2010s 238 Items

British trip-hop pioneers Morcheeba return with their first new album in over five years. The band have released 8 albums that have sold in excess of 10 million records in their career. 'Blaze Away', their positivity-packed ninth album, marks both a fresh start in its organic approach and a return to the joyous genre-mashing of their early days, with featured guests Roots Manuva and Benjamin Biolay. There was no template for its ten, extraordinary, future-facing songs, no self-imposed limits on style, no themes to be adhered to or rules in place to break.

Morcheeba’s global success is no surprise. Their melting pot sound has been border-hopping ever since the London-based band emerged from the mid-’90s trip hop scene that made them a household name. They’re about to embark on what’s shaping up to be their biggest world tour yet, taking in headline shows and festivals globally, and debuting new tracks from their upcoming record, as well as playing classics to the delight of their global fan base.

In 2014 Dan Snaith aka Caribou released Our Love to overwhelming critical acclaim and massive fan support. Now Caribou returns with his seventh studio album Suddenly, an album about family and the changes we go though as those relationships evolve.
Suddenly is the most surprising and unpredictable Caribou album to date. Though it retains the trademark Caribou warmth and technicolour, this album is littered with swerves and left turns, and amazes with it’s yet unheard nuances, samples and hooks.
As Snaith puts it, “these albums are like photo albums for me – when I look back at the old ones, they’re a snapshot of my life at that time, full of people who are close to you”. This is the drive to continue to make Caribou albums. Full bodies of work where Snaith is able to evaluate things, look at those around him and celebrate them. As his passion and joy in music making remains as fresh as ever, Suddenly is the purest example of this yet.

2LP + CD + Blu-Ray + Incentives
Recorded in the spring of 2010 and then mysteriously abandoned by Prince before its release, the statement album Welcome 2 America documents Prince’s concerns, hopes, and visions for a shifting society, presciently foreshadowing an era of political division, disinformation, and a renewed fight for racial justice. The album features some of Prince’s only studio collaborations with the bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, drummer Chris Coleman, and engineer Jason Agel, with additional contributions from New Power Generation singers Shelby J, Liv Warfield, and Elisa Fiorillo and keyboardist Morris Hayes, who Prince also recruited to co-produce the album. The Deluxe Edition of Welcome 2 America combines the 2LP and CD versions of the album with a never before released Blu-Ray of Prince’s full April 28, 2011 performance at the Forum, part of the Welcome 2 America Tour’s historic 21 Nite Stand in Los Angeles. The show is presented in stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos, and includes 24 tracks from across Prince’s career, from his biggest hits to fan favorites to ten rare covers. In addition, the deluxe edition features a 32 page 12x12 book, exclusive poster and an embossed vellum envelope of limited edition memorabilia all housed in a luxe, gold embossed package. Experienced as a complete package, the Deluxe Edition provides an immersive view of Prince’s creative genius during his spontaneous, energetic, and thought-provoking Welcome 2 America era.

Alone in the world, we find ourselves. Inside ourselves, we find something to share with the world.

The Essential John Moods, a solo album in all senses of the word, is what Jonathan Jarzyna of Fenster found in himself during a summer spent hiking along the Iberian coast, and he now wants to share it with you. A mini-guitar on his back and a copy of GarageBand on his phone allowed Jarzyna to record songs each evening as he arrived in a new town after a long day traveling by foot. (He did, admittedly, add live drum tracks and some additional instrumentation back in Berlin.) The album preserves this peripatetic feeling, each song relating to the next as one city or village relates to its neighbor, its unique situation contrasting with the shared architectural vernacular. Blipping instrumental interludes (“Trainride,” “Pontevedra,” “Coastal Way”) even capture the disordered, delirious feeling of transit hubs and the sleep-bleared mystery of waking on an unfamiliar road.

“I just came alive completely” are the first words Jarzyna murmurs on “New Spring,” invoking the spirit of the album. He speaks not of the liveliness of manic activity, but the heightened, tender sensitivity of presence. It’s a fullness of living captured by the transition from the lush, jangling groove of “The Weight” to the spacious contemplation of “Pawns.” The dreamy echo of the 60s’ and 70s’ soft rock and folk troubadours suffuses the album, and the organ-soaked “Where In The World” even has a psychedelic tinge. But the overall effect is quite contemporary, from the back-of-the-nightbus lounge funk of “Take It Home” (featuring an amazing turn from arch-crooner Sean Nicholas Savage) to the mournful cupboard jazz of “Almost Gone.” “Dark Wall” sounds like a honkytonk ramble alongside a robot tentatively learning to play lap steel. “Leap of Love,” an early album highlight, passes over the listener in shimmering waves, a love song which remains a mystery even to its creator.

In the meditation tape coda “Relax Your Foot,” Jarzyna selects the perfect sample to encapsulate The Essential John Moods’ hopeful receptivity: the late Professor Carl Sagan reminding us that “despite our limitations and fallibilities, we humans are capable of greatness.”

11 tracks with influences trip hop, Arabic music, soul or delta blues, whose proposals give rise to a lively psychedelism and an ardent shamanism. An experimental album of a rare eclecticism of the unclassifiable Dutch trio My Baby.

It is actually unbelievable what the 27-year-old producer from Cologne has achieved in the last two years. His debut album "Roosevelt" released on August 19, 2016, immediately made it into the top 100 of the German album charts and is considered to be one of the most important new pop albums in the German music scene and one of the few albums that also caused a sensation internationally. "He has the potential to go around the world," the Spiegel magazine attested, and he did.
With his debut album Roosevelt also managed to break into the US market, as well as the UK, France, Holland and Italy - even Mexico. Festivals around the world compete for him: Primavera Sound, The Governors Ball Music Festival (New York), Sónar Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Sziget Festival, Lollapalooza Festival and many others. Radio stations at home and abroad still play "Fever" and "Moving On" up and down. His listeners drive him to almost 80 million streams at Spotify. Everyone wants him to remix their songs (Chvrches, Glass Animals, RHYE, Who Made Who, Blossoms and Sinkane) And what does he do? He records a cover version of "Teardrops" and becomes subsequently a honorary member of the Womack & Womack family.

Here is a pretaste for the upcoming Jungle album. Exclusively available at HHV.

Soul Sugar drop their own reggae version of Marvin Gaye’s "I Want You". French outfit Soul Sugar – the brainchild of Guillaume “Gee” Metenier – deliver yet another soulful reggae 12”, this time a cover version of Marvin Gaye’s 1976 classic "I Want You". Jamaicain native Leonardo Carmichael sings lead vocals and legendary drums and bass duo Sly & Robbie add their flavor to the mix, with two versions on side B. Marvin Gaye’s single "I Want You" was a big step forward for his sound & vision and marked a change in direction – from hip Motown Soul to a more sultry, Disco sound. Marvin's vocals are notably intimate and the lyrics are more explicit, more personal. An original soul classic, "I Want You" is memorable for its unique combination of lush harmonies, a mesmerizing groove and the apparent sexiness of the theme itself. Soul Sugar's Discomix version combines a smooth mixture of reggae, soul and funk over beefy bass lines, designed for heavyweight sound systems. Sly & Robbie, rhythm duo known for their studio work on countless reggae classics since the 1960s deliver their version, taking us back to the golden age of Reggae, the days when it was typical for Jamaican musicians to record their own versions of American soul tunes ... Ace producer Jahno dubs the mix live and direct to tape, from his very own ' N.O.F Studio'.

Re-mastered by Thomas P. Heckmann at Trope Mastering. Includes the unreleased track "Run", recorded during the "Lesser Man" session.

First album since 2010 featuring Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Future, M.I.A., Gucci Mane, Andre 3000, and Ed Sheeran. Random copies will have colored disc #2.

Black & White Splattered Vinyl Edition.
Includes original inner sleeves and booklet.

Signed by the artist.