Artist: Tito Wun & Lorenzo Merluzzo
Format: 12" + digial
Released: February 2014

Tracklist:
1. Blessed By Tambourine 
2. Let Your Light Shine feat. Max Cole 
3. Sgt. Hermeto*
4. Drugs 
5. Mulsanne*
6. Rum Jam

*Additional Keys by Ruoy Yaw

Recorded at Treehouse Cologne

Disco Rigido

AVA.008 Tito Wun & Lorenzo Merluzzo "Disco Rigido"

Eiger

Simple EP

Simple

Analog Africa return with another batch of wildly original Vodoun-inspired funky bliss from Benin. The West African country was busting out domestic pressings of heavy dancefloor shakers through the 60s and 70s and African Scream Contest 2 collects some of the most explosive of this wave. Label head Samy Ben Redjeb went straight to the source for these cuts, tracking down artists with the help of a former KGB agent who also happened to be in one of the hottest Afrobeat bands of the time. Luckily this sleuthing was focused on a positive goal, helping to revive this bubbly bouncer from Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou and thirteen other stellar songs. Frosty premiered ‘Moulon Devia’ on Open End, his world-whirling weekly Red Bull Radio program. Tune-in every Monday for more!

@analog-africa
@freeform-frosty
http://redbullradio.com/shows/open-end-frosty
http://redbullmusicacademy.com

African Scream Contest 2

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - Moulon Devia [Open End Premiere]

What would happen if you lock up a bunch of producers and musicians from different backgrounds into a studio complex for several days and give them complete creative freedom to record whatever they like? 

This is the question that music label INI Movement asked themselves. They decided to set up an experiment in their own studio complex in Haarlem. They invited a varied group of artists consisting of several members of brass band Gallowstreet, Rilan & The Bombardiers, Umoja & Pitch Controller Mitch. 

Guests that stopped by include Freshy Jazz and members of The Mauskovic Dance Band. The above mentioned contributors have helped each other with their personal projects but have never recorded in such a 'supergroup jam session type setting' where there was no directive style to the project. It could be seen as a collaboration in the style of supergroups like Soulquarians, Native Tongue or Odd Future. 

The result is a blend of different genres where the styles, tastes & speciality of each contributor meet. This is displayed in the tracks 'Berimbao' and 'Crappy Samba' where Umoja, best known for their tropical tracks and edits, is backed up with live recorded brass sections by members of Gallowstreet. Or Pitch Controller Mitch 
(formerly known as DJ for the group Pete Philly & Perquisite) not only contributing as producer, but also experimenting with his own vocals on 'Give It To Ya' & ‘A Star Is Born’. Also Rilan (lead singer of Rilan & The Bombardiers) can be heard on several songs including ‘Put Yo Feet Up Off The Wall’ where he complements the Disco & Funk drenched track with his raw vocal appearance. 

The young and talented multi-instrumentalist Lucas van Ee (Saxophonist in the group Gallowstreet) showcases himself as an established producer in many of the productions. 

The Collaboration 
Just like the collaboration between producers & musicians, collaborations have also taken place in the creation of the artwork (Photography by INDVDU edited in collages by visual artist Harm van Ee) and the creation of three music videos to be released along the way (one of which displays choreography by international dance phenomenon Roche Apinsa). The name Birdhouse is drawn from the nickname of INI's studio complex where this all went down. We dub this album 'Birdhouse Sessions Vol. 1' as an ode to this beautiful place that allows us to share our passion and experience complete creative freedom. One Love.

Recorded at Birdhouse Studios 
Mixed by Job André de la Porte & Lucas van Ee 
Artwork: Harm van Ee 
Photography: INDVDU

Birdhouse Sessions Vol.1

Birdhouse - Sunrise

Atlantic Oscillations

Is It Your Intention

We Are Gold Diggers - The Nuggets Show #24

An hour of seeds and things and flowers for @nts_live. 

Tracklist: https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/mark-wayward-7th-april-2019 

(Couple of updates to the tracklist: the Teena Marie track is an extended edit I made for the mix rather than just the reprise, and the version of Roberta Flack's "Feel like making love" is the Reflex Revision).

Springtime Special for NTS Radio - 07.04.19

The Dreaming Jewels

Not That It Makes Any Difference

New album out now https://smarturl.it/yene_mircha
It's been a long, winding road to Hailu Mergia's sixth decade of musical activity. From a young musician in the 60s starting out in Addis Ababa to the 70s golden age of dance bands to the new hope as an emigre in America to the drier period of the 90s and 2000s when he mainly played keyboard in his taxi while waiting in the airport queue or at home with friends. More recently, with the reissue of his classic works and a re-assessment of his role in Ethiopian music history, Mergia has played to audiences big and small in some of the most cherished venues around the world. With his 2018 critical breakthrough "Lala Belu" Mergia consolidated his legacy, producing the album on his own and connecting with listeners through his vision of modern Ethiopian music. Extensive touring after the record revealed an artist who is in no way stuck in the nostalgia for the “golden age” sound. The press agreed, including the New York Times, BBC and Pitchfork, calling his music “triumphantly in the present” in its Best 200 Albums of the 2010's list. 

Mergia's new album "Yene Mircha" ("My Choice" in Amharic) encapsulates many of the things that make the keyboardist, accordionist and composer-arranger remarkable—elements that have persisted to maintain his vitality all these years, through the ebb and flow of his career. The rock solid trio with whom he has toured the world most recently, DC-based Alemseged Kebede (bass) and Ken Joseph (drums), forms the nucleus around which an expanded band makes a potent response to the contemporary jazz future "Lala Belu" promised. "Yene Mircha" calcifies Mergia's prolific stream of creativity and his philosophy that there is a multitude of Ethiopian musical approaches, not just one sound. 

Enlisting the help of master mesenqo (traditional stringed instrument) player Setegn Atenaw, celebrated vocalist Tsehay Kassa and legendary saxophone player Moges Habte from his 70s outfit Walias Band, Mergia enhances his bright, electric band on this recording with an expanded line up on some songs. Mergia produced the album which features several of his original compositions along with songs by Asnakesh Worku and Teddy Afro. An artist still reinventing his sound every night on stage during his marathon live sets, this 74-year-old icon refuses to make the same album twice. His creative process in the studio—starting with the core band, then after listening extensively over weeks and months adding more sounds and instruments—is as urgent and risky as his concerts can be, pushing the band to the outer limits of group improvisation and back with chord extensions during his exploratory solos. "Yene Mircha" captures this live experience and fosters an expansive view of what else could be in store for this tireless practitioner of Ethiopian music.

Not That It Makes Any Difference

Greg Foat

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