Original tracks and collabos

Venenosa is the follow-up to Rise Ashen and Stephane Lefrancois' 2002 release, "Mr Tran Travels in Sound". Accompanying long-time sound conspirators Rise Ashen and Stephane Lefrancois are Montreal's Hadiya Roderique (from the band Kobayashi), Ottawa vocalists Andrew Carter and Andrea Figueiredo and Recife, Brazil's Paulo Collier. These globe-trotting cats have created a unique and timeless soundscape which defies classification. Spanning the lush, Brazilian-influenced house vibe of Directions In Rhythm to the futuristic tech-infused experimental dancefloor madness of Obey, to the exorcistic batucada of Pogo Nuevo, we find lots of rhythmic vocals and unusual, soulful and radical sounds. Dark and brooding, these tracks are a world of their own where layered percussion blends with crunchy and deep electronic textures. The title track, Venenosa, was just given a treatment by its creators; the Deep Mix takes the song to a new depth on the dancefloor. The name Venenosa refers to the samba dancer swaying to the rhythm of the samba, the delicious and poisonous muse of the Escola De Samba drummers. Maurice Fulton refers to the title track as "one of his secret weapons". We think you'll like it too…

Rise Ashen and Stephane Lefrancois_Venenosa

All music written by Stephane Lefrancois, David Jorre, Antonio Motta and Carlota Marques.
Performed live on Octatrack, straight to tape.
c & p 2014 Secret Music

Stephane Lefrancois_Live Octatrack Set Snippet_July 2014

Common Ground was Rise Ashen and Trevor Walker's first and only full-length, initially released on Canada's defunct, but classic Fossilfuel Recordings. Journeying alongside these two acclaimed DJ-producers, one experiences percussive dance at its most savvy, refined and soulful.  I would characterize it as a mix of Acid Jazz, Downtemp Lo-Fi with Reggae and Dub with various "World" elements thrown in.

Ashen & Walker - Dub One

On their first joint full-length, Ammoye and Rise Ashen conjure Haffi Win, a futuristic alchemy of dancehall, hip hop, house and dub. Released on Canada's Balanced Records, Haffi Win is a deep, soulful journey and quest for self-actualization and empowerment. It tells the story of personal choices and their consequences, and how we can either be conquered by challenges, or we can surmount them. An ode to the momentum behind the brave decision to move on, Haffi Win celebrates honouring our own existence by believing, with humility, that we have a unique contribution to make.

Haffi Win fuses Rise Ashen's powerful urban beats and dramatic melodies with Ammoye's vivid narrative of growing up in Jamaica. The smoothness of Ammoye's voice draws listeners in and the power of her lyrics enchants, as she effortlessly sings about life, love, and justice. Haffi Win is both smooth and rough, sometimes threatening and always bassy. A textured album, Ashen's layering includes not only instruments, beats and vocals but the emotions evoked from sirens, soccer games, and street violence. Showing vulnerabilities, courage and soul, Haffi Win explores feminine strength and the human desire to manifest ones' self through Ashen's tight beats and Ammoye's ill vocals, with an aftertaste of the island.

02 Ammoye And Rise Ashen - Mad Dem

Silla and Rise’s debut album is a sonic experiment blending Inuit throat-singing and futuristic dancefloor beats.  Silla are Cynthia Pitsiulak (Kimmirut, NU) and Charlotte Qamaniq (Iglulik, NU) their name comes from the word “Sila” in their Inuktitut dialect meaning weather.  Sila is what surrounds us; it is what connects us to our land, to the moon, sun and stars, the ocean and the air we breathe. In respecting and honoring  the need to preserve Inuit culture and paying homage to our land and the strong connection to its  spirituality, they experience and perform the sounds of traditional and contemporary throat songs.  Rise is Ottawa’s Rise Ashen, a Juno Award nominated global grooves producer, DJ and dancer who has spent his life pursuing the intersection of traditional and futuristic music.  Free DL, please share far and wide!

Kuluk - Summer Luv

Here are a long-awaited collection of remixes from Ammoye and Rise Ashen's 2012 album Haffi Win... They ended up on a shelf for years and we thought it was finally time to unleash them...  Much love to the remixers! Enjoy!

Take It Easy (Dusty Johnston's Rainy Daze Mix)

Last summer I had a visit from my childhood music teacher, the amazing Montreal-based jazz flute, sax, guitar and percussion player Jeff "Wind In" May.  It had been at least 25 years since we had jammed, and it was wonderful to reconnect with him and make this little piece together at my studio in Ottawa.  He walked into the studio with a tiny wooden bamboo flute and it's hard to believe the depth of sound he can attain with such a minimal instrument.  Jeff can be reached at www.jeffmaymusic.com and I highly recommend him as a teacher, he achieved the greatest of feats with me, helping to develop a lifelong love of music in my life...

Reunion with Jeff "Wind In" May

all sounds are original from my library and i am sequencin live the elektron octatrack wich is controlling via midi the blofeld.

Five Years Later

Musician, Producer + DJ Rise Ashen in Ottawa Canada - Badass beats + beautiful melodies, World meets Deep, Futuristic Club Beats.  3-times Juno Award nominated. Will rock your party!

Rise Ashen and Stephane Lefrancois_Venenosa

Stephane Lefrancois

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