The FRC series is evolving arround the same-titled album "Fidelity Radio Club", which is coming April 9th on Jakarta Records.

Preorder the vinyl here: sfidelity.bandcamp.com/album/fidelity-radio-club
Find all radio shows & links to the album here: www.fidelityradioclub.com

FRC (Fidelity Radio Club) is a radio show where I invite people to give them the space to play the music they love and that inspires them. Producer, multi-instrumentalist and dear friend @abasemusic is playing some of his dearest songs.

TRACKLIST: bit.ly/3qw6ZkF

ÀBÁSE – S. Fidelity's FRC Radio Show (Episode 006)

MIMS is excited premiere "Alcazar" an uplifting & cinematic slice of dancefloor ready jazz that should sound incredible on a good sound system in a dark, low-ceilinged room.

Recalling 4Hero and Cinematic Orchestra, Vertaal's Odyssey is due for release on Empty Quarter Tribe as a bonus track on the new physical and extended version of their debut release, 'Paradigm Shifting'.

The track was inspired by observing people’s habits and home rituals during lockdowns. Multi-instrumentalist Theo Howarth and drummer Ajit Gill are joined by bass player Severin Bruhin and saxophonist Loren Hignall.

Gill and Howarth originally bonded over a shared love of groove, broken beat, Dill, neo soul, and that blend of jazz with funk, soul and electronic music often referred to as nu jazz.

As Vertaal the duo recorded and released music inspired be these shared musical tastes, releasing the 'Speric' E.P. in 2017, and 'Paradign Shifting' album in 2020, both on Empty Quarter Tribe.

Bandcamp

Exclusive Premiere: Vertaal "Alcazar" (Forthcoming on Empty Quarter Tribe)

Adelaide neo-soulster Rob Edwards gets the remix treatment from non-other than Kaidi Tatham, who adding his Midas touch turns “Lonely Lover” into a sublime stew of broken boogie, jazz and neo soul. 

Adelaide-based singer-songwriter Rob Edwards has been a staple of his local scene for a few years now, whilst touring further afield across Australia. Eagerly displaying his strong falsetto vocals with a taste for grooves. On “Lonely Lover” he sings about someone he can’t seem to have and his need to find “somebody other than you”.

Kaidi Tatham almost needs no introduction. Hailed by Giles Peterson as the UK’s most gifted contemporary keys player, the multi-faceted producer and multi-instrumentalist, is a key architect and often quietly credited craftsman of the West London / broken beat sound. 

His impact has been immense, whether as a solo artist, a member of Bugz In The Attic, or collaborating with the likes of Dego (4hero / 2000black), with IG Culture in Likwid Biskit and recently with Andrew Ashong. Tatham is currently on another high having released the widely acclaimed ‘An Insight To All Minds’ LP on First Word Records.

Kaidi’s “Lonely Lover” remix is released on April 30th on Inkswel and Erin Buku’s Inner Tribe Records.

Pre-Order

Exclusive Premiere: Rob Edwards "Lonely Lover" (Kaidi Tatham Remix) [Inner Tribe Records]

Originally released in 1980 on short-lived Oregon label ‘Match Box Recordings’, ‘Burnin’’ is the only album recorded by Portland jazz/funk band Carl Smith And The Natural Gas Company.

At the time of the release of this album, Carl Smith’s band had already been performing for almost two decades, starting out as the ‘Carl Smith Orchestra’ in 1959, fusing 40s and 50s big band styles with rock’n’roll, before gradually morphing into the more compact jazz / funk influenced outfit you can hear on Burnin’.

“Carl had this bright red delivery van he bought from the natural gas company. He got a hold of that thing and that’s how we went on the road. When we’d roll up to the gig they’d see this big van full of musicians and on the outside it said “Natural Gas Co.” Then out comes Carl Smith and it’s all over.” – Lee Bradford (trumpet, flugelhorn)

The orchestra that Carl Smith founded was a Portland institution for about 50 years all-told, becoming an essential training ground for young musicians on the come-up; even the later Grammy-award winning trumpeter Chris Botti passed through at the age of 17 and Jefferson Airplane’s Signe Anderson was a long-time collaborator. It was “hard to find many jazz players around here who haven’t played with the band” said Smith in a 1980 interview with The Oregonian. They performed at festivals, universities, nightclubs, dance studios and even military bases from Portland to Seattle and everywhere in between, opening for Dave Brubeck, Buddy Miles and Johnny Ray among many others.

The story of this album’s recording has gone down in infamy among the remaining band members and Carl Smith’s daughter Carlee (who performed lead vocals on ‘Love Won’t Let Me Go’), all of whom recall a fraught, rushed recording process, led by a producer who had no musical experience and was nothing more than a puppet for the somewhat shady label owners. This led to the album being cut too fast and accidentally pitched up a key, so if you want to hear it as the band intended, pull the pitch control down a little on your turntable.

“Turns out the whole thing was backed by a bunch of farmers from central Oregon who were looking to take a loss… So here we were playing out and selling records. As soon as we were about to hit one thousand copies sold, their plan was to stop promotion so it would die…but we didn’t know that.” – Peter Piazza (trombone, electric violin, euphonium)

Upon its release, the album received airplay on several radio stations across Oregon and Washington, the band were invited to play live on local TV channel KGW, and copies sold out quickly within the local area. Despite the bitter-sweet circumstances around the record, Burnin’ remains a fantastic document of this well-drilled and talented group of players, showcasing original funk, jazz and soul compositions mostly arranged by Larry Dunlap, who went on to become musical director for the Pointer Sisters and write for Cleo Laine during a long and fruitful career in music.

The original label’s intentional sabotage of Burnin’ has made it a rare and sought-after album for vinyl collectors the World over, so we are delighted to reissue it for the first time ever, complete with its original artwork, accompanied by liner notes providing a detailed oral history of the band, as told by several of its original members. 
credits

Carl Smith And The Natural Gas Company - You Take The Time

Second show in the monthly series for Charlie Dark's Run Dem Radio station. Playing a selection of favourites and recent discoveries. Covering a wide selection of genres, from Modern Soul through to rare grooves from Japan.

Run Dem Radio #2

Late last year Toby Glider a.k.a Liquid Pegasus released his phenomenal album; Novelty on CityBaby Records . This was listed as one of Aswad's favourites of 2020 and was one of the most notable releases across the board. On the show Aswad and Toby Glider get together and discuss about the makings of the album, influences, Japanese 80's culture and even the notorious artwork created by Chris Hopkins + more! The show also features new music from a talented roster including Frankfurt Funk, Madd3e, Big Jacks, Kutcorners, Angela Apigo and Soul Supreme.

S3 EP5 - Toby Glider

“Gotta Give It Up!!!” is soulful, dancy and riddled with funk. The track is inspired by the soul and funk artists of the 70’s and 80’s (such as Rick James and Earth, Wind & Fire) and modernized with a production style that pays homage to the current funk masters like DāM-FunK and Mndsgn. It features an intricate synth-bass line, a horn section, slick rhythm guitar, and gang vocals (reminiscent of the P-Funk era). The release is the second single off of Alistair Blu’s upcoming 4-track EP, titled Shades of Blu, scheduled for release on October 1st.

@alistairblu: This track was really fun to make. It all started with that synth-bass line that pulses along throughout the whole tune. I think that’s what inspired me to create a whole song around that groove. I had the first three elements (programmed drums, the main synth pad, and the synth-bass) that gave me a solid starting point to make something special. In order to get that big chorus sound I recruited some awesome musicians, including the very talented vocalist Mel Pacifico and my horn player pals from Busty and the Bass (Scott Bevins on trumpet and Chris Vincent on trombone). 

The track has two instrumental solos in there too. The first is a reverse trumpet solo that Scott initially recorded and that I later processed and chopped up. Then there’s that climactic synth solo that I added near the end. I wanted to combine a bunch of elements of various funk styles, from Parliament-Funkadelic and Rick James to the more contemporary producers of Modern Funk. I’m happy to hear how the track finally ended up.

Purchase

Exclusive Premiere: Alistair Blu "Gotta Give It Up!!!"

Here at Studio Funk we are super stoked to have the wonderful Andre Gibson on this months show. The multi talented musician, singer and songwriter of Universal Togetherness Band. As you can expect we have a lot to discuss including the history surrounding the band, how it got started, early memories and performing on the notorious TV show, The Chicago Party at the CopHerBox II (1982). We also talk about Andre’s desire to continue to making music and his recent album ‘Movin On’. Plus the collaboration with The Numero Group to publish the unreleased material of Universal Togetherness Band many years later. It’s a full packed show and if that wasn’t enough we wrap up the episode with a Studio Funk Chicago Party featuring music by Jesus Wayne, Donnell Pitman, Universal Togetherness Band and many more!

Tracklist

S4 EP4 - Andre Gibson

¿Qué horas son, mi corazón?
Te lo dije bien clarito
Permanece a la escucha
Permanece a la escucha
Doce de la noche en La Habana, Cuba
Once de la noche en San Salvador, El Salvador
Once de la noche en Managua, Nicaragua...

Manu Chao - Me Gustas Tú (re disco ver ''¿Qué voy a hacer?" Mi Corazón de Rockero Mix) back to 2001

Buy / Stream it here: https://orcd.co/happysongremixes

Following the release of ‘Happy Song’, the first single from forthcoming album ‘Break The Wall’, MF Robots reveal the full extended version of the song alongside remixes from Kenny Dope, Kaidi Tatham and Daz-I-Kue.

It’s only right that Kenny Dope should be the first producer to remix Jan Kincaid and Dawn Joseph’s new MF Robots project, considering the trio’s shared musical history. Kenny Dope began reworking Jan’s ‘Brand New Heavies’ material back in the early 90’s as one half of Masters At Work, helping the band reach club-land over and over again with a series of iconic remixes, recorded during the golden era of MAW’s output.

It’s no surprise then that there’s more than a hint of that special, Latin sunshine-infused mid-90’s House sound in Kenny’s rework of Happy Song, which showcases Dawn’s impeccable vocals over an infectious rhythm track and ultra-funky horn stabs. An instrumental version of Kenny’s mix is also included for the House purists, as well as the full, extended original version of Happy Song, packed with tight musicianship and more than its fair share of great grooves.

Pioneers of the UK Broken Beat movement and contributors to its most emblematic group, Bugz In The Attic, it seems almost inconceivable that Kaidi Tatham & Daz-I-Kue have never actually worked on a remix together before. As strange as it may sound, it’s true, and their powerhouse rework of ‘Happy Song’ is most definitely worth the wait.

About MF Robots:

Meeting in 2013 while recording and performing with one of the UK’s most commercially successful Acid Jazz bands, legendary UK drummer Jan Kincaid and vocalist Dawn Joseph discovered immediate musical chemistry and began writing songs together right away. They soon left the band to concentrate on their own work, starting MF Robots (Music For Robots) and releasing an eponymous debut in 2018. The album was so well received that the duo soon morphed into a band as they found themselves in-demand at venues and festivals all over Europe.

Forthcoming long player ‘Break The Wall’ represents a new benchmark for Jan and Dawn, reflecting the MF Robots project coalescing and maturing while fine-tuning their material, both on the road and in the studio.

Happy Song Remixes

MF Robots - Happy Song (Kaidi Tatham & Daz-I-Kue Remix)

With the vast amount of new music released in the past weeks, the show features a top draw selection of talented artists including Saucy Lady, K-Maxx, Morgan, XL Middleton, First Touch, Soul Supreme, Dam Funk, The Vapor Caves, The Jack Moves + more! I also sit down and catch up with Walla P about Prime Source and have a sneak preview into some of the new things lined up coming in the next month. Aswad also shares some close to the heart favourites from the collection (of course ☺️)

S3 EP2 - Business As Usual

Studio Funk - podcast show created and hosted by Aswad. Showcasing his discoveries, music collection, and interviews the leading names in modern funk and soul.