Outlines V.A.

Premiere: Domenico Sanna & Gio Iacovelli Ft. Shalka Mani - Evidente (SofaTalk Rework)

Nicola Conte - Into The Light Of Love (feat. Myles Sanko)

Second in my Walking in Space live stream series. Monthly every Thursday live on Twitch at 7pm PST / 10pm EST - http://twitch.tv/djianhead - playing all types of things analog and digital.

Monthly on Twitch

Walking in Space - Live Stream April 2024

Mr Bongo proudly presents the debut album from Tasmania-born, Melbourne-based, Finn Rees. Gliding across a swirling palette of saturated hues, Dawn Is A Melody feels vintage yet vibrant, new but familiar at the same time. A spiritual, deep and textured jazz record, tipping its hat to greats from the past, capturing memories and reformulating them into new ideas with the help of some of Melbourne’s finest talent.

Expert keys player for the likes of 30/70 and Elle Shimada, alongside one-half of Close Counters, this debut LP was Finn’s conscious departure from the realm of groove-based jazz. Instead, Dawn Is A Melody places the piano and arrangements centre stage, giving Finn and his fellow Melbourne crew freedom to explore the spaces in between, new emotions and alternate soundscapes.

In Finn’s own words: “My intention with Dawn Is A Melody was to create a world; a microcosm of colour. Something rich and beautiful that allowed the melodies and compositions to reach their full potential. It was driven by hope, curiosity and the search for beauty and reassurance in this ever-changing world. The emotion behind the music is really about the journey of life, growing up and changing, as well as my relationship with Tasmania’s natural landscapes where I grew up, a part of the world that is incredibly unique and beautiful.”

The album arcs between opening, middle and end. Beginning with the optimism of ‘Looking Up’ and ‘Lagoon’, the former a celestial, string and harp marbled slice of positivity, the latter a spiritual journey of exuberance and hope, Finn’s fingers dancing across the ‘70s Yamaha grand piano. From there the songs blossom outwards with the cinematic soulful journey of ‘It’s Behind Me Now’ and Brazilian-inspired ‘Expansion’, as the divine ‘Crossing’ signals a transition to a new realm. The energy is transformed from the rich cosmic textures to a more intimate and personal feeling with ‘Ablaze’, ‘Between Spaces’ and ‘As It Passes’ which blissfully fades down to simply piano and strings to close out the record.

Recorded at Rolling Stock in Collingwood, Melbourne, Henry Jenkins was drafted in as recording and mix engineer, his minimal vintage mic setups giving a live aesthetic and warmth to the arrangements. Lucky Pereira and Blakely McLean Davies form the rock-solid rhythm section, with a hand-picked line-up of other Melbourne talent on display, including Cheryl Durongpitikul on tenor sax, Siwei Wong on harp, Audrey Powne on trumpet and Allysha Joy on vocals to name only a few.

Plotting a course from Alice Coltrane, through Herbie Hancock, to Arthur Verocai, this is a debut nourished by the past but firmly made in the present. A record unable to be age-stamped, casting ambiguity as to when, what era and by whom it has been crafted. Like a vintage lens capturing a current scene, Dawn Is A Melody is warm and familiar yet focused on the here now.

Finn Rees - Crossing

Steve Conry - Ten Lovers Music Radio Show 29.06.24

To celebrate 10 years of one of London’s most loved underground club nights, Tangent, Mr Bongo are thrilled to launch this new compilation series. Crafted by its two residents, John Gómez and Nick the Record, it aims to transmit a taste of Tangent’s spirit. A party rooted in inclusivity and open-mindedness, whose name captures the spontaneous switches in musical direction that are a defining element of their nights. For the compilation, the pair have cherry-picked a selection of their prized, rare and dancefloor-ready tracks from around the globe, that have soundtracked the past decade of parties.

Friends for close to 20 years, music lovers, record obsessives and internationally renowned DJs in their own right, John and Nick have two lifetimes worth of musical knowledge to draw from. John a long-standing NTS Radio resident and compiler for Music From Memory. Nick one of the UK’s go-to record dealers, resident DJ since the ‘90s at one of Japan’s pioneering parties, Life Force, and co-captain / co-edit-expert of Record Mission with Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys).

In 2014, the pair decided to bring some of Life Force’s grassroots principles to the UK, whilst channelling underground clubbing institution Plastic People’s meticulous attitude to sound. Tangent grew from being a small gathering of friends, to an established fixture in London’s nightlife, whilst always maintaining a strict no guest DJ policy. “As London’s clubs have become increasingly reliant on international guests, we wanted to emphasize the importance of a club night growing through its residents”, John and Nick reflect. With 10 years of the duo at the helm, an intimate connection between DJ and dancefloor has been built, allowing for freedom of expression on both sides of the decks.

Tangent reaches around the globe and across different eras to make connections that stimulate emotional reverberations in the unfamiliar. Where the blissfully Balearic ‘Laberinto’ by Miguel Perikás, goes hand-in-hand with the Cameroonian hip-house of King B.’s ‘Love is Crazy’. The thundering ‘Amek Amek’ by L'Innovateur Djoe Ahmed et le Zoukabyle, rubs shoulders with the soulful Caribbean-influenced touch of Champagn’s ‘Bel Ti Négress’. And Pellegrin El Kady’s afro-cosmic ‘Seiva de Carnaval’, crosses paths with Kajou’s Kompa disco anthem ‘Tet Chajé’.

Tangent’s longevity is in part down to it having always embraced contemporary sounds. The sub-rattling bass of Srirajah Sound System’s stunning Molam dub stepper ‘Si Phan Don Lovers Rock’ and the slow, woozy mantra of leftfield dancehall explorer Androo’s ‘Lyriso’, are two shining examples.

This compilation represents an ongoing dialogue between past and present, transporting listeners to the heart of a pure musical experience, where open minds and open hearts are eager to follow the tangent.

Conjunto Baluartes - Nira Gongo

balatro gold stake

The Comet Is Coming are our guests in Hour 2 and to celebrate the release of their debut album Channel The Spirits on The Leaf Label, King Shabaka, aka Shabaka Hutchings (also of Sons Of Kemet and Melt Yourself Down) drops his first mixtape with a quality selection of music personal to him. He had this to say about his mix;

"I've never done a mixtape before so when asked to do this I immediately though back to my favourite DJs and what their selections did for me. I love it when I hear massive leaps in genre during a set which seem to make sense despite all the odds and retain a trajectory of intensity. Immediately I think of Gaslamp Killer who I toured with last year and was able to see him do his thing up close, and Ntone Edjabe who is a DJ extraordinaire based in Cape Town. These are all tunes that have meant a lot to me at various points in my life so it's interesting for me to see the narrative which connects them."


The Solid Steel website http://solidsteel.net/ for track lists and archive shows.
You can follow Solid Steel on  facebook.com/pages/Solid-Steel/175027509192663
instagram.com/solidsteelradio
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Email solidsteel@ninjatune.net

Go to Hour 1 here https://soundcloud.com/ninja-tune/solid-steel-radio-show-842016-hour-1-baba-stiltz-samo-dj

Hour 2 - The Comet Is Coming


Artist	Title	Record Label
charles mingus	-the clown	-Atlantic
girls of the queen mother's village	-lezontaba	-SWP Records
matana roberts	-all is written	-Constellation
julius eastman	-the holy presence of joan d'arc	-New World Records
amampondo	-woza	-M.E.L.T. 2000
archie pelago	-brown oxford	-Mister Saturday Night Records
spoek mathambo	-put some red on it	-Sub Pop
kendrick lamar	-ab-souls outro	-Top Dawg Entertainment
pharoah sanders	-bailophone dance	-Impulse!
teebs	-cook,clean,pay the rent	-Brainfeeder
chris dave	-angola mist	-unknown
steve reich	-new york counterpoint	-Elektra Nonesuch
mo Kolours	-foundation	-One-Handed Music
john surman	-countless journeys	-ECM
mos def	-casa bey	-Downtown Music
ndau (tribe)	-mandowa	-Supreme Media
valerie walker	-obeahman	-Nonesuch
deerhoof	-desaparecere	-Free Porcupine Society ‎
bilal	-star now	-BBE
dave dargie	-si phum' eCancele	-unknown
actress	-ivy may gilpin	-Werk Discs
arvo part	-cantus in memory of benjamin britten	-Naxos
zim ngqawana	-kubi	-Sheer Sound
hello skinny	-venus	-Slowfoot ‎
girls in transkei	-ikostina	-Ling Music

Solid Steel Radio Show 8/4/2016 Hour 2 - The Comet Is Coming

One of the tracks of Wayne Snows forthcoming Album on Tartelet Records.

Freedom TV

Wayne Snow - Rosie

Brian Jackson

01_Under The Bridge

Bandcamp

Sunset over Yaeyama

Music is the universal language and we are the interpreter of sound, a message that has been lost in transcription. Under Jazz Is Dead, younger artists are elaborating upon conversations started decades ago; jazz icons are utilizing vintage equipment to create new masters with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad; the same equipment that recorded their coveted catalogs. The vitality embedded in the new masters epitomizes our quest for new life in music:  Jazz Is Dead.

01_Under The Bridge

Jazz Is Dead

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