The Red Eyes, “Melbourne’s very own Reggae Superstars” (PBS FM), have firmly established their position as one of Australia’s leading original Dub/Reggae acts. They have received critical acclaim for ‘Red Army’ (2010), including a nomination for ‘Best Blues & Roots Album’ at the 2010 Australian Independent Record Label Awards and ‘Album of the Week’ on PBS FM and Radio Australia. Founded in 2002, The Red Eyes brings together 7 multi-instrumentalist musicians who deliver an explosive live sound that combines masterful beats and shake the house dub rhythms with heartfelt lyrics that provide unique antipodean spin on the broad Reggae genre. The band is led on stage by enigmatic front man El Witeri (2011 APRA Songwriter Award Finalist) who draws on his New Zealand upbringing and Maori heritage for inspiration. Witeri introduces and closes each show in Maori to represent himself and welcome people into the whanau (family), creating a sense of community and openness that fans and new audiences are drawn to. Red Army is expertly produced dub goodness…full character, tight, catchy and brimming with soul.
Projeto CCOMA is a brazilian duo of contemporary instrumental jazz. Formed by Roberto Scopel (trumpet) and Swami Sagara (percussion), the Projeto CCOMA mix drums to electronic music and the hang drum to trumpet, to create a music that could be called Future Jazz. The album "peregrino" has the participation of many special guests such as Luciano Sallum from "pedra branca", Zeca Baleiro and Di Melo among others.
' "A Bad Donato" was an attempt to break into the contemporary overseas market.
I wanted to be successful and bossa nova wasn't my thing anymore, it was too
much singing -- João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim were all
working closely with lyrics. Frank Sinatra had recorded their songs. Yet, my
music didn't fit into any genre, or if it did it was jazz that wasn't such a
commercial success. Jazz musicians were moving more into popular music, such as
Miles Davis and Wes Montgomery, and they were starting to play to big audiences.
Fusion came along and my record was something like that, a fusion of Brazilian
music with jazz rock and electronica.'
"I don't play acoustic piano on
this record at all, just the keyboards. At the time, music was very raw,
noisier. The Beatles were happening, shouting out their lyrics, and Jimi Hendrix
... who shouted with his guitar. And I made the noisiest record I can ever
remember making."
Saxophonist Karl Denson may not have the name recognition enjoyed by new-jack
jazzmen such as Charlie
Hunter or Medeski, Martin
& Wood, but that should change with Dance Lesson #2, his Blue
Note debut. A versatile player, Denson played with Lenny Kravitz in the early
'90s and helped found the acclaimed if short-lived Greyboy Allstars in the
mid-'90s. He's also cut a handful of albums on small labels, the early ones more
straight-ahead and the later ones more locked into the groove thing. Here,
Denson's work on alto, tenor, and flute rides the dance-floor jazz groove with
the melodic sense of Herbie
Mann and the immaculate funk timing of Maceo Parker, who is
undoubtedly an influence. An all-star cast of sidemen that includes Melvin Sparks, Charlie Hunter, Chris Wood,
and DJ Logic urge Denson on by holding nothing back themselves. This set is also
diverse--while some tunes delve deep into the groove, others verge on smooth
jazz, making for a nicely paced, well-crafted album.
DJ's Scott Hendy and Andy Smith are the brains and team behind Dynamo Productions and their debut release on Illicit/Invada, Analogue, bridges the gap between hip hop, old skool funk and breaks, giving respect to the past while keeping their feet in the present.
Hit The Floor warms things up, it's one for the dancefloor and has featured on Deadly Avenger's Fabriclive CD and also on the Battlecreek series - a highly sampladelic jam with a nasty organ sample on top. Get It Together uses the same sample that made Soul of Man's "Between The Eyes" such a popular tune.
MC Profile features on two tracks - the laidback Think and head-nodding hip hop of Back To Basics. The latter works for me as it is catchier thanks to it's funky bassline and more uptempo feel.
The uptempo joints on the album are it's high points, a healthy mixture of old skool breaks, funky basslines coupled with scratches and cuts that Andy and Scott are known for. Busta Beat is a personal highlight of the album thanks to it's b-boy breakbeats, latin orchestra horns and James Brown like "Bust It" samples. Look out for the breakdown in the middle!
The album also has it's share of downtempo tracks such as Slip Inn and the bluesy Airwaves featuring yawning strings on a laidback beat and the album finishes off with the piano heavy We're Through featuring a female vocal sample, which appears to be lifted off a classic breakup tune.
Overall Analogue is a great album and born out of the need for Andy and Scott to bridge the gap between hip hop and funk tunes in their block rockin' DJ sets and unlike DJ Format's album, doesn't over utilise the skit approach to bridging the gap between songs.
Early in his career, DJ Vadim was a specialist. His specialty was shadowy ambient breakbeat, and it provided some of the highlights to appear on Ninja Tune, which was a very fine label indeed. Since then, he's branched out and matured, able to float all manner of beat-centric forms. That's exactly what happens on U Can't Learn Imaginashun, and virtually every track is the type of high-quality jam that could survive on its own. (It's easy to imagine the praise a DJ would get for his range if he aired the 18 tracks here in a DJ set.) Though he starts with dancehall, Vadim spends a lot of time in hip-hop, but with many variations on the form: classic hip-hop, digitalia, East Coast hardcore, and slow-grind R&B. Vadim also gets the most out of his obscure cast of featured guests, including a pair of serviceable East Coasters named Juice Lee and Rjay, the outre R&B vocalist Sabirajade (who appears on three great tracks, including the deep-grooving "Thrill Seeker"), and Chicago veteran Pugs Atomz (who appears on "Saturday" and "Always Lady," a pair of completely different settings). Oddly enough, the variety on tap can make for a scattered listen, but U Can't Learn Imaginashun is studded with great tracks.
If you´re into brasilian (soul) music you will love this record, but I can present you
almost no information about the artist. It was rereleased on CD a few years ago,
is hard to get on vinyl and you have to pay a lot of money for it, but never got
much attention like other brasilian artists. This record is a true inspiration:
soulfull vocals, funky grooves, Tropicalismo and Latin influences in general
resulted 1974 in a record (as far as I know the only Di Melo release), that
seems to be premature for the date of the release. It is time to rediscover this
jewel and if you have some more informations about Di Melo, please leave a
comment. It is hard not to fall in love with this record, Samba
Soul.
One of the decades most consistent independent Hip Hop groups,
CunninLynguists return with Strange Journey: Volume 2. Hailing from Kentucky,
the trio consisting of Kno, Deacon The Villain and Natti has built a rabid
fan base with past releases Southernunderground, Will Rap For Food, A Piece
of Strange, and Dirty Acres, as well as extensive worldwide touring
with Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan and Brand Nubian. Despite their Southern
roots, the group has become a key centerpiece in East Coast Hip Hop
conglomerate QN5. In the past two years the group has been covered by XXL
Magazine, Spin, The Source, URB Magazine, XLR8R and more. Strange
Journey: Volume 2 features guest appearances from platinum artist E-40 and
Evidence of Dilated Peoples Represented by The Agency Group.
Alice Russell's UNDER THE MUNKA MOON shows the British soul singer at her finest on songs like "Someday" and "Peace Resides," among others. 2007 release from the first lady of contemporary UK Soul. Best known for her recordings withThe Quantic Soul Orchestra and Bah Samba, Under The Munka Moon sees Alice performing a collection of her favorite tunes that draw from her musically diverse past. 13 tracks. She was born in 1975, the daughter of an organist, and grew up in Framlingham in Suffolk. At the age of nine, following in her father and sisters' musical footsteps, Alice began taking lessons on the cello, and sang in choirs, before attending studying art and music in Brighton from 1994. As well as the classical influences of her father, and formal music lessons, Russell began finding influence in Gospel music and soul artists such as Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin from an early age played a big part in the shaping of her style. Artists including as Minnie Ripperton, Eva Cassidy, Chaka Khan and Jill Scott are listed by Alice Russell as influences.
Forget the didgeridoo. The Cat Empire has to be the real sound of Australia. It’s perfectly multicultural, young, accomplished, fresh, funky and above all, fun. They’ve stayed down-to-earth, innovative, and intimate despite their first two albums making platinum status and their third receiving an ARIA. This is a band that refuses to be pigeonholed. Listen to them, and I dare you not to smile and dance, even if you’re feeling glum. Felix Riebl’s voice, holds everything together. It handles rap, meringue, big band sound, ska, funk, or jazz with an equal laid back smiling croon. And just when you think you can’t be caressed any more sweetly, along comes Oliver McGill on his amazing piano tearing your heart out with most amazing virtuoso. And then comes the trumpets, the flugelhorn, the trombone, the guitars, and the whole thing explodes into a terrific party where you just can’t stop dancing around the living room.
