Author Archives: Simon Harrison

Geoff Wilkinson is back with US3’s fifth album with a live jazz flavour with live musicians contributing on trumpet, double bass, jazz guitar, piano and saxophone. Vocals come from two new rappers Akil Dasan and Gaston, both of whom were found by Geoff in New York’s Nuyorican Poets Cafe. This style may have been done many times before but "Schizophonic" has a real sense of fun in the lyrics and in the Brazilian/Jazz rhythms and grooves. Not sure this will appeal to the hiphop heads but it will certainly find a home with Nu-Jazz and modern thinking Jazz heads. Give it a listen – you’ll be hooked.

Simon Harrison

At the end of 2004 the four track limited 12″ sampler was released and all the tracks blew me away, proving Omar had not lost his touch. Two of those tracks are included here and still sound as good as ever. “It’s So” became a massive broken Beat anthem and is still heard here, there and everywhere. What we have here are fourteen tracks and proof that Omar is at the top of his game. He’s covered all the bases with heavy Hiphop beats featuring Common and Rodney P, hints of R&B with Sing and “Stylin”, Latin Jazz on “Be A Man” and of course “Feeling You” with Stevie Wonder back on top form. The quality never lets up and to finish the album off is the simply brilliant “Ghana Emotion”, which I just can’t get enough of. The standard has been set for album of 2006.

Simon Harrison

2006 is certainly going to be quite a year for Max Cole, with three projects being released over the following months. First we have Max’s excellent debut for the ever consistent Wah Wah stable. Max has a lovely if unique voice which just gets better and better with every play. The single “Mo High” which was released in 2005 stood out to be that little bit different, but those not convinced will find a slightly different vibe here and it’s a pleasure to listen to. Initially a bedroom producer who knows that it’s not all about electronics he is also a dab hand at various instruments, giving this the live feel suited to Max’s vocals and wonderful guest vocalists Deborah Jordan and Lucy May. The next two projects from Max are Moto Tengu and Other Worlds: can’t wait.

Simon Harrison

Yet another corking compilation from Tru Thoughts and it features all their heavyweight artists including Alice Russell, The Nostalgia 77 Octet, The Bamboos, Diesler and more. If you’re a vinyl junkie there is a chance you may have picked up a few of these tracks: if not this is a must. Tracks worthy of your attention are Quantic & Nickodemus’ "Mi Swing Es Tropical", Diesler’s remix of Nirobi & Barakas "Bungee Jump Against Racism", Polar Pair v Maddslinky’s "Over My Head" and DJ Vadim’s remix of Alice Russell’s "A Fly In The Hand". Check out the Tru Thoughts website now because you can purchase this for a bargain reduced price.

Simon Harrison

Mr Peterson is currently churning out compilations at an alarming rate but you’ve got to give it to him, they are always quality selections. Here is the second instalment of all things Brazilian and it keeps with the same formula as the first. CD1 is old school from the 60’s and 70’s, and CD2 features tracks from the last few years and of course includes various big name remixers. My preference is CD1 but I’m not convinced we needed to hear another version of ‘California Soul’. The other thirteen tracks are an excellent mix up with sprinklings of funk, samba and jazz. My current faves from CD2 are tracks by Bugz in the Attic, Zero Db, Bruno E Sexteto and some ace drum & bass from Drumagick.
Gilles is recording 6 podcasts to cover the different aspect of Brazil’s music culture. Check them out here: www.brahma.com/gillespeterson

Simon Harrison

Just before I received ‘Unreleased’, I found out that Jocelyn had been on a reality TV show and even though this may well boost sales of this album, I was a little unsure what to expect. Of course I have no idea how well she did, but with a voice as good as Jocelyn’s it was unlikely the real world would vote for a real talent, rather than some second-rate pop star. One thing for sure is that Jocelyn has an amazing voice and had featured on far too many tracks to mention here. All fourteen tracks here are certainly aimed at the modern soul scene and a pleasure to listen to. The standout track for me is the excellent ‘She’d Called’, which is Jocelyn at her best. Ensure you give this a listen.

Simon Harrison

I was rather excited to get this album mainly due to it being the return of Osunlade. He’s been hammering out remixes ten to the dozen and all of them of supreme quality and of the 4/4 variety. This is the second opportunity to see where the well known DJ and producer is at musically and yes we already know it’s going to be deep. What I didn’t realise before was that Osunlade plays just about every instrument and produces all the tracks. He may have done that on his previous album “Paradigm” but I never checked the sleeve notes. All the tracks are beautifully structured and vary from deep percussion house, to funk and tracks that are more downbeat than you might expect. Osunlade now lives in Greece which may well explain the slight change in direction and I hope this change will be reflected in his next remixes.

Simon Harrison

Ten years ago I was working in a local record shop, and I remember the first release on Chilli Funk, DSL’s ‘Enfusion’, arriving in a box of new releases, and I’ve been a fan ever since. With an extensive back catalogue, Lofty, the man behind Chilli Funk and selector of this compilation, has wisely chosen to spread the selection over two cds. If you’ve missed any of their back catalogue, this is the perfect opportunity to do some catching up. All the heavy weights are here: Nathan Haines, Eastwest Connection, Restless Soul, Marathon Men, Vanessa Freeman and Jody Watley, with remixes by the likes of Kenny Dope, Ashley Beedle, Blaze and DJ Gregory. A limited four track 12′ will also appear and as if that’s not enough, there is a bonus cd mixed by Notenshun. Phew, Chillifunk don’t do things in halves.

Simon Harrison

How times fly when you’re having fun: It’s amazingly only been one year since Jonathan Radford Diesler dropped his debut "Diggin It Somethin Rotten", which I can assure you has been a big favourite around these parts. I’ve been hammering the new single "Charmed" and was really looking forward to hearing where Jonathan was going to take us this time. There are some joints that continue from where "Diggin" left us, with those dirty funk bassline instrumentals and horns stabs, which we know and love. The main change is the excellent vocalists that include: Laura Vane, Double Yellow and Joseph Malik. All compliment the productions perfectly, and if you like "Charmed", you’re in for a treat because there are more vocals hooks and lyrics that will be running around in your head for weeks.

Simon Harrison

Here is the launch of Leeds’ first Hip-hop compilation which brings local, up and coming artists in a bid to bring them to the masses. As I have lived in Leeds for over fourteen years, it is great to see such a positive project finally coming to fruition and there is some real quality here. Listening to lyrics that are relevant to the city where I live and hearing their point of view is great. Established artists like Breaking The Illusion and Junkyard Tactics feature but many of the other artists are in the same league with good productions and lyrics. I hope people learn from this project and start digging for other artists and musical styles in their own city, because there’s always quality music to be found. Roll on Volume 2.

Simon Harrison

Steve Reid is the legendary drummer who has played with all the big names over his some 40 year career. I could be all day listing artists, so I’ll let you do the search through history. Over the last few years Soul Jazz Records have reissued Reid’s excellent albums ‘Nova’ and ‘Rhythmatism’. Kieran Hebden aka Fourtet hooked up with Reid for some heavyweight live shows and then embarked on two new projects with him. The first was the Steve Reid Ensemble’s ‘Spirit Walk’ which was released again on Soul Jazz in 2005 and has already been reviewed here by Andy Allen. The second is the Exchange Sessions, which mixes experimental electronics within Reid’s musical heritage. Volume One is only made up of three tracks: the first track is around seven minutes and the other two are around fifteen minutes each, and the latter two give them chance to spread their wings a little. As with all of Four Tet’s previous work, give it time and all will become clear. Volume 2 will be released later in 2006.

Simon Harrison

Since 1998 Moonstarr has been pushing all things broken out in Toronto, Canada. More and more djs spotted this talent and he’s been a favourite with all the big names ever since. Here are some of Moonstarr’s best re-works and a few you may not have heard before. Re-works to take note of are Povo’s ‘Uam Uam’, Recloose’s ‘Processional’, Jazzanova’s ‘Another New Day’ and Greed’s remix of Moonstarr, which is one I certainly missed. Moonstarr certainly has his own sound and style and it would be a shame for you to miss out on this fine selection.

Simon Harrison

This is the debut album from Latin percussionist Luisito Quintero, which brings a mix of Afrobeat, Bossa Nova and Latin Jazz to the table. Quintero was apart of Louie Vega’s Elements in Life project, which may explain why his name is mentioned in the title, apart from maybe to sell a few more units. Quintero was born in Venezuela and, with help from his father, gained recognition in his early teens. This may be his debut but he’s worked on countless projects including India’s two albums, and with artists like Tito Puente, Ray Barreto to Gloria Estefan. Guest artists include Hilton Ruiz, Brian Lynch, Nestor Torres, Milton Cardona, Jose Mangual and Blaze, which work great with the heavy percussion and Latin influences. "Gbagada, Gbagada, Gbogodo, Gbogodo", "M’ Bongi" and "Love Remains The Same" are worthy of your attention but these are only the tip of the iceberg for this excellent album. BBE have timed this release perfectly, just in time for summer.

Simon Harrison

Jazztronik is certainly making sure we spend lots of cash – especially those outside of Japan – with another two cd release. As I’m sure you guessed by the title, it’s time for the remixers to have their way with the tracks from albums Cannibal Rock and En:Code. Both cds are jampacked with all the big name producers/remixers with their new interpretations. On the first few listens I am leaning towards Part II with essential re-works from Domu, Two Banks of Four, Needs, Louie Vega, DJ Mitsu, 2000 Black and that’s only half of them. The first cd is certainly worth a listen even just for the wonderful Sleepwalker remix of "Pathways" and Osunlade’s remix seems to be causing quite a stir with select djs. OK it’s expensive but worth every penny.

Simon Harrison

Here we have the first collaboration between Roger Eno and Will Thomas aka Plumbline, both of whom have released projects on All Saints and Hydrogen Dukebox. This is a beautiful cinematic album with a whole host of influences, which literally include sounds from clocks, cars and church bells, the kind of thing you would expect from Matthew Herbert. In fact the first track “Transparency” could easily be the work of Herbert himself. The recording “Transparencies” began with joining the dots of various churches and buildings among the beautiful landscape of East Anglia. Things then moved to New York to be manipulated by Will, which gives the album the gritty rhythms, melodies and soft tones. Lovely stuff.

Simon Harrison