Station MXJY

Searching for a Feeling

our Basic Instinct EP is out!

Massive thanks to the RS crew for making this record happen – it means a lot to us! Huge shout outs to everyone not chasing that money and fame, but caring for each other’s well being, creating, building and bringing people together. Particular you record shop owners, beat makers, party promoters, dancers and music lovers. This record is for you!

„There is something special about the drums, that enables you to set up a foundation, a rhythmic foundation, for other people to play on. It’s a responsibility that you have to do, it’s a joy that you have. With the drums you have the capacity to create a mood for any amount of people, doesn’t matter if you are playing in a club, if you are playing in a hall, if you are playing in the streets at a carnival, you create scenes.  You can make people dance with what you do“ (George Marsh 1974)

B3. SFC (Hommage Mix)

The 31st instalment on Gestalt Records comes courtesy of UK producer @utopianstreams who serves up an ethereal 4-track EP phasing through all things house, techno, breakbeat and electro.

Pre-order: bit.ly/3YxAAvt

Pre-Order/Buy

PREMIERE: Utopian Streams - Now Is The Time [Gestalt Records]

Cover: Emmanuel Régent
More infos:https://www.bornbadrecords.net/releases/vox-low-keep-on-falling/

07  VOX LOW - HENRY RODE

* Subscribe for more premieres: bit.ly/2igyosu
* Read more: https://boltingbits.com/zopelar-safe-in-the-dark-tartelet-records
* Listen on Youtube: https://youtu.be/eVBzaRKLOOA
* Pre-order: https://tartelet.lnk.to/ritmofreak

Zopelar returns to Tartelet with Ritmo Freak, an electric eight-track album from the beating heart of the Brazilian underground, out May 10.

In a flurry of madcap sampling pitched towards the heat of the night, Pedro Zopelar builds on the premise of his 2022 electro-funk love letter Charme, shifting his approach towards a particular 90s flair and a method with a specific end result.

Ritmo Freak took root in studio experiments for a momentous — and rare — live set at São Paulo festival Não Existe in 2023, where Zopelar was caught up in one of those right-place, right-time moments we carry with us through life. As he explains himself:

“This album is dedicated to freaky club culture. While I was playing at the festival there was a crazy tropical storm outside and the room was packed with the freakiest crowd. I've tried hard to immortalize that feeling on this record."
With the intended energy in mind, Zopelar focused on a particular mode of production centred around 12-bit sampling from his ample record collection.

Considering his background as a trained pianist, here his musical instincts are forced to work within the limitations of short, snappy cuts from dusty 12”s. The lo-fi sound sources and the resourceful ways Zopelar works them gives the record an unmistakable old-skool flavour which he applies to forthright house, techno and electro funk rhythms, always taking care to draw out the soul of the music.

The stylistic touchstones flow past thick and fast on Ritmo Freak. From the amped up fierceness of the title track with its gaudy, cut n’ paste, vintage techno flavour to the effervescent electro funk of ‘Gabriellinha’s Boogie’ on to the surreal Balearic inversion of ‘Distraction’, this is a high-velocity, endlessly charming record bursting with the musicality Zopelar has made his name on.

As the driving force behind many warehouse parties in São Paulo, Zopelar has been immersed in club culture for a long time, and his distinctive catalogue of jazz, funk, acid and techno has graced highly respected labels like Apron, Selva Discos and Mother Tongue. Throughout, he’s displayed an affinity for the tangled roots of the groove with an open-eared, big-hearted sound. That’s what comes through on Ritmo Freak — a record as infectious as it is well- informed.

TARTALB023

PREMIERE: Zopelar - Safe In The Dark

Kuniyuki Takahashi - Flying Music Rhythm and Trumpet Mix

Mmm… yeah
People talkin’, but no one’s really sayin’ a thing
Just noise on the wind, baby
It’s time we start listenin’

I walk these streets of neon sound
Where every voice is battleground
Words fly high, but hearts stay closed
Love gets lost in what we post
Somewhere silence waits in line
Beggin’ for a little time
If we breathe before replyin’
Maybe truth would stop dyin’

Listen, child, just listen
To the sound beneath your name
Listen, brother, listen
Every heartbeat sounds the same
Listen, mother, listen
To the rain upon the glass
Listen, lover, listen
Before the moment’s passed

Radio talk and silver shows
Sellin’ stories no one knows
Preachin’ fire, forgettin’ grace
Lyin’ straight to someone’s face
Every crowd wants to be heard
But no one stops to weigh a word
All this thunder in our heads
While the quiet truth lies dead

Listen, child, just listen
To the sound beneath your name
Listen, brother, listen
Every heartbeat sounds the same
Listen, sister, listen
Let your mercy be your guide
Listen, lover, listen
There’s a song you hide inside

The river doesn’t shout, it flows
Wisdom don’t scream, it grows
If you stand still long enough
The smallest word can be love

So I turn down every light
Let the dark teach me the night
Close my eyes to finally see
What this world keeps sayin’ to me
In the hush I find a chord
From the earth to the Lord
All we’ve lost can be regained
If we learn to hear again

Listen, child, just listen
To the sound beneath your name
Listen, brother, listen
Every heartbeat sounds the same
Listen, sister, listen
Let your mercy be your guide
Listen, lover, listen
There’s a song you hide inside
Listen, people, listen
Every soul’s a harmony
Listen, people, listen
That’s the truth that sets us free

Listen (Retro 70s Soul reload)

Running In Circles

UNSPOKEN DREAMS

112 kbps files for preview - don't be a dunce!

Occupying a musical space somewhere be-tween the relentless Afrobeat pulse of Fela Kuti and the interstellar sensibilities of Sun Ra, The https://soundcloud.com/golden-dawn-arkestra come to RNT Reserve with a magical EP of summertime bliss. Known for their spectacularly raucous live shows in their hometown Austin, Tx and around the globe, this release captures two of their groovier songs from their last al-bum, never before released on vinyl. With the originals on either side of the 7”,  the 12” contains a sun-soaked remix from https://soundcloud.com/austin-ato, a pulsing tropical mix by https://soundcloud.com/jkriv, and a disco chugger from https://soundcloud.com/dicky-trisco.

RNTR027 - Children Of The Sun EP

Children of the Sun EP

Golden Dawn Arkestra - Children Of The Sun (Austin Ato Remix)

My first encounter with Maximum Joy was around 2001 when Chris Farrell .. boss of the Idle Hands shop and label there (and still fresher-faced than most) - played me the song ‘Silent Street / Silent Dub’, the lesser-spotted B-side of their Stretch 12”. .. Quite honestly, I've never heard anything that comes close - before or since. Janine Rainforth’s singing, probably my all-time favourite vocal take, seems to combine an ageless English folk sensibility with both a teenager's innocence/insouciance and a smoked-out drowsy jazz maturity well beyond her years. Charlie Llewlin’s drumming is broken beat some 20 years ahead of schedule, Dan Catsis’s bassline is heavy-as, and Tony Wrafter’s free-soaring trumpet channels Don Cherry with aplomb. All bound together and ultra-intensified by Dick O’Dell’s vertiginous dub mix.
Kiran Sande- Blackest Ever Black 

Formed in 1979, Bristol band, Maximum Joy was originated by Janine Rainforth (singer /violin/clarinet) and Tony Wrafter (saxophonist/trumpeter, previously of another Bristol band, Glaxo Babies), Charlie Llewellin (drummer – previously in Glaxo Babies), Dan Catsis (bass – also previously in Glaxo Babies) and John Waddington (guitar – previously in the Pop Group) were also founder members. . In the wake of the infamous Pop Group and taking from the hot bed of musical influences driving the Bristol scene at the time – punk, reggae, funk, soul and Jazz- the band developed their own unique version of the post-punk Bristol sound. Sometimes soothing, occasionally challenging, their groove combined funk, punk, soulful jazz and wild impro with daring and, often, panache. 

Fuelled by Thatcherism, inner city race riots and growing protest amongst young and old, Maximum Joy’s songs and melodies were about getting conscious and waking up to life, « …stay positive, stay plus, pulsate, pulsate no terminate, no end, it’s only just beginning… » ('Stretch'). 

They were quickly signed by Y records, distributed by Rough Trade. Maximum Joy’s first single, 'Stretch' came out in 1981. It was a big underground seller in Europe, Japan and the States, spent weeks in the NME Indie charts and became an underground Post Punk/Funk classic in the fashionable night clubs of New York when the disco re-mix was released on New Yorks '99 Records'. The band’s next single was White and Green Place the slick production was orchestrated by maestro Y Record’s Dick O’dell, string quartet and all, nothing but the real thing! 

Kev (Ebo) Evans joined as bassist and the band went on to record the jazzy, ethereal All in the Air. In 1982, the band brought out their LP, 'Station MXJY', fit was overseen by producer extraordinaire, Adrian Sherwood. Later that year they recruited Nellee Hooper to add to the line up,  Trumpeter Jeremy Hirsh also joined the band at this time. 
Maximum Joy’s last single was a haunting version of Timmy Thomas classic 'Why Can’t We Live Together', on the flip side of which was 'Man Of Tribes'. Produced by producer and prolific musician in his own right Dennis Bovell, he dug the B side song so much that he joined Janine on the choruses and contributed to making it one of Maximum Joy’s best recorded tracks.  The finally released version featured singer Peta on the A'side as Janine had left the band then – (the original version featuring Janine’s vocal was re-mastered recently and released in Japan as a bonus track on Station MXJY on Beatink). 
John Peel was a fan, they recorded a couple of BBC Radio 1 sessions for him & Kid Jensen and they toured Europe extensively.
May the joy be with you!
Any further questions: mail@londonfieldrecordings.com