Spiritual II (part 6)

Released Nov. 7th, 2011 on a Bastard Jazz 7" + Digital Format.

Pre-order your own vinyl copy here --> http://bastardjazz.bigcartel.com/product/lord-echo-things-i-like-to-do-long-time-no-see-7


Bastard Jazz is proud to present a brand new 7” from talented New Zealand producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Fabulous aka Lord Echo. Known previously for his role as a founding member of infamous New Zealand Reggae band The Black Seeds, Lord Echo stepped into his own with his release of his 2010 debut album Melodies. With it’s effortless mixture of Funk,  Dub, Latin, and Disco sounds, (including a dynamite cover of Sister Sledge’s “Thinking Of You”), the album slow burned it’s way to worldwide acclaim, quickly finding itself garnering big buzz on hundreds of music blogs worldwide.
This new 7” on Brooklyn’s Bastard Jazz Recordings is Fabulous’ first new material since Melodies, and picks right up where the album left off. On the  A-Side, “Things I Like To Do”  is a feel good stomper with fuzzed out organ stabs, a bubbling bass, a stuttering stripped down live break and a soaring horn section.  On the flip, “Long Time No See”  brings in more sunshine with it’s big Boogaloo vibes – heavy on the handclaps, Latin percussion,  voical chants and blurts, and horns and flutes galore…. with just a hint of 70s Blaxploitation lurking in the background. 


Lord Echo - Things I Like To Do

Africa Reverb Mix

Big Enough (Reverb Mix)

Taken from the Crown Ruler Sound album compiled by Jeremy Spellacey. 

Released July 14th

Our first compilation, Beauty, offered listeners the chance to take a trip through the record collection of noted Parisian crate-digger and DJ Jeremy Underground. It was well received so we've decided to repeat the exercise. This time, though, we’ve turned to a lesser-known hunter of rare and obscure records, namely Crown Ruler Records co-founder Jeremy Spellacey.

Don’t be fooled by Spellacey’s lower profile: amongst those who know, the Melbourne-based New Zealander is widely regarded as a seriously dusty-fingered digger, capable of unearthing and championing ridiculously good records from all four corners of the globe. He sells some of these exceptional finds through his Crown Ruler online store, though there are many more that he keeps hidden from the public.

Spellacey has previously shied away from sharing the secrets of his extensive record collection. Crown Ruler Sound, then, is a rare treat: a gloriously colourful, sun-baked compilation of tropical treats from Africa, the Caribbean and beyond, hand-picked by the man who helped license this year’s most essential reissue, the South African boogie brilliance that is Focus’s Zulu. 

From synth-laden Zambian reggae and sumptuous orchestral Afro-soul, to humid Trinidadian boogie and horizontal Italian jazz-funk, Spellacey offers a whirlwind trip through the most kaleidoscopic and exotic parts of his epic collection.

As you’d expect from a man who has traveled the world hunting down records, the majority of the 15 tracks will be unknown to all but a handful of similarly minded crate diggers. In fact, some are so obscure that you’ll struggle to find any mention of them at all online. 

This could be your only chance to own some of these records and we don’t want to spoil the surprise but suffice to say, Crown Ruler Sound will surprise and entertain you in equal measure.

Crown Ruler Sound compiled by Jeremy Spellacey

Ezy & Isaac - Let Your Body Move (Oba Balu Balu)CLIP

Renewable Energy

Pudding & Pie

Slow Bones

Groove Merchant Super Funk Collection - Return of Jazz Funk

Superfly

Born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1940, of mixed Nigerian and Ghanaian parentage, Tony Allen taught himself to play by listening to records made by the American jazz drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach. He began working as a professional musician in 1960, gigging around Lagos and variously playing highlife and jazz. Today living in Paris, Allen has long been acknowledged as Africa’s finest kit drummer and one of it's most influential musicians, the man who with Fela Anikulapo Kuti created Afrobeat - the hard driving, James Brown funk-infused, and politically engaged style which became such a dominant force in African music and whose influence continues to spread today.

Allen had to overcome strong parental opposition to realise his dream of
becoming a professional musician. “My parents were…not keen. Back then, in Lagos, musicians were more or less thought of as beggars, or worse. But I just put it in front of them. I was an electrical technician, but I wanted to make a change. My mother was never happy about it, but my father, who was an amateur musician, eventually agreed.”

Allen started out as a jazz drummer. “Art Blakey was my big influence, and before that, before I started club crawling, it was Gene Krupa. When I started, I tried to play like Gene Krupa. Then I discovered Blue Note Records and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers - it opened up another style to me. Max Roach was important too. I studied some lessons he wrote in Down Beat magazine about how to play high-hats. Most drummers in Lagos never used them, they were just a decoration on the kit,and I’d always thought that was something incomplete.”

Slow Bones

Tony Allen

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