Contemporary Funk 20 Items

Taking influence from 1960's Thai funk - their name literally translates to "Engine Fly" in Thai - Khruangbin’s debut album ‘The Universe Smiles Upon You’ is steeped in the bass heavy, psychedelic sound of their inspiration, Tarantino soundtracks and surf-rock cool. The Texan trio is formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums.

‘The Universe Smiles Upon You’ was recorded at their spiritual home, a remote barn deep in the Texas countryside where their first rehearsals took place. The band listened to a lot of different types of music on the long drives out to the country but their favourites were 60s and 70s Thai cassettes gleaned from the cult Monrakplengthai blog and compilations of southeast Asian pop, rock and funk. This had a heavy impact on the direction of the band, the scales they used and the inflection of the melodies; which coupled with the spaciousness of the Texan countryside culminated in Khruangbin forming their exotic, individual sound.

Repress on black vinyl in regular sleeve.

The mysterious Tuxedo Funk Crew drops it in full length in 2015!

Concept: On this new album for Ghost Box Records, The Advisory Circle (aka Jon Brooks) explores darker territory than on 2012’s more pastoral As The Crow Flies. This time Brooks hints at a Wyndham-esque science fiction story, where bucolic English scenery is being manipulated and maybe even artificially generated by bizarre multi-dimensional computer technology.

Sound: Brooks’ strong sense of melody and composition is still evident as are his renowned sound design and production skills. Consequently the album is a rich and rewarding experience that subtly showcases a wealth of musical experience. The usual analogue synth sound palette is augmented with found-sound from antique tape reels and Brooks’ ever growing tangle of home built electronics.

In celebration of the 20 year anniversary of this classic album UMe will be reissuing it back on vinyl for this first time in almost 10 years, on limited edition white vinyl.

Previously unreleased sessions from mother/son recording pioneers Uku Kuut and Maryn Coote. Contains an alternate tape mix of "Mayday" from the peoples potential unlimited release UKU KUUT "Vision of Estonia" (PPU-034) LP.

The Moritz Von Oswald Trio opens a new chapter. There's a new configuration to the project, with Tony Allen joining original members Moritz von Oswald and Max Loderbauer. Tony Allen, the legendary drummer who's amassed a formidable catalogue both as a solo artist and as part of Fela Kuti's band, has taken over percussion duties from Vladislav Delay. Together, von Oswald, Loderbauer and Allen form something close to a dream team, two masters of the electronic sphere meeting an afrobeat pioneer. Allen had already established a rapport with the group before they entered the studio to record Sounding Lines - he's been touring with von Oswald and Loderbauer for more than a year, playing live shows around the world. There has been an evolution on each new Moritz Von Oswald Trio record, and Sounding Lines is no different. The album, which was mixed by Ricardo Villalobos, maintains the project's trajectory—a fearless exploration of dub techno, classical music and jazz—but the prevailing mood feels looser and more organic than ever before. Allen's imperious percussive work sits tantalisingly in the mix. His drums meet the electronics of von Oswald and Loderbauer in a way that renders the project in new, vivid colours. There are 4/4 tracks, beatless interludes and complex jazz structures, with propulsive recordings ("3") coexisting alongside more languid moments ("1"). Sometimes Allen provides flourishes of drums (notably on "4") while at other times spectral synths come to the fore (as on "5"). Von Oswald, a masterful composer and arranger with a deep understanding of space, paints the crevices of each composition on Sounding Lines with rich detail. Individually, von Oswald, Loderbauer and Allen are formidable and hugely influential musicians. As a trio, they've conjured something remarkable.

Copy closer to NM

A singularly talented man with an extraordinary voice and groove, an impassioned artist who has absorbed music influences of the most varied styles since a very young age: from Jazz, to Latin and Blues and beyond. For example, you can hear Marvin Gaye in the track “Why ft. Ra- chel Claudio, Erik Truffaz & Valérie Delgado”, J Dilla in his cover of Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful”, or Bobby McFerrin on the track “Good Morning”.

Runner-Up at Apollo Theater Amateur Night! Highly Anticipated Debut Album from a Major New Talent Set to Take the World by Storm Nao Yoshioka's first album, "The Light," was recorded by three teams in the U.S., the Netherlands, and Japan. The notable vintage soul artist Brian Owens from the U.S. handled the instrumental recording and vocal direction for three tracks. In New York, Dani Elliott and Orly collaborated on songwriting and provided tracks. In the Netherlands, Shirma Rouse, hailed as the No. 1 Soul Queen, also took charge of the instrumental recording and vocal direction for three tracks. The Japanese team featured top musicians from the scene, including Takuya Kuroda, a trumpeter renowned for his work with the José James Band. Soul music, connected through Nao Yoshioka, casts its spell from Tokyo to the world.

Back in! Time for another dirty south rider, going deep south back to the A. It's been two years since his landmark debut on peoples potential unlimited, now B is back with his latest long play entitled "II". Eight previously unreleased selections from Hotlanta producer Wes Gray, recorded over the past couple of years at his home studio. Moon B's signature slank rhythms and cutting basslines you've grown accustomed to are all here.

The profile of French producer Guts has grown steadily in recent years and he is now considered to be one of the leading producers in France and a recognised name on the European beats scene. ‘Hip Hop After All’ features an array of stellar MCs and vocalists, including Grand Puba, Masta Ace and Cody Chestnutt. Double LP gatefold sleeve with insert & download card, exclusive content for the download card.

His hit "Brand New Revolution" was played by many radio stations worldwide and was used in Grand Theft Auto V. His compilation series ‘Beach Diggin' is now a reference point for summer and quality music in general.

After three instrumental albums, Guts decided to come back to his Hip Hop roots (he created the French rap band Alliance Ethnik in the 90's) and invited quality MCs and singers to join him in the studio. You can find on this album, Hip Hop legends such as Grand Puba, Masta Ace, Bob Power, Rah Digga, plus singers such as Cody Chestnutt, Patrice and a batch of new talent - Leron Thomas, Lorine Chia, Quelle Chris & Denmark Vessey and Dillon Cooper.

produced by Rick Rubin & Paul Epworth

Featuring songs from upcoming releases produced by Younge, including 12 Reasons To Die II (with Ghostface Killah, Raekwon & RZA), Something About April II, and The Midnight Hour (with Ali Shaheed
Muhammad), alongside Younge catalog classics dating back to 2000. LP format features bonus track: “Sirens II,” from upcoming Bilal album.

It’s not every day you find a keyboard player with chops like John Camp. Plucked from the same Minneapolis Jazz vine that grew such deliciously ripened talents as No Regular Play's Greg Paulus and Aaron James (Gregory Porter band), we met Camp for the first time at the Marcy Hotel. Initially adding his signature touch to other’s Crew Love records and last year dropping an incredi- ble EP on Have A Killer Time, the Mistral EP marks his first official Crew Love release!