🍉Floating Points' Turntable🍉 - Part 1

Oneness - Watching You (Version)

Sounding simultaneously from the past, the present, and the future, the debut album 'MLDE' by Marxist Love Disco Ensemble seeks to eradicate both the trite from disco and the sobriety from political music. Half poetic, half tongue-in-cheek, this stunning compact eight-track album is influenced by Eastern European and Mediterranean 70s disco records. In the words of band member Paolo, ''it was written in response to hearing 'I love America' by Patrick Juvet. The song prompted the question: why does disco, a genre originally created by oppressed minorities, eventually become synonymous with Western capitalist excess?" MLDE seeks to break this connection.

Merging disco, post-disco 80s pop, and boogie into the fold, 'MLDE' was recorded using only analogue instruments, giving it warmth and space. Recorded on cassette, ½ inch tape, this gives moments of lo-fi abstraction between the beats of an aggressive, tight drum kit. Instruments used for this recording range from saxophone, trumpet, harpsichord, guitar, and rare analogue synthesisers. The bass sound is shaped by early 80s boogie records, whilst the influence of artists such as Hamlet Minassian can be heard in some of MLDE's more driving-disco outings, such as 'Hues of Red'. In the tradition of Soviet vocal group records, which the band has studied, some songs are sung by a vocal quartet in homage to this tradition. 

Tracks such as '1905' and 'Brumaire' have a greater pop aesthetic, with Paolo's vocal style on these more pop-driven songs evoking early 80s bands such as Orange Juice and Chas Jankel. 

The format and message of pop and disco are commonly viewed just to entertain and move bodies around a dancefloor; however, lyrically, the subjects range from dialectical and historical materialism, class struggle, Marxist theory and praxis, as well as the concept of Marxist disco music. 

Adding the icing to the cake, mastering don Joker aka Liam McLean dusted the album with his magic, giving the songs space where the room is needed, as well as the kick and punch demanded by the modern dancefloor.

Marxist Love Disco Ensemble - 1905

KON LOVES YOU MORE REMIX *INSTRUMENTAL

Lost in Space

Lost in Space (edit)

Portrait of a Gemini

Today Is the First Day

Aged in Harmony - You're a Melody

For its third release, Parisian label Chuwanaga goes back to the past with the reissue of “(Where Is The) Sunshine” by Kalima, a really rare 7” originally released in 1981 and produced in Baltimore (Maryland) by African-American pianist and producer Derrick Amin. Part I on the A side and part II on the B side form a real journey, a beauty in its own style fusing jazz, soul and spirituality as well as political values. 

Back in the mid seventies Derrick Amin brought together young and talented musicians from his African-American Muslim community in Baltimore. He tells us: “all black music in America is a response to racism and slavery” and “(Where Is The) Sunshine” was their own answer, “a plaintiff query of one immerse in darkness. The darkness of lies, lies that deny the humanity, justice, and equality of people. It’s the impetus of this song”. He adds: “Kalima means « Word » or « Langage » in Arabic. The name was inspired by a quote from Imam W.D. Mohammad (the late Muslim American leader and erstwhile successor to Nation of Islam founder, Elijah Muhammad) who once said: “Words make people””.

With its splendid vocal parts - thanks to lead vocalist Sabreen Shareef, a unique major-to-minor chord progression, subtil synthetiser melodies in the chorus and amazing electric piano and sax solos, it really is a very special release. It’s been discovered in a Motor City Drum Ensemble jazz set with Gilles Peterson at the J.A.W. Family Reunion in Berlin back in 2016 where he played it as the closing track of a wonderful musical journey through black music – which was the right occasion for a classic Gilles rewind and the occasion of a shared epiphany. Still, one must not forget its yet poetic still political message now shared once again with the world. The question asked by Kalima sadly still remains as relevant in 2018: Where is the sunshine ?

› https://www.facebook.com/chuwanaga/
› https://soundcloud.com/chuwanaga 
› https://chuwanaga.bandcamp.com
Label founded in 2017 by @saint-james (Maxence Robinet)

[PREMIERE] Kalima - (Where Is The) Sunshine

Fast becoming the golden boy of a new generation of broken beat producers, @Ddanvers, shows no signs of slowing up with this latest release on Boogie Café. Awash with jazzy keys, dreamy synths and tight percussion work, this offering provides the perfect soundtrack to kick back to, beachside, drink of choice in hand.

Desire EP flaunts four cuts of soulful broken beat tinged deepness, with this premiere's 'Someone To Count On’ delivering a crunchy, late night, soiree coupling a full bodied bass synth, crushed up drum hits and sleazed out pads. Heaters a plenty on this one, taking Danvers one step closer to world Danvination.

The guys at @Boogie-Cafe-Records are also throwing a party on October 20th at The Crofters Rights in Bristol. Danvers himself will be headlining with support from Boogie Cafe DJs. If you're in the area, make sure you check it out and swing by. FB event link here - www.facebook.com/events/295540314382899/

La'Verne Washington - The Promise

Underrated

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