Bastard Jazz Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 9 Items

Seattle's own Manatee Commune (aka Grant Eadie) makes his long-awaited return to Bastard Jazz with his fourth album, 'Simultaneity'. Lush and vibrant production is familiar to his previous works, though Eadie has significantly matured in the activation of space and character. A step away from standard songwriting, and a total disassociation from lyrics at all, has made this record closer to the ambient genre than anything Manatee Commune has released, all the while keeping one solid foot in the realm of dance music.
'Simultaneity', as a whole, is an exploration of the collision between texture and time. Captured recordings reminiscent of wind in wheatgrass, soft rain showers in the open plains, and cascading beach sand wash over the mix, splashing into warm drones and ascending melodies that cleanly syncopate against a steady rhythm. Though decidedly electronic at times, a raw human element is ever-present in the form of a vocal motif: just tiny moments of a loving voice lost in a sea of reverberation.
The album is a noticeably positive evolution from previous works. All nine tracks depict a calmness and subtlety in musicianship, relying primarily on tenuous snippets of live instrumentation and synthesis that hypnotically coil and coalesce with one another. 'Love Tone', the opening track, features Eadie's partner, a small voice memo clipped and expanded into an ethereal vocal melody. A crisp felt piano delivers a complex arpeggiation in 'Mosaic', a warm sonic bath scape reminiscent of Olafur Arnalds or Kiasmos. Simple, undemanding bass lines drive tracks 'Path' and 'Faulted', though their simplicity is contrasted with a variety of patterns that combine to create unique auditory shapes, both building and landing in satisfying climactic movement. The album culminates in the final track, 'Touch Theme', where a block of sound in the form of a broad, open synthetic chord warms the ears, eventually twisting and shifting to rhythmic chunks that shove against a familiar house rhythm.

After a huge year of travelling in 2022, playing DJ sets in more than 30 cities across 10 countries, Captain Planet dove back into the studio to create his 5th and most ambitious album to date- Sounds Like Home. Taking a turn toward the more organic, retro sounds of artists who originally inspired him as a young musician, Charlie Wilder (aka Captain Planet) flexed his composer and bandleader muscles- incorporating horn sections, strings and acoustic drums more than the big club focussed electronic sounds he has often come to be known for. "The basic concept was to make a record like the ones I constantly pull off my shelves at home and play on the weekends. The records that turn into living room dance parties with my family, the soundtracks while I'm cooking, the music that fills the backyard for lazy hang outs." An avid vinyl record collector and musicologist since his teens, the Captain has a near encyclopedic knowledge of music from around the world, particularly artists from the 60's and 70's, which is the era that inspired much of the sonic texture on this new album.
In classic Captain Planet style, a kaleidoscopic array of genres from around the world find their way into the mix- Brazilian disco, Latin funk, Jamaican dub, Middle Eastern psychedelia, and American soul music. While this diversity may sound more like a mixtape, the Captain's trademark uplifting vibe and impeccable knack for building a great groove, provide the special ingredients that pull it all together and makes the sauce work. The Fader wrote "the Captain is a walking 'recommended vinyl' section from the best record store you've ever been to", because all his deep love and appreciation for classic music comes right through him in his original songs. Throughout this album you'll hear echoes of timeless artists like Cymande, Gilberto Gil, Ray Barretto, Curtis Mayfield, Mulatu Astatke, and Gabor Szabo, all funneled through the Captain's modern musical sensibility, shaped by nearly 2 decades of being a professional world-traveling DJ.
The past year also brought some major challenges for Charlie Wilder, most central of which was losing a close friend and collaborator, the fellow LA-based DJ/producer Sumohair (1⁄2 of the band Reyna Tropical). The album starts off with a brief tropical tribute to his friend, followed by the strong message "Music Is Medicine" sung by another regular collaborator, the Zimbabwean-American (Grammy winning) singer Shungudzo. With the true value of friendship front and center on his mind, Captain Planet made a strong conscious effort to include many of his oldest friends and musical partners throughout the album, including Grammy winning pianist Sam Barsh, Chico Mann, Zuzuka Poderosa (who bartended at one of the Captain's earliest DJ residencies in Brooklyn), David Walters (whose new album "Soul Tropical" was co-written & co-produced by the Captain), Todd Simon, Leo Mintek (who has played guitar with Wilder since their teens), and Wilder's youngest brother Taj Bethel who co-wrote 2 of the songs on the album. The warm light of friendship and family shines throughout the album, and while the influences reach far across the globe, the music clearly shows that Captain Planet has found his musical home.

Denver producer and visual artist John T. Hastings aka Rumtum returns to Bastard Jazz for his second album on the label, "Arcadian Daze". The album is a contemplative drive down a nostalgic highway, reflecting on a period of his late adolescence growing up in Ohio, spending time at Arcadia Beach on Lake Erie and discovering the likes DJ Shadow, Madlib, Fila Brazilla, early Four Tet, the original Ninja Tune roster and more. Revisiting these coming of age memories, John purchased an older MPC 2000xl and set out to musically capture the excitement of putting his first nascent loops together, inspired by this pivotal era of electronic music that has since birthed movements like such as Lo-Fi/Chillhop, Vaporwave, LA's mid-2000s Beat Scene / Low End Theory, etc.


The end result of "Arcadian Daze" is indeed filled with that nostalgic spirit paying homage to those aforementioned sounds, but also presents a forward thinking musical palate that's very much grounded in Rumtum's sensibilities as a producer and time spent learning to program new & vintage outboard gear. The album moves away from the warm, dreamy sounds of last year's "Isles in Indigo" LP, and touches more into a mystical, pensive vibe with elements of darkness and light.

Lndfk (aka Linda Feki) presents her ground-breaking debut album, 'Kuni' on Brooklyn-based Bastard Jazz Recordings. Undeniably on the rise after her 2019 breakout performance at Primavera Sound, Lndfk has already caught the attention of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Clash Magazine, Noisey, and Brooklyn Vegan (among many others) while being championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft, and Jamz Supernova & landing spots on tastemaker playlists like Spotify's 'Pollen' and 'Fresh Finds.' 'Kuni' is a spellbinding exploration of dichotomies: Love & Death (Eros & Thanatos), Flower & Fire, Delicacy & Violence, Poetry & Realism, Purification & Destruction. These opposites are reified in the 10-track LPs multifarious and multifaceted sounds, elegantly meandering through a variety of styles and genres, spearheaded by Linda and features the production wizardry of Darrio Bassolino who co-wrote the album. Lndfk is a singer and songwriter, born of two cultures ' an Italian mother and Arab father. She grew up in Naples, away from her father, the Sahara, her homeland and traditions, which has helped nourish the desire to rediscover ' through art ' an engagement to her roots. Her music melts with jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop influences, filtered through her experiences and sensibility. Her first EP, "Lust Blue," was composed with the artistic production of Dario Bass and released by Feelin' Music; after that she released several singles that saw international radio support (bbc, NTS, Wordwide FM) and gained a massive audience on digital platforms. Together with her band, she toured around Europe, performing alongside such notable artists as Kamasi Washington and Mndsgn, among others. Most recently she toured Italy, and performed at Primavera Sound Festival 2019 in Barcelona. 'Kuni,' is due out on NYC label Bastard Jazz Recordings in February, 2022, while the vinyl LP will follow shortly after.

From its humble beginnings in 2001, the Brooklyn label Bastard Jazz Recordings has trailblazed a unique path in the world of independent record labels. Appealing to both DJs and music fans from all walks of life, BJR has become known for its eclectic sound & community of global artists from Mumbai to Napoli, New York to Kinshasha, who touch on everything from funk to hip-hop, house music to forward thinking beats, soul to jazz and international sounds, along with its unrelenting commitment to the vinyl medium. This November, the label will be celebrating 20 years of operation in various incarnations and are releasing a special compilation and a DJ friendly 4xLP titled '20 Years of Bastard Jazz' filled with brand new cuts from its current roster, plus a selection of catalog material, some of it classic, some of it overlooked, and some of it unpressed.

Hong Kong based hypno-tropicalia duo Blood Wine or Honey are set to release their second album 'DTx2" on 30th June 2021. Made up of seasoned multi-instrumentalists James Banbury (synths, bass, percussion, cello) and Joseph von Hess (vocals, clarinet, sax, percussion), they create a heaving, heady brew of brazen sax themes, lo-fi/hi-tech electronics, densely layered cello inflections and motorik drums. These explorations start with the dance-floor then go above and beyond, taking notes from post-punk and tropical polyrhythms, always anchored by the bass weight of the sound system. Their distinctive sound is created in the industrial warehouses and hidden rural settlements of Hong Kong, surrounded by the low-end throb of heavy machinery, the lingering scent of hand sanitiser and the humidity of the South China Sea. Written and recorded during 2020-21, new album 'DTx2" looks ahead to an uncertain future, drawing deep on their experiences and influences.

*Special Edition Reissue of Potatohead People's critically acclaimed 2020 album "Mellow Fantasy" pressed on beautiful blue & black splatter vinyl*
Potatohead People's much lauded and instantly sold out third LP Mellow Fantasyis back with a very limited edition black & blue swirl vinyl repress. The album showcases the trademark instrumental prowess of the duo and their ease with the loose but hard-hitting drum style brought to the fore by Jay Dee's influential productions, but goes well beyond basic boom bap bread and butter, with singer-centered R&B and uptempo bumps sharing the stage. On this album, Potatohead People have widened the frame of their progressive musical vision and deliver a far-reaching yet approachable set of moods and grooves.
On Mellow Fantasy, they had some impressive inspiration. De La Soul immediately connected with "Baby Got Work," a sophisticated slap that went through several iterations before settling into its ultimate form. Appropriately, the song's diligent construction echoes the ethic of the grind in the clear-eyed, precisely dovetailed lyrics fans have come to expect from the Daisy Age don. Befitting Potatohead People's origins as a hip-hop group, cameos from Illa J and Slum Village's T3 on the summertime teaser "What It Feels Like" and Vancouver veteran Moka Only (the sassy, vanity take-down "Ungodly") add to the unimpeachable rap bonafides.
The hometown connections continue with Lotusland local Kapok slinging verses on a couple tracks and rising stars Kendra Dias and Clear Mortifee, who stake serious claims as names to watch with standout vocal turns on the low-slung neo-soul "Break Even" and the upcoming second single "Hidden Levels," a high-flying house/future boogie hybrid. Following up their successful 2019 collabo "Single Life," Bunnie makes her return to action with the group on "Kettle Boiling." Ranging further, Reggie B, who broke on the scene with his lead on Onra's "High Hopes," shines on the optimistic bounce of "Bring The World A Little Closer."
Mellow Fantasy is Potatohead People's most evolved collection yet, rooted in earthy low end but elevated, expansive and reaching new musical heights.

First taste of the upcoming Tempo Dreams Vol. 5 album, compiled by LA based beatmaker Free The Robots. Coming in with a seperate vibe all it's own, the 7" features the exclusive track "Nasi Goreng", a lo-fi psychdelic beat heavy romp through South East Asia, complete with Gamelan vibes. On the flip, "Marano" is a downtempo ultra bass heavy joint with sparse production, vocal chops and swirling synths.