Nothing but fire. can't wait to play this through big speakers ❤

Brown Supremacy is the second single from Surf Coast multi instrumentalist Immy Owusu and is built on samples of legendary Zamrock band Amanaz’s classic “Easy Street” (1975). Immy and Amanaz exist decades and continents apart but a shared love of Hendrix-esque fuzz guitars and deep connection to West African tradition makes it a natural combination. 

Immanuel Kwabena Dreessens-Owusu grew up in two worlds: the sea bleached lifestyle of Torquay and the Surf Coast with its rock n roll soundtrack, and the musical heritage of his Ghanaian / Dutch family. Immy’s father Kojo is one of Australia’s best regarded West African musicians and his grandfather Koo Nimo is foundational figure of Ghanaian Highlife. On Brown Supremacy, Immy takes Amanzaz loops, and weaves his own songwriting over the top, keeping the iconic riff and the “get together, stay together” hook from the original. He adds chunky kicks and snares, fuzz atmospherics, and ‘Castles Made Of Sand’ reverse delay guitar. 

Zamrock was a 1970s movement of Zambian artists who took psychedelic rock and reframed it in an African context. Too far ahead of their time, artists like Amanaz didn’t achieve global recognition until successful reissues and compilations in the 21st century. Now their music has found kindred spirits all the way to Bells Beach where Immy has flipped it into ‘a song dedicated to every kid that grew up in a rural town that felt like they didn’t belong’.

Immy says, ‘When I first moved to Torquay, for some kids I was the first ‘black’ person they had ever seen before, and their first experience from any other culture that wasn’t their own. In high school I pushed away from people who looked like me in an attempt to fit into the establishment. How ‘black’ I felt was compounded by how ‘white’ I was treated by my Ghanaian family (in Africa). For me this song is my story about finding a place to belong.’

Immy Owusu - Brown Supremacy

SuperNat

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Angola Louisiana (G's Edit)

Orange Lounge

New Heights

The Makers - Don't Challenge Me
Taken from the compilation, PERSONAL SPACE' Electronic Soul (1974-84) coming out on Chocolate Industries in April 2012.

The Makers - Don't Challenge Me

L'Eclair, a beautiful soundtrack to your groovy life..

Buy the album --->https://rockthistownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rttr002-cruise-control-by-leclair

L'Internationale Prog

"I love The Expansions their futuristic leanings inject new life into the form. Fresh material!" Ian Merchant (Black Acre)

“Exudes all the qualities I cherish most in music, warmth, integrity and a dedication to the groove… it’s a hard road to travel when you step in the footprints of giants, The Expansions are treading that path with ease and assurance.” Patrick Forge
=========
When The Expansions self released their first single in 2013, the laid-back jazz funk of Lavender, it quickly gained strong support from soul and rare-groove aficionados including Kenny Dope, Dom Servini, Patrick Forge and Andy Smith. A run of shows followed and before long, when someone was asking if there was a soul-jazz band around to play with, “The Expansions” was the answer. 

Although this popularity meant a hiatus in releasing music, the band have been constantly busy, playing around Europe with legendary British-Ghanaian soul singer, Andrew Ashong and the exceptional, upcoming talent Connie Constance. 

But always, The Expansions has remained a central focus and the true home of these four jazz and soul lovers, with occasional trips out to the country to form ideas and practice new music for the eventual album. 

Murmuration, recorded over three days at Big Noise in Southend, is constructed of single takes, with minimal overdubs, as the band attempt to capture the feeling and energy they create live. 

Debut single Breakthrough introduced the insanely catchy but deeply soulful blend of synths and groove, but here on the album that is explored to the fullest with longer breakdowns and more expansive, experimental solos. Pocket 5 displays the, possibly unexpected, influences of broken beat and almost combative rhythm playing – particularly in the complex guitar and keys breakdown where Koor and O’Keefe layer conflicting time signatures and battle to ride it out to the heavy drum return. 

Cannonball brings warm mellowness that delicately evolves through beats, touching on bossas alongside their fundamental hip-hop sensibilities. But even here there is a raucous zenith before the band sublimely recede into the silence of the a-side ending. 

Colossal album highlight Ivory Mountain is truly an epic. Evoking moments of 4Hero, there is a lightness of groove in the first half of this soulful exploration. But at the halfway point, all restraint is let go as a live string section joins the four quarters of the band for three glorious minutes of soulful disco. Evoking sounds of Quincy Jones, George Benson and Johnny Hammond, all the way through to a beautifully cacophonous finale. 

Dragonfly undoubtedly reflects on the work of Herbie Hancock and is the most direct throwback to the band’s earlier work, which is a welcome marker of how far they have come. A quintessential jazz funker. 

The album closes with the thoughtful and introverted shuffle of Miles Away. In the final eight minutes of Murmuration, The Expansions allow space and time to take precedence, with once-more-restrained peaks and developments. It becomes clear though, that the band cannot resist one last explosive finale, as they rise with screeching synths, strings and dubs for a perfect race to the finish line. 

You can hear the influences of Idris Muhammad, Grover Washington, even parallels with South London peers Yussef Kamaal and Ruby Rushton. But The Expansions have tirelessly worked to create a sound of their own and are very proud, along with label Albert’s Favourites, to finally share it.

Cannonball (Murmuration Preview)

The Expansions - Cannonball (Radio Edit)

With help from @nubya-garcia and @moses-boyd, tuba player and composer @theon-cross contributes to @Brownswood's We Out Here compilation, shining a light on young London jazz.

Read more & buy: http://www.stampthewax.com/2018/01/24/premiere-theon-cross-brockley/
Listen on Youtube: http://bit.ly/theon-brockley

We Out Here

Listen on Youtube

Theon Cross - Brockley (STW Premiere)

Kalita Records announce the first ever and definitive discography of Carrie Cleveland. Here, they offer an expanded version of her 1978 album 'Looking Up', including both the issue and promotional versions of her single 'Make Love To Me', and the previously unknown sweet soul single 'I've Got A Feeling'. 

Privately arranged, recorded and produced by Carrie and her husband Bill as a labour of love in their backyard studio in 1978, 'Looking Up' is one of the most in-demand soul/disco LPs in existence, sought-after in particular for their track 'Love Will Set You Free'. In addition, the promotional version of Carrie's single 'Make Love To Me' is one of the best and rarest sweet soul records to have emerged out of the West Coast soul scene, and her single 'I've Got A Feeling' is until today virtually unknown even to the most seasoned of collectors, with even Carrie herself unsure if it was ever released. With the album originally pressed in a limited run of just 1000 with 500 copies of each single, original copies of Carrie's records deservingly command eye-watering figures on the second-hand market. Kalita now satisfy the thirst with the first ever official reissue of her entire discography.

The Kalita vinyl reissue consists of both the expanded album and a bonus 7" single, and is housed in a gatefold sleeve. The CD is accompanied by a mini-poster. Both include extensive interview-based liner notes and never before seen photos, detailing Carrie and Bills' life and musical career.

Looking Up: The Complete Works

Love Will Set You Free

Purchase here

Carrie Cleveland - Love Will Set You Free [Kalita Records]

First track taken from the mini-album "Earth Tones" by Yadava. 

Vinyl  & digital release out now

Order on bandcamp
https://omena.bandcamp.com/album/earth-tones

More Yadava on soundcloud 
@yadavasoflute

Yadava - Tides (OM026)

The In Sound From Way Out 

Residents: @aaronl_dj ≈ @original-hp ≈ @miazs-1 ≈ @peachystw ≈ @rosie-ama-cain ≈

Theon Cross - Brockley (STW Premiere)

Stamp The Wax

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