Nu-Jazz | Broken Beat 9 Items

Steve Spacek returns to Eglo Records after making his label debut with the summer smash 'Follow Me'. The Lewisham born singer/producer continues to innovate, utilizing the latest technologly (he made these two tracks on an ipad) to push his unique London style from his new home in Sydney NSW. 'If U Wan 2 Find Me' is a celestial slice of vocal footwork/soul, with Spacek offering his own zero gravity take on the chicago sound. Bside 'Time Is Running Out' completely switches up the tempo, this stripped back techno bubbler feels like the soundtrack to a late night cruise around the red planet. Signature Spacek swing and acid bounce througout. Steve Spacek remains one of the most unique and versatile artists from the UK, born out of Londons soundsystem culture his fearless and forwarding thinking approach to music and technology has made him impossible to pigeon hole. Consistently on the cutting edge of new evolutions in sound and style.

Manchester’s Walton returns to Tectonic following last year’s explorations in grime flavoured house/techno offshoots on the killer “Bulldoze EP”. This time Walton leads with a dance floor crushing anthem that cruises a cool line between grime and tribal dubstep. Featuring a looping Riko Dan sample, “Gunman” sets a stone cold tone from the offset, hi-hats setting up the groove before a grime flavoured melody cuts in preparing you for the drop. When the bass and drums come crashing in they bounce off each other to produce a disorientating tribal rhythm that will set the dance floor alight!

Journeyman, DJ, radio presenter, beat raconteur – it’s been hard to keep up with all of iZem‘s movements lately. The innovative Lisbon-based French producer has been hard at work on his debut LP Hafa, exploring the sounds of Latin America and North Africa in a vivid analogue-digital, genre-defying soundscape that is sure to leave your head spinning. Inspired by cultural greats like Jack Kerouac, Paul Bowles, Tahar Ben Jelloun and Matisse, iZem spent time soaking up the atmosphere at the inspiring Café Hafa, an idyllic cliff-pop joint overlooking the strait of Gibraltar, in Tangier, Morocco, which has formed a golden backdrop to his debut LP. Brimming with soulful exoticism, personal narratives and adventurous collaborators, Hafa has been an experiment in taking on the afro-centric sounds of his journey to-date by incorporating modern, introspective songwriting and hybrid beats.
Often writing music whilst crossing continents, the only place iZem allows dust to settle is in the heart, heat and rhythms of his local-global future sounds. A decade of nomadism between Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Ireland and Portugal made way for a series of critically acclaimed EP’s and remixes for Soundway, GAMM, Far Out, Agogo, ZZK records, Wah Wah 45s, and Mais Um Discos. Arrival on the global, forward-thinking, artistically leftfield scene was predicted by Gilles Peterson, XLR8R, Okay Player and fellow tropical hed Quantic. iZem is an acronym for “In Ze Early Morning” and his debut album “Hafa” evokes new days dawning in far-off lands and stirring horizons of the present. So if you aren’t hearing iZem’s pastiche of future tropical rhythms and organic grooves on stations such as BBC, KCRW or Funkhaus Europa, then make sure you you catch him raising the dance floor temperature on one continent or another.

Susso, aka bassist / producer Huw Bennett, creates music inspired by, and directly sampling, the magnificent sounds of the Mandinka people, recorded during a recent trip to Gambia. Initially travelling with the aim of gaining perspective as a musician and to discover a new world of music first hand, Huw found himself humbled by such a welcoming community of artists, mostly belonging to the celebrated Suso and Kuyateh griot families. The tracks are composed entirely from original source material, field recordings and Huw’s talents as a multi-instrumentalist; performing tuned percussion from the region including the Mandinka Balafon, Kutiringding drum, aswell drawing on his skill as a professional upright / electric bassist. The music produced has a contemporary electronic sound, whilst still paying homage to a traditional Gambian aesthetic. Keira (meaning peace) guides the listener through Huw’s journey up the River Gambia, being welcomed into remote dusty villages, where your people are the most important thing in life.

‘The Path’ is a progression from my previous record ‘Inner Worlds’ and the focus on searching for the musical voyages is still very relevant in the building of this album. During the process of this album I moved from a vibrant city atmosphere to a rural sea town. This move played a big part in terms of influences, being close to the sea and nature brought a calming effect on the development. ‘The Path’ represents the search for a musical progression, focusing more on the smaller details and textures to create a broader dynamic sense, allowing the different elements to breathe more.
During the process of making this record there was a curiosity to explore new ways of making music, experimenting more with hardware synths, different recording techniques and including more live instrumentation as an alternative to sample based techniques. ”

‘The Path’ comes out worldwide on limited double vinyl (including download code) and limited cassette.

‘Absolute Presence‘ is about losing connection with the physical world and exploring a much deeper place in your mind. It’s about experiencing a significant transformative state from which one can either come back to the physical world, or fade into death. In this enhanced state of consciousness, one may feel entirely weightless, at peace, and removed from their physical body. It’s the feeling of all of existence hitting you at once, and distinct emotions and identifiable feelings fading into irrelevance. How does one approach their day to day life after such an experience? This is what ‘Absolute Presence‘ attempts to address.

Inspired by a long lost tale from dark and cold northern lands, written many ages ago, ‘Neida‘ is the story of a young boy who one day noticed an eerie call, so peculiar and odd that he could not resist but to follow it. While it resonated through remnants of ancient settlings, the boy had to overcome many obstacles and solve numerous quests, journey through mystical forests, foggy mountains and ghostly villages, battle the forces of nature and lose himself in this adventure. Finally reaching the ocean after an exhausting voyage, a mysterious invisible force drew him closer and closer to it, suddenly entranced in a state between consciousness, floating underwater, lured by the siren of the sea.