Released April 4th 2011 via Tru-Thoughts Recordings

Belleruche-13.6.35 (Natural Self Remix)

Backpack tells a personal story about co-parenting and how fragile it can feel to see your kid with his backpack come and go every week. The backpack becomes a metaphor for how everybody has problems to deal with in life and how it will build character and make you stronger the longer you carry it.
Later this year, the song, including a remix by hard hitter Soulsupreme, will be released on vinyl.
	
Produced by Rebiere & Shamis
Lyrics by Shamis
All instruments played by Rebiere except for the Trumpet that is played by Luuk Hof

Backpack

Shamis & Rebiere - Backpack

Next Stop Stop Soweto Vol. 4
Out March 23 2015
http://www.strut-records.com

Strut continue their acclaimed ’Next Stop Soweto’ series in March 2014 as they return to the rich archives of South African music to spotlight the fertile era of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Tightly controlled by oppressive Apartheid laws, South Africa’s music scene had nevertheless progressed into myriad new directions, embracing funk, soul, rock and disco. 

Next Stop Soweto Vol. 4 is compiled by Duncan Brooker. It will be released on CD, 2LP and digital formats with physical formats featuring sleeve notes by author Francis Gooding along with rare photos and sleeve artwork.

Kabasa - Unga Pfula A Chi Pfalo [Next Stop Soweto Vol. 4]

Afro latin bomb taken from an ultra scarce LP. Enjoy !!!

Amara Touré - Afalago

Under the Fields of Midnight

Meridian Brothers - Los Suicidas available on Soundway Records 27th Nov 2015. 

Pre-Order here: 
Direct: http://smarturl.it/LosSuicidasDirect
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/LosSuicidasiTunes

01 Vertigo

DJ Shadow vs. The Heliocentrics - Backstage Girl (Instrumental/Edit)

An infinite avalanche of particles

"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)

Radio Citizen Live 
Kantine Am Berghain 
Silent Guide Album Release Concert 
Berlin 16.12.2017 

Rock My Soul / Jazzoetry music by Mal Waldron, lyrics by J.M.Nuriddin 

with 
Natalie Greffel (vocals) 
Johannes Schleiermacher (tenor sax) 
Wolfi Schlick (flute) 
Marja Burchard (rhodes) 
Bernd Oeszevim (drums) 
Niko Schabel (bass clarinet, synth bass) 

 www.radio-citizen.com 
www.sonarkollektiv.com

!!!VIDEO!!!

Rock My Soul / Jazzoetry (Live 16.12.2017 Kantine Am Berghain)

Released 2007, from the LP "A Distant Wildlife" (Catapulte Rds)

Graham Mushnik - The Cat-The Beast

Graham Mushnik