Straight out from the green hills of the Welsh countryside comes Jeb Loy Nichols, the newest sensation in Timmion's growing roster of soul-fuelled vocalists. And we certainly have a double sider of the highest calibre on offer. A seasoned and versatile music scene veteran with a major label past, Jeb has everything it takes to polish Cold Diamond & Mink's rough grooves into shining gems.

The A side gives us a rolling southern-style soul banger, which the Wyoming-born singer attacks effortlessly with his praise for an honest dance. Jeb's talent for clever song writing shines through in the lyrics which connect to our current reality, where truth has become an endangered species. The slower flip side kicks off with a Sunday afternoon worthy duo of organ and acoustic guitar before Jeb shows us how a story is weaved from minimalistic ingredients. From the rural beginnings to pastoral hardships, he lays it all bare for the listener.

In addition to this single, Jeb and Cold Diamond & Mink have a whole album of soulful gold dropping later this year. Make sure to be there to catch it when it drops.

Can't Cheat The Dance

Can't Cheat The Dance - Jeb Loy Nichols

Here is my favorites of 2021 ✨
Incredible year, many releases, not always easy to follow the albums on the long term... but what a year rich in creativity. Genres are mixed to create new ones or to free themselves from them.

Artwork : Adrien Guessaïmi • https://www.instagram.com/aguessaimi/

•••••                                                                                                 •••••
01. Jamire Williams - Hands Up (International Anthem)
02. El Michels Affair & Liam Bailey - Faded (Big Crown Records)
03. Nala Sinephro - Space 4 (Warp Records)
04. Space Afrika - Honest Labour feat. HforSpirit (Dais Records)
05. Léonie Pernet - Dandelion (Infiné)
06. Rosie Lowe & Duval Timothy - Play Along (Carrying Colour)
07. Ben Lamar-Gay - Oh Great Be the Lake (International Anthem)
08. Mach-Hommy - Rami (feat. Westside Gunn)(Griselda Records)
09. Brainstory - Long Day (Reprise)(Big Crown Records)
10. Turnstile - Fly again (Roadrunner Records)
•••••                                                                                                •••••

Guessaï** 2021

Bonbon vodou, the new label signature, asked Franck Descollonges (the label boss) to mix for the opening of their album release party at Café de la danse (Paris).

A mix of chanson française, music from La reunion and else where

W/ Danyel Waro, Roger Raspail, Mulatu, Getatchew Mekurya, Piers Faccini, Brigitte Fontaine & Areski, Les Pythons de la fournaise, Alain Peters, Michou, René Lacaille (the Boss!!), souleance…

Bonbon Vodou opening @Café de la Danse (by Franck Descollonges)

Sparks

Sparks (Extended Version) [feat. Steve Spacek]

Buy / Stream it here: https://orcd.co/onceagainchildren

Gather together beneath the sun as we journey through the rhythmic sands of time, Paul Hillery, an esteemed collector and vinyl hunter, presents his follow-up to the highly acclaimed ‘We Are The Children Of The Sun‘. Andrew Male of MOJO Magazine calls the album “One of the most emotionally uplifting and hazily beautiful compilations of recent years.”

“Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun” is a shimmering collection of rare finds, reminding us that we have more to connect us than to divide us. The music encompasses a broad range of sounds, starting in Cajun country with Will & James Ragar, their handmade acoustic guitars allowing for soaring vocals. Along with many of the tracks featured on this compilation, “As the Day Grows Tired” is reissued on vinyl for the first time.

Experience the previously unreleased cover of “Milk and Honey” featuring Kat Barnard and Greg Foat, a versatile mainstay of the UK jazz scene. Discover the first-ever vinyl release of “Kayenta Crossing” by William Eaton Ensemble, capturing the austere presence of Monument Valley. Immerse yourself in Wendy Grace’s jazz-folk masterpiece “More Than Hope” and the acoustic ambience of “Golden Hour” by Aria Rostami.

Paul Hillery and BBE present a compilation of styles and genres, fusing together to make private press wants accessible as a springboard for further listening pleasures. “Once Again We Are the Children of the Sun” is an eclectic selection mixing styles, year and tempo, painstakingly gathered and presented with a great deal of love.

CHOOSE FROM A LIST OF STORES AND SERVICES

Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun compiled by Paul Hillery

The Greg Foat Group feat. Kat Barnard - Milk and Honey

Zoom H8 Internal Mics>FLAC 48/24>Soundcloud
Recorded and processed by CRISH

Under the Sea Jam (Samuel E. Wright)

Binker and Moses leave the now behind and Journey to the Mountain of Forever.

Binker Golding and Moses Boyd will release Journey to the Mountain of Forever -  their second album for London record company Gearbox Records - on 2nd June 2017 in double vinyl LP and double CD formats.

When Binker and Moses’ debut album Dem Ones was released in the Summer of 2015 it kickstarted a remarkable year for the young saxophone and drums duo, who won a string of awards including the 2015 MOBO Awards: Best Jazz Act, Jazz FM Awards 2016: UK Jazz Act of the Year and Breakthrough Act of the Year and the 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Awards: Jazz Newcomer of the Year. Like the album itself, their festival and club performances received rave reviews and ever-growing audiences, culminating in a November 2016 UK tour with The Bad Plus. 

Journey to the Mountain of Forever is a story album about travelling from the known to the unknown. You can expect to meet with Shamans and Ultra Blacks and immerse yourself in strange rituals and echoes from the infinite.

Sessions for the new album took place on July 21st and 22nd 2016, resulting in 10 reels of tape filled with over five hours of music. Like it’s predecessor Dem Ones, the new album was recorded completely live from Mark Ronson’s Zelig studio by Grammy award winning engineer Ricky Damian. direct to a 1960’s Studer C37 1/4” tape machine at Gearbox’s studio next door with no edits or mixing. The vinyl lacquers were cut directly from this original stereo master on Gearbox’s 1967 Haeco Scully lathe with Westrex RA1700 series amps, using a Westrex 3DIIA cutting head and Telefunken U73B tube limiter, Maselec master control and equalisation and Audio Note monitoring equipment.

- - - - - - -
Journey to the Mountain of Forever

Disc One: The Realm of Now 
Binker Golding - tenor and soprano saxophone
Moses Boyd - Drums

Disc Two: The Realms of the Infinite
Binker and Moses with: 
Evan Parker - tenor and soprano saxophone
Byron Wallen - trumpet
Tori Handsley - harp
Sarathy Korwar - tabla
Youssef Dates - drums

Produced by Darrel Sheinman for Gearbox Records
Recorded by Ricky Damian and Caspar Sutton-Jones
Mastered by Darrel Sheinman and Caspar Sutton-Jones at Gearbox Records

Binker and Moses
Journey To the Mountain of Forever
Cat No: GB1537
Barcode: 5065001717482
Formats: Double Vinyl LP Gatefold, Double CD

Order Here: http://smarturl.it/BinkerandMosesJTTMOF

Journey To The Mountain Of Forever

Intoxication From The Jahvmonishi Leaves

Intoxication From The Jahvmonishi Leaves by Binker and Moses

"I love The Expansions their futuristic leanings inject new life into the form. Fresh material!" Ian Merchant (Black Acre)

“Exudes all the qualities I cherish most in music, warmth, integrity and a dedication to the groove… it’s a hard road to travel when you step in the footprints of giants, The Expansions are treading that path with ease and assurance.” Patrick Forge
=========
When The Expansions self released their first single in 2013, the laid-back jazz funk of Lavender, it quickly gained strong support from soul and rare-groove aficionados including Kenny Dope, Dom Servini, Patrick Forge and Andy Smith. A run of shows followed and before long, when someone was asking if there was a soul-jazz band around to play with, “The Expansions” was the answer. 

Although this popularity meant a hiatus in releasing music, the band have been constantly busy, playing around Europe with legendary British-Ghanaian soul singer, Andrew Ashong and the exceptional, upcoming talent Connie Constance. 

But always, The Expansions has remained a central focus and the true home of these four jazz and soul lovers, with occasional trips out to the country to form ideas and practice new music for the eventual album. 

Murmuration, recorded over three days at Big Noise in Southend, is constructed of single takes, with minimal overdubs, as the band attempt to capture the feeling and energy they create live. 

Debut single Breakthrough introduced the insanely catchy but deeply soulful blend of synths and groove, but here on the album that is explored to the fullest with longer breakdowns and more expansive, experimental solos. Pocket 5 displays the, possibly unexpected, influences of broken beat and almost combative rhythm playing – particularly in the complex guitar and keys breakdown where Koor and O’Keefe layer conflicting time signatures and battle to ride it out to the heavy drum return. 

Cannonball brings warm mellowness that delicately evolves through beats, touching on bossas alongside their fundamental hip-hop sensibilities. But even here there is a raucous zenith before the band sublimely recede into the silence of the a-side ending. 

Colossal album highlight Ivory Mountain is truly an epic. Evoking moments of 4Hero, there is a lightness of groove in the first half of this soulful exploration. But at the halfway point, all restraint is let go as a live string section joins the four quarters of the band for three glorious minutes of soulful disco. Evoking sounds of Quincy Jones, George Benson and Johnny Hammond, all the way through to a beautifully cacophonous finale. 

Dragonfly undoubtedly reflects on the work of Herbie Hancock and is the most direct throwback to the band’s earlier work, which is a welcome marker of how far they have come. A quintessential jazz funker. 

The album closes with the thoughtful and introverted shuffle of Miles Away. In the final eight minutes of Murmuration, The Expansions allow space and time to take precedence, with once-more-restrained peaks and developments. It becomes clear though, that the band cannot resist one last explosive finale, as they rise with screeching synths, strings and dubs for a perfect race to the finish line. 

You can hear the influences of Idris Muhammad, Grover Washington, even parallels with South London peers Yussef Kamaal and Ruby Rushton. But The Expansions have tirelessly worked to create a sound of their own and are very proud, along with label Albert’s Favourites, to finally share it.

Cannonball (Murmuration Preview)

The Expansions - Cannonball (Radio Edit)

Cykada have forged a unique and infectious sound that merges raw grooves, electronics and influences from across the world to create music to dance to with the spontaneity of jazz. The collective’s highly anticipated debut album is set for release on the 22nd March via Astigmatic Records.
 
In the last few years, London has become the spiritual home of the ground breaking new jazz movement. A new burst of energy and attitude brought by young musicians, equally inspired by the likes of John Coltrane, Pharaoh Sanders or Sun Ra, as well as Madvillain, J Dilla, Flying Lotus and Floating Points, has brought a welcomed freshness to the London Scene. This exciting new environment brought a group of young musicians together, all with a mutual desire to discover a new form of expression. Together they created Cykada.
 
Cykada is a band of established musicians on the London scene, having played in groups including, Myriad Forest, EZRA Collective, Maisha, Where Pathways Meet, Family Atlantica and Don Kipper. Bassist Jamie Benzies is the spine of the project, along with Tilé Gichigi-Lipere, also a fellow former member of the legendary band Myriad Forest. Along with Drummer Tim Doyle aka Chiminyo, they were the first members of Cykada. “I became more keen on doing something which has a longer vision. Where you get together with people you know you can work with, people you love sharing a space with and you take your time, you make sure you’re enjoying your music and as that comes, everything else comes”, says Jamie. Trumpeter Axel Kaner-Lidstrom, Saxophonist James Mollison and secret weapon, Guitarist Javi Pérez complete the ensemble.
 
Tilé shows a unique and indispensable role within the band, aside from playing keys, he is programming, processing and modifying the sounds of the instruments, a massive factor in creating the distinctive vibe of the band. Cykada’s unique vibe is a testament to its members and the crucial role they each play in the creative process.
 
The collective’s debut album ‘Cykada’ is an energetic bomb of unique style. It engages distant poles, analogue worlds crashing with electronics, eastern influences crossing with western, harmonising nostalgic moments with dancefloor bangers. It seems that Western Africa is just bordering with Eastern Europe, where Turkish music high fives Flamenco and all of this is wrapped up with the fundamentals of the London club scene. There are so many inspirations that it may seem impossible to unite them, however they make it happen, creating layers of devastation, beauty and intrigue.
 
40 minutes of music built as 5 compositions, were recorded in December 2017 in the Total Refreshment Centre, London.
 
Cykada is Jamie Benzies (Bass), Tile Gigichi-Lipere (Keys/Programming), Timmy Doyle (Drums), Axel Kaner-Lidstrom (Trumpet), James Mollison (Saxophone) and Javi Perez (Guitar).

** DEBUT ALBUM RELEASED 22ND MARCH VIA ASTIGMATIC RECORDS

Order Record

Exclusive Premiere: Cykada "Creation" (Astigmatic Records)

The collected soul, funk, gospel and rock releases from Indianapolis’ greatest label. Available at rappcats.com

NA7005 - Everybody Who Wants To Be Free

Everybody Who Wants To Be Free

Available now on Mr Bongo http://smarturl.it/tyranny20

Taken from the album 'Mantra Moderne' https://www.mrbongo.com/products/kit-sebastian-mantra-moderne-vinyl-lp-cd-cassette

LYRICS

To the sky, to the earth
Witnessing bondage’s birth
Kennedy, God, Caesar
Give your body to the moon and the stars
Although the stars above you,
Shine bright in pain you do too
Words from the mouth you don’t own
To see yourself not alone
 
Now the Gods and pop stars,
Enslave man ruled by tsars,
Charles the Great, urinate
I’m in love with the Soviet state
I feel so lonely, oh no, I feel so lonely
Although the stars above you,
Shine bright in pain, you do too
With marks of exclamations,
Theory turns obligation

Tyranny 20

Kit Sebastian – Tyranny 20

Founded in 2009, Gearbox is a vinyl-led record label, mastering and vinyl-cutting studio and turntable manufacturer situated in London and Tokyo. What started out as a focus on previously-unreleased archival jazz recordings,  (including Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, and Yusef Lateef), has now branched into contemporary jazz, electronic music, and folk. 

Output includes London jazz duo Binker and Moses, Indian percussionist and tabla-player Sarathy Korwar, tubist Theon Cross, and American jazz and funk five-piece Butcher Brown.