In a few weeks, the talented composer @elundquistmusic, based in LA, is all set to release his new album, 'Art Between Minds,' to the world. So far, our appetites have been whetted by three marvellous teasers: 'Between Minds,' 'My Sun', and 'Soliloquy'. These sneak peeks have left us itching for the whole album to drop! As we near release day, we're thrilled to premiere one of our beloved cuts entitled 'Persuasive'.

Read more: https://twistedsoulmusic.org/2024/01/17/e-lundquist-persuasive-ts-premiere

Between Minds

E. Lundquist - Persuasive (TS Premiere)

SOYUZ (СОЮЗ) stole our hearts back in 2022 when we released their album Force Of The Wind to critical acclaim. Here we proudly present the predecessor to that LP, the band’s sophomore long player from 2019 that was previously only available digitally. It captures a pivotal evolving period in the band's career, the recordings giving a snapshot of what would become their sound on Force Of The Wind, yet with echoes of avant-psychedelic-pop footprints from yester years.

Produced at a time when band leader Alex Chumak had moved from Minsk to Kyiv, torn between the need to try something new and the homesickness it brought about. Travelling back to Minsk almost weekly, Alex joined fellow band members Mikita Arlou and Stanislav Murashko to lay down II at Studio 42. The album captures these transient feelings, contextualised through the broad scope of influences the band were nourished by. From MPB to Ethio-Jazz and the Italian library soundtracks of Piero Piccioni and Piero Umiliani, the album shines with touches of joy from across the globe.

The opening track 'Verocai' is a tribute to the Brazilian maestro and 'Mirouze', whilst being named after a French favourite of the band, Jean-Pierre Mirouze, pays clear homage to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. A ghostly sample and invisible connection to music made miles away in a different era that has influenced and become part of the band’s lives. This is further reinforced in the album's enchanting closer, the aptly titled 'Nascimento', another nod to the great Brazilian musician and singer.

The beginnings of the cinematic, soul-laden jazz SOYUZ are now known for, are on display across the likes of ‘Lyric’ and 'Motive I'. The latter an orchestrated jazz instrumental with sensuous string sections, all of which were recorded on the warmth of a Studer reel-to-reel and waltzing Rhodes keys.

SOYUZ’s wide-ranging palate is further demonstrated in tracks like ‘Business Partners’ with its Krauty, kosmische, new wave production featuring Inturist, and the oh-too-short Anatolian-influenced interlude 'Corrida'. Elsewhere, 'Tezeta' and ‘ES-2 Jazz’ hint at the psychedelic haze of soul-funk, with the former featuring verses from Serbian rapper Petar Martic.

For this new physical and digital release, the whole album was mixed from scratch by Ryan Power before Joker worked his magic on the remaster. More excellence is to come from SOYUZ, but in the meantime, we are thrilled to present this essential recording from the band’s foundational years, mixed to a level that does it the justice it deserves.

SOYUZ - Kreditnaya (Remastered)

Finn Rees, one of the key members of Melbourne’s bubbling music scene, announces his debut solo album, Dawn Is A Melody on Mr Bongo with the first single, ‘Looking Up’. As part of 30/70 and Close Counters his previous work has found form in its groove, Dawn Is A Melody instead places the piano and arrangements centre stage, embracing a timeless warmth infused with bittersweet melodies and saturated textures.
 
The lead single ‘Looking Up’ is a divine dose of uplifting, soul-rousing optimism that kicks off the album. A blank canvas for Finn and a whole host of Melbourne’s finest talent to fill with colour. Sitting between spiritual and cinematic, the track instantly envelops you in a swell of vintage hues, Lucky Pereira feathering the drums as Blakely McLean Davies riffs on the double bass. Finn’s fingers flow across the ‘70s Yamaha grand piano, delicately dancing around Siwei Wong’s stunning harp playing as the track builds and breaks. A sublime string section made up of Chloe Danger, Eunise Cheng, Nils Hobiger and McLean Davies, alongside shimmering vocal harmonies by 30/70 bandmate Allysha Joy, lift the track to limitless heights.
 
Finn’s layered synthwork on the Moog and Prophet provides a contemporary touch to proceedings, but one of the beauties of ‘Looking Up’ and the rest of the Dawn Is A Melody is its inability to be placed by age or era. A blend of inspirations from Arthur Verocai to Alice Coltrane, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson to Kamasi Washington, tied together with recording and mix engineer Henry Jenkin’s vintage recording setup warmth.
 
Just as the swell washed in at the start, the tide draws ‘Looking Up’ to a close, fading back out across the horizon as the sun sets another story.

Finn Rees - Looking Up

The next single from New Regency Orchestra’s self-titled forthcoming album comes in form of Manuel Sánchez Acosta’s salsa sensation, ‘Papa Boco’. Originally written by the Dominican physician and composer, the band took inspiration from a different 1962 arrangement, made by bandleader and timbales maestro, Orlando Marin. 

For this fresh reimagining of ‘Papa Boco’, the 18-piece big band of New Regency Orchestra keeps the essence of Marin’s arrangement whilst adding their explosive flair to proceedings. An Afro-Cuban-flavoured warmth washes over you from the off, with Latin percussion and a swell of peaking horns kicking the song into gear immediately. Stepping forth, Jose Cesar’s commanding vocals give a distinctive depth to the recording that sets it apart from Marin’s version. 

With bandleader Eliane Correa on the keys and at the helm, the salsa energy is amplified through her scintillating and syncopated chords. As the track peaks, the groove swaps from 4’s to 3’s for the breakdown slipping into sensuous territory before bursting back into the dynamism of the full orchestra’s power.

A respectful yet contemporary take on a salsa gem from one of London’s most electrifying new acts.

New Regency Orchestra - Papa Boco

Recorded as part of a four-day session at Berlin’s Brewery Studios with a cast of close collaborators from both Budapest and Berlin’s vibrant jazz scenes, Destruction Everywhere marks the beginning of a new chapter for Àbáse.

The track features Ziggy Zeitgeist (30/70) on drums, Ori Jacobson on saxophone, flautist Fanni Zahár, Andras Koroknay on bass and Ghanaian percussionist Eric Owusu. The release brings in an era of partnership with Analogue Foundation, who are dedicated to preserving and furthering analogue creation via record releases, international events, and activities at its recording studio and hi-fi listening bar. The Foundation is headed up by Grammy-winning New York City recording and mixing engineer Russel Elvado, Soundwalk Collective, and Berlin recording and mix engineer Erik Breuer.
credits
released March 28, 2024
Fanni Zahár - flute
Ori Jacobson - sax
Eric Owusu Sunday - congas, bongo
Szabolcs Bognár - Rhodes, Roland SH2000, clave
András Koroknay - bass
Ziggy Zeitgeist - drums

Written by Szabolcs Bognár

Recorded and mixed by Erik Breuer at Brewery Studios, Berlin
Assistant engineers: Rhea Sodemann, Heinrich Matis
Mastered at The Carvery Studio, London by Frank Merritt
Cover design and layout by Mark Fridvaszki

Oshu Records x Bridge The Gap x Analogue Foundation

Supported by Initiative Musik gGmbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.

Destruction Everywhere

If 2022’s The Children Of Scorpio was the debut album that turned people onto the world of Project Gemini aka Paul Osborne, Colours & Light is the body of work that will be buried deep into their hearts. It is a majestic album, bringing together the worlds of folk rock, psych soundtracks and hazy cinematic funk.
 
A growing confidence and ease emanate from the writing and production of this sophomore LP, bolstered by the reception to his standout debut. “It’s a more layered and diverse record” Paul mentions, “with a more outward-looking, global sound, born out of the records I was listening to and the musicians I was lucky enough to collaborate with”. It feels relaxed yet self-assured, with a kaleidoscope of sounds that twist together in a mesmerising fashion.
 
The theme of the album developed naturally through the lyrics Paul began writing. A creative process both plagued and fed by insomnia, nourished by relationships, entwined in emotions, nights out, nights in and the after-effects on the human condition. Relatable themes yet seen through the prism of a soundscape that takes in many a different culture and scene. From acid folk to psych-funk, Francophile elements to Anatolian and Eastern inspirations, all interlocking and rotating as one.
 
Drawing inspiration from those he admires, Colours & Light radiates with collaborations. The title track, which tips its hat to a live 1973 TV version of Pentangle’s ‘Wedding Dress’, features the folk rock, guitar brilliance of Jack Sharp from Wolf People/Large Plants.
 
Elsewhere, two tracks are blessed by the sultry, smokey French vocals of Gloria’s Wendy Martinez, ‘Extra Nuit’ and ‘Entre chien et loup’. The former echoes Paul's love of classic French psych-pop from the late ’60s and early ’70s and artists such as Laurance Vanay, Calcium, Leonie, and Serge Gainsbourg. Martinez's sublime vocal work nestles perfectly within Paul's psych-folk-funk productions, as her Gloria partner, Alexis Morel (aka Kid Victrola) sprinkles a dose of entrancing guitar line magic on proceedings.
 
The list of collaborations extends further with Raz and Markey Funk, drummer Tony Coote and percussionist Paul Elliott all featuring. Regular collaborator and underground icon Barrie Cadogan (Little Barrie) returns along with Bert Page from The Cromagnon Band, who between them provide a hit of whacked-out, fuzzed-up country guitar and Moog madness respectively on ‘Lost In The Woods (Bacchanal)’.
 
Rounding off the record Paul’s daughter, Olivia Osborne, supplies the keyboard intro on the penultimate track ‘Twilight’. Dorian Conway from The Soundcarriers (whose bandmate Paul Isherwood returns on mixing duties) then layers echoing heavy flute parts to magically capture the psychedelic sunrise images brought to mind. 
 
Balancing light and shade on this record, there is beauty and tension all wrapped up in Paul’s vivid and visceral, storytelling gift.

Project Gemini - Lost In The Woods (Bacchanal)

Project Gemini - The Sun Devil

Project Gemini - Lost In The Woods (Paranoia)

‘Expansion’ is the second single from Melbourne-based, Finn Rees’ forthcoming debut album, Dawn Is A Melody. A Brazilian-inspired, spirit-embracing jazz immersion, that nods to greats like Luiz Eça, Dom Salvador and Cesar Camargo Mariano yet showcases the vibrancy of Finn’s contemporary palette. 

Further illuminating the microcosm of colour that is Dawn Is A Melody, ‘Expansion’ explores the connection between the worldly and those cosmic realms that float in between, with the help of some of Melbourne’s finest musicians. Igniting the track, Lucky Pereira’s exquisite drumming marries with Blakely McLean Davies’ strutting double bass playing, as a Latin touch shines through Dom Kirk’s percussion. 

Sitting at the helm, Finn’s signature mastery across the keys from the ‘70s Yamaha grand piano to the warming tones of the Rhodes, elevate your mind to a weightless dimension. Enhancing those earthly measures, he taps into the cosmic-channelling Moog to add an undertone of interstellar electronics.  A foundation that gives ground for the triplet of horns to form a harmonious unison, Audrey Powne on trumpet, Cheryl Durongpisitkul on tenor sax, Josh Moshe on alto sax, all gliding as one. 

Both grounded and galactic, it’s an intricate, soulful and spiritual jazz journey with a depth and richness that is perfectly saturated by recording and mix engineer Henry Jenkin’s vintage recording setup.

Finn Rees - Expansion

lullaby

Dave Bayes on soundcloud,is known for his beautiful compositions and excellent guitarplay. We had already worked together. (Darklight united, No good, Zen Warrior). I like this song made and played by Dave and his Viking was suddenly dropped in my small tearoom!

Lyrics: 

 I’m gonna tell you what i saw today
What i saw today
I saw a viking, is saw a big viking
In a small room
In a small tearoom
I said hey
i wanna come over
Is that okay
Can i  sit next to you    

Want to
Want to know all    about you
The viking said, my name is Bjorn, my name is Bjorn, meaning beer grr
Nananananbeekebeer    in a small room
Want to know all about you

You have beautiful hair, 
You have beautiful eyes
He wasn’t into small talk
Want to see my tattoo
Mmmm there is still place for my face on you

Viking, Want To Know All About You! (collab Dave Bayes)

Record label. Record shop. Film label. Since 1989.

Project Gemini - Lost In The Woods (Bacchanal)

Mr Bongo

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