22 tracks

"Opolopo, renowned remixer and producer is the man who put his stamp on the recent big club version of Gregory Porters' 1960 What? And his exclusive remix of Treat You for this single is utter class, putting the emphasis on the contemporary dance floor tip without losing any of the originals soul or integrity. One of Omar's favourite remixes of his new material, Opolopo shows us why he is the man of the moment when it comes to bringing a fresh perspective to the great voices of modern soul and jazz."

Get the 12" or digital release here:
http://www.kudosrecords.co.uk/release/FSR100/Omar_Treat_You.html

www.facebook.com/opoloposweden
www.facebook.com/omarofficialuk
www.facebook.com/pages/Caron-Wheeler/28314332025

Buy 12" or digital

OUT NOW! Omar - Treat You Feat. Caron Wheeler (OPOLOPO Remix)

Jill Scott - I'm Not Afraid

Safe From Harm (feat. Reginald AK)

‘Entre Chien et Loup’ is the third single and final taster of Project Gemini’s much anticipated, forthcoming second album Colours & Light. A Francophile-flavoured waltz through the depths of emotion, anguish and escape, served up through the lens of Project Gemini’s cinematic style. Featuring the vocal elegance of Gloria’s Wendy Martinez and guitar solo grit of Wolf People/Large Plants’ Jack Sharp, the beauty of the music is also wrapped up in the pain of its context. Shades of darkness, studded with pockets of light.

Having gained a great 6 Music reception with the title track and second single, Colours & Light, Project Gemini aka Paul Osborne presents one of two album cuts that Lyon-based Wendy Martinez features on. Having sent through the instrumental of ‘Entre Chien et Loup’, Paul mentions: “When Wendy sent me back the beautiful vocal parts she’d written, I was completely blown away. She’d totally elevated the track to another level. Lyrically, it documents an individual escaping a destructive relationship, and the song title (‘between dog and wolf’ a well-known French phrase used to describe dusk/twilight) was absolutely perfect. Jack Sharp added the finishing touches with his mesmerising guitar solo.”

Sweeping and celestial, the Francophile touch is heightened by Paul’s analogue saturated, Mellotron playing and the percussive tactility of Eleven 76/Call Sender’s Paul Elliott. A wandering bassline and the expert drumming of Sababa 5’s Raz Man, anchor the track further to its earthly nature.

Project Gemini - Entre Chien Et Loup

Meet Tamasene with ‘Beaches’. The british musician Elliot Ellison is also part of Cousin Kula accompanied by the well known label Rhythm Section, practices with his solo project Tamasene to introduce us to a hypnotically colorful universe. ‘Beaches’ is the perfect gate to Tamasene's musical world. A bit of melancholy, a hint of retro in every sense of the word, and Elliott's destructively sweet voice. The whole is a well of delicate beauty that is sure to stir the soul.

Hangin In or Hangin Out

Beaches

Tamasene - Beaches

The Crowd

In The Half Light

Bloom

Follow Me

Check out "Higher Levels (Feat Sara Lugo)", my new single out !
Listen/Stream the single : https://bfan.link/higher-levels

Artworks made by: www.instagram.com/marion_tremoy

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Birds

Higher Levels (Feat Sara Lugo)

Available now via iTunes - http://geni.us/BBEStaffSel14
or direct from us www.bbemusic.com

So, 2014 is nearly done and once again, the releases came at such a rate  that we’ve barely had time to draw breath, let alone sit back and congratulate ourselves on another year of putting out Real Music For Real People…
That’s why we enjoy this little tradition of posting the annual ‘staff picks’ from our own catalogue… it forces us to sit back, relax and start playing through some of that incredible music that we’ve released into a harsh world in the last year. 
Don’t think it’s easy … Team BBE can be riven with hissy-fits and sulkiness for a couple of days as personal favourites are out-voted, over-ruled or ruled out over technicalities  (e.g. the member of staff who insisted on having every track from the weird and wonderful  Strange Breaks and Mister Thing III). But the collective process usually ends in a group hug and a nice warm glow once we playback the final selection. 
It’s impossible to let the occasion pass without mentioning some of the ones that got away, though. Despite the plethora of new artists we’ve put out over the past few years we’re probably still best-known for our compilations, instantly  recognizable both visually and aurally, and this year saw no let- up in either quantity or quality. As well as the aforementioned Strange Breaks and Mister Thing III, which won plaudits from the most seasoned vinyl junkies for its educative and entertaining qualities, we had Sean P’s personal trip down memory lane to an old-school that few of today’s hip-hop generation even knew existed, Rock It Don’t Stop It. We also had Kev Beadle’s dig around the private press archives for lost jazz classics, resulting in his Private Collection, and the fourth …yes, fourth!.. instalment of Keb Darge and Little Edith’s Legendary Wild Rockers, raw rockabilly from one of our longest-serving and most illustrious of collaborators. 
Having seen a lot of reissues done very badly, 2014 was the year we stepped up the game with our Masters We Love series. Lavishly packaged and remastered from the original sources, we’ve been able to put legendary albums previously known only to hard-core collectors back into wider circulation. Nana Love, Crystal Winds, Hal Bradbury,  Janet Lawson, The Craig Peyton Group were some of the artists in this series who benefited from this exposure but inexplicably didn’t make the cut for our year end round-up … Band X and Dan Mastroianni are two more who did. We also put out the legendary Lost Album from Iron Curtain synth-meisters Rodion G.A. 
So what of those new artists? For every one that scraped on this seasonal bonanza, there were a couple more that didn’t … so a big shout-out to Lady Daisey, Morgan featuring Jo Sims, Very Tall Stories,Loretta Heywood, Hempolics,  The Grits, Algebra Blessett, Yesking, Duct Tape, Time For T, and DJ Oil, who between them represent just about every kind of credible underground music-making going on right now. 
As for those represented on this excursion, there’s no lack of diversity there, either.  Old friends like Shawn Lee, DJ Vadim and Mr.Bird jostle for attention alongside Slakah the Beatchild, Anchorsong,, Tricky D, The Excelsiors, Larry Achiampong, True Ingredients, Megajawns, Vaitea and More Like Trees. From the dopest dubbed out downtempo headnodders to the most progressive of up-tempo left-field dance, taking in the flavours of Africa, the Caribbean and the East along the way. 2014 was one helluva ride … hope you enjoy this brief trip back through it alongside. 


Band X - Home

Holding On

To celebrate 10 years of one of London’s most loved underground club nights, Tangent, Mr Bongo are thrilled to launch a new compilation series with the two residents at its helm. John Gómez and Nick the Record present a collection of prized, rare and dancefloor-ready tracks from around the globe that have soundtracked the past decade of parties. The first single from the compilation is a stunning, joy filled, Kompa disco anthem courtesy of Kajou’s ‘Tet Chajé’.

The early years of the party saw the pair delving deep into the afro-disco and zouk crates. One firm favourite is this sparkling slice of Haitian disco heat from 1985. A track that captures the energy of humid nights in the packed discotheques of the Haitian diaspora. With a hint of Lincoln Olivetti Brazilian boogie vibes weaved within, ‘Tet Chajé’ is dosed up on funk basslines, strutting disco-tinged guitars and glimmering percussion. A foundation that lets the addictive, harmonising, Haitian Creole vocals transport you to sunnier settings.

A super rare, Caribbean cut that gives a glimpse into Tangent’s eclectic taste, finally given the remastered reissue it deserves.

Kajou - Tet Chajé

Aerials live, dials tuned, Transmission Towers broadcasting. On either side of the river Mersey, transcendental communications are traded back and forth. Two late-night revellers, one firing messages filled with music, the other returning them laced with lyrics. The result, a dopamine hit of oddball machine soul, melded with a highlife, Afrofuturist touch. Wonky and murky yet deeply emotional, Transmission One, is a debut album that also marks the first release on Luke Una’s É Soul Cultura label, encompassing expertly the off-kilter atmosphere the label sets to orbit. 

A synthesised landscape with a Northern charm, Transmission Towers marry the musical worlds of two artists that last collaborated over a decade ago. 10 years have passed, lives have been led, but a gravitational pull has placed Mark Kyriacou and Eleanor Mante back in each other’s spheres on opposite sides of the city of Liverpool. Energised with a newfound desire to strip it all back to the sounds that influenced their formative years in the late ‘80s and ‘90s - astral travelling, intoxicated on Motor City techno, Black Dog IDM and mystical Sun Ra. 
 
Mark half Irish, half Greek Cypriot, Eleanor half Nigerian, half Ghanian, the music contained within is an alchemy of those roots and the pivotal acts that buried deep into their minds. A cosmic contrast, part machine-made, part distinctly human. Take the opener ‘UP’, an ESG-channelling, sci-fi punk beatdown or the polychromatic hyperspace anthem ‘Roller Skater 23’. 
 
Transportive throughout, you ride the solar waves, pace and emotion ebbing and flowing. Tracks like ‘Go Slow Heart’ and ‘Cosmic Trigger’ step to a slower beat but hit with a punch. The former, a slo-mo blast of celestial tenderness, the latter an otherworldly, chugged-out lunar excursion, micro-dosing on whacked-out Wah Wah and Eleanor’s ethereal vocals. Beaming love letters to space and back, ‘Sparse’ marries the organic with the artificial, pianos and percussion circling around synth pads and broadcasting bleeps.
 
Elsewhere, vibrations move faster. ‘Mega’ strikes, fusing sonic tribalism with psychedelic swirls, as ‘Everything’ sweeps you up in its extra-terrestrial new wave grip. Synth stabs and basslines fizzing from every angle.  
 
Demos of Transmission Towers music surfaced on Luke Una’s radar, making him stop in his tracks. Something magical was emerging, perfectly aligned with the E Soul guardian’s tastes. Guidance followed, quickly turning into conversations about Transmission One becoming the first release on Luke’s own label. 
 
Escapist and futurist yet grounded and relatable. Transmission One is synthesis meets sentiment with a deep, spine-tingling soul at its core.

Transmission Towers - Up

Check out Blanka's new single "Fly (Feat King Krab)" ! 
Listen/Stream the single : https://bfan.link/fly-24

Artworks made by: www.instagram.com/marion_tremoy

Follow Blanka :
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Fly (Feat Papa Rua)

Blanka - Fly (Feat King Krab)

The Groove Kitchen Mia dong a cover of the Frankie Beverly &Maze Classic

WHats Cooking In The Kitchen

Joy And Pain

Soulfull - Jazz - The Big One

Join the BBE Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/yfBFX

Founded in 1996 by Peter Adarkwah, Barely Breaking Even (BBE Music) started life as a London club night, taking its name from the eponymous Disco record by the Universal Robot Band.

The label grew from the vibrant early 90's club scene with its first release, Stop & Listen compiled by Dr Bob Jones in 1996, opening the door to iconic series' such as All Back To Mine & Late Nite Tales.

A tonne of releases followed, ranging from Disco to Funk, Jazz to House. In the year 2000, the label celebrated Masters at Work's 10th Anniversary with a mighty box set that featured near 80 tracks.

A year later BBE Music spawned the Beat Generation Series of artist albums, notably introducing J Dilla (Welcome 2 Detroit) & a young Will.I.Am's first solo outing, alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff, Madlib & DJ Spinna, all of whom contributed to this seminal set of long players.

A quarter of a century and well over 500 titles later, having worked with Mark Ronson, Roy Ayers, Questlove, Hugh Masekela, DJ Premier, Dimitri from Paris, Joey Negro, Kon, RZA, Laurent Garnier, Black Coffee, DJ Shadow, David Rodigan and John Morales among many others, BBE Music looks to the future, celebrating its rich heritage while continuing to release a bounty of fresh titles.

The label’s most recent projects include an expansive reissue series from pioneering Nigerian label Tabansi, new imprint ‘Batakari’ in association with Boddhi Satva and the critically acclaimed ‘J Jazz’ Japanese Jazz multi-album project, not to mention the recent landmark 500th label release: a brand new version of 'Barely Breaking Even', featuring Leroy Burgess, Patrick Adams and Louie Vega.

In 2021 BBE Music is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To mark this milestone, the label is offering up some special projects, from the 20th Anniversary edition of J Dilla’s ‘Welcome 2 Detroit’, through David Bowie tribute album ‘Modern Love’, to a special new ‘Worldwide’ compilation from old friend Gilles Peterson. BBE Music will also be looking to the future with more exciting original artist projects, plus merch collaborations events and more...

Band X - Home

BBE Music

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