France

Since the release of his 2 first albums on Favorite Recordings, Lucas Arruda has quickly established himself as one of the most talented young artist and composer from Brazil. His music is filled with fusion style, mixing influences and elements from his Latin musical background, with his genuine admiration for Jazz, Soul and Funk music. In spring 2015, it was also not surprising to find Lucas Arruda back with a new LP called SOLAR, receiving great supports and feedbacks from international media and tastemakers. One of the highlight of the album was the song “Melt the Night”, on which Lucas asked legendary producer Leon Ware for his help, reminding his collaborations in the 80s with Marcos Valle, when they perfectly merged together the sophisticated Boogie and AOR touch from California, with the blazing sense of rhythm from Brazil. Today, Lucas Arruda and Favorite Recordings proudly present a brand new single, announcing the release of Lucas’ third efforts later this year. This new opus is pursuing the music direction set with SOLAR, mixing touch of Blue-Eyed-Soul, Pop, Soul and Brazilian styles together, and influenced by the path of legendary Brazilian producer Lincoln Olivetti, who recorded some of the biggest stars of Brazilian music (Marcos Valle, Jorge Ben, Tim Maia…). In Lucas words: “These two tracks represent the whole spirit of the new album. In this record I really wanted to honor Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti. They are the main influence on this record. We recorded the basic tracks for the album in the same studio that Lincoln Olivetti did his last works. So, this was very important to capture the true essence of Brazilian Funk/AOR tradition. Hope you guys enjoy it!”

Released in 1983, Guy Cuevas’ 12” Single "Obsession" is probably one of the ''best'' French Disco-Boogie records, enriched by Jean-Paul Goude's artwork for the cover. The A-side's Nassau mix by François K is a sensual and airy journey, while the B-side's London mix offers a more realistic approach that will please the more classic-listening disco enthusiasts.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents this new official reissue of ARIAN: A rare and underrated Disco album originally released in 1981 by PGP RTB label and fully recorded in New-York.Arian Kerliu was born in the small town of Macedonia, Dibra or Debar. Arian’s first recordings for a local radio stations were at the age of 14, appearing in almost every music festival in Ex-Yugoslavia. When he was 19, Arian came to New York City, working different jobs and studying music. His first music engagements were in various clubs throughout the city, playing guitar and singing. He then met with James Benjamin-Fish, well known bass-guitar player, with whom he formed the band ARIAN & FUNKY FAMILY, mainly performing in the best clubs of NYC at that time.Together, they came to an idea to record an album of their own. After travelling throughout the US, they got to know each other very well, and had connected with probably some of the best musicians you could find at that time. Thus they had Sinclair Acey arranging three songs and Hubert Eaves, as a writer of "Still Together", a beautiful ballad written in honor of his wife. By that time Hubert had gained two Grammy awards for Stephanie Mills’ albums. Kornelius Cambell also wrote and composed two songs of the album, which Sinclair Acey arranged. The album also contains a great cover of “Can’t Say Goodbye” by Bobby Caldwell, a song that Arian and James had interpreted almost every night when touring. And all of this completed with the background vocals of Tawatha Agee (Mtume), Shevill Alexander and Sybil Thomas (Raw Silk).Arian & Funky Family band was then invited in Yugoslavia for a European tour, including James, Kornelius and Stacey, but also others great musicians such as William "Spaceman" Patterson, Zane Mark, Steve Kroon, Trevor Gale, Alex Foster, or Reggie Marks, not forgetting Flame Braithwaite and Meli'sa Morgan on background vocals. Having the material of the 4 songs ready and finalized, the PGP RTB label from Belgrade offered them to release an album, with the idea to also adapt the songs with lyrics from the famous Croatian musician and writer Mario Mihaljevic.Today, Favorite Recordings is deeply honored to bring this brilliant LP back to life. In order to insure the best sound quality, the original tracklist has been dispatched on a double vinyl version, which should please all DJs and music collectors.

Here comes the first vinyl release by French collective Parisian Soul, released on Denote Records.Denote Records is a label founded in 2001 by David Hachour and Florent Sabaton, following the success of their Disco/House band Oscar. From 1998 to 2005, their productions filled many international dancefloors and David H travelled all over the world to play alongside famous DJs such as Rainer Truby, Paul Johnson, Little Louie Vega, Shazz, Eva Gardner, Dj Cam, Carl Craig, Arnaud Rebotini (Blackstrobe), or Grand Master Flash to name just a few…Since 2005, David focused on his work as sound engineer and started working at the famous “Topmaster” recording studio. And in 2008 he launched the “ColorSOundStudio” with Florent. But after a few years, the duo decided to reactivate the Denote imprint in 2012, with various projects including artists such as Villanova, Andre Salmon, Chez Carmen, or Sleaz.In 2016, David formed Parisian Soul alongside Jérôme Lecailletel and Laurent Cohen, all connected by their love for Disco and Funk productions. Jerôme, who’s also part of the Oscar adventure, is a multi-instrumentist and composer, who have a long career as a studio musicians for many majors’ acts. As Laurent Cohen has been deejaying since 1985 for various radio and clubs, also working for famous Parisian records shop, Sound Records and Urban Music.On this first vinyl only release, the trio also combined the curiosity of digging, with the organic groove of live music and the requirements of high level mastering. Finely produced at the ColorSOund mastering studio, their 2 first reworks is a brilliant mix of their Funk, Disco and House influences, perfectly fit for killing the dancefloors.