ALBUMS
SINGLES/EPs
COMPILATIONS
REISSUE
Due to the looooong hiatus since my last top ten list, I've decided to double-up this month.
Here are 20—count 'em!—20 recent faves that kept me company while I was
rebuilding the website:
Tony Allen and crew have been cooking up something special in the Afrobeat kitchen this
time around, sure enough! Following on from the wicked experimentation of Pyscho on Da
Bus and the Allenko Brotherhood Ensemble remix project, this new collaboration with
Scenario Records' Unsung Heroes is the most satisfying release yet from one of Afrobeat's
true innovators. It's an eclectic blend of hip hop, soul, jazz, and funk, all
wrapped up in those familiar stuttering drum patterns. One of the best albums of 2002!
Slightly more traditional African flavors, courtesy of a new label run by UK-based DJs
Colleen "Cosmo" Murphy and Nikki Lucas. The A-side is a bit
more jazzy, while the B-side remix (by Nigel Hayes) accentuates the beats. Both sides are
just oozing with soul. This label will certainly be one to keep an eye on.
The musical genius of Alex Attias lifts this remix even "higher"
than the Big Bang original. Soulful vocals get chopped up into barely more than
grunts, as counterpoint to the forceful broken beats. A West London soul monster.
This cover version of Anita Ward's disco classic leads off a new Soul Jazz compilation called
HUSTLE!, documenting the intersecting paths of reggae and disco in 1980's London. Unfortunately,
the rest of the tracks don't quite live up to the breathtaking beauty
of the opener: a melancholy and gently dubby lover's tune with vocals that remind me a bit of The Slits'
foray into reggae. The usual thoroughness of the Soul Jazz crew's liner notes is unfortunately
absent on this release, so I can't tell you much of anything about the Blood Sisters except:
you need to hear this.
Along with Van Morrison's latest, the new album from soul legend Solomon Burke is one of
the strongest comeback records of the year. Featuring all-new material written by the likes of
Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, and Brian Wilson, plus a couple of new Van Morrison tunes
that also showed up on Morrison's DOWN THE ROAD, this album reminds us all what real soul music is
supposed to sound like.
Another flippin' remix album? Well yes, but Versatile comes absolutely correct with this one,
an eclectic remix collection from producers Gilb'R and I:Cube, aka Chateau Flight. Among
the high-profile artists undergoing the French translation: Femi Kuti, Air, Bebel Gilberto,
Serge Gainsbourg, Manu Dibango, and more. This sounds like the radio station in heaven!
The Austrian downtempo duo who could be confused with Kruder and Dorfmeister, except that their
names are much harder to pronounce, return with a first taste from their sophomore album,
and it's a corker. Plenty of live instruments among the electronics on this one, with a
bouyant vibe that completely belies the rigidity you might expect from the title.
As DJs Marky, Patife, et al. have shown us recently, Brazilian music goes with drum'n'bass about
like peanut butter goes with jelly. And fans of those DJ/producers will be glad to
know there's a new artist mining that same rich musical vein. Drumagick's "Easy
Boom" is based upon a Jorge Ben composition, "Take It Easy My Brother Charles," and
features vocals by Max de Castro, who also graced Patife's "Carnaval" a while back.
If you liked that one, you'll probably love this.
"New Creation" comes from the latest studio album by Dry & Heavy, Japan's finest
reggae band. With its organ-fueled soul and "People are you ready..." lyric,
this track's a great set opener. I know I'm ready...for the album, that is!
A super-obscure cover version of the traditional spiritual, done up in a swinging, jazzy
vocal arrangement that still remains quite soulful. From the Jazzman Records
7" collection, WHAT IS WRONG WITH GROOVIN'. (Not a damned thing, if you ask me.)
A lot of the broken beat I'm hearing these days seems to be slipping into the bad jazz fusion category.
But then every once in a while, a track comes along that renews my faith in the genre.
Like this one, for example! Compelling beats, a memorable tune, and soulful vox from Alma Horton
make this one a winner, both in the original version and several worthy remixes.
This album may not get a big promotional push like Blue Note gave St. Germain, but it's
equally, if not more, successful in its fusion of jazz and house. Made by a seasoned jazz
player, but with a completely modern sensibility, TOP SECRET deserves major exposure. Let's
home the title isn't an omen.
The name we should all know by now is Chyna B, who singlehandedly saves N.O.W.'s latest
album from the dustbin (or more accurately, the resale shop). The album itself is padded
with several lackluster instrumentals, but Chyna's astonishingly soulful vocals
on this track make it a must-hear. Best to pick up one of the singles.
This percolating techno anthem of the summer becomes even more anthemic when matched up with
Dr. Martin Luther's King's "I Have a Dream" speech, on Terrance Parker's "Spirit
of Detroit" remix. And with musical allusions to Derrick May's "Strings of Life," this becomes
Detroit techno of the very highest pedigree. Essential!
I buy a lot of mix CDs, mainly to see what other DJs are up to, but there are very few I
can sit through from start to finish without getting bored by their limited musical range.
This one is so damned ingenious I had to play it twice in a row! More of a collage than
an actual mix, this is Trevor Jackson's homage to the 80's, covering something like 200
different tracks over the course of an hour. My entire childhood flashed before my
ears while listening to this CD: from Grace Jones, Talking Heads, and The Clash to
Elvis Costello, Blondie, and Grandmaster Flash. As soon as you've identified one musical
snippit, it's on to the next one!
If 80's rock/pop/dance isn't part of your genetic makeup, you may want to pass on this
one. But if you used to love these tunes as I did, it'll be a very enjoyable journey down
memory lane.
Sweden's new Raw Fusion label is one of my favorites at the moment. Their musical manifesto was
made abundantly clear with their first release, a version of Airto's Brazilian dancefloor monster
"Tombo in 7/4" by A Bossa Electrica. Following on from that and the more electronic sounds of
Stockholm Cyclo on release #2, we come to the third Raw Fusion release. Povo's "Shihab's Habit" is quite
simply one of the most organic and uplifting excursions into dancefloor jazz I've heard this year.
The two b-side tracks, while geared more for listening than for dancing, are just as fresh
and enjoyable.
I feel a little guilty for reviewing this one, as it's very likely an unauthorized release of
Steinski's recent DJ mix for the Ninja Tune "Solid Steel" radio program. But I'm absolutely
delighted it's available! Steinski, of course, is one of the historical giants of hip hop: the co-
creator (with Double Dee) of the legendary cut-up records "Lessons One, Two, and Three," and
producer of at least a couple other minor masterpieces as Steinski & Mass Media. After spending
several years in the musical wilderness, Steinski has returned to prove he's still got
the juice! This mix of mostly hip hop and breakbeat is complex, multi-layered, funny, and groovy.
How completely fitting that it was produced for Coldcut's Ninja Tune label, since Coldcut
have built their own career on Steinski's legacy.
An official release of this mix is promised, though probably in
an altered form because of some uncleared samples. Seek it out in any version.
More musical archaeology from the folks at Counterpoint, this time focusing on South
African jazz during the 70's and 80's. Though I've been interested in the genre for a
few years now myself, most of this material was new to me. Artists represented include
drummer Dick Khoza, saxophonist Zacks Nkosi, and the bands Pacific Express and Harari.
An important and much-appreciated collection of South Africa's unique flavor of jazz.
Povo's DJ Wunderbaum compiled this exquisite collection of Scandinavian jazz/electronica
hybrids that gives a nod to jazzbo Sahib Shihab in the album title,
yet seems just as indebted to Compost's FUTURE SOUNDS OF JAZZ series for its scope. Koop is
probably the most widely-known group here, with a track from their brilliant WALTZ FOR
KOOP album. But other tracks from artists like Kahuun, A Bossa Electrica, and Brilliant
Corner are every bit as deserving of note. In 2002, the Scandinavian countries have
been in the musical spotlight quite a bit, and this compilation is a great reminder of
why.
Another remix album that means business. Veteran Brazilian percussionist Dom Um Romao's
LAKE OF PERSEVERANCE album gets reworked by some cutting edge producers, with results
that range from great to incredible. Opaque's "Lake of Perseverance" remix is absolutely
over the top, with hiccupy vocals and outright shrieks from Ithamara Koorax, and is
worth the price of the album all by itself. But besides that, there's more broken beat
business from G-Force, Catalyst, Ian O'Brien, and Nubian Mindz, plus an Afrobeat
treatment from the Sonar Kollektiv's RAS, some techno and house arrangements, and more.
Sometimes weird but always wonderful.