Crucial Material – Best Releases of the Week (July 28, 2018)

The sheer volume of new material released every Friday is absolutely dizzying, even for people like us.

To make it easier you, we’ve selected what we think are some of the best releases of the week. Hopefully you discover something new!

Makaya McCraven “Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape)”

Genres: Jazz / Beats / Broken Beat
Label: International Anthem
Purchase

A truly wonderful project combining two pillars of the new school of jazz movement: Chicago’s International Anthem label and London’s Total Refreshment Center. The record is the result of a five day collaborative tour de force: 2 days of live performance featuring an incredible lineup: Makaya McCraven ( drums) Soweto Kinch (saxophone + voice) Theon Cross (tuba) Joe Armon-Jones (Rhodes piano) Nubya Garcia (saxophone) Kamaal Williams (keys). 2 days of mastering and mixing the live performances and then a live beatmaking event where the remix work found its way on this here record / mixtape. A pleasure to hear this incredible album put together by so many good friends.
– Lexis

B.Morgan & The Family “A Good Time (Buscrates Remix)”

Genres: Modern Funk
Label: Austin Boogie Crew
Purchase

The good folks at Austin Boogie Crew are back with another stellar release; a 7′ with an amazing remix by Pittsburgh finest and producer/dj extraordinaire Buscrates, who delivers a dance floor heater for B. Morgan & The Family’s “A Good Time” song, originally released in 2016. You can also find a revisited version of B.Morgan 1984 “Just Want To Love Ya”. Pre-orders are available, and you shouldn’t sleep on this one.
– Walla P

Xzavier Stone “THIRST”

Genres: Future Bass / Experimental Club / R&B
Label: FRACTAL FANTASY
Purchase

The hive-mind behind FRACTAL FANTASY add another bent out release to their extremely cohesive roster with “THIRST”. Xzavier Stone takes influences from early 2000s R&B and Club Rap music and runs it through the mainframe to create tracks that sometimes sound like if Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz were actually just AI existing only in the digital realm. This one’s for the freaks of the 21st century, 1 2 3… oooo lawwwd!
– Mike Jones

Masayoshi Fujita “Book Of Life”

Genres: Modern Classical / Jazz
Label: Erased Tapes
Purchase

Beautiful compositions from the Berlin-based composer featuring him experimenting with the vibraphone (preparing it with household objects or sometimes bowing it to create warm and slow-attacking tones). While the vibraphone is most present, he also calls upon strings and woodwind instruments adding further layers to these texture heavy songs. A lovely listen if you’re into forward thinking chamber music, and I also recommend his live album with Jan Jelinek!
– Mike Jones

Vinyl Williams “Opal”

Genres: Indie Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Ambient
Label: Requiem Pour Un Twister
Purchase

Vinyl Williams does it again with “Opal” which invites you to glide through the cosmos and relax in a psychedelic New Age oasis. Not only is this music chilled out to the maximum and perfect for almost any Summer setting, but he has also accompanied it with some of the craziest VR music videos I’ve ever seen in my entire life (link). My ear isn’t generally very close to the Indie Rock scene, but this stuff has caught my attention like no other.
– Mike Jones

Tohru Aizawa Quartet “Tachibana”

Genre: Jazz
Label: BBE Music
Purchase

For all the deep modern jazz lovers this one just might be the reissue project of the year. One of the holy grails of the 70’s Japanese Jazz scene “Tachibana” by Tohru Aizawa Quartet (recorded in 1975) an album so elusive that some pondered whether it even existed. This private press record was only made in a few hundred copies and is the only material ever released from the quartet comprised of amateur Japanese young jazzmen.
– Lexis

Ross From Friends “Family Portrait”

Genres: House / Beats
Label: Brainfeeder
Purchase

After much hyped EP’s and club-oriented releases British producer Ross From Friends aka Felix Clary Weatherall debut album is here. A few months back we were pleasantly surprised that the album was coming out on Brainfeeder and were intrigued as to how it was going to fit with the artist vision that Flying Lotus has been building on his imprint. “Family Portrait” absolutely lives up to the hype and also delivers on a few challenges. Firstly, he sheds the “lo-fi house” ID and proves he can do much more than a flavour of the month type of producer. Sonically, it covers a lot of ground ranging from ambient, beats to his trademark textured house and techno. He also proves that Brainfeeder can also be a great home for a record rooted in House or 4-4 culture.
– Lexis

Te’amir “Abyssinia”

Genres: Beats / Jazz
Label: Tru Thoughts
Purchase

You can always trust the reliable Tru Thoughts imprint to be bringing some of the best new musical talents. Te’Amir is new on my radar but I must admit to being sucked in right from the first notes of this EP. “Abyssinia” is a global minded record where Los Angeles’ Te’Amir explores his Ethiopian heritage but also invites some of the finest talents out of LA: Dustin Warren, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Rebekah Raff, Randal Fisher.
– Lexis

Lord & Dego “Oh Its You Again”

Genres: Broken Beat / Boogie
Label: 2000Black
Purchase

Anything coming out of the 2000Black camp will always get love from us. The 3rd 12″ EP from Broken Beat legends Matt Lord & Dego once again proves the label’s consistency in pushing its own very distinct sound forward. Pure class once again on this Broken meets Boogie with that unmistakable London thing!
– Lexis

“Boston Goes Disco!” compiled by Serge Gamesbourg

Genres: Disco / Soul
Label: BBE Music
Purchase

“Boston DJ, producer and bass player Serge Gamesbourg began digging in the crates for forgotten gems more than two decades ago; emerging in 2018 with his first BBE compilation, lovingly titled Boston Goes Disco! “I wanted to shed light on more obscure & unknown disco & boogie records outta Boston and the surrounding areas; basically small label and privately pressed late 70s and early 80s dance music from Massachusetts.” Boston Goes Disco! provides an exciting insight into the city during its most culturally fertile period, uncovering a rich musical history previously only known to those who were there.”

Dalholt & Langkide “Sur Plus”

Genres: Disco / Pop / Euro-Disco / Balearic
Label: Music For Dreams
Purchase

“Music For Dreams release this debut album from Danish duo Dalholt & Langkilde. “The sultry French spoken word vocals on opener ‘Charite’, ‘Sur Plus’, ‘Tranquille’ ‘& Je M’appelle Spacy’ certainly channel the spirit of Serge Gainsbourg & Max Berlin which compliment the euro flavour to the overall production of the album”