“The California Honeydrops...evoke the greasy rumble of Booker T and channel the spiritual ecstasy of Sly and the Family Stone.” -Rolling Stone

Formed in the subway systems of Oakland, retro-soul outfit The California Honeydrops are an electrifying group that defy convention at every turn. They’ve become a mainstay at festivals including Byron Bay Bluesfest (Australia), Outside Lands, Monterey Jazz, Lightning In A Bottle, and touring with B.B. King, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, and Allen Toussaint. Led by the enigmatic and energetic frontman, Lech Wierzynski, and drummer Benjamin Malament, each member of the band is a virtuoso in their own rite — Yanos “Johnny Bones” Lustig on saxophone, Lorenzo Loera on keyboards/guitar, Beaumont Beaullieu on bass, and regularly accompanied by Oliver Tuttle on trombone, Leon Cotter on saxophone/clarinet, and Miles Lyons on trombone/sousaphone — navigating through a vast repertoire of original songs and timeless classics every night. But what truly sets them apart is their unwavering commitment to the art of improvisation - a skill so finely honed that they have completely abandoned the use of set lists and no two shows are ever the same. Off stage, their music has been streamed more than 200 million times, and placed in a variety of TV and films, including “Dead To Me,” “Alaska Daily,” “Black-ish” and more. They are currently touring North America in support of their new deluxe album, 'Soft Spot'.

https://ineffable.to/softspotdeluxe
 

The Honeydrops have come a long way since guitarist and trumpeter Lech Wierzynkski and drummer Ben Malament started busking in an Oakland BART station, but the band has stayed true to that organic, street-level feel. With the additions of Johnny Bones on tenor sax and clarinet, Lorenzo Loera on keyboards, and Beau Bradbury on bass, they’ve built a powerful full-band sound to support Wierzynski’s vocals.

 

Listening to Lech sing, it can be a surprise that he was born in Warsaw, Poland, and raised by Polish political refugees. He learned his vocal stylings from contraband American recordings of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Louis Armstrong, and later at Oberlin College and on the club circuit in Oakland, California. Bringing all those influences together with the rest of the band’s diverse experiences into a unified musical vision, the California Honeydrops expect to play parties for a long time.

 

 Discography:

    Like You Mean It (2013)
     Honeydrops Live (2012)
    Spreadin' Honey (2010)
    Soul Tub (2008)

Formed in the mid-90's, Ugly Duckling is a hip hop trio from Long Beach, California.

Yesterday's Now Sound on WAX!!!!!   On Both Limited edition (500 copies) hand numbered dual 45's picture sleeve or plain Dual 45's!  Grab yours here:

www.fdel.com.au/shop

Grab the New EP Now on iTunes 

<a href="goo.gl/ZrMxay" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>

Or Here

goo.gl/M8TC91


Website



<a href="http://www.fdel.com.au" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.fdel.com.au</a>



Facebook 



<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fdel/52925106744" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/pages/Fdel</a>



“…phattest beats in the Southern Hemisphere” – Fort Knox 5

Hailing from Perth Western Australia Kaz Hamilton AKA Fdel has been refining his beat making skills since the age of 14. He smashed onto the local scene in 2003 producing the National hit “El Questro” for Australian Hip Hop royalty Downsyde.

“The perfect blue-print for how Australian hip-hop production should sound” - Scene

In 2005 Fdel released his debut album Audiofdelity on Invada Records run by Katalyst (BBE) and Geoff Barrow (Portishead) to rave reviews and critical acclaim. It was to become a “must have” record for all DJ’s and lovers of funky beats and fun loving hip hop grooves.  

“A damn fine album of beats, breaks and slammin’ party funk” – Onion

The Audiofdelity album was released world wide in 2006 through Freestyle records and with some airplay from BBC radio one wound up being one of Freestyles best selling releases in years. A-Skillz (Fingerlicking records) liked it so much he licensed two tracks for his mix CD “Export 02”. Tracks were featured on the European “Nuhiphop” compilation alongside hip hop heavyweights such as Pete Rock, J-Dilla, RZA and Madlib just to name a few.

“A smooth funked-up hip hop set” – Rolling Stone

The singles “Ladies and Gentlemen” &amp; “Rocksteady” from the Audiofdelity record gained high rotation on Australia’s biggest radio station Triple J and every station in-between. Tunes were used on TV Fashion Adverts.  On holiday TV shows and was on the soundtrack for Australia’s number one TV series “Underbelly”.

“Straight party music of a consistent calibre from a genuinely skilled producer” - Rave

So after 5 years of constant touring playing to packed shows nationwide and rocking festivals such as Good Vibrations, Big Day Out, SummerDayze, Future Music Festival, Southbound and Park life. Opening for the likes of DJ shadow, De La Soul, People Under The Stairs, Jurassic 5, RJD2, Crystal Method and almost anyone you can name both with his award winning live 5 piece band or as a formidable DJ force. Fdel has emerged from the studio once again with a brand new record!

“Grandiose, ballsy and a helluva lot of fun a must for any hip hop head” - Xpress

The album can best be described as finely chopped soul. Funk hip hop, Disco and Jazz collaged together and washed down with a cocktail on beautiful summer’s day!   It’ll take you on a journey back to basics.  A jazzy sample chopped drum break and filtered baseline, the raw elements of feel good hip hop production.  It’s both a fun and sophisticated record that oozes class and makes even the harshest critic want to put their dancing shoes on and cut a rug!  Add to that the vocal dexterity of Lightheaded, Surreal from the Sound Providers and the amazing soul styling of Kylie Audilst and you have a fine and well-rounded album.




ejdub is following