Basic Soul

Uprock Recordings started back in 2000 with the merging of some serious heads. One of the seven original members is Steve Austin and here is his latest album. He has worked with some of the big names in hip hop, the broken beat scene, and is a regular MC and DJ at CO-OP, which has certainly given him a wealth of knowledge and experience. Steve has gone back to his roots and turned out an album which displays UK hiphop at its best. Even though there are some obvious samples used, especially in ‘Rapper Have No Style’, they are worked to perfection with Steve’s lyrics, timing and production. Fans of Roots Manuva and TY need this.
 

Now this guy has been hotly tipped as one to watch for 2006, with his work compared to Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine and Sigur Ros. Well, I’m not sure about the latter but it definitely has hints of ‘Loveless’ in this album and you can also hear the influence of Mogwai scattered about.
Self confessed non-DJ, Fake is a live performer who has been on the scene now for a few years with many a 12" kickin’ about on James Holden’s Border Community label. His live sets definitely cater more for the dance floor whilst ‘Drowning’ is the mellower side of his work.
The album is a brilliant chord driven, chime tingling timeless beauty that will get electronic fans buzzing around their robotic communities.
With this sort of talent this guy is gonna be around for a long time. Those in the know will already be looking forward to this release, but if this is the first time you’ve heard his name and are a fan of Boards Of Canada, M83 or Vector Lovers then definitely give it a listen.

Who the hell is DJ Derek and how comes he gets to do a compilation for one the World’s best reggae label’s? If this is what your thinking then here is the answers. Derek is in his late 60’s, used to be in a skiffle band, used to be an accountant and has a phenomenal collection of waistcoats. But this surely doesn’t qualify him to be compiling for Trojan does it? Well, he’s also got a monstrous collection of over 25,000 reggae and ska tracks spanning over 4 decades and has been spinning them to punters for over 30 years the world over. He’s not just a DJ, he’s a performer! So what’s he chosen as his favourite tracks? Well it ranges from roots, to rocksteady through to classic reggae vibes. There are tracks by Toots, John Holt, Johnny Clarke and Dennis Brown. There’s also compilation fave ‘Police And Thieves’ by Junior Murvin plus two classics from Max Romeo. If it’s solid classics you’re after along with the odd forgotten gem then DJ Derek’s selection will be your cup o’ cha. The CD is unmixed (always a bonus with reggae compilations) and contains 22 tracks full of reggae goodness. More splendid vibes from the ever trust worthy Trojan stable.

This is Voom Voom’s first full length album after a string of 12″s released over the last few years on K7! Voom Voom is the pairing of Peter Kruder and Fauna Flash, and if you were expecting loads of chilled K&D style breaks n beats? then you will be surprised indeed.

Most of the Tracks are 4/4 dancefloor numbers are designed to make you dance rather than chill. Lots of electronic noises sit side by side with twisted vocal stabs and bubbling basslines.

The album is getting released as 4 separate 12″s over the next few month’s. The first of those is already out and features the tracks ‘All I Need’ and ‘Sao Verought’. But each of the 4 separate vinyls are limited to 2000 so you best be quick. The CD will be appearing in the Spring featuring all the tracks that appear on the vinyl.

I’m really loving the album, but I can see a few of the tracks rubbing the purists up the wrong way with the rock guitar samples, off-kilter b-lines and electro beats . I’ll be giving some of the tracks main room action over the coming month’s cause I reckon it’ll get em grooving for sure.

Since the release of Eddie’s excellent Roughneck album back in 2004 he’s been on the road with both The New Mastersounds and his Roughneck project, doing what he does best and packing out clubs all over Europe. Now is your chance to take the vibe of the live show which was recorded at Le Triptyque, Paris in October 2005 and enjoy it at your leisure. I’m unsure of the full line-up of the band but as always with Eddie’s projects they come into their own at a live gig, and if you’ve not checked out the live show, shame on you. Eddie’s second instalment of Roughneck should be out later this year: can’t wait.

In May 2005 a Social Beats twelve track sampler dropped on my doorstep and featured three tracks by the unknown to me Jazzinvaders. The main track "Up & Out" became a firm favourite and was in my record box for the rest of the year. Producer/percussionist Phil Martin is the force behind the Jazzinvaders with contributions from two members of the Dutch jazz band The Houdini’s: Rolf Delfos on horns and saxophone and Erwin Hoorweg on piano. It initially started off as a jam session and eventually turned into a cracking album, combining latin and afro beats with some moustache tingling basslines that will keep any dancefloor happy. Lovely vocals are by Danish jazz vocalist Mette Burild and Dutch vocalist Linda Bloemhard, to round off a quality album.

Here is a producer and DJ who’s been on the scene for many years pushing quality music in his city of Liege in Belgium. Counterpoint recognised such a great talent and wisely snapped up David’s debut. ‘Insight’ builds over the 70mins, as a DJ should build up a crowd, starting off with some Jazzy cuts, through mid tempo workouts, to house anthems ‘Move’ and ‘Hustle The Funk’. For the last 6 months I’ve been hammering to death the Broken Beat anthem ‘Mannequin Mankind’. Watching people dance to this mental track with devastating beats and basslines is pure entertainment. The ace Mark De Clive-Low remix of ‘Move’ is included if you missed out on the recent single but make sure you don’t miss out on this.

Most of you will remember Cecilia from Koop’s excellent "Baby" and "Waltz for Koop" but judging by this album, those two tracks are only the tip of the iceberg. Cecilia is based in Stockholm but has also lived in New York and in both cities she has quickly become a regular at the legendary jazzclubs. Here is proof yet again that Scandinavians are leading the way with 21st century jazz. With a total of nine tracks this is a wonderful journey through the acoustic jazz productions and Celcillia’s expressive vocals and lyrics. "Straight It Up" has been compared to some of the true greats of our scene and I cannot disagree. In fact it is so good that it would not look out of place on the excellent Ricky Tick Records, and fans should take note.

‘The Kings Of .’ series continues with this latest instalment delving into the world of jazz. The CD features 25 tracks spread across 2 discs. Disc 1, selected by Gilles Peterson, mainly concentrates on the 60s and 70s with nuggets such as Donald Byrd’s ‘Cristo Redentor’, John Coltrane’s ‘Equinox’ and Mark Murphy’s version of ‘My Favorite Things’. Other highlights include ‘Quiet Fire’ by drummer Roy Haynes, taken from his album ‘Thank You, Thank You’ (Galaxy 1977), Lee Konitz’ modal masterpiece ‘Five, Four And Three’ and the haunting ‘Moves’ from Charles Mingus which features Honey Gordon and Doug Hammond (Tribe Records) on vocals. The second disc is compiled by Jazzanova and shines the light on the new breed of jazz artists. Although I’m not convinced by the inclusion of United Future Organization’s ‘Loud Minority’, on the whole this is a great set. Opening with 4 Hero’s ‘Spirits In Transit’ and ending with the beautiful Jamie Lidell fronted ‘Everything’s Changed’ by The Matthew Herbert Big Band. In between we’re treated to music from The Five Corners Quintet, Two Banks Of Four, Soil & Pimp Sessions and Sleepwalker’s ‘Into The Sun’ featuring Bembe Segue. Bembe turns up again on a live version of ‘Mother Of The Future’ which is absolutely storming as is Jeffrey Smith’s take on ‘Afro Blue’. Also worthy of note are ‘Inner City Life’ by [re:jazz], Nikki O’s ‘Butterflies’ and the Nicola Conte version of Sunaga T Experience’s ‘No Rhyme No Reason’, which was previously only available on Japanese 12". The vinyl edition is split over 2 separate double packs and in total contains only 20 tracks.

Is there no stopping these guys?! It was only last month I reviewed their ‘Crush!’ EP, and here they are again with a full length album, ‘Pimp Of The Year’. If you’ve been paying attention then you know the score, this is jazz with punk attitude. The set features ‘Summer Goddess’ and ‘Crush!’, the title tracks of their last 2 EPs along with goodies such as ‘Worldwide’ (a dedication to Gilles perhaps?!) and ‘Sahara’ with it’s stunning piano work. My particular favourites though are ‘Scoop Out’ which sounds like a 70s cop show theme, the feel good vibe of ‘Last Long’, a solid jazz-funk affair and track 8, a beautiful modal waltz. This track has a Japanese title and although on some web sites it’s translate as ‘Fragment’ from the ‘Summer Goddess’ EP it is not the same track.