New Grooves — All Formats  

Foreign Exchange and friends get some remix love! As impressive and eclectic as Nicolay and Phonte are as the flagship FE duo – and given the depth of their excellent +FE Music catalog – you probably expected them to attract the crème of the crop of cosmic soul remixers, and that they do! Reworks features top shelf tracks by FE – plus tracks led by Deborah Bond, Zo!, Sy Smith, Jeanne Jolly, Vikter Duplaix, solo Phonte and others – and remixes/works by 4Hero, Nicolay, Tall Black Guy, James Poyser's and ?uestlove's Randy Watson Experience and others. Tracks include "So What If It Is", "The Last Fall (Focus. . .+FE Experience Remix)", "Fight For Love (Nicky Mendes And Brasil '66 Remix)", "If She Breaks Your Heart (Randy Watson Experience Remix)" feat Yahzarah and more by Foreign Exchange, plus "Games You Can't Win (Nicolay Remix)" by RJD2 feat Kenna, "Flight Of The Blackbyrd (4Hero Remix)" by Zo feat Phonte, "Electric Love (Nicolay Remix)" by Vikter Duplaix, "The Art Of You (Nicolay Remix)" by Sy Smith, "Love Songs" by Phonte feat Focus & Sy Smith, "This Could Be The Night (Tall Black Guy Remix)" by Zo feat Eric Roberson, Darien Brockington & Phonte, "Acslater (Nicolay Remix)" by The Hot At Nights and more. 21 tracks on 2CDs.

Lucky Seven in the Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Bubblers series – hand-picked modern soul, tripped out electronic grooves, glitchy clubby psych and otherwise top shelve, avant yet accessible groovers – with tracks by The Stepkids, Jon Phonics, Ivy Chanel, KING, Ratcliffe, Tanya Auclair, Ntjam Rosie and more! One thing we've dug about the series-to-date, including this one, is that as diverse as the material is, and as willfully uncategorizable it is, there's a shared devotion to real songs rather than mere atmospherics – and it's strong stuff all the through. Includes "The One" by Jon Phonics, "Thrum", "La La" by Stepkids, "Shoot The Ducks To Win" by Stealing Sheep, "Sensitive" by Cleveland & Ahmed, "Water No Enemy" by Tall Black Man, "Hey" by King, "Belleville" by The Park, "Mindset" by Ratcliffe and more.

Stellar dancefloor soul from Dego – the first ever solo album from one half of the pioneering, longstandingly brilliant 4 Hero – thwarting trendiness with ease and crafting a set that's fully lives up to the 4 Hero-ic legacy! It's nice to have a full scale solo effort from Dego, not only because, ya know, he's so damn good – but it gives us a bit of hindsight about just what he may have personally brought to the table with 4 Hero, Silhouette Brown and other collaborative projects. The beat is prominent, keys come in soul jazzy washes or bright and spacey electro tones, and it’s all profoundly soulful. Speaking of soul and the spirit of collaboration, the guests are top notch – and include Sharlene Hector, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Silhouette Brown partner Kaidi Tatham, Nia Andrews, Obenawa and others. Includes "Start A New" feat Sharlene Hector, "Sparkling Minds" with Georgia Anne Muldrow, "Da Fuzz" feat Lordamercy, "All That She Knows" feat Obenewa, "Monday Blues", "Not Bother Talking It", "Dego's Dancehall Cry", "Not In My Disco", "Late Night Fright", "The Monarch" and more.

Foreign Exchange and friends get some remix love! As impressive and eclectic as Nicolay and Phonte are as the flagship FE duo – and given the depth of their excellent +FE Music catalog – you probably expected them to attract the crème of the crop of cosmic soul remixers, and that they do! Reworks features top shelf tracks by FE – plus tracks led by Deborah Bond, Zo!, Sy Smith, Jeanne Jolly, Vikter Duplaix, solo Phonte and others – and remixes/works by 4Hero, Nicolay, Tall Black Guy, James Poyser's and ?uestlove's Randy Watson Experience and others. Tracks include "So What If It Is", "The Last Fall (Focus. . .+FE Experience Remix)", "Fight For Love (Nicky Mendes And Brasil '66 Remix)", "If She Breaks Your Heart (Randy Watson Experience Remix)" feat Yahzarah and more by Foreign Exchange, plus "Games You Can't Win (Nicolay Remix)" by RJD2 feat Kenna, "Flight Of The Blackbyrd (4Hero Remix)" by Zo feat Phonte, "Electric Love (Nicolay Remix)" by Vikter Duplaix, "The Art Of You (Nicolay Remix)" by Sy Smith, "Love Songs" by Phonte feat Focus & Sy Smith, "This Could Be The Night (Tall Black Guy Remix)" by Zo feat Eric Roberson, Darien Brockington & Phonte, "Acslater (Nicolay Remix)" by The Hot At Nights and more. 21 tracks on 2CDs.

Heavy sounds from Melbourne, Australia – a really unlikely source for soul music a few decades back, but quite a hotbed of activity in recent years! The set's put together by Lance Ferguson of The Bamboos – whose funky work you'll know from a variety of different projects – and the artists here not only represent a few of his other projects, but also some of his best contemporaries on the funk scene down under – including a few that we'd never heard before! The collection's like finding a pile of deep funk 45s all stacked tight together – and titles include "Waz That" by The Putbacks, "Baby Your Lovin" by The Electric Empire, "Love & Feeling" by Chet Faker, "Debris" by Axolotl, "Nakamurra" by Hiatus Kaiyote, "Is It Because I'm Black" by Syl Johnson with The Bamboos, "Skeletor" by Cookin On 3 Burners, "Stepping Stones" by Gypsy Brown, "Love Letter" by Clairy Brown & The Bangin Rackettes, and "Hippy Skippy Moonstrut" by The Mighty Show Stoppers.

A fantastic full length set from Quasimode – the Japanese club jazz combo who first blew our minds with their single for Raw Fusion! Hearing them here in a full LP, the sound is even better than before – a range of jazzy changes and tight instrumental work that reminds us of Blue Note or Prestige in their mid 60s prime – with a wonderful blend of soul jazz and hardbop styles running through the mix, plus a fair bit of rolling modal rhythms aimed at the sound of the contemporary scene! Tunes are mostly upbeat throughout – and build from percussion, piano, bass, and drums – topped off by additional tenor, trumpet, soprano, and vibes on some numbers – and also featuring a bit of Fender Rhodes as well. The album features the group's great version of Tubby Hayes' "Down In The Village", plus the original tracks "Oneself Likeness", "Feelin Green", "Skelton Coast", "Ipe Amarelo", "Lucky Luciano", "Giant Black Shadow", and "1000 Days For Spirit".

Diverse beatcraft from a pioneer of beathead culture – the never predictable, still vital DJ Vadim! Spacey keys, funky bass, atmospheric synth and top notch turntable skills are, as always, the main tools of Vadim's trade – but the cross-cultural, globe-spanning styles he manages to cook up are as impressive as ever on Don't Be Scared. Glitchy funk and soul from around the world, echoey dancehall and more float in and out, with some sampled bits of vocal as well as some great guest singers on the mic. Another win for Vadim and BBE! Includes "Hide N' Seek", "Lemon Haze", "I'm Feeling U" with Gregory Blackman, "This DJ" feat J-Man, "Set Them Free" feat Sabira Jade, "Leader" with Yarah Bravo, "Vah Vaow" feat Heidi Vogel, "Take My Time" with Jazz Bailey and "Closed Eyes" feat Yarah Bravo, Pugs Atomz and Jazz Bailey.

Heavy sounds from Melbourne, Australia – a really unlikely source for soul music a few decades back, but quite a hotbed of activity in recent years! The set's put together by Lance Ferguson of The Bamboos – whose funky work you'll know from a variety of different projects – and the artists here not only represent a few of his other projects, but also some of his best contemporaries on the funk scene down under – including a few that we'd never heard before! The collection's like finding a pile of deep funk 45s all stacked tight together – and this CD version also features four titles exclusive to this set – tracks that include "Waz That" by The Putbacks, "Baby Your Lovin" by The Electric Empire, "Love & Feeling" by Chet Faker, "Debris" by Axolotl, "Nakamurra" by Hiatus Kaiyote, "Is It Because I'm Black" by Syl Johnson with The Bamboos, "Skeletor" by Cookin On 3 Burners, "Stepping Stones" by Gypsy Brown, "Love Letter" by Clairy Brown & The Bangin Rackettes, and "Hippy Skippy Moonstrut" by The Mighty Show Stoppers.

Diverse beatcraft from a pioneer of beathead culture – the never predictable, still vital DJ Vadim! Spacey keys, funky bass, atmospheric synth and top notch turntable skills are, as always, the main tools of Vadim's trade – but the cross-cultural, globe-spanning styles he manages to cook up are as impressive as ever on Don't Be Scared. Glitchy funk and soul from around the world, echoey dancehall and more float in and out, with some sampled bits of vocal as well as some great guest singers on the mic. Another win for Vadim and BBE! Includes "Hide N' Seek", "Lemon Haze", "I'm Feeling U" with Gregory Blackman, "This DJ" feat J-Man, "Set Them Free" feat Sabira Jade, "Leader" with Yarah Bravo, "Vah Vaow" feat Heidi Vogel, "Take My Time" with Jazz Bailey and "Closed Eyes" feat Yarah Bravo, Pugs Atomz and Jazz Bailey.