LP

Total Refreshment Centre is proud to present a brand new mini-LP from Neue Grafik Ensemble entitled 'Foulden Road'.French producer, instrumentalist and DJ, Neue Grafik, has been building a strong rep for himself over the past few years, releasing records previously on labels such as Rhythm Section, 22a, CoOp Presents and Wolf Music. His sound is a hybrid of jazz, house and hip hop, all with his unique geographical flavours of African ethnicity, Parisian roots and a love for London sounds like broken beat & grime thrown into the mix.In his own words "this mini album has been conceived as a journey from Deptford to Dalston, right through Peckham. During a personal period of transition, I put this music forward at a crossroad of all my influences, taking the time to share and experiment with a band - more than that, an ensemble.The idea is to incorporate musicians with their own sensibilities, collaborating together as a reflection of our society; unreal & rebellious, but with magic moments, and full of hope. The best representation of that is Total Refreshment Centre. This building and its community were a perpetual source of inspiration for me over the past two years & gladly allowed the creation of this project".Having been first properly introduced to the community of the TRC during an after-hours jam, it came to TRC founder Lex Blondel's attention that Neue Grafik had some exquisite compositions of his own. A few weeks later, it was decided that Neue Grafik would form a band and that they would do their first gig at TRC, a week after the first day of rehearsals. No pressureLex continued; "we paired him up with Emma-Jean Thackray, to arrange his compositions for a quartet, added Vels Trio's Dougal Taylor on drums, Matt Gedrych from MaddAddam on bass and Jordan Saintard on sax. Then the band got to work Title track 'Foulden Road' commences the session in truly energetic fashion, named after the street in North London where TRC is based, and where these sessions were largely laid down. Keeping with the geographical vibe, next we have 'Dalston Junction', a two-part affair starting on a sci-fi boom-bap tip, before switching to the ethereal flute playing of Brussels musician Esinam, and the first outing on the collection for Brother Portrait. 'Voodoo Rain' is next, a sweet slice of afro-funk, featuring the incredible talents of London's own Nubya Garcia on sax, and the tempo picks up once again for 'Something Is Missing' - this live version comes from the afore-mentioned infamous first gig at TRC.The goosebump-enducing vocals of Melbourne soulstress, Allysha Joy, set off the second half of the record with the beautiful downtempo track 'Hotel Laplace', recorded at a live session at Giant Steps, before kicking the energy levels back up with 'Hedgehog's Dilemma', once again featuring the vocals of Brother Portrait, as does the closing track, 'Dedicated to Marie Paule', a mid-tempo piece akin to 90's golden era jazz-hop, bringing the set to its conclusion.This collection of tracks reflect the many moods and various genres indicative of Neue's creative approach illustrated above. Seven songs strong, switching between live performances and studio sessions, this is all killer, no filler.

Dwight Druick’s born in Montreal to a professional gambler and an ex-Radio City Rockette. One of five children, he grew up in a family buoyed by music and beleaguered by the vagaries of miscalculated risk. After attaining a McGill University bachelor’s degree in Art History, Dwight fully embraced both music and risk by traveling to London, where he signed a contract with Pye Records and Joe Cocker’s management company. The ensuing record, Druick & Lorange was released to critical acclaim and relative success. After returning to Canada, Dwight recorded two albums with Phil Vyvial: Midnight and Minuit. Recorded with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section in Alabama, the duo’s work achieved airplay success in Quebec and across Canada. Dwight subsequently released his first French language solo album, Tanger, released in 1980 by the Canadian label, Bobinason.Today quite hard to find in its original version, Tanger is first of all an incredibly solid album, clearly underrated and deserving more credit. Mostly known by collectors and DJs for the stunning cover of Toto’s classic hit, “Georgy Porgy”, which was produced and arranged with the help of George Thurston (Boule Noire), it includes many other tasty titles, with amongst them another fine rendition of “Open Your Eyes” by The Doobie Brothers. In fact, with its brilliant mix of Modern-Soul, Disco and AOR styles, the whole album is already considered by many connoisseurs as a classic, and clearly a must have for anyone enjoying this musical blend.Never reissued on vinyl until now, there was not much more needed at Favorite Recordings to make it happened. Officially licensed to Dwight Druick, who was unfortunately not able to provide the original tapes, Tanger has been perfectly restored and remastered by Frank Merritt, at The Carvery, London. CD and digital edition will also come with “Georgy Porgy (Version Disco)” as a bonus track.

"Lovely" Electro / Wave from Venice, Italy (1981-1984) - Alessandro: “No one can tell for sure that a sound of love actually exists, but love and any other emotion can be reverberated by some musical colors always capable to make emotions resounding here and there during a song, ten songs, a thousand ones...” The second to last decade of the 20th century was flourishing in its full glory with uncompromising decisions and emergence of new genres to experiment with. Several years before the boom of the 80s is when Alessandro Pizzin got involved with the creation of RUINS and was later joined by Piergiuseppe Ciranna in the fluctuating group constitution. After several alterations in the group it didn’t take long until their duo came together in an attempt to make the first wave twist towards experimenting with electronic sounds. In the frame of the birthtime of many new branches of musical subdivision, the artists fused their intentions and virtuosity to base the centerpiece of their prospective electro sound. Piergiuseppe: “A characteristic of our music has always been that of moving transversely: from intense emotions to whimsical visions” In a musical conversation between Piergiuseppe and Alessandro, the productions resulted in a relentless manifestation of a variety of contrasting musical colors. Springing from beneath sinister notes and arpeggiating chords to groundless joy and quirky noises. All of it encompassing the perpetual movement and shift of feelings and positions. Obscurity reflecting the anecdotal nature of life. Alessandro: “I think that we both were keen on listening to all kinds of music, therefore our sound was the result of all these different listenings and concepts blended with new technology products and equipments we were used to experimenting with” The ranging melodic palette within the compositions, is riddled with external influences manifested in the web of atmospheric scales. Mirroring a plethora of emotions, even though produced quite the while ago, this collection of compositions will undeniably have something to resonate with and object to. Conflicting love, uninhibited anger, driving passion, young maximalism, childlike cynicism. The joy of human existence is inescapably accompanied by utter suffering, taking turns between each other. Piergiuseppe: “Artistic works, and even songs, should be by definition ineffable, giving suggestions that everyone must then frame and interpret even according to their own experience…” The path into the light seems dark, the road forward seems to go back. The greatest love seems indifferent, the greatest wisdom seems childish. Each is up to their own interpretation of the songs assembled in this Valentine’s Day speciality. The contradictions perfectly balancing each other out will not leave anyone indifferent. After all, there would be no love without hate.