Author Archives: Simon Harrison

It was only a few months ago that part 1 was released and it goes to show how much excellent music Tru Thoughts have up their sleeve when they can release part 2 so soon. You may be thinking ‘not another compilation’, but wait- this has some wonderful gems. Nostalgia 77 is releasing albums almost as quick as Quantic and two of his tracks are here. Nativeland, which was recorded live at the jazz cafe is brilliant, and the track with Wah Wah 45s Capstone is beautiful. Also featured are the ace first instalment of the collaboration with Quantic and Spanky Wilson and ace remix of Alice Russell’s "Mirror Mirror on the Wolf" by Bonobo. Hip-hop is covered by Simpson, Dirty Diggers and Phi-Life Cypher, with some funk by The Broken Keys… Pheew.

Simon Harrison

Those of you who have been on the ball will have noticed that a number of tracks from “All I Can Provide” have been released on 12″ over the last few months. With productions from Vikter Duplaix and King Britt, those guys gave Clara the exposure she deserved but it’s the tracks with Slope, Atjazz, Sandboy and Meitz that really make this album worthwhile. These four producers cross broken, boogie and soul to make Clara’s voice sound her best yet. S.K continues their domination.

Simon Harrison

Paul Murphy has been on the scene since the beginning and it’s only in recent years, that outside of London he’s been recognised and received the press and attention that’s years overdue. Paul has been producing for a number of years and it’s so good to finally hear his debut. “The Trip” features the previous singles “Jazz Room”, “Seven Samurai”, “Budapest Chachacha”, “Soul Call” and some corking new tracks. The wonderful fitting tribute to Herbie Mann and the title track is certain to find a home with nu-jazz and house heads to become a late summer anthem. Ensure you seek out and support a true legend!

Simon Harrison

2006 has been an amazing year for music and there has been no let-up on weekly releases since January. Trying to listen to everything is difficult due to time and if you play across the board it’s hard to give each piece of music the attention it deserves. So after “Modern Sleepover”, “Please Please Please Me” from the Wah Wah 45s compilation a few months ago and recently “Garden of Dance”, I was ready for something special and believe me this is more than something special- it’s going to be a masterpiece, if you’ve got your head screwed on properly. The lyrics are clever and some of the funniest you’ll hear this year, certain to put a smile on your face, if not split your sides.. When was the last time you heard a band sing about being a carrot or a lobster and this is only the start. Todd Terje has been quoted saying “that he nearly wet his pants when he heard “Modern Sleepover”: you’ve been warned.

Simon Harrison

Jazzy Sport has been mostly associated with hiphop projects, and let thier producers dip their toes in other styles. Cro-Magnon stood out because they went for all things disco, perfectly suited to the dj sets of Greg Wilson, Maurice Fulton, DJ Harvey, Idjut Boys, to name a new. There is the style of disco you might expect but also thrown in there are influences of funk, reggae and soul. Excited? you should be.

Simon Harrison

Mummer is the new project from former Mum member Stefan Jungmair. Sterfan has wisely stayed with Klein Records who over the years have been diverse yet consistant. “SoulOrganismState” features vocals from Betty Semper who sang on Mum’s second album “The Szabotnik 15 Mission”, and shows maturity on these productions. Also featured is Berlin based blues crooner Wayne Martin and new jazz vocalist Angela Reisinger. Both sound ace and I will keep an eye out for Angela on future projects. Fans of Klein will not be dissappointed.

Simon Harrison

Here’s one album that sneaked under the radar and one you may have missed. It’s not the second album from Russell but a collection of remixes, collaborations and a few live tracks thrown in for good measure. The thing that really surprised me was that Russell sang on Susumu Yokota’s anthem “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This”, proving I never read the information on my records, and it’s one I’ve dug out again. This album really goes to prove how much versatility Alice has. There’s the hiphop remix by DJ Vadim, drum and bass mixed by Nu:Tone and of course The White Stripes cover of “Seven Nation Army”. The live versions of “Mean to Me” and “To Know This” are beautiful and do check out the tracks with Unforscene, TM Juke and Bonobo. Class.

Simon Harrison

Low Budget Soul first appeared on the excellent Abstract Soul records a few years ago and brought to my attention the wonderful vocals of Randolph Matthews and the productions skills of Tris “Ol’ English” Browne, who was and is influenced by the likes of J-Dilla and Madlib. Matthews is on lead vocals here and shines through on tracks like “Into You”, “No. 1”, “Waves” and “Mystery Rose”. Also featured are the singles “She Won’t Let The Summer In” and “Fills My Heart” with the amazing vocalist Nanar Vorperian, which will have you on your knees. This is UK soul at its best.

Simon Harrison

BBE have found a new formula and after the two successful “Kings of Digging” compilations, it’s time to move into darker territory. Brought in are two of the biggest DJs: Laurent Garnier and Carl Craig, who certainly know a thing or two about the history of techno. This is more a lesson in influences rather than a collection of bangers. Garnier’s top choices include The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Jeff Mills, Dabrye and Funkadelic, whilst Craig goes for Yello, Alexander Robotick, Back Dog, Art of Noice and the stunning Choice. If you’ve never heard “Acid Eiffel” before well be prepared to be blown away. It was produced by Laurent Garnier, Ludovic Navarre aka St Germain and Shazz and even though it’s nearly thirteen years old, it still sounds as good as when I first picked up a copy. You need this for Choice alone.

Simon Harrison

Back in 2004 Steve Williams from UKvibe gave me a copy of a four track cd from a new Birmingham band called the Sugar Beats. This featured a cracking version of Stevie Wonder’s “As”, a live version of the “Balcon Hotstep” and the excellent “French Girl from Luton”. I’ve been hooked ever since. The Sugar Beats were formed by Chris Mapp and Leo Altarelli, and then became a seven piece band for “Search for Peace”. The foundation here is jazz, which not only works on dancefloors but also when pottering around the house. Leo’s vocal works a treat whether scatting or in a full vocal workout. Top marks to these guys for persisting and getting their music out there, now all you’ve got to do is support!

Simon Harrison

Message boards and forums have been generating great excitement and hype for the return of Koop, and “Koop Islands” kicks off where their 2001 album “Waltz for Koop” left off. If there is any slight difference, it’s that they’ve gone further back in time for the influences to the 1930’s and 1940’s and the days of swing. Bringing these ideas up to date is refreshing and a joy to listen to. Yukimi Nagano is back again on vocals and sounding as amazing as ever on tracks “Come To Me”, “I See A Different You” and “Beyond The Son”. Rob Gallagher also features and I think it’s his best work since the first Earl Zinger productions, and, finally, Norwegian vocalist Ane Brun completes the package perfectly. Oscar has been quoted as saying “We play jazz”, and they do that very well.

Simon Harrison

Most of you should know MKL from his 3 Generations Walking guise that surfaced on Joe Claussell’s Spiritual Life a few years ago, and he certainly caused a stir with DJs around the world. Lion1music was then launched and continued pushing the soulful deep house vibes. R2 Records have wisely put together a fine selection of sought after tracks and remixes from MKL’s back catalogue on to cd. There were quite a few I missed, so this has been handy for me. Highlights include the 3 Generations Walking remix of Fat Freddy’s Drop “Hope”and Francois Kevorkian’s dub of “Midnight Bustling”, and the other nine tracks are wonderfully produced house flavours.

Simon Harrison

This formula has been tried on a number of occasions over the years: some albums have produced some classy new interpretations, but, more often than not, remixing jazz classics hasn’t quite come up to scratch. Dopeness Galore have already released the excellent compilation “Timeless Finest Jazz” which gave us a taster from the massive back catalogue of Timeless Records, and now they’ve brought in the remixers. I am glad to say that here are some of the best re-works to date. Domu’s broken beat version of “Nerada” works a treat, as does Alex Attias’ remix of Art Blakey’s Kenji’s Walk, which goes back to his Bel Air Project days. The combination of Mark De Clive-Lowe and Bembe Segue as The Politik was always going to be a winner and I.N.T produce two tracks, one with Rich Medina and the other with Melodee, which will keep the heads happy. I’ll leave you to check out the rest in your own time.

Simon Harrison

The quartet made up of Hajime Yoshizawa, Masato Nakamura, Kiyoshi Ikeda and Nobuaki Fujii are back on top form with eight more future jazz classics. As Soil and Pimps finally received a well overdue European release, it’s great timing to continue the supply of Japanese jazz. We were given a taster of things to come at the end of 2005 with the Especial 12″ that included “Into The Sun” featuring Bembe Segue and the title track featuring then legend Pharoah Sanders. The beautiful vocalist Yukimi Nagano has also been drafted in on “Afloat”. The formula and sound we know and love continues, with loads more Flute, Piano and Saxophone solos over the baddest jazz percussion in town. Over the following months you should be guaranteed to hear the soon to be massive “Ai-No-Tabi”, assuming you support the right club nights and DJs. All in all, you need this.

Simon Harrison

Back some ten years I was very lucky to be working in a record shop when the limited first releases on Phono records appeared with productions by a new name – Herbert. Still to this day, I dig out those first 12″s and of course he churned out some brilliant albums and remixes over the years. Herbert has been known to sample all manner of things over the years and this album cover features 37 pictures of the 723 objects sampled in the making of “Scale”. As with all of Herbert’s previous albums, there is a serious message behind the songs, which will certainly make you think. “Scale” is the most obvious album to date with disco, jazz and house bits thrown in there but it just goes to prove this man is a modern day genius.

Simon Harrison