Jazzylicious Session

This release is a special one; a moment where the two halves of the Mr Bongo record label unite, our heritage re-issues and our contemporary artists roster. 

Minoru Muraoka’s 'The Positive and the Negative’ is a firm favourite at Mr Bongo. It sees a master of the shakuhachi, a traditional bamboo Japanese flute, flex his prodigious skill resulting in a unique mix of breakbeat jazz and Japanese folkloric music. 'The Positive and the Negative’ featured on the 1970 'Bamboo’ album, which Mr Bongo reissued in 2019. Heralded by DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Egon, and many others. The record’s cult status had us thinking how could we pay further homage to a sublime track such as this. The opportunity came to us in an email from Melbourne’s Surprise Chef with a link to the fabulous reinterpretation of the track which they had just recorded. 

"Minoru Muraoka’s ‘Bamboo’ LP has long been a fixture in our record bags, mostly for the killer shakuhachi funk cut The Positive and The Negative. The record is possibly our favourite from Mr Bongo’s extensive catalogue of reissues, and certainly the most influential to Surprise Chef; The Positive and the Negative’s cinematic atmosphere paired with the wonky drum feels and dramatic performance makes it a near-perfect amalgamation of what we try to capture on Surprise Chef records. We’ve borrowed an element or two from the tune over the last few albums (such as the percussion on ‘The Limp’), so it felt right to go head first into reinterpreting the entire track for ourselves. We recorded the tune in Karate Boogaloo’s attic studio with our man Henry Jenkins at the controls and Hudson Whitlock on percussion. We spent an entire day trying to get the take; we felt such a deep responsibility to capture the intensity of the original, we must have done 20 or 30 takes before we were finally happy. We stuck a fork in it late into the night, satisfied that we’d had our best crack at paying homage to a masterpiece by the great Minoru Muraoka.” - Surprise Chef

Forged in their signature sound, "The Chef" have made 'The Positive and the Negative' their own whilst simultaneously treating the original with utmost respect. The shakuhachi and koto have been replaced by synths and guitars, but the breakbeat psychedelic vein flows richly through both instruments  

The 7" vinyl format was the right fit for this release, so the original Minoru Muraoka recording which clocks in over nine minutes has been edited into a 7” version to accompany Surprise Chef’s new take.

A. Surprise Chef - The Positive And The Negative

Rick Deitrick – Movin’ On
Roland White – Powder Creek
Lena Hughes – Letter Edged in Black
Bobby Lee – Broken Prayer Stick
Wall Matthews – Walk in a Country Rain
Roscoe Holcomb – Wandering Boy
Bill MacKay – Street Singer’s Rag
Russell Potter – Weeping Willow / Grow Rich While You Sleep
Sylvester Weaver – Guitar Rag     
Percy Babineaux & Bixy Guidry – Ella A Plurer Pour Revenir
Smoke Dawson – The Minotaur
Perry Lederman – One Kind Favor
Bola Sete – Consolacao
Harry Taussig – Dark Town Strutter’s Ball
Larry Conklin & Jochen Blum – The Diamond Cutter

L'envie #110 :: Tompkins Square

'Scorpio’s Waltz’ is the second single to be taken from Project Gemini’s forthcoming album. Project Gemini, aka Paul Osborne, has created a cinematic musical journey that plays out like a long-lost soundtrack (think cult B-movies of the 60s and 70s); 'The Children of Scorpio’ was formed from Paul's love of a myriad of genres; from European library music, acid folk, psych-funk, vintage soundtracks and the contemporary breaks scene. 

’Scorpio’s Waltz’ is a smoky breakbeat psych-funk gem. Evoking images of a 70s psychedelic-rock band jamming late into the hazy night. This slightly sinister instrumental is full blown funky rock with a classic hip-hop breaks’ vibe. 

Although a stellar track, it nearly didn’t make it onto the album as Paul explains, “’Scorpio’s Waltz’ was built around a bassline which I’d had knocking about for a while but hadn’t used. I recorded the bass and drums towards the end of the initial sessions for the album and although in my head I wanted it to sound like a haunted ’60s garage band attempting jazz crossed with an Italian library record (The Strawberry Alarm Clock meets Sandro Brugnolini maybe?), I couldn’t quite figure what to do with it, so as I reached the end of the recording process it was destined not to make the final cut. I heard a 1974 track by Giancarlo Gazzani called ‘Faccia Di Bronzo’ which Sonor Music Editions re-released in June 2020 which has this incredible wild and waspy fuzz guitar solo that blew my mind, so I sent the rhythm track to Barrie Cadogan (Little Barrie) and ‘Faccia Di Bronzo’ as a reference point and he totally nailed the vibe I wanted with what you hear on the record. I was honoured to have one of the best guitar players and nicest dudes in the world bring his ‘A’ game, and he lifted it from potential off-cut to what’s become one of my favourite tracks on the record.”

Download

Project Gemini - Scorpio’s Waltz

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

stortion 9 105 bpm take 1 73125

Various Artists
Bollywood Bloodbath
Finders Keepers Records

After what seems like a thousand years of blood, sweat, tears, and a lot more blood, your zombified disc disciples at Finders Kreepers unveil one of their most exquisite, exhumed, ectoplasmic, and existentially essential collections yet. This musical mausoleum of malformed freak funk and dreadful discothèque pop has been resurrected from the maligned cinematic subculture of Bombay’s bloodthirsty horror film industry and witnesses the cognoscenti of the Bollywood pop scene at their most creative, destructive and experimentally effective. Bollywood Bloodbath features India’s finest composers, such as Bappi Lahiri, R.D Burman, Sonik Omi, Sapan Jogmohan and Laxmikant Pyarelal making the kind of radical risk-rock that would under normal circumstances have studio security escorting these overworked maestros off set for a well-earned break or a relaxing exorcism. Take all the most oblique, indigenous characteristics of your favourite Bollywood musicals then condense them into a bubbling serum and watch the Jekyll and Hyde transformation commence as these A-list composers create bloodcurdling B-Music for the films they never thought the outernationals would see or hear.

You’ve heard Italy’s most famous composers when they soundtrack unwatchable Roman slasher flicks with on their own uncompromised and underpaid terms? Well that blueprint just turned blood red with sub-shoestring, low-budget studio wizards gambling with rigamortis rock, disjointed disco and low-voltage electronics for seldom screened scenes of desi Draculas, lycanthropic lady killers and psyched-up swamp monsters. Ever wondered what the DJ would play in a 1981 luxury hotel that was built on an ancient Christian cemetery? No? Well it sounds like someone just got possessed by Jimmy Page and Nile Rogers at the same time. Help!

But séance fiction aside the factual history of the untravelled Bollywood horror phenomena is fully re-exhumed with this compendium in true faithful Finders Keepers style. Carefully documenting the drummy theme from the first-ever 1949 Indian ghost film this benchmark collection follows the sinister lineage as directors of bloody thrillers take chances on shuddering synopsis and haywire sonic special effects. Leading up to the inauguration of the notorious Ramsay Bros film company (whose sibling revelry in the 70s and 80s lead to the inclusion of flight-style puke bags in participating picture houses) this compilation pulls no punches and plunges the ‘B’ of Bombay into the heart of the b-movie and squirts a masala of bloody ketchup and red wine onto the sets of Bollywood’s glorious filmic musicals. Licensed exclusively from the independent Indian film music companies (revealing incidental tracks that they didn’t even know they owned) Bollywood Bloodbath is the result of avid stomach turning research via VHS tapes, chewed-up cassettes, and LPs, 12”s and 45s remastered from some of the only existing master tapes; presented on both CD and vinyl for both the hairy home listeners and daring DJs just in time for the witching season. Hunt down the spooky Sansani before it gets to you first!

www.finderskeepersrecords.com

Hemant Bhole – Sansani Khez Koi Baat

Download: https://www.xlr8r.com/mp3/2017/04/leifur-james-time/

@leifurjames

[Via XLR8R]

Download: Leifur James - Time

Roberto Musci - The Loa of music (The complete sessions)

Roberto Musci - Claudia, Wilhem R. and me

Ill considered 3 - B2 Delusion

Yussef Dayes X Alfa Mist - Love Is The Message (Live @ Abbey Road) Ft.Mansur Brown  Rocco Palladino

From Cochemea's debut album, All My Relations, out now on Daptone Records.

LP/CD /Digital:
http://dapt.one/Cochemea 

Cochemea Gastelum is coming home to connect with his roots. After nearly 15 years of touring the world with Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, the saxophonist offers a deeply personal album of jazz and indigenous-influenced rhythms. All My Relations is 10 tracks of mesmerizing and spiritually ascendant instrumentation.

A California native with Yaqui and Mescalero Apache Indian ancestry, Cochemea grew up surrounded by music - both his parents were musicians, and they gave their son a heavy name meaning “they were all killed asleep.” Cochemea has spent much of his diverse musical career – as a soloist, musical director, composer and ensemble player – exploring and iterating on roots music, and All My Relations is a capstone meditation on his own ancestry.

Follow Cochemea:
www.facebook.com/Cochemea/
www.instagram.com/cochemea

All My Relations

Cochemea - Al-Mu'tasim

* Read more: boltingbits.com/birdhouse-my-dove-ini-movement/
* Watch on YouTube: soon
* Pre-order: bit.ly/2IEU2UK

Nowadays, the word movement is overused to describe many static, 2-dimensional uncreative projects, but thank the musical universe for the ambitious and refreshing INI Movement. The coming together of two soulful places: a studio in Haarlem and an Amsterdam-based record label, have made it possible for the likes of Henry Wu, K15, Jarreau Vandal, Umoja, Sofa Talk, SoulParlour, Ugly Drums and more, to experiment with their skill sets and explore their genius.

A group of passionate musicians connecting in a recording studio is often rewarding and what has resulted on this occasion, is the creation of the magnetic Birdhouse Vol 1 soundtrack. The independent music platform invited a varied group of artists along, to make use of the special ‘Birdhouse’ studio in Haarlem... which makes for a compelling start right? Several members of brass band Gallowstreet, Rilan & The Bombardiers, Umoja & Pitch Controller Mitch, Freshy Jazz and members of The Mauskovic Dance Band, came together to craft Birdhouse Vol 1, in a musical nest where imagination and reality are blended to create masterpieces outside the complex mind of the musician.

The record features the premier track "My Dove," it's technically inventive, compiled of layers of emotionally charged collaborative intelligence. Drifting vocals combined with delicate yet powerful Latin-inspired percussion (listen to ‘Berimbao’ and ‘Late Inflate’ for your Latino fix), perfectly placed horns and the sprinkling of twinkling notes, fill each bar with feeling. You can hear each contributor equally in this track, multiple souls, visions and perspectives, tapped into in each segment.

Brief chaotic periods of crackling news broadcasts samples, slow alluring keys and soft drums play with your affections. Sadness, confusion, joy, hope, liberation, it is a poignant and wistful 3 minutes and 40 seconds. You might think you’ve heard something like it before but I would advise you not to try and dissect the genres which make up the track but instead, invite you to embrace the masterful original yet familiar fusion. My Dove is a new classic that you will enjoy several joints to, a romantic heartache that you can’t leave alone. I wonder if they knew what they were really creating? This track is important because it helps us to define what it really means to honestly and unashamedly, collaborate.

PREMIERE: Birdhouse - My Dove

A brand new version of what is undoubtedly an untouchable classic, and yet somehow Ranelin & Emanative bring the necessary freshness and vibes galore to this new rendition for 2019 and beyond!

Emanative & Phil Ranelin - Vibes From The Tribe (TS Premiere)

Premiere: Sefi Zisling - The Sky Sings

'Cactus Dance' the opening single from 'III' is the distillation of the GODTET sound. Part Dub, part Funk and any other musical adjective available to categorize this uncategorizable sound. Godriguez's latin roots shine their brightest vicariously through the band on 'Cactus Dance' as his guitar playing acts as needle and thread weaving and tying the fabric of GODTET.

Out December 4th. Find out more here:
http://www.musicamacondo.com/2020/10/premiere-godtet-cactus-dance/

III - Beat Tape

Premiere: - GODTET - Cactus Dance

There are two kinds of music, one that heals you'r soul and the other who animates it

Ill considered 3 - B2 Delusion

ILL CONSIDERED

Related tracks