the hop

niko schabel assembled a collective of berlin-based musicians, notably the unmistakeable and unforgettable bajka on vocals to put forth their first release, berlin serengeti. the work is fueled by 'jazzy, earth-shaking tropical dub and snake-charming soul, channeling mulatu and coltrane in a dub shack studio with a barrage of big horns blasting blacksploitation flavors with an eastern funk twist...'

try it out. climb into your ride and crank up 'the hop' as you fly on the street. as the sun goes down, snake charm your partner with the dub infused groove on the sweetly whispered 'el cielo', so warm and buttery...

radio citizen - the hop (featuring bajka):


radio citizen - cielo (featuring bajka):


related:

• nneka - africans
  
• bonobo - walk in the sky
  
• derek vincent smith / pretty lights - finally moving remix
  
• nostalgia 77 - seven nation army

get this at amazon

aussi beau que bon... bonobo

pure bliss...

there is something deep inside simon green that understands the relationship, the dance, the interplay between a guitar and double bass played in parallel, between the bass and drums played in tandem, and between the horns and xylophone played in turns.

then there's the relationship between simon's instrumentation and that magical, sensual, sweet voice that is bajka. you'll hear her throughout his third album, days to come.

it's on 'walk in the sky', that he creates a world that exists in the twilight, a world where i happily live, dance, dream and love... where words describe a private little utopia and where the percussion - that sweetly syncopated drum, triangle, and cowbell make my temperature rise higher and higher. but it's not just the pure attraction of complimentary sounds, it's also the substance that reels me in: the bliss, the universal truth:

"they live happily
for they know from the past
life simply doesn't last
so they live for today
for tomorrow they may
not be able to walk in the sky..."

bonobo - walk in the sky (feat. bajka):


the whole album is masterful. pure musical genius, aussi beau que bon! if you wanna shake the spell off... read 'between the lines', "we can't change the world but we can change the way we live"...

bonobo - between the lines (feat. bajka):


and finally, off the bonus CD... 4 minutes and 22 seconds of pure instrumental jazz-induced sonic breakdown...

bonobo - hatoa:


related:

• sonar kollektiv orchester - rej
  
• heliocentrics - sirius b
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm

get this at amazon

magic sound fabric

in my waking life i found i've started to appreciate the tonal, the nonverbal and the silences in between conversations - finding that most conversation is a means-to-an-end rather than the end. 'talk is cheap,' i say, 'show me some action!'

enter magic sound fabric. cameron akhunaton (the name self-styled after the ancient egyptian sun-worshipping pharaoh) is a veritable empresario of formless mind-expanding ambient music. on uplift drift, however, he goes out on a limb, picking up percussion and rhythm, and blending the electronic with the acoustic, the profound with the carefree. what he's created is utterly clean, gently disciplined, undeniably infectious.

electronic voice-over, sultry basslines, surprise waves of wah-peddling electric guitar, trumpeting horns, poignant piano riffs, hints of celebratory hand-claps and a pensive tabla solo give 'my thoughts have become visible' its delicious and unexpected flavours.

expertly sequenced, the tracks on this album flow effortlessly with a perpetuum that exudes the very motion, the very relentlessness of life, the drama of nature unraveling with birth, death and everything that happens in between. without words. expect the unexpected.

but i digress. yes talk is cheap, let me listen-you the music.

magic sound fabric - my thoughts have become visible:


magic sound fabric - galaxy rise:


magic sound fabric - space traffic control:


can't wait to lay my hands on this year's release, observer. listen to this or get the release at www.magicsoundfabric.com or amazon.com

related to this:

• four tet - as serious as your life
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm
  
• bruknahm project - siba dub plate
  
• heliocentrics - once upon a time

novalima

a few weeks ago i did something i don't do enough of and checked out a little-known band at a local music venue.

novalima is a multi-member outfit based in peru. my friend jc returned from a visit to lima in 2007 with novalima's eponymous (and rare, to my dismay) debut cd. it quickly fell on heavy rotation, bringing some heat and spice into the dying days of my winter... i've lost the cd and long to hear novalima again...

their first toronto gig was not something i wanted to pass up.

the latin-loving lula lounge was a hot, packed, sweating room throbbing with the deep polyrhythmic syncopations of this talented crew... and a whole lot of boogy-ing fans. the stage was almost too small but no lie, they made some big sound. the best way i can describe it is a groove-salsa-meets-conscious-electronic-dub-pounding-hop.

i had fun.

and until i get my hands on their first cd (rafael - if you're reading, send it on!), this will have to do...

novalima - ruperta/puede ser:


novalima - africa landó:

PS - i got them... thank you rafael...

related to this:

• up, bustle + out - all out king
  
• amadou + miriam feat. manu chao - senegal fast food
  
• hanine y son cubano - arabo-cuban improvisation

you can find this at www.novalima.net

see you on the other side...

sonar kollektiv orchester - rej

jazzanova's berlin-based label, sonar kollektiv, marked its 10th annivesary by inviting their best musicians to make guaranteed niceness - a collection of select label re-workings. the centrepiece - in my opinion is a wicked minimal techno track, "rej" by âme.

they took the techno epic orchestral.

if i had any doubt before, i don't anymore
life after death exists, and it sounds like this...

sonar kollektiv orchester - rej:


now listen to âme's original.



apparently quentin harris agrees. here's him mixing rej into david gray's "see you on the otherside".

related to this:

• four tet - as serious as your life
  
• mulatu astatke - yegelle tezeta
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm / pink solidism
  
• the blow - the love that i crave (strategy's strata club mix)
  

thanks to paul at aurgasm for the introduction.
find this at www.sonar kollektiv.com

sometimes i get a good feeling

derek vincent smith - finally moving

this colorado producer takes mood music to the next level. wanna throw your hands in the air? take a drive through the desert? tell someone how they make you feel? throw this on for size. smith has put his double length filling up the city skies up for download on his website. here he takes electonic music to the next level, sampling riffs, blips and vocals transcending vintage soul to current hip hop... part 1 is smith's self-styled "organic downtempo" autobiography. part 2, worthy of some major rump-shaking action, is what he plays at his live shows. don't take any of this lightly. smith is a mastermind of sound.

he ties up part 2 with a remix of finally moving, a track that he opens with the deep, velvety souldarling etta james introducing something's gotta hold on me... then comes an electrosonic ride complete with video game sounds, broken violin beats, thumping bass and vintage guitar riffs à la hendrix. the skies clear for a moment when etta returns rippling over a flourish of piano keys. just barely long enough to catch your breath before hopping back on the soundwave...

i get a good feeling... and i don't wanna get off.

pretty lights - finally moving (remixed):


related to this:

• up, bustle & out - all out king
  
• four tet - as serious as your life
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm / pink solidism
  
• the blow - the love that i crave (strategy's strata club mix)
  

if you like what you hear, give a nod to smith... he's continously sharing his brilliance.

riders on the storm / pink solidism

behold the boi-yonder....

i'm entering a phase of mind expansion. and nothing better to set it to than yonderboi. by age 24 this budapest-based composer had already released his second masterpiece-release, splendid isolation.

off his first - the double-length shallow and profound - comes this quasi-cover of the doors' riders on the storm.

easily, the most beautiful storm i've heard.

yonderboi - riders on the storm / pink solidism:


related to this:

• mc 900 ft jesus - the city sleeps
  
• bruknahm project - siba dub plate
  
• heliocentrics - once upon a time
  
• heliocentrics - sirius b
  

all out king

being halloween i'm posting something to represent.

no worries, i'm not about to lay down "thriller", "the monster mash" or "ghostbusters" theme song...

rather, i'd like to ride the wave of the masquerade. to celebrate the night before the day of the dead, i used to outfit myself as the dead (nefertiti, cleopatra...) but recently i've had more of a musical bent in my masquerade, preferring madonna and sade. this year i went out on a limb and dressed as radio-active raggedy ann.

can you picture it?
what, no?

i was a vision in a slim fitting floor length bright purple and multicoloured patterned gown and radioactive coloured hair extensions to match, along with a pink floor length fur lined overcoat. i emerged from a store on bloor street before heading to a halloween art party saturday night, and a woman stuck her head out the side of a slow moving black SUV and yelled, "OH MY GOD!! THAT IS NUTS!!". she was pointing at me.

so in the spirit of the masquerade, i'm bringing out up, bustle and out. UBO are a duo from bristol, england. but you would never know by listening to their music. diverse doesn't come close to describing their 'style'. the first UBO album i picked up was rebel radio master sessons 1, followed by master sessions 2 calle 23. both were recorded in havana, cuba, by flautist richard egues and have an unmistakable cuban sound. but their one colour just reflects another is more diverse, featuring a house track called "an african friendship", complete with french vocals and live recordings from the streets in huancayo, peru. their compared to what relase is pure classical indian music fused with trip hop. and then there's the upcoming istanbul's secrets, with floating eastern vibes.

tonight's track is a party song called "all out king", taken from UBO's latest release, mexican sessions. this track itself is a hybrid, mixing romanowski's "yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah" emcee commentary, dub, heavy bass, bongo mania and of course a lot of mexican flavours. it's the kind of track you play at a house party and people start clearing the furniture. or dancing on it.

so in the spirit of the masquerade, i bring to you
up, bustle & out- all out king:


get this at upbustleandout.co.uk

15.0 the bruknahm project - siba dub plate

i've been itching to fly lately... dreaming of traveling to distant lands and escaping the big rat race. exchanging it all for a little exploration, some intrigue and a welcome nod to the unexpected.

translation: i have not had a holiday in a long time.

so in what would ordinarily be a mundane sunday morning routine of making breakfast and autopiloting into cleanup mode, i've decided to post something to launch my spirit out of this world.

the bruknahm project is sebastian bardin and saundi wilson, from paris, rio de janiero, and los angeles. they live in nyc and produce an eclectic mix of jazz, trip hop, middle eastern vibes, dub, electro, french chantilly lace, hip hop, breakbeat and everything that sounds good with all that.

on their myspace page, they eloquently describe themselves like this:
the block party, the won ton, the teflon don, roti, natty dread, norman's bread, fascati's pie, do or die, nickels and dimes, restoration, the slave, nyabingi's, smurf village, nathans, the guaguanco, the plantano, kim chi, o.e., the conservatory, the bullet proof joint, bam, the kosher deli, jube, the promenade, the pierogis, the pjs, the yarmulca, the dollar van, medina, masjeed, the b-ball, the beats, the cipher, 90 nations.............one love

and wherever that is, i'm there.

bruknahm project - siba dub plate, my great escape: