New Grooves — LPs  

Bebel Gilberto eat your heart out – Antena explored the same electric-bossa territory you did, nearly 20 years before your first big record! The group were a short-lived French outfit who were one of the shining jewels in the crown of the lovely label Les Disques Du Crepuscule during the early 80s – and were a real breath of fresh air in the post-punk years with their light and jazzy approach to the groove. As you'll hear in this set, Antena's style borrows a lot from the bossa, but also throws in some wonderful poppish touches – including jangly guitars recorded in a similar mode to some of the other French/European indie groups of the time, and a slight darkness in production that almost gives a Martin Hannett-like undercurrent to the whole set. The group's album Camino Del Sol has been lovingly reissued with a great set of notes, as well as a series of bonus tracks from an additional ep – making for a beautiful 14 track package that will really help you rediscover this nearly-lost group! Titles include "Sissexa", "To Climb The Cliff", "Camino Del Sol", "Bye Bye Papaye", "Noelle A Hawaii", "The Boy From Ipanema", "Seaside Weekend", "Frantz", and "Ingenuous".

Beautifully percolated grooves from Basic Soul Unit – spare and electronic, yet still surprisingly soulful too – almost like some of the gentler sounds that came around in the second generation of Chicago house, but informed by a 21st Century soul vibe as well! Most numbers have keyboards moving around beats in a really great way – and there's some acid electric touches that are subtle, but which bring a nice sort of retro energy to the set – some moogy brilliance that only gets better and better as the record moves on – almost with a Larry Heard feel in some of the best moments! Titles include "Let Go", "Backseat Lover", "Mind Forest", "Intersection", "All Over Me", "This", "Across The Room", and "Clouds".

Lots of earthy percussion here – especially on the leadoff 12" mix of "Alegria" – a flurry of bumping basslines and heady rhythms, peppered here and there with these echoes of older African grooves – almost drifting into the mix as if they're coming from a radio in the next room! The tune's also featured in a radio edit – and the flipside features the very percussion "Cuca (Manga Bo rmx)", which is almost a batucada cut at points – plus the heavier "Puxa (Beat Laden rmx)".

Afro grooves galore – all taken to rich new territory in the hands of a few contemporary mixers! The set's based around a core track – "Prudence", sung and played by Cheick Hamala Diabate – with great work on ngoni in the lead – a hip stringed instrument that dances around with tremendous energy over raw percussion! The remixes augment the approach in a number of different styles – and often find ways to unlock a different sort of charm in the tune – sometimes by amplifying rhythms, sometimes through more subtle means. The set features the main version of "Prudence" by Diabate, plus mixes by Whiskey Barons, Jon Kennedy, Daytoner, and E's E NYC Trust – as well as the track "Fatou Kounkoun Sissoko (Sol Power All-Stars mix)".

The Cinematic Orchestra finally really move into the group's moniker for this late model soundtrack to the classic avant garde silent film! We never would have pegged Dziga Vertov's 1929 film for a jazz-funk score, but CO mastermind Jason Swinscoe succeeds with aplomb! The score is performed with 10 pieces that include piano & keyboards, double bass, violin, viola, cello, saxophone, turntables and effects. It's full of rolling, densely layered passages that kind of settle into a jammy, live post drum & bass groove, but still echoes a lot of the more interesting things that were happening on 70s soundtracks. It's centered around a great redux of the Art Ensemble's "Theme De Yoyo", and the whole thing waltzes in and out a lot of the things we love about both 70s jazz-funk soundtracks and modern groove. A very strong piece – one that blends the Cinematic Orchestra vibe we already know and love with a sound similar the soundtrack work of people like Herbie Hancock, Gato Barbieri, and John Barry! 17 tracks including "The Projectionist", "Melody", "Evolution", "Work It!", "Odessa", "The Magician", "Drunken Theme" and more.