UK heavyweights Auntie Flo & Sarathy Korwar share the second single 'Ma' from their debut collaborative album Shruti Dances (Guardians "Global Album of the Month") via the newly relaunched, Make Music imprint available on vinyl and digitally on June 17. On Ma, harmonic speed tabla and roaming drones provide a sense of the ethereal and fourth-worldly. 

Auntie Flo says on the track "This was when I think we really found our groove! I had got to grips with the subtleties of the Shruti box and everything flowed really nicely allowing Sarathy's tabla to really come into its own.” Sarathy Korwar goes on to explain "I played the tabla mainly just responding to the rhythms the Shruti box and Brian was throwing at me! We found this really cool filter/flanger effect with mix engineer Scott which gives the tabla an interesting electronic edge."

Across six exchanges of dynamic electronic production and richly layered Indian classical percussion, Shruti Dances discovers two architects of rhythm and movement on an explorative journey through South Asian tonality and diasporic identity.  

One an elemental force on drums, the other on the decks, London-based, Indian-raised drummer/composer, Sarathy Korwar and Scottish-Goan producer/DJ, Auntie Flo first connected back in 2019, unaware both were navigating opposite ends of the beat equilibrium. Where Auntie Flo (aka Brian D’Souza) was new to Korwar’s reimagining of jazz, Indian classical music, electronics and spoken word, Korwar was already a big admirer of Auntie Flo’s intl-facing club output, having first discovered D’Souza’s Rainfall On Red Earth off his Soniferous Garden 12” and 2019 SAY award-winning (Scottish Album of The Year), Radio Highlife. Once properly acquainted, Korwar invited Auntie Flo to remix a track off his landmark 2019 album, More Arriving, described by The Guardian as “a stylistic leap from jazz to hip-hop to spoken word…a protest record encompassing the breadth of immigrant experiences”. 

The seeds of an unlikely yet powerful musical bond had been sown and when mutual friend, co-founder of Mixcloud, and Make Music label organiser, Nikhil Shah, asked the duo to inaugurate the label’s new live/electronic direction (previously home to Leon Vynehall, U and George Fitzgerald), Korwar and D’Souza hit the studio. Expanding on early conversations around traditional Indian instrumentation, practising meditation and improvisation, Shruti Dances (a riff on free dance movement, Ecstatic Dance) was born. Meaning 'that which is heard' in Sanskrit, shruti refers to a note in musical terms, but in this case also references the album’s most prominent influence and instrument, the shruti box.

Korwar’s start on the bandstand and D’Souza’s on the sticky club floor might hint at an unlikely union on paper, the duo’s understanding of tempo, lineage and rhythm, results in a pulsing reinvention of traditional forms, unique to much that has come before.

Shruti Dances

Ma (from Shruti Dances LP with Sarathy Korwar)

PRE-ORDER: https://www.juno.co.uk/products/auntie-flo-akimbo-bells-in-the-dmz/851749-01/

In 2019, before the global pandemic, Auntie Flo continued his one man mission to connect with musicians all over the world, this time visiting South Korea to record 'Bells In The DMZ'. 'High Flight' is a remix of a track originally created by his host Akimbo, centred around traditional instruments from Korea, the ‘daegeum’ played by Seungmin Cha, and the ‘gayageum’ played by Oh Yeon Gyeong. The artwork is by Korean artist Da-in Kim and will be available as a print as part of the release.

Bells In The DMZ

More exclusive music

Premiere: Akimbo 'High Flight' (Auntie Flo Remix)

New mix by scottish producer Brian D Souza aka Auntie Flo.

The London based artist - hailing from Glasgow - delivers countless beautiful releases for a decade now on his own Highlife Recordings but also on top notch labels Huntleys & Palmers (Highlife big brother) , Sofrito, Kompakt, Mule Musiq, Permanent Vacation, Multi Culti or Disco Halal.

Enjoy this subtle yet extremely eclectic journey !

LYO#199 / Auntie Flo

Hello all,

As like all of you, I've been watching in horror as the Ukraine situation unfolds. Totally powerless to do anything, I put together this track - a new version of 2015's 'For Mihaly' from Theory Of Flo, using a speech of Zelenskyy's from 25/2/22 to help raise some money.


All proceeds from sales of this track will go to Red Cross Ukraine appeal - donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal


Thanks
Brian / Auntie Flo

For Zelenskyy (and Ukraine)

Support Ukraine:
https://savelife.in.ua/en/

Kyiv Air Raid Alarm

Dandelion Commission 2022 - 'Spring Symphony (Sage, Basil, Mint and Lavender)' 

I used the Plant Wave device to pick up electromagnetic activity from the different plants which translated each into MIDI notes. 

I then plugged them into my studio set up with various traditional instruments from Scotland, recorded in the Hebrides - these were Clarsach, Whistle, Flute, Pipes and Fiddle. 

I then let the plants play... naturally (!).

Spring Symphony (Sage, Basil, Mint And Lavender)

1. Charanjit Singh - Raga Bairav
2. Marcus Worgull - Listen to Charanjit
3. Akash - Rangeela Funky
4. Ahadadream - Dhol part 2
5. Ahadadream - Piano Skank
6. Sarathy Korwar - Mumbay (Auntie Flo Remix)
7. Sheila Chandra - Raqs (Zillas On Acid Remix)
8. Auntie Flo & Sarathy Korwar - Ga
9. Sarathy Korwar - Mango (Feat Zia Ahmed)
10. Auntie Flo & Sarathy Korwar - Ma
11. Rakhi Singh - Dhura
12. Arushi Jain - The Sun Swirls Witrhin You

BBC6 Music South Asian Mix for Tom Ravenscroft

www.openlab.fm | 106.4FM in Ibiza & Formentera

Listen back to part 1 of last week's Beat Hotel takeover on OpenLab with https://soundcloud.com/auntie-flo, live from our Hangar8289 studios in Ibiza!

Download our App:
IOS: bit.ly/OLappApple
Android: bit.ly/OlAppAndroid

Beat Hotel Takeover Part 1: Auntie Flo

Auntie Flo & Esa Williams presents Highlife on RinseFM 
Sun 16th March 11-1am

Music Is Changing, the World is getting Smaller... 
Highlife brings you fresh new music from corners of the world you'd least expect. 
Originally a club night based in Glasgow and run by Auntie Flo and Huntleys and Palmers, Highlife is now UK wide, a record label and a radio show.

For our second RinseFM show, we feature a mix from man of the moment DrumTalk (H&P, Sofrito) who's riding high following the release of one of the biggest tunes of the year, Time, on our label H&P. 

We also feature exclusive music from new producer Cain (Fine Grains) who played live for us the night before at Highlife in Glasgow. 

ANd we featured forthcoming releases from Golden Teacher (Optimo), Ibibio Sound Machine (Soundway), Thomash, Prophets of the South,  Jumping Back Slash, Esa feat Harry Bennet, Auntie Flo and more. 

Plus a mini kwaito mix from Esa, new tracks from Wolf Muller, Romare, FSQ (Soul Clap), Dibek, and more... 

Thanks to Scott, Rat, Finn and Matt @ Rinse.  

AUNTIE FLO & ESA PRESENTS HIGHLIFE ON RINSE FM W/DRUMTALK

One element of a multi speaker sound installation at The Balance Garden, a show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2023, designed by Wild City Studio.

I used PlantWave to pick up electrical variations of various species featured in the garden, then used the MIDI conversions to turn them into sound in my studio.

The results were really interesting! 

www.swellstudio.io
https://wildcitystudio.com
https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show/Gardens/2023/the-balance

Coming Soon :)

Shiitake (For The Centre For Mental Health's Balance Garden at The Chelsea Flower Show 2023)

Two classically trained musicians from vastly different traditions, MD Pallavi and Andi Otto came together to create a jewel of a record in ’Songs for Broken Ships’ and Multi Culti have whipped up a stunning remix package for it featuring Simone de Kunovich, Auntie Flo, Peter Power, Kaleema and more.

Hailing from Bangalore, trained in Hindustani music and poetry since childhood, MD Pallavi’s beautiful voice makes an elegant companion to cellist / composer / producer Andi Otto’s idiosyncratic and unconventional style. Andi’s music has featured on labels such as Shika Shika and Pingipung (which he co-runs and curates) and, of course, Multi Culti, who released his previous album ‘Bow Wave’ which featured his first collaboration with Pallavi.

While the heart of "Songs for Broken Ships" showcased the duo's unique meld of cross-cultural folktronica and acoustic ballads with MD Pallavi's poetic Kannada verses at the core, "Remixes from the Clouds” reframes these elements for a vast spectrum of electronic listeners and club go-ers. 

An ethereal hypnotic techno re-interpretation of ‘Prayer to the Cloud’ from Italian producer Simone de Kunovich. Scottish ambient maestro and mushroom aficionado Auntie Flo's ecstatic reinterpretation of "Clockshop". Multi Culti veteran downtempo wizard Peter Power's organic and earthy rendition of "Prayer to the Cloud." The mystic sounds of Kaleema breathing new percussive life into "Clockshop". The package concludes with a 'prayer-a-pella' version of "Prayer to the Clouds", spotlighting MD Pallavi's vocals in their purest form, for DJs and producers seeking to slather their rhythms with spiritual voice.

The Multi Culti imaginarium also present an expanded digital package that includes mixes from Hannah Lee, Bliz Nochi & Emil Jourjou, Migramara, and Poligra. In the words of Shawn Christopher: "people from all nations, dancing together." Celestial harmony, one 12” at a time.

AUNTIE FLO & ESA PRESENTS HIGHLIFE ON RINSE FM W/DRUMTALK

Auntie Flo

Recent comments

Mister Gostoso

Leo Tarchini

Plaisir d'offrir

Plaisir d'offrir

Related tracks