Searchability

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Victor Olaiya - (2009) All Stars Soul International LP

 

 Vampi Soul ‎– VAMPI 107

"They thought I moved Highlife music out of the ordinary. Then, it was believed that my Highlife was a little bit out of this world, beyond explanation. This was why Alhaji Alade Odunewu of the Daily Times styled me The Evil Genius of Highlife." (Victor Olaiya)

Victor Olaiya is certainly one of the legendary foundation stones of modern Nigerian music, yet he has never received much acknowlegement or really had his albums released or promoted in any quantity outside of Nigeria. So this Vampisoul release is a step in the right direction and not before time, for a 77 years old who was probably Nigeria's leading star of 50's and early 60's, his golden years. Dr. Victor Abimbola Olaiya, the evil genius of Highlife, is still sockin' it to them after 60 years on stage. If you're lucky you can catch him blowing that trumpet and singing his heart out at his own celebrated 'Stadium Hotel' in Lagos, Nigeria.

This album from 1970 is from Olaiya's Highlife / Funk phase, but its worth taking a trawl through his back pages to see how he became the Evil Genius, before you roll back the rug and get down with the Highlife-Funk.

William Onyeabor - (1978) Tomorrow LP

 

Wilfilms Records ‎– WLP 1003

Popularity through underground DJs ensures someone somewhere will be spinning this as summer turns to winter and back. Nigerian funk may lag behind more traditional styles in its homeland, but in Europe and the U.S.A., William Onyeabor's mix of aggressive metaphor-free chants, fuzzy keyboards staying on the right side of disco, with mildly under-mixed female harmonies gives him leeway on both dancefloors and call to arms rallies. 'Why Go To War' does what is asked of it, much in the same vein as Curtis Mayfield of that era (but aeons ahead of Mayfield's huge letdown 'Heartbeat'), 'Love Me Now' ploughs similar territory, themes changing emphasis from destruction to sexual catharsis. In each case, one powers the other under a sultry sullen production sky.

William Onyeabor - (1978) Atomic Bomb LP

 

Wilfilms Records ‎– WLP 1002

A first look at that sleeve can be dismaying: oh no, a Nigerian Rick Wakeman. Then: wait, maybe a Nigerian Rick Wakeman would be good. Then you look again and notice there are only two keyboards. Most of that photo is mikes, all pointing at William Onyeabor as he conducts a press conference, asking for love from nations, women and listeners while journos from every corner of the studio thrust their microphones at him from a safe distance - if he goes off, you don't want to be caught in the blast.

But he never does go off. There are no explosions, just impossibly sustained rumbles of joyful thunder. Onyeabor is no show-off, but I can't call this record stripped down either, because that would suggest it was ever built up. To construct his sweet love-loving funk he begins with nothing and adds as much as is needed, no more: a simple bass line, a minimal beat, some synths to flesh out the harmonies, the occasional whizzy burble to liven things up, female backing singers and his own voice, modest, quiet and strong.

I've immersed myself in this record innumerable times over the last few weeks, but it's not something I get lost in, exactly - it fills the world but doesn't obscure it. Things are made brighter by this. And with what means? Punk says that all you need to make music is three chords and a guitar; techno says you can do without both. Onyeabor says you need two keyboards, six microphones, three women, a pair of ears and a heart. It seems to work. "

"Despite the title, this stuff is chill as fuck. The bomb metaphor is more like "man if I'll ever sober up and get off this bed my head just might explode like an atomic bomb" rather than any aggressive Terminator X thing. For some reason "I Need You All My Life" is duplicated at the end of "Shame" and I don't know if it's the mp3 ripper's tricks or if that was the case on the LP too. Yeah, it's an awesome love confessional from one of the female backing singers (albeit with a weird oppressive vibe by William) but 13 minutes just is a little too much. Anyway, the ridiculous blend of (intentionally, I guess) naïve politics in "Better Change Your Mind" and the other three stoned-as-fuck love-making tracks is hilarious, but works. One of Nigeria's best, fo' sho.

William Onyeabor - (1977) Crashes in Love LP

 

Wilfilms Records ‎– WLP 1001 

Released in 1977 on the artist's own imprint, Wilfilms, like every of his records (all masterpieces). The album is said to have been composed as a soundtrack to a movie Onyeabor made - "a tragedy of how an African Princess rejects the love that money buys", as mentioned on the sleeve. Crashes in Love is actually William Onyeabor's first record and of course features a few mindbending tracks. Genius man.

William Onyeabor - (1981) Great Lover LP

 

Wilfilms Records ‎– WLP 1010 



William Onyeabor - (1982) Hypertension LP

 

Wilfilms Records ‎– WLP 018 

I wonder what the hell William Onyeabor thought he was doing. He owned flour mills in Nigeria, did quite well at that, apparently (perhaps he still owns them, who knows). And he studied cinematography in Russia, I recall somebody saying, which is probably why his record label is called Wilfilms. What possible connection is there between those two things? And then he made records as well? No, William, you've got it all wrong, you're meant to have a career.

I'm not sure what sort of reputation he has in Nigeria, if he has a reputation at all. Perhaps he's completely unknown there, too. I suspect he made his money, then spent it on things he liked. Making music happened to be one of them. Probably he gave no thought to pleasing anyone but himself in this. He didn't Strive to Achieve, or compare himself to those around him while muttering in self-reassurance that it was okay, the younger ones were all useless and the successful ones were all older, plenty of time left yet (this soon ceases to be an effective strategy: I have now outlived Jesus).

Yet he made his small impact, and its influence is bound to widen. Like all of us, I suspect, he delights others in ways he wouldn't imagine, wouldn't even think of trying to guess at imagining. Occasionally I meet somebody from my past who I've forgotten, but they remember me. Why? Perhaps because I'm a particular sort of idiot, but then it sometimes happens that I meet people who I remember but are completely ignorant of me, and I know those people aren't idiots. I went out tonight at half past nine to buy a bottle of wine and, as I left my gate, the house over the road let off fireworks in celebration. Who knows how these things work?

This is not Onyeabor's greatest record. The synths are tinpot, there is a general atmosphere of cheese, and the only version floating around the web is coated in a thick layer of vinyl crackle. But I can listen to it on repeat for an hour and a half (experiments prove it) and I love the title track, in which William gives a list of reasons we'd be bound to suffer from the complaint - having a bad wife, having a bad husband, having too much money, being a bad man, being a bad woman - and the girls in the chorus sing "Hyper-ten-sion / Is killing many / Many many people / Hyper-ten-sion / Is killing many many many people" while overlapping synths bubble like cheerfully boiling blood, blood that, contrary to all good sense, says "live, live."


William Onyeabor - (2013) Who Is William Onyeabor? CD

 

Luaka Bop ‎– CD 0079

The fifth volume in LuakaBop's World Psychedelic Classics series chronicles African synth-funk musician William Onyeabor.

If Fela Kuti was a child of James Brown, fellow Nigerian William Onyeabor is something like the next-generation musical offspring of Parliament-Funkadelic. His songs are extended call-and-response disco-funk jams driven by the space-age sound of synthesizers and drum machines -- very new tools when Onyeabor was recording in the late '70s and '80s, especially in Africa. After years of existing mainly as secret grail passed between electronic music DJs and other crate diggers, Onyeabor's handful of studio LPs have been licensed and boiled down to a killer compilation by Luaka Bop, the tastemaking world music label started by David Byrne.
So who IS William Onyeabor? Part of the album's conceit is that even the compilers don't fully know. The liner notes, by veteran British journalist Vivien Goldman, note that Onyeabor is a crowned chief in his hometown village of Enugu, Eastern Nigeria, where he lives in "a hidden palace in the woods" and is a booster of the local Christian music scene. But he essentially left his own music career in the '80s, in the wake of the recordings collected here, presumably when he became a born-again Christian

William Onyeabor - (1980) Body & Soul LP

 

Wilfilms Records ‎– WLPS 1007

William Onyeabor is a funk musician from Nigeria
His songs are often heavily rhythmic and synthesized, occasionally epic in scope, with lyrics decrying war sung by both Onyeabor himself and female backing vocalists. In recent years a number of his songs have appeared on various compilations, most often his biggest hit "Better Change Your Mind" which appeared on Africa 100, World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love's a Real Thing - The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa,[1][2] and Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970's Funky Lagos,[3] through labels such as Luaka Bop.

Some biographies claim that he studied cinematography in Russia, returning to Nigeria in the 1970s to start his own Wilfilms music label and to set up a recording and production studio. He was later crowned a High Chief in Enugu, where he still lives as a businessman working on government contracts and running his own flour mill.[4] According to the Luaka Bop record label, Onyeabor "self-released 8 albums between 1978 and 1985 and then became a born-again Christian, refusing ever to speak about himself or his music again....By attempting to speak with Onyeabor himself, and by talking to people who seem to have firsthand knowledge, Luaka Bop has been trying to construct an accurate biography of him for the past 18 months...without success.

William Onyeabor - (1985) Anything You Sow LP

 

Wilfilms Records ‎– WLP 033 


 Hailing from Nigeria, William Onyeabor made a number of incredible Nigerian soul & funk albums towards the tail end of the 1970’s (the album ‘Atomic Bomb’ is worth checking out… particularly the track ‘Change Your Mind’). However, as the 80’s kicked in William began to experiment with the new sounds and bleeps that could now be tweeked on modern synthesizers. ‘Anything You Sow’, William Onyeabor’s final LP was released in 1985 and is a true masterpiece of Afro-electronica that’s been re discovered by modern acts such as Keiran Hebden AKA Four Tet & Caribou (who recently sampled this LP). The album is worth a pretty penny these days as is very hard to find the LP in any decent playable condition.

Kicking off with the 12 minute epic ‘When The Going Is Smooth & Good’, which was recently used in Keiran Hebden’s Essential Mix, this is a truly pioneering piece of disco/funk with a clear message in the music. Dipping in and out of intricate percussion workouts and driven by bleepy synth grooves, it has an irresistible lo fi charm. Followed by the uptempo ‘This Kind Of World’, another percussive electronic workout that begs the question 'have you ever seen this kind of world?'. The B side sees the LP’s tempo drop down a notch with the LP title track ‘Anything You Sow’. The LP finishes with a beautiful electronic ballad ‘Every Day’. This album is an exceptional piece of music, that’s all killer, and you’ll have never heard anything like it… it will appeal to fans of Nigerian Afro funk & electronic disco… don’t let this fantastic album pass you by!

หงษ์ทอง ดาวอุดร - (1979) ฮ่วย อะบานิบี LP

 

ช้างเอราวัณ ‎– none  

หงษ์ทอง ดาวอุดร (Hongtong Daoudon) is a luk thung and molam singer from north eastern part of Thailand. This late 70s-early 80s album however is in large parts western influenced Thai funk that wouldn't sound of place on one of the ZudRangMa compilations.

The title track ฮ่วย อะบานิบี is a cover version of Israels winning contribution to the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, Izhar Cohen & Alpha Beta's "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (א-ב-ני-בי). This song was apparently a huge hit in Thailand, and monrakplengthai's curator Peter says he would still hear the song playing around Bangkok even today. He's also uploaded อรอุมา สิงห์ศิริ (onuma singsiri)'s version of the song so go listen to that as well!

African Head Charge - (1990) Songs of Praise CD

 

 On-U Sound ‎– 72771

 Not very many reggae albums acknowledge Alan Lomax in the credits. But then, African Head Charge (a band with a constantly changing membership led by percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah) doesn't really make typical reggae albums. Although the one-drop beat (provided on this album by Lincoln "Style" Scott) influences everything and the basslines have a typical tidal undertow, the stuff that Noah layers on top of the mix has more to do with ethnomusicology than the dancehall. The song titles say it all: "Cattle Herders Chant," a field recording of call-and-response chanting overlaid with Nyahbinghi drums and highlife guitar; "My God," eerie, minor-key African-American church singing supported by a chugging reggae bassline, bare-bones drumming, and the sound of running water; "Deer Spirit Song," an unidentifiable indigenous song in 9/8 meter with a gently driving rockers beat and occasional sound effects thrown in. This is an exceptionally beautiful album, but in a deeply strange way.

African Head Charge - (2011) Voodoo Of The Godsent CD

 

On-U Sound ‎– On-UCD1015

Received mixed reviews for strong opening and closing cuts with everything in between somewhat of a mixed bag heavily flavored with psychedelic dubs.

African Head Charge - (2020) Churchical Chant Of The Iyabinghi LP

 

On-U Sound ‎– ONULP141
 
 ‘Churchical Chant of the Iyabinghi’ is a wigged-out version excursion of African Head Charge's previously unreleased dubs to ‘Songs of Praise’ and ‘In Pursuit of Shashamane’ (1993).

Like 2016’s Return of the Crocodile’, which saw AHC’s master Jamaican percussionist and band leader Bonjo and mixing desk maverick Adrian Sherwood breath new life into their early ‘80s classics, this new suite offers a psychedelic sidespin on two handfuls of tracks that return like a comet of return orbit from the early ‘90s.

Produced at a time when music was in a major flux between analogue/digital and old/new worlds in the early ‘90s, the source material of ‘Songs of Praise’ and ‘In Pursuit of Shashamane’ naturally reflected this phase shift in an explorative, sensually psychedelic style that was already firmly in place, and seemed to resonate every stronger with the new age spirit of the times as the flipside to rave’s excesses.

The results contain big highlights in their enchanted take on ‘Peace and Happiness’, the trampling psychoactive mash of ‘Learned’, and the electrified Afro-eklectro-blues of ‘Pitched Fever’ from the side of ‘Shashamane Versions’, while the other side’s ‘Dubs of Praise’ really treks into wigged-out terrain with the slow, possessed holler and stomp of ‘Dervish Dub’, the pendulous clockwork drum pattern of ‘Disciplined and Dignified’ with its South East Asian vocal samples, and the hypnotic slow march of ‘Dub For The Spirits’.

 

Asmara All Stars - (2010) Eritrea's Got Soul LP

 

  Out Here Records ‎– OH016LP

Little music has been heard from Eritrea, a small country on the north east coast of Africa, by Western ears in recent years. Eritreans have had other things to deal with than releasing their music out into the wilder world, like years of war with neighbouring Ethiopia and a struggle for independence.

While Eritrean music may have been hard to come by, many of the musicians themselves have appeared on releases from across the border. Recordings from the Ethio-jazz movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s - which birthed the likes of Mulatu Astatke - featured many Eritrean musicians. That "golden age" big band sound was given a reappraisal thanks to the Ethiopiques compilation reissue series, and in particular, on the series' fifth volume which is devoted to music from Tigray and Eritrea. The tracks on Eritrea's Got Soul may not have the dusty nostalgic feel that the 40-year-old Ethiopian recordings muster, but they do capture a timeless spirit of that time. Smoky big band jazz number 'Ykre Belni' sounds as fresh today it would had it been created in 1971 – it is a style that has not dated in Eritrea.

The Eritrean people have been through tough times, but it's hard to tell listening to this celebratory album. Eritrea's Got Soul fuses much of the country's diverse music, from mournful ballads to uplifting dancehall numbers and includes reinterpretations of both folk and pop classics and attempts to update some of the more traditional styles.

French producer Bruno Blum was responsible for bringing together some of Eritrea's best musicians to form the All Stars band, with different singers from different backgrounds performing on each track. Eight of the country's nine languages are represented on its 13 songs, with musicians coming from the capital Asmara - sitting higher than Mexico City at 2,325m above sea level, to one guest, whose home in the Rift Valley in the "horn" of Africa, is below sea level – and is the hottest place in the world. And a selection of African instruments, including the lyre-like krar, darbooka drums, congos, and oud, meet with a formal big band set-up of guitars, bass, drums, organ and brass.

Blum attempted to give arrangements a modern twist, like introducing bass to gwaila track 'Eritrean Girl' that would traditionally feature just hypnotic krar and thumping drums, but with results that satisfied the initially hesitant musicians. Elsewhere, 'Anisaku', the traditional love song sung in the native language Afar of Danakil warrior Mohammed Ahmed Shaabi, retained its original structure.

'Wushate' is a pop classic in the country. Its original release in 1986 rallied people who had lived "a life of struggle, a life you would not like to live" and was written by Brkti Weldeslassie as a response to her having to leave home to fight in the war. "I reminisce today about the past, The hardship I went through... I will grace my country Eritrea," she sings. Still available on poor quality cassettes, it was decided a well-recorded reworking was necessary for this project. Weldeslassie's delicately urgent voice floats above a slow tempo, and clean backing, with a lick not unlike the wooze of Fleetwood Mac's 'Albatross'.

Album opener 'Amajo' is sung by the country's best known pop diva Faytinga, and is a reworking of a track from her 1999 album Numey - notable as the first CD recorded in the country. Her shrill voice beautifully lolls over a Kunama rhythms and dramatic ska inflected backing, with clean guitar lines coolly following Faytinga's phrasing.

Aside from Jamaican roots reggae, not many outside influences have made it to Eritrea, leaving the musicians musically suspended in the soulful traditions of the 1970s big band sound, which gives the record its timeless appeal. The Eritrean people who endured decades of war before the small country secured its' independence in 1991, were effectively detached. So Eritrea's Got Soul stands as a chance to redress that balance. The record showcases the wealth of Eritrea's talented musicians, singers and songwriters, all of whom bring something different to the mix. A celebration of the nation's rich cultural and musical heritage, Eritrea finally has a voice of its own, and it swings.

Babe Roots - (2017) Be Still 7''

 

ZamZam Sounds ‎– ZAMZAM59 

Babe Roots are a relatively young duo from Turin, Italy, making a unique brand of atmospheric, techno-infused dubwise. On our radar since their splendid debut 7” on Rohs! Records in early 2016, we are very pleased to invite them into the ZamZam fold with two mesmerizing and contrasting tunes.

“Be Still” is a deeply meditative yet driving dub techno trek in classic fashion, featuring rastaman Kojo Neatness intoning on righteous living, working the land, guarding the tongue, and avoiding Babylonian schemes and traps laid by the wicked. Maternal bass and shimmering reverbs envelop a heartbeat rhythm of kick, shaker and distant snares for a timeless vibe that shows mastery of the idiom while updating it for contemporary sound systems.

Babe Roots - (2020) I Come From Gateshead 7''

 

FourFourSelect Recordings ‎– FFSE002

Last summer, FourFourSelect launched with a toasty and soulful number by Earl Gateshead, produced by British dub scene veteran Nick Manasseh. Now that track has been completely re-made and overhauled by dub and dub techno producer Babe Roots. Slower, hazier, more spacious and closer in tone to ambient dub, Babe Roots A-side mix features re-recorded vocals from Gateshead in a slower, spoken style. It's rather fine all told, along with the producer's flipside "Version" - a kind of heavy ambient dub revision with even weightier bass, delay effects aplenty and some dreamy backing vocals that seemingly drift across the soundspace.

Benjamin Zephaniah - (1989) Rasta CD

 

Workers Playtime ‎– PLAY CD7 

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is a British Rastafarian writer and dub poet, and is well known in contemporary English literature.

He was the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley in a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela.

He is also quite famous for rejecting an OBE in November 2003, stating that getting one would remind him of 'how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised'

Rasta is Zephaniah’s first music album that’s still going strong. This was world music before World Music. Roots reggae but with sitar, mandolin, oboe, and west African drumming.

Creation Rebel - (2017) Vibrations: 1978 - 1982

 

 On-U Sound ‎– none

To celebrate the gold vinyl reissue of Creation Rebel’s Starship Africa and the band’s recent return to the live stage after a break of over 30 years, we’ve compiled this selection of highlights from their various On-U Sound releases, including key album tracks, discoplate tunes, and deep cuts.

DJ B.Loo - (2005) Rockers Across the Nation CD

 

D.Compoz ‎– DCZ02

Ghetto Priest - (2003) Vulture Culture CD

 

On-U Sound ‎– ON-U CD 1003 

 Born and raised in the east end of London to Afro-Caribbean parents, he has been making reggae, dub and experimental music now for over two decades. He has been a mainstay of the On-U Sound camp where he started out as backing vocalist and percussionist for the band African Head Charge, and in recent years has been a core member of Asian Dub Foundation
The solo debut from Ghetto Priest, originally released in 2003. Vulture Culture opens with a remake of the Singers & Players' classic “Dungeon”, on which the original one-drop rhythm is replaced by a large funk beat and the late Prince Far I's chanted vocal is resurrected to accompany Ghetto Priest's singing. Ghetto Priest has guested on albums by Asian Dub Foundation, Groove Armada, Little Axe, and Sinéad O'Connor, alongside being a regular MC for On-U Sound, and performing as a permanent member of African Head Charge's live lineup.

Harry Beckett - (2008) The Modern Sound Of Harry Beckett CD

 

On-U Sound ‎– ONUCD 1002

Barbados-born trumpeter Harry Beckett is one of the great treasures of British culture. Now in his early 70s and on great form, he has bequeathed us a magnificent sonic treat. The Modern Sound of Harry Beckett teams him with a variety of dub-reggae and electro-jazz collaborators, confidently stirred into a steaming sonic bouillabaisse by On-U Sound producer (and occasional label boss) Adrian Sherwood. Beckett's genius is that he is always true to himself, whoever he performs with. Whether the context is free jazz, Jah Wobble's folk-dub or one of Graham Collier's classic bands, Beckett's effervescent, tumbling, improvised melodies never fail to lift the spirits. Here, pitted against dark, insistent riffs (Fantastic Things), fractured, urban soundscapes (Facing It), throbbing, Tutu-like skank (The Forgotten Man) or feelgood beats (Switch Up!), he is magnificent. Blue Note, which rejected this album, must be feeling very foolish.
His dub-oriented album, The Modern Sound of Harry Beckett, was produced by famed British producer Adrian Sherwood and released on On-U Sound in late 2008.

Dub TV - (2003) BassMass

 

DubTV Multimedia Production ‎– EXO 03 

The Moscow group "Dub TV" is one of the most significant Russian bands performing dub. Having gathered in 1997, the group immediately attracted attention with its originality. The electronic base is harmoniously combined with a variety of live instruments both in studio work and on stage. The use of modern technology and a constant experiment in combination with traditional raggamuffin made "Dub TV" a significant phenomenon in modern dub music. But the most important thing, as the musicians themselves and their fans say, is the positive atmosphere and incredible drive surrounding the audience at the concerts of the group.

Over the years of its existence, the Dub TV group has given many concerts throughout the country, regularly represented Russia at various foreign and domestic festivals, such as: SOCA REGGAE RIVERSPLASH, ROTOTOM SUNSPLASH, INVASION, EMMAUS, “ EMPTY HILLS ”,“ EIGHT MIRACLE ”, where the musicians worked on the same stage with such megastars as“ SEEED ”,“ I-SHEN ROCKERS ”, MAD PROFESSOR,“ DREADZONE ”,“ RENEGADE SOUNDWAVE ”; Thus, the group gained a lot of fans of their work around the world.

His own record label DubTV Multimedia Production was also created, on the account of which more than 20 releases were his own albums, collaborations with other artists, as well as the cult series of collections Dub Community of Russia. On the account of "Dub TV" joint projects with the group "Earthlings", Alexander Barykin, Julia Chicherina, Alexander Laertsky, Mad Professor, Lee Perry, Bashment Kingsound.

Dub TV - (2014) Свободная Энергия

 


57834 Records DK ‎– none

Khruangbin - (2019) Hasta El Cielo LP

 

 Night Time Stories ‎– ALNLP50

 This is the dub version of Con Todo El Mundo with two songs remixed by Scientist.

Listening to this album, I was reminded of the reviewer who criticized Black Uhuru for putting out a dub version of an album that was already saturated in dub. I do think this dub version serves a purpose but it's not like listening to Khruangbin at all. The whispery vocals and lingering notes are all but erased by the remixing.

Joe Higgs - (2013) Unity Is Power LP

 

Pressure Sounds ‎– PSLP 80

Joe Higgs follow up to the classic Life of Contradiction album, Unity is Power is a mellower set of tracks. The song writing is as clear and as lucid as ever. Possibly reggae musics most accomplished artist and certainly one of its most talented musicians. Joe Higgs glides through a self produced album that has never had a re-release since it original release. The vinyl is 180gram and the cd has 2 bonus tracks. “I like phrasing my voice like an instrument. I love jazz. People will always be ahead of people. Some walk, some run, some creep. I’m not concerned about success. Music is my teacher. But it’s not good to be ahead of time, because life is a progression."

Linton Kwesi Johnson - (1996) A Capella Live CD

 

KJ Records UK ‎– LKJ CD 016

Recorded at Beurschouwburg, Brussels; Dal Segno, Nijmegen; Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, Soho, London; and St. Mark's Church, Piccadilly, London, in 1993 and 1994 without accompaniment.

Mad Elaine / Mad Professor - (2020) Gift of Creation EP

 

Ariwa ‎– none

Mad Professor (born Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser, 1955, Georgetown, Guyana) is a British national dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music's second generation and was instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age. He has collaborated with reggae artists such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly and Robbie, Pato Banton, Jah Shaka and Horace Andy, as well as artists outside the realm of traditional reggae and dub, such as Sade, Massive Attack, The Orb, Gaudi, the Brazilian DJ Marcelinho da lua, Grace Jones, and Perry Farrel.

Mad Elaine is an artist based in Italy who has been working with Mad Professor since 2005, as well as with talented Costa Ricans; she recently collaborated with one of Costa Rica’s favorite reggae bands, Un Rojo. 

Natty Dread - (2004) Bamako Roots Reggae CD

 

 Not On Label ‎– BRR-ND004

BRR may not be the label, if not, the label is unknown even to Musicbrainz and Discogs. There are Youtube uploads but sound only and no descriptions.

Natty Dread appears to be a French reggae musician with a possible connection to Mali. (Bamako is Mali's capitol). He has left a very small online footprint but his music is worth the listen. In fact at first I thought Bamako Roots Reggae was a remaster from the Jamaican artist Natty Dread but this is a different, lesser known artist doing classic reggae roots music done up with a bit of Euro styling and above average dub production. Despite the title I could detect no influence from Mali.

Despite knowing its more recent origins, this album has a very '70s feel to it. Political in good ways, musically interesting and not just because the vocals are in French.

Samosad / Bend & feat. Dr.I-Bolit - (2008) No Smoke Without Fire CD

 

Sketis Music ‎– SKMR - 063

 Samosad Bend is a St Petersburg based progressive ethno-dub project and part of the diverse Russian reggae community that flourished in the 2000s. Dr. I-Bolit (aka Dr I-Bol aka Ras Simeon) appears on many releases of this decade. Dr. I-Bolit appears to have drawn his name from Russian children's literature (Doctor Aybolit / Доктор Айболит).

Sherwood & Pinch - (2013) Bring Me Weed12''

 

Tectonic ‎– ONUVS1024

On-U Sound-man meets the Tectonic boss inna proper UK-style weed devotional. The project sprouted from Pinch's involvement on the 'Recovery Time' dubs to Sherwood's 'Survival & Resistance', where the elder gave the relative dubstep strapling his full seal of approval. Their next move was 'Bring Me Weed', the vocal sweetened dread A-side of this single, pairing their respective styles brimming with fire and soul. Better yet, the B-side 'Weed Psychosis Mix' is gutted to proper 2013 specs, leaving only serpentine steppers' drums and hippo burp basslines hanging in the air like some stinky stinky quivering to the vibes of a massive stack. 

Bill Orcutt - (2011) How the Thing Sings LP

 

Editions Mego ‎– eMEGO128

"Amazing new solo album from ex-Harry Pussy guitarist Bill Orcutt and easily his best release yet. Here Orcutt has forsaken the pick-ups and amplifier set-up of his previous releases for a four-string acoustic played straight into a mic. The result is startling, with a clarity and a resonance to the guitar playing that is revelatory and that works to underline the obsessive/compulsive nature of his technique. It springs out of the gate with one of the most dazzling re-thinks of Harry Pussy’s form-gobbling amphetamine style but there’s a new dynamism to Orcutt’s attack that allows him to drop into quiet moments of mystery and obsessively unravel and restate phrases again and again. Indeed, the epic closer “A Line From Ol’ Man River” might be his most ambitious statement to date, a reworking of a fragment of a spiritual in the hallelujah style of Albert Ayler. Fantastic and highly recommended." 

Caterina Barbieri - (2019) Ecstatic Computation LP

 

Editions Mego ‎– eMEGO259

 Barbieri opens Ecstatic Computation with its longest and most definitive statement, the 10-minute “Fantas.” Though that might be shorter than her earliest tracks, it condenses an arc worthy of an entire album. She’s grown so skilled at programming hypnotic webs of sound that listeners are already put under by the halfway point, but Barbieri doesn’t stop there. After building the tense melodic progression to its logical peak, the track softens and stretches but never stops gaining momentum. It’s a warp-speed jump where everything seems to move slower and faster all at once. The brilliance of “Fantas” is hearing her use that sensory state not as an end, but a foundation to build even further. After Barbieri weaves the central theme back in near the end, it feels as if she could take us anywhere. Instead she shatters everything, distorting the sequence into a crashing electrical storm that’s all the more bracing for how methodically she’s set it up. It’s a breathtaking moment, one that cements her mastery of entrancing listeners by virtue of how dramatically she takes it away.

Compound Eye - (2013) Journey from Anywhere 2xLP

 

Editions Mego ‎– eMEGO181

Compound Eye is Drew McDowall (formerly of Coil) and Tres Warren (Psychic Ills and Messages).
'Journey From Anywhere' is their second long-player release following 'Origin of Silence', an art edition LP on The Spring Press label. This double lp features 4 sides of improvised electronics that lead the listener into the dark recesses of the duo's subterranean explorations. Each of these works move at a slow and considered pace, gradually unfolding into a transportive blur of dark psychedelic minimalism.

Like elements of Coil long form works this is a music which has the potential to melt time, open space and create a flowing web of liquid memory.

A sublime record for those who like music that encourages travel.

Dino Spiluttini - (2019) Heaven LP

 

Editions Mego ‎– eMEGO266

Heaven is a work of contemporary church music. Centrally occupied with the subject of death, its conceptualisation was catalysed by Spiluttini’s discovering his mother’s preparations both for her own death and for his. He arrived at her home in 2015 to be led into the local church and shown the two adjacent places she had reserved for their urns. The tracks on Heaven together consist of an analogously personal and anticipatory negotiation with death.

Partly derived from organ recordings made in the same church, the album frequently enlists Arvo Pärt’s compositional method of tintinnabuli. Aside from the thematic logic of its sacred associations, the method suits Spiluttini’s tendency, in spite of heavy and dynamic passages, to minimise tonal complexity. His characteristic uses of gnashing bass, restlessly irregular pacing and serrated distortion return. This time, they combine with pads, harps, fluttering organs and swooping choirs.

Track titles throughout Heaven conjure intense emotional conflicts, especially those arising from experiences of embodiment. Touch isolation is a term for the toxic masculine stigma against platonic touch between men. If such a reference on an album preoccupied with death and afterlife raises the question of whether Spiluttini considers any touch – let alone platonic – to be possible in Heaven, the title ‘Flesh Angel’ perhaps answers it. As with ‘Body at War’ and ‘Weakened Centurion’, such a title positions the agitation of its music among ongoing struggles with body acceptance. Meanwhile, ‘Rainbow Bridge’ recalls the 1980s prose poem promising an eternal reunion in death with one’s beloved lost pets. In context, these various indices seem to capture the yearning speculation that, as the nexuses of experience, bodies are not discarded in death; on the contrary, they achieve a state of perfection.

Heaven revolves within dramatic and ever-changing vignettes. As church music, it lacks real communal participation or fidelity to hymnal text. Instead, it must come to terms with negation and eternity as dependable threats to generational and spatial distance, to personal struggles with earthly embodiment and to the anxious, hyperactive navigation of identity in late modernity.

Emeralds - (2012) Just To Feel Anything

 

Editions Mego ‎– eMEGO150

Just to Feel Anything, the new album by Emeralds, surpasses all expectations, just as its predecessor, Does It Look Like I’m Here, did in 2010. This expertly recorded new album sees the band deliver plenty of their distinctive aesthetic for old fans to enjoy while offering a new range of fresh, exciting ideas for newcomers.

'Before Your Eyes' begins the record with a steady build-up, which bleeds into humid layers of synthesizer pads and warm guitar. The track sets the tone perfectly for 'Adrenochrome', a fast-paced excursion into new territory for the band. The calm after the storm appears in the form of 'Through & Through', with its contemplative strokes and heart-wrenching atmospherics. 'Everything Is Inverted' is an energetic rush of monolithic guitar leads, pulsing drum machine, and driving sequences.

Still, it's on the second half of Just to Feel Anything, a triptych of tracks, where Emeralds adroitly demonstrate why they are a cut above their contemporaries. 'The Loser Keeps America Clean' kicks off the b-side by diving into the deepest fathoms of their experimental oeuvre. As the final bursts of static dissipate we are led into the opening chords of the eponymous 'Just to Feel Anything' a new zenith in Emeralds' repertoire. The album closer, 'Search For Me in the Wasteland' sees mounting layers of brightly strummed guitar chords blossom into a storm of color and expertly crafted textures-- a truly majestic end to an immense album.

With Just to Feel Anything, Emeralds shine a laser-sharp light into the future, while preserving their uniquely intelligent historical perspective. The long-awaited next chapter in the Emeralds discography is finally here, emerging as a sophisticated progression in both sound and structure.

Felix Kubin - (2017) Takt der Arbeit LP

 

Editions Mego ‎– eMEGO243

 Originally developed as a film score »Takt der Arbeit« is inspired by a handful of industrial and instructional films from the early 1960's until the early 1990's that portrait different forms of work. Felix Kubin is translating these historic documents into a musical poem of conceptual depth. »Takt der Arbeit« - the beat of work - is not only serving as a title but also as constructive element in this endeavour.

Being hunted down by the ever accelerated pulse of our reality is an omnipresent issue in capitalist societies of the the Western world. Living in times of constant exhaustion, it's not only our bodies that have been disciplined by and synchronized to the rhythms of working processes, but also our minds that rage in the tempo of our surroundings. Following an almost analytical effort, Kubin and an ensemble of 3 percussionists are investigating the different qualities and intensities of time that are catalyzed in working processes. While picking up precise temporal and motoric motives of the films, condensing paces and excavating rhythmic patterns, the ensemble is mapping out an animist choreography, shifting from a time when labour was still relying on bodily efforts to a time when machines and ticking clocks seem to reign and model our perception. While Side A is dedicated to procedures that are still based on manual and mechanical movement, Side B is inspired by the digital age, marked by invisible processes and subcutaneous pulses that we internalize.

The result is a critical and poetic reflection on the rhythms of our daily life and yet another example of Felix Kubin's skills as a composer, placing him in the field of orchestral music.

Fenn O'Berg - (2012) In Hell 2xLP

 

Editions Mego ‎– eMEGO141

Five fiery extended jams from the mighty Fenn O'Berg - the triumvirate of Christian Fennesz, Jim O'Rourke and Peter Rehberg, as you surely know by now - recorded on their 2010 Japan tour in Oita, Hiroshima, Kyoto and Nagoya. The effortlessness and assurance with which this well-travelled trio conjure different moods and sound-worlds - from inquisitive concrete and eerie drones to nose-bleeding power electronics and head-spinning out-rock is just incredible; moreover, every transition feels natural, there's a great narrative skill at work. There's also an abundance of hooks, whether the haunting - almost hauntological- synth overtures at the heart of 'Omuta Fuji' and 'Concrete Onions', Fennesz's plaintive riffage cutting through the hard ice of 'It Came From Nagoya', or the various "cheeky samples" we're told are lurking in the mix (happy spotting). Edited together by Jim O'Rourke at his Steamroom studio in Tokyo last year, and cut at D+M in Berlin, this is one of our favourite Fenn O'Berg releases to date; improvised electronic music honestly doesn't get much better. A reminder, if it was needed, that these guys are on another level.

Fennesz - (2019) Agora LP

 

Touch ‎– TO:115V

Agora is Christian Fennesz’s first solo album since ‘Mahler Remixed’ [Touch, 2014] and ‘Bécs’ [Editions Mego, 2014]. Fennesz writes: “Its a simple story. i had temporarily lost a proper studio workspace and had to move all my gear back to a small bedroom in my flat where I recorded this album. It was all done on headphones, which was rather a frustrating situation at first but later on it felt like back in the day when I produced my first records in the 1990s. In the end it was inspiring. I used very minimal equipment; I didn't even have the courage to plug in all the gear and instruments which were at my disposal. I just used what was to hand.”

releases March 29, 2019

Recorded at Kaiserstudios, Vienna, August, September 2018
Rainfall: Vocals Katharina Caecilia Fennesz
Agora: Field recordings Manfred Neuwirth, vocals Mira Waldmann
Mastered by Denis Blackham @ Skye
Photography & design by Jon Wozencroft

Fennesz - (2014) Bécs LP

 

Editions Mego ‎– Editions Mego 165

 The last time Fennesz released an album on Austrian label Mego it was 2001 and the name of that release was 'Endless Summer'. Now, in 2014 Editions Mego is extremely proud to release the conceptual follow up that landmark of abstract pop. Bécs (pronounced 'baeetch') is Hungarian for Vienna and is the first full length Fennesz solo release since 2008's 'Black Sea'.

Eschewing the more drone orientated works of 'Black Sea', 'Bécs' returns to the more florid pop mechanisms as deployed on Endless Summer. 'Static Kings' features the extra leverage of Werner Dafeldecker and Martin Brandlmayer who deploy a range of atmospheric abstract effects to shape a bewitching sound world. The 10 minute centrepiece 'Liminality' (featuring Tony Buck on drums) is classic Fennesz: epic, evocative, beautiful, impossible. 'Pallas Athene' creates a sanctuary of hovering beauty which leads into the title track. Emotional and assured, the track 'Bécs' is an astonishing contribution to contemporary pop. 'Sav' co-written by Cédric Stevens (aka Acid Kirk) inhabits a less structural terrain as one enters a forest of small sounds and oblique atmospheres, where the closing 'Paroles', a gentle melody unravels amongst swirls of electronics and fried disruption. Bécs is not just an album or a series of songs, it's a world to inhabit, a landscape ripe with sounds, songs and that esteemed Fennesz signature.

François Bonnet & Stephen O’Malley - (2019) Cylene 2xLP


Editions Mego ‎– Editions Mego 262

 First time outing from two ardent explorers of peripheral sound tactics. Cylene is the first collaboration by François J. Bonnet ( Kassel Jaeger) and Stephen O’Malley (Sunn O))) ). Laid bare we have a subtle and nuanced study of their individual practices forming a titanic whole. O’Malley’s guitar inscribes a void that patiently opens up a spacious universe for Bonnet to discreetly alter with perception re-orientating studio maneuvers.

Cylene is infinitely rewarding for those that succumb to its delicate detours. A vast glacial plain unfurls slowly upon the listener invoking a mood similar to the stillness found following despair. As Joseph Ghosn succinctly outlines in his liner notes, “Stephen and François deal in those moments and instants that happen after the violence, and the ugliness and the mess. Their music is about chaos being summoned and ordered. It is about the noise that nurtures your ears after a long heartbreaking pain. I have heard the sounds of wars being fought and the noises of hearts being broken, and I have never found a shelter as soothing as this music which makes me think of sunken ships and beauty found in the depths of oceans long forgotten”.

Giuseppe Ielasi / Kassel Jaeger - (2013) Parallel / Grayscale LP

 

Editions Mego ‎– Editions Mego 161

Editions Mego present the first collaborative work by sound artists Kassel Jaeger and Giuseppe Ielasi. 'Parallel/Grayscale' melds recordings of two improvised performances, one with entirely analog devices, and another, laptop-based performance, for an inter-dimensional exchange and subtraction of their unique spatial and textural properties, both clocking in at over 18 minutes in length.The first piece, 'Parallel' is slow moving and droney, initially focussed on looming bass shapes and reactive surface textures but altering dynamics as the mass moves through space with alternating density to a section that sounds like a raptor dissolved in a sink of acids and settling to a gloomy, chamber-like close. The B-side 'Grayscale' is more concerned with a constantly shifting patina of texturhythms and changeable weather system harmonics, as moody drones arch overhead of crumbling, dissolving, liquifying patterns and pulses with an engrossingly seasick quality.

Jan St. Werner - (2020) Molocular Meditation LP

 

Editions Mego ‎– Editions Mego 265

 Molocular Meditation is a bespoke light and sound environment featuring the voice of the Fall’s Mark E Smith. Smith is heard making observations on mundane objects, events and a range of meditation techniques basically associating his discontent with an apolitical british upper class. His voice forms the narrative component of an electroacoustic composition by Jan St. Werner placed in a hyper-real scenario evoking a state of transformation and deceleration. Molecular Meditation premiered at Cornerhouse, Manchester in 2014. This album presents a re-edited stereo version of the original multi-channel installation. Voice and guitar feedbacks were recorded by Werner and Smith at Blueprint Studios Manchester, electronics in Werner’s Studio in Berlin.

The B-side consists of unreleased new work partly written around the same time as Molocular Meditation in context of Werner's Fiepblatter Catalogue on Thrill Jockey. Back to Animals is a non-metric rhythm exercise frantically hybridizing percussive accents with synthesized pulse. On the Infinite of Universe and Worlds is the layout for an electronic opera on Giordano Bruno’s Renaissance writings which Werner was asked to conceptionalize for Finish festival Musica Nova. VS Canceled finds Mark E. Smith reading an email from Domino Records explaining their discontinuation of Von Sudenfed, a band Mark E. Smith had founded with Mouse on Mars' Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma in 2006. Their debut album Tromatic Reflexxions came out on Domino in 2007.