a distant planet. Quite a basic cut n’ paste? True… but nuff sweet flavours for your big curious ears!

And what’s next? Another Dilla disciple?! Yes, and it’s cool, we can’t complain (as long as the beats are really good!). Here it’s better than just good but we’re sorry we can’t provide much information on the next one…because it comes from a very secretive artist from a very secretive island, Japan (also I must confess that all the details I found on the guy they name 45’s myspace are not translated…and I can’t read japanese). It’s called “Hello Friends” by a beatmaker and pianist who calls himself 45 or is it a collective? Or 45 people?! Or a secret entity?! Nevermind. Just listen and feel the great blend of beats, keys, and samples at its core - all served up with a crispy, old school feel! Highlights being “Searchin' (Feat. Tasita D'mour)”, “The Night Life (Feat. Steph Pockets)”, “Underground Superstar (Feat. Yu Sakai)” or of course “Hello Friends (Lark Chillout For A.Y.B.Force Remix)”.

One more drop in the endless sea of releases in the vast house music story, check out the “Giant Steps EP” by BitterSuite. Not to be confused neither with Giant Steps recordings (the soulful label from New York)! Nor with The Bitasweet label (the broken beat home of Bugz In The Attic releases inna West London)! This Giant Steps EP is made by BitterSuite and it is their debut on a brand new label, DeepSystems Music. A 5 track digi-EP of seriously deep tracks. Ranging from the 303 acidic tinged “Fingers”, a tribute to the magic fingers of the acid king: Larry Heard aka Fingers Inc, to the more shuffled hypnotic “Reflection”. A diverse selection of tracks for the more discerning lover of moody deep house, dark rooms and big sound systems…can you feel it?

A bit more unknown than the last ones is Lars Behrenroth. Maybe because we mentionned him here (many times already in this particular News column) but also because the man is old school and has been around doing it right for more than a decade. This time Lars Behrenroth signs an EP on the always fresh, always on point house UK label Freerange entitled “Ice On The Sun”. Lars delivers as usual in the subtle style of his stuff on Deep4Life, Compost, Sonar Kollektiv and his remixes of The Rurals, Dubtribe, MJ Cole, Alma Horton, Slope, Arnold Jarvis just to name a few. Here we have two tracks from him plus a sweet remix by Version (aka Charles Webster teaming up with Atjazz). A minimal deep house stripped back approach sure to please the quality dancefloors!

Magic? Boddhi Satvas? Is this the new age all over again? Anyway Anto Vitale’s “Majico (Doruk Ozlen & Boddhi Satva Mixes)” on Seasons Limited is -dare we say it…uplifting! A greatfollow up to the massive "Can't help" by Kemal, "Majico" is a gentle laidback track featuring mesmerizing vocals and wicked chants alongside lush keys and synths over a deeply stormin' percussion enriched backing groove Doruk Ozlen and his imaginary buddhist buddies are taking it even higher with a mesmerizing afro-tribal vibe in both versions! Body & Soul deep afro-latin house style like Joaquin “ Joe” Claussell would love...

And from Joe’s deep tribal juju style we switch to The Boogoos’s take on “Theme De Yoyo”, (the afro-funk version of a cosmic jazz classic originally made by Lester Bowie and The Art Ensemble of Chicago). The beaux gosses??? No, check the spelling and get the name right: The Boogoos! Munich’s finests forming a 13-piece group (that includes members of the Poets Of Rhythm, Express Brass Band and The Hi-fly Orchestra) who present their first single, which combines the afro-rhythms of Fela kuti with american funk and soul. On the flipside, “The Journey (Ghana ‘74)” is a nine minute afrobeat stomper fueled by the extensive instrumentation and the driving bassline, as well as the colourful horns and Zsolt’s unique vocals. Watch out for the forthcoming LP in october 2008!

Last on this week’s list, a cursed genius who has always been singled out (may it be for for his weird signature broken techno beats or his twisted taste for chubby girls!). Let’s just say Colin Lindo aka Nubian Mindz likes to keep it fat not flat! Fact of that this “Sellouts EP” is pure gravy all the way up! Yes Nubian Mindz (aka Alpha Omega) is still mashing it ruff and tuff from drum-n-bass to Detroit techno to house to broken beat to samba…from Reinforced to 2000Black, Archive, TOV, Irma etc. His second EP on Bagpak Records is a massive bash of techno smashers with Colin’s very own bad-bwoy riddimz and deep-ass bass. From dark dub-tech-step to straight-up booty shakin techno to tech-jazz bruk numbers, Nubian Mindz continues his quest in pushing the levels! Not for the sell outs! Riiiiiight!

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