Crucial Material – Best Releases Of The Week (November 11th, 2019)

From modern funk to free jazz. You know we don’t follow or obey categories here. We just follow our ears and hearts and present you strictly with the crucial picks!

As always we hope you make some nice discoveries and feel free to encourage these artists/labels if you do! Enjoy and have a great week.

NEW ALBUMS & EP’S

Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy “Mam Yinne Wa”

Label: Philophon
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)

After a string of standout 7inch releases, Max Weissenfeldt’s Berlin-based Philophon label has released the long-awaited and much anticipated full-length album from Ghanaian Frafra-gospel singers Alogte Oho & His Sounds Of Joy. This incredible nine-track recording features a unique blending of traditional Ghanaian styles, funky grooves, heavy dub rhythms, soulful harmonizing vocals, and electronic beats. It’s safe to say that the wait was well worth it!
– Selected by TJ Gorton

Andy Stott “It Should Be Us”

Label: Modern Love
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Boomkat)

I have been a longtime fan of Andy Stott’s signature dark, moody, slow and rugged approach to techno music since his first EP’s in the mid 2000’s on the Modern Love label. More than 10 years later, the Manchester-based producer still calls the same label home. After only a couple spins, in my opinion “It Should Be Us” ranks up there with his strongest releases. He proves you can deliver some of the same emotions and results at an extremely slow 70-110 bpm tempo as you can get from the typical 135bpm techno or bass music template. Truly incredible EP with impeccable timing for the gloomy months ahead. For my taste Andy Stott is the master of head-nod / headphone / slow and rugged techno.
– Selected by Lexis

Land of Kush “Sand Enigma”

Label: Constellation
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)

It’s All Happening In Here! From avant-garde/free jazz to psychedelic, middle-eastern influences this record is anything but easy listening but it’s oh so rewarding! The fourth record from the Land of Kush orchestra led by renowned Montréal/Cairo-based composer Sam Shalabi is an epic 76 minute genre-bending odyssey which I think is to be expected when around 25 musicians participate to a record. This record would be hard to file in your favorite record store, it could fit in a few different genre-based categories but I think this is a “Spiritual” record above everything else.
– Selected by Lexis

Colm K “KFU​(​RN)”

Label: Tiff’s Joints
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)

House with attitude from Colm K on the more-than-reliable Tiff’s Joints imprint. A perfect balance of darkness and humour, four slices of bouncing house to beat the box with.
– Selected by Oli Brunetti

Jonny Taubin “Sunrise/Super Genesis”

Label: Austin Boogie Crew Records
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)

Another great release from ABC Records, this time with Vancouver resident Jonny Taubin. Solid Modern Funk tracks with hints of Jazz & Soul.
– Selected by Walla P

30/70 “Fluid Motion”

Label: Rhythm Section International
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)

The Aussie quintet featuring the likes of Allysha Joy & Horatio Luna is back on Peckham’s Rhythm Section with another multilayered soulful ride in the form of “Fluid Motion”, their 3rd LP. You want soul for the year 2020, look no further…
– Selected by Spacewalker

Cody Currie & Joel Holmes “New Chapter”

Label: Toy Tonics
Buy: Vinyl (via Deejay.de)

Cody Currie & Joel Holmes teamed up earlier this year on a De La Groove 12” (the track “As of Yet”), and it instantly sounded like a perfect fit. They must’ve felt the same way, as a couple of months later we are now treated with the release of their “New Chapter” EP, on the always quality Toy Tonics. Taking me back to the early 2000s and the golden era nu jazz house sounds, this is simply a wonderful 4-track 12”…
– Selected by Spacewalker

Delfonic & Kapote “Illegal Jazz Vol.1”

Label: Toy Toye Record
Buy: Vinyl (via Juno)

Delfonic (OYE Records) teams up with Kapote (Toy Tonics) for an EP reworking Dance-floor Jazz tunes into a nice journey through Disco, Funk and House. “In The Lyte Rejam” is the most straight up jazz joint, while “Next Level Rejam” is a more on the Disco tip with some great slap bass feels. On “La Bottera ReJam” they tackle Gil Scott-Heron timeless classic “The Bottle” with a latin twist. Finally to close this EP with elegance, “Lazy Rejam” is offering bumpy synths and groovy bassline giving this overall balearic feeling enhanced by some bird chants. I love me some bird chants!
– Selected by Bruno Destombes

Kamaal Williams “DJ Kicks”

Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)
Label: K7! Records

Having had the pleasure of playing a few times with Henry Wu / Kamaal Williams I was really looking forward to see how far he’d dip into his wildly different music tastes and influences. No dissapointment here: some exclusives, forgotten broken beat joints and cutting edge electronic x soulful selections.
– Selected by Lexis

ARCHIVAL & REISSUES

Various “Hometown: Detroit Sessions 1990-2014”

Label: Strut
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)

Even though this group of musicians and artists were very much ignored by the mainstream at the time, Detroit’s Tribe is now considered one of the most legendary collectives and jazz labels during the seventies, featuring jazz greats like Wendell Harrison, Phil Ranelin, Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney, and others. Strut and Art Yard have teamed up to release the first compilation celebrating the modern era recordings from this collection of artists, including rare and previously unreleased recordings from Harrison’s WenHa / Rebirth Studios and the SereNgeti Gallery And Cultural Center. Featuring a solid mix of jazz, spiritualism, righteous poetry, and head-nodding grooves, this brilliant compilation adds to the collectives enduring legacy.
– Selected by TJ Gorton

Various “Body Beat: Soca​-​Dub and Electronic Calypso (1979​-​98)”

Label: Soundway Records
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)

A killer compilation of hybrid soca obscurities, from ‘79 to ‘98, from both inside and outside the Caribbean, showcasing a wide range of influences, from disco & soul, to nascent house music and roots reggae. Bearing a timeless quality, all 17 cuts are guaranteed to work just as well on today’s dancefloors, especially those witnessing revivals of burger-highlife, soukous, zouk & so on, as they might have on their original release.
– Selected by Oli Brunetti

Myth “Play With Me/In Action”

Label: Athens Of The North
Buy: Vinyl & Digital Download (via Bandcamp)

AOTN are delivering once again another a great re-issue, this one from Myth and their incredible track “Play With Me”, a holy grail among the Boogie Funk scene. First time on a 7’ format.
– Selected by Walla P

D.I.E. (Detroit In Effect) “Detroit Party Train”

Label: Clone WCS MAP 003 (Euro EP)
Released: 4 Nov 2019
Buy: Vinyl (via Hardwax)

The quintessential Electro production team from Detroit get the reissue treatment with a nice remastered version of their M.A.P catalog (2012), featuring some of their most essential funky Detroit Bass classics. Featuring that “Detroit Party Train” jam with incredible vocoder-assisted vocals & that nasty bassline. A valuable compilation for any lover of true Detroit Electro music.
– Selected by Bruno Destombes