The Herbaliser Band - Session 1 & 2

The Sensual Woman (Instrumental)

The Omnichord Real Book

Good Good (feat. Jade Hicks & Josh Johnson)

Aerials live, dials tuned, Transmission Towers broadcasting. On either side of the river Mersey, transcendental communications are traded back and forth. Two late-night revellers, one firing messages filled with music, the other returning them laced with lyrics. The result, a dopamine hit of oddball machine soul, melded with a highlife, Afrofuturist touch. Wonky and murky yet deeply emotional, Transmission One, is a debut album that also marks the first release on Luke Una’s É Soul Cultura label, encompassing expertly the off-kilter atmosphere the label sets to orbit. 

A synthesised landscape with a Northern charm, Transmission Towers marry the musical worlds of two artists that last collaborated over a decade ago. 10 years have passed, lives have been led, but a gravitational pull has placed Mark Kyriacou and Eleanor Mante back in each other’s spheres on opposite sides of the city of Liverpool. Energised with a newfound desire to strip it all back to the sounds that influenced their formative years in the late ‘80s and ‘90s - astral travelling, intoxicated on Motor City techno, Black Dog IDM and mystical Sun Ra. 
 
Mark half Irish, half Greek Cypriot, Eleanor half Nigerian, half Ghanian, the music contained within is an alchemy of those roots and the pivotal acts that buried deep into their minds. A cosmic contrast, part machine-made, part distinctly human. Take the opener ‘UP’, an ESG-channelling, sci-fi punk beatdown or the polychromatic hyperspace anthem ‘Roller Skater 23’. 
 
Transportive throughout, you ride the solar waves, pace and emotion ebbing and flowing. Tracks like ‘Go Slow Heart’ and ‘Cosmic Trigger’ step to a slower beat but hit with a punch. The former, a slo-mo blast of celestial tenderness, the latter an otherworldly, chugged-out lunar excursion, micro-dosing on whacked-out Wah Wah and Eleanor’s ethereal vocals. Beaming love letters to space and back, ‘Sparse’ marries the organic with the artificial, pianos and percussion circling around synth pads and broadcasting bleeps.
 
Elsewhere, vibrations move faster. ‘Mega’ strikes, fusing sonic tribalism with psychedelic swirls, as ‘Everything’ sweeps you up in its extra-terrestrial new wave grip. Synth stabs and basslines fizzing from every angle.  
 
Demos of Transmission Towers music surfaced on Luke Una’s radar, making him stop in his tracks. Something magical was emerging, perfectly aligned with the E Soul guardian’s tastes. Guidance followed, quickly turning into conversations about Transmission One becoming the first release on Luke’s own label. 
 
Escapist and futurist yet grounded and relatable. Transmission One is synthesis meets sentiment with a deep, spine-tingling soul at its core.

Transmission Towers - Roller Skater 23

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

This Friday I'm playing a set in sync with the setting sun at Vintage festival on the 5th floor of the Southbank Centre. The space includes a balcony overlooking the Thames so I thought it would be apt edit a couple of sweet soul gems for the event. 

I first became aware of Faded Lady through the Dusty Fingers series of albums (collections of original breaks and such like) but then last year BBE put it out on a 7" to help promote the  Strange Games 5 album. Such a sweet track but it's over before it's begun so a little extension seemed in order. 

I can't enable downloads directly on this one seeing as it was a recent release but for those who really want a copy leave a request in the comments.

Enjoy, and hopefully I'll see a few of you at Vintage on Friday - http://www.facebook.com/TheVintageFestival -

SSO Orchestra - Faded Lady (Leftside Wobble Edit)

A rendition/cover of SZA's 'Kill Bill.' This was sitting in the backburner for a while. I just got around to finishing up the vocals. Executive Dysfunction :0

Kill Bill (Rendition - Instrumental)

Alternate version of the classic "La Condition Masculine" originally recorded in 1975. Extract from cassette album "Maloba" (GRIFFE/CBS)

Francis Bebey - La Condition Masculine (Alternate Version, 1990)

We invite Osunlade in our Kasheme for a special Livingroom Session.

Kasheme's Livingroom Session with Osunlade (Yoruba Records / St. Louis USA)

live recorded at Kasheme / 06.04.17
Check the Video Livestream on: www.facebook.com/pg/kashemezurich/videos/

www.facebook.com/kashemezurich/
https://www.facebook.com/OsunladeYoruba-Records-27200819937/
https://soundcloud.com/osunlade
https://soundcloud.com/yoruba-records

Kasheme's Livingroom Session with Osunlade (Yoruba Rec.)

Easing into the new year with some warming Rhodes and Wurlitzer.

Tracklist:
Bill Evans – Lullaby for Helene (quartet version)
Laurie Holloway – Corona
Ryan Porter – Maggie
Marco Di Marco – Theme for Ginevra 
Cal Tjader – Morning Mist (live)
O’Donel Levy – Sad, Sad Simba
Buddy Rich – Sierra Lonely (live)
Greg Foat – The Dreaming Jewels
Dharma Trio – Enafrito
Vince Guaraldi Trio – Then Came You (live)
Michel Sardaby – Song For My Children
Brian Bennett’s Collage - Madrid

Winter Rhodes

Brian Jackson

01_Under The Bridge

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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