A mindblowing collaboration between The Heliocentrics and underground film legend Melvin Van Peebles – a set that has the group serving up some madly trippy grooves, while Melvin speaks and sings some wisdom of his own! Van Peebles already blew our minds years ago with his insane soundtrack to Sweet Sweetback's Baaaadasss Song – still one of our favorite records of all times – and The Heliocentrics follow in the odd spirit of that gem, by mixing lots of sounds and styles together in a mad cacophony of music – then leaving just the right amount of space for Melvin to come into the mix! Instrumentation is often fuzzy and psych-oriented, but always with a funky, soulful vibe as well – of the sort you'd hear on vintage records from Van Peebles – and titles include "Big Bang Reincarnation", "Transformation", "Infinite List", "Trust The Cosmos", and "Blue Mist". Special package also features a full bonus disc of instrumentals too! CD

A stunner of a joint effort from Ethio jazz funk visionary Mulatu Astatke and psych funk genre-busting combo the Heliocentrics – a record we had the highest hopes for and still find wildly above and beyond our loftiest expectations! The collective touch on some classic Mulatu compositions, but the bulk of the material here is brand new, and purely collaborative – if you know the Helioecentrics or you know Mulatu, you can clearly hear what each bring to the table – and it works together brilliantly! There's often a gritty funk bottom end, the best drums and percussion, fat electric bass lines underneath Ethio jazz inspired sax, trumpet, trombone and flute – swirling psychedelic flourishes with theremin and other effects that never take away from the groove. Mulatu's on vibes, percussion, Wurlitzer, drums and keyboards – and his compositions and the Helios trade back and forth throughout the set. There's some additional Ethiopian instrumentation and atmospheric vocals in the mix on some tunes, and more of an astral, avant funk vibe on others, but there's always a brilliant confluence of styles. Bottom line, the album is everything we wanted it to be and more – this will undoubtedly be favorite for years to come! Titles include "Masenqo", "Cha Cha", "Addis Black Widow", "Mulatu", "Blue Nile", "Esketa Dance", "Chik Chikka", "Live From Tiger Lounge", "Chinese New Year", "Phantom Of The Panther", "Dewel"., "Fire In The Zoo", "An Epic Story" and "Anglo Ethio Suite". LP, Vinyl record album