2xLP

MOP MOP continue their journey through musically wide open spaces and places. Refining their sound even more, creating an unique and deep atmosphere based on the idea of traditional Gnawa rhythms mixed with a heavy Dub-Jazz-Funk pulse. They left the „Isle Of Magic“ - but the magical experience of their music and vibe gets even more exciting . . .... as ANDREA BENINI and MOP MOP once again take a wonderful imaginary trip to a place which echoes and results in another deep musical trip. From the „Isle Of Magic“ to „Lunar Love“ - „There are other places out there“ – Sun Ra knew about these places outta space, MOP MOP now take a journey from a mystical bright shining star called „Adhara“ to Mother Earth, being aliens from a kind of similar but yet different planet which they had to leave as they have destroyed and abused their ground, now in search of a new land. Looking at our blue planet from a different point of view. „Show me this place they call Earth and let me land this ship“, says ANTHONY JOSEPH in one of the key tracks „Spaceship:Earth“.Starting the trip with the soothing sounds of a Hang Drum, „Alfa“ leads into the four movements of „Lunar Love“ – The Journey, The Awakening, The Experience and Close Encounters. „Adhara“ then sounds like the Sultans Of Swing found their Karmacoma finally, melodies of leaving and inquiring discoveries at the same time. Unquestionably, Adhara must have been a wonderful place, but now it’s time to find a new life somewhere in space, all under the sign of the magical „Lunar Love“ in the end. Hardly anyone can elude the irresistibly rhythms of intrumental tracks like „Habibi“ or „Plato“ as parts of the journey through space and time. „Supreme“, a beautiful and soulful love ballad and the dreamy „Foreign Correspondent“, which is about the amalgamation of aliens and humans, the destiny for a new way of living and caring, are the soundtrack to the release in a quite peaceful setting after a long journey.„Lunar Love“ once again features over ten brilliant musicians, each one contributing their art homogeneously to ANDREA BENINI’s musical visions. ALEX TREBO on piano, PASQUALE MIRRA on vibraphone, balafon and marimba, SALVATORE LAURIOLA on electric and double bass, DANILO MINEO playing all kinds of primary percussions like surdo, udu drums, tumbadora and the morrocan krakebs, which BENINI also uses on most of the tracks like a traditional drum set. Additional hang, ARP synthesizers, Moog, guitars and many other instruments create this unique atmosphere of the album. Poet and musician ANTHONY JOSEPH on the vocals adding his outstanding poetry as an essential ingredient, telling the story and matching perfectly with the overall vibe of the tribal Dub Jazz Funk pulse. WAYNE SNOW’s sweet voice making „Supreme“ this beautiful love song and Ninja Tune artist ANNABEL ELLIS dreamy chant inspired by Satie and Debussy feels just right in place in „Foreign Correspondent“.The whole album has been recorded in five excellent studios located in Berlin and Ravenna using vintage analog equipment for he bliss of a warm sound, which can only be achieved by using analogue tape in the end. „Lunar Love“ is MOP MOP’s fifth studio album and it turns out to be BENINI’s best work to date, deep and sometimes dark, but uplifting, very soulful and very original at the same time. Combining his afro american jazz background with a tribal offbeat approach and a wonderful story on top. Reaching out to a state of trance which feels very good once you let yourself go. Please take your seats and join MOP MOP on this journey to these „Other places out there“ you haven’t seen and heard yet.

Shrouded in mystery, hailing from Hamburg, Germany, Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band (BRSB) releases their long awaited debut “55” on Brooklyn’s own Big Crown Records. Long time multi instrumentalist and band leader Bjorn Wagner spent a few months in Trindad & Tobago where he became fascinated with Steel Drums. His initial intrigue with local steel pan music culture led him to learning the instrument both through help of local players and on his own. After he became proficient on the pans Bjorn had his own instrument built from a used oil barrel by legendary pan man Louis C. Smith. Upon returning home to Germany, Bjorn set out to blend the Tropical Steel into his already sharply honed Funk, Soul, and Hip Hop sensibilities. The outcome is an updated take on a classic format, a truly unique sound. Their first two recordings were covers of The Meters “Look A-Py-Py” & “Ease Back” which they self released on a 45. Looking back on these two sides you can tell they were just getting their chops up for what was to come next. This is evidenced by how all hell broke loose when they went on to cover 50 Cent’s hit PIMP taking the DJ and vinyl collecting communities by storm. Many people thought the recording was the original sample and probably still do to this day when it is played. The original Mocambo pressing sold out quickly and is now a collector’s item fetching heavy prices when it changes hands. It was this tune that made the introduction between Bjorn and Danny Akalepse of Big Crown. They immediately hit it off and starting making plans to do a full length project with the band. Keeping in the tradition of Steel Drum records, 55 is a journey through re-interpolations and covers with an updated approach, pushing Steel Pan music to uncharted territory. Flawlessly bringing previously untouched genres into the steel pan cannon ranging from Underground Hip Hop tunes to staple Funk tracks and some of all that falls in between. From the smoothed out Reggae cover of John Holt’s “Police In Helicopter” to the DJ sure shot cover of Faith Evan’s “Love Like This” BRSB’s 55 is reinvigorating tunes both well known and helping to shed some light on tunes still largely undiscovered. However, some of the strongest tunes on the album are original compositions, from spaced out Disco vibes on “Beetham Highway Ride” and “Port Of Spain Hustle” to the ugly face inspiring drums of “Laventille Road March”. Recorded to analog 8 track tape at The Mocambo Studios in Hamburg, 55 is a gritty, punchy journey in sound drawing on music from around the world, using production aesthetics from across both eras and genres, all coming together seamlessly. If the 45s that have already come out on Mocambo, Plane Jane, and Truth & Soul are an indication, this full length is going to be a staple to both casual listeneners and Disc Jockeys alike. Catch BRSB live in Fall as they tour the world with the mysterious heavy sound that is in fact, all their own.

Starting life as a small New York event aimed at raising awareness for Fela Kuti's musical message, Rich Medina's Jump N Funk party has now been rocking dancefloors across the globe for over 15 years. Honouring Fela's contribution to music as well as his political and cultural legacy, Medina has made his events a platform to celebrate Afro-Life across the Black Diaspora. With guests such as Wunmi, the cast of Fela! On Broadway, Asiko and Antibalas providing captivating live performances, Jump N Funk is so much more than a club night. In creating this compilation to represent the spirit of his events, Rich Medina has chosen an eclectic selection of undeniably afro-tinged, unashamedly life-affirming music. With most tracks either referencing, sampling or inspired by the great man, the record also includes material by Fela himself, as well as son Seun Kuti and long-time band member Tony Allen the inventor of the afrobeat set drum syncopation that is equally as notorious as Fela and his message... The album's artwork has been lovingly created by Lemi Ghariokwu, the fabled Nigerian artist who designed some of Fela's most iconic covers. From the record's sleeve to the music contained within, Jump N Funk is a cultural artefact with one foot in the past, the other in the future. An echo of Fela's message: a reminder to celebrate, to empower, to progress.

MCDE shares some of his most prized gems on this compilation that kicks of the limited Dekmantel 'Selectors' series. Check! What, exactly, is a selector? Dekmantel has long been determined to find out, even before the Amsterdam-based crew added an official Selectors stage to its annual summer festival in 2014. While the stage has since played host to an elite class of DJs that includes the likes of Floating Points, Mike Servito, Traxx, DJ Harvey, Ben UFO, and Donato Dozzy, to name just a few, Dekmantel came to realize that the Selectors concept needed a larger platform of its own.As such, 2016 will see the launch of both a limited-capacity festival and compilation series, both bearing the Selectors name. The compilations will come first, with Motor City Drum Ensemble, Young Marco, and Joy Orbison at the helm of the initial three chapters. These are not mix CDs; every Selectors compilation will include a collection of hand-picked, unmixed tracks personally curated by the artist.Admittedly, drawing a line between "selectors" and mere DJs is an all-but-impossible task—it's essentially a "you know it when you see it" proposition—but it's hard to argue that Motor City Drum Ensemble (a.k.a. Danilo Plessow) doesn't tick all of the required boxes. He's been digging for records since his teenage years, and his DJing has become the stuff of legend, thanks in no small part to his head-turning sets at the last few Dekmantel festivals.In truth, Plessow's relationship with Dekmantel dates back to the earliest days of the Motor City Drum Ensemble project, making him a natural candidate to head up the inaugural Selectors compilation. As expected, he's thrown himself into the task; selecting a want list from his collection of 15,000 records was no easy task, but getting permission for the final tracklist was even tougher.One song in particular, Raphael Green's "Don't Mess with the Devil," required him to personally call up a church in St. Louis, Missouri. "The guy, he's a Bishop," he says. "When the Ferguson protests were happening, for example, he was on CNN explaining his thoughts on the whole thing, so he's a known public figure, but nobody really knew that he had this amazing record that was recorded in '79 or '80. His voice is just unbelievable. It's the kind of record that when I heard it the first time, I couldn't believe that there had only been like 100 copies pressed, and that this wasn't actually big."Motor City Drum Ensemble's record bag is full of these kinds of gems, but he has no qualms about sharing a few of his secret weapons with a wider audience. "I wanted to get some of the stuff that is really, really hard to get, and make it available for younger people," he explains. "I used to be in the same situation. Back when I was 18, I would listen to a Rainer Truby mix and he would only play these $400 Brazilian records. I was like, 'Fuck, how am I ever going to be able to afford these?' I was glad when there was a reissue, and it's a bit the same with the compilation now." "Basically," he explains, "the approach for the compilation was, 'If I walked into a record store, what kind of compilation would I buy?' That's what I did."

Limited Edition of 300.Premier album solo du Makizar, Mc & Producteur du groupe Kalhex avec Lex & Parental. Après l’album éponyme de 2009 puis le Maxi 12’’ "Perspectives" feat. Grap Luva & Rob-O en 2012, le trio se réunit pour produire entièrement ce nouvel opus et invite Milk Coffee & Sugar, Pete Flux et Mc Grey. "Schéma de vie" questionne l’identité, l’histoire et l’héritage, tant humains que musicaux. Échappant aux lieux communs, l’album retrace un parcours atypique. Le Makizar déjoue les modes actuelles à l’aide de textes profonds et de sonorités intemporelles.