Paris DJs: Baeshi Bang - Old School K-Pop Revisited (CD EP, Bruit Chic, 2014) @ Musique Non Stop |  |
- Baeshi Bang - Old School K-Pop Revisited (CD EP, Bruit Chic, 2014)
- The Grits - Make A Sound (CD, BBE, 2014)
- The Excelsiors - Control This (CD/2LP, BBE, 2014)
- Catch Action: The Sophisticated Boogie Funk of Sheridan House Records (2CD/6LP, Luv'N'Haight, 2014)
- The Bug - Angels & Devils (CD/2LP, Ninja Tune, 2014)
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Posted: 17 Nov 2014 10:49 AM PST
Sax player and multi-instrumentalistEtienne de la Sayette launches a new project just like you decide to put on a new shirt. We've talked about the ethio jazz of Akalé Wubé many times, but there's also Frix, Gulab Ja Moun, Camrao Orkestra… and for sure many more in preparation. The man just never stops. If he's not touring, he's recording and producing. Baeshi Bang is one of his iconoclastic bands, its point is to rework some tunes from a Korean singer from the 60s, Bae Ho. While going wildly exotic on the repertoire they're playing, the band has a complete freedom to re-arrange the songs in whatever form they want. And the resulting sound is a quite captivating recipe, blending 60s sweet pop, classical sounds, cinematic funk, jazz and rock guitars. Totally unique.
 Baeshi Bang - Old School K-Pop Revisited (CD) Bruit Chic, 2014-09-22 Links : Baeshi Bang : official | bandcamp | facebook Press Release : Baeshi Bang is a quintet which differentiates itself through its instrumentation and repertoire: the group presents an exclusive reworking of Bae Ho's music, Korean singer from the sixties. It is a new project created by saxophone player Etienne de la Sayette, who has been at the leading helm of several other bands (Akalé Wubé, Frix, Gulab Ja Moun, Human Beings...). He has now directed his attention to a singer who is completely unknown in France but whose music is the perfect mix between the slick sound of the large European pop ensembles of the sixties, and the Korean soul which comes through its unmistakable melodies. To develop this project, Etienne has teamed up with horn player Victor Michaud with whom he shares ideas on research and arrangement. There are different reasons to set up a project dedicated exclusively to this unlikely repertoire. First of all is the musical quality contained within the songs of Bae Ho, and the pleasure it gives to the musicians playing and exposing it to their audience. Secondly, is the opportunity for a challenge: provoke the public with a repertoire that it would have otherwise ignored and, going beyond all exotic pretexts, win over their love and interest through the quality of the musicians' work and arrangements. Finally, is a case of pushing the creativity of a band to the limit: with such a restricted repertoire as a source, they are able to make fire with all kinds of fuel, have total liberty to reinterpret the music and take it in all diverse directions. Called upon as such, Bae Ho's spirit is incarnated in a cocktail of vintage jazz, easy listening, free floating sounds, Frisellian impressionism, cheap Chinese tinkering and Zornian explosions. Line Up : Etienne de la Sayette: tenor saxophone, flute, electronic organ Victor Michaud: french cor, electronic organ François Chesnel: piano Giani Caserotto: guitar Stefano Lucchini: drums  |
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The Grits - Make A Sound (CD, BBE, 2014)
Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:44 AM PST
Paris DJs followers will already know the Grant Phabao reggae rework of The Grits' 'Make A Sound (Like James Brown)'. Well the most loyal ones will also have checked the various 45s and digital singles released by The Grits recently. Such as, for example, the 'Skin & Bone' psych-funk tune closing the 'We Are The Fire Inside Your Mind' compilation released in may 2013 on Paris DJs… or the nasty funk of 'Heel & Toe' closing the 'Take The Chains Off Your Brains' compilation released in february this year. You'll understand easily we're big fans of this band's sound… Now all those tunes and a few more have now been gathered in what can be summed up as the psychedelic funk album of the year, no less, the kind for which you'll surely want to start shrooms again!!
 The Grits - Make A Sound (CD) Barely Breaking Even BBE291, 2014-09-15 Tracklisting : 01. Make a Sound (Like James Brown) 3:33 02. Let Me Know 4:30 03. Just a Little Bit 3:11 04. Heel and Toe 4:44 05. Black Sambuca 5:21 06. Six Pack 3:20 07. (I'd Walk a) Funky Mile 3:47 08. Psycho 3:36 09. Yeah, No 4:43 10. Skin and Bone 4:32 Links : The Grits : official | bandcamp | bbemusic | facebook | juno | parisdjs | soundcloud | twitter Press Release : Up from the deep south come The Grits: yes, we're talking about, Brighton, England (as our American cousins call it). But despite its name the flavours this band cooks up really owe as much to a palette weaned on English psychedelia and quirky electronic experimentalism as much as from southern-fried US funk. Led by producer and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Carter (violin, cello, flute and sitar as well as guitar, percussion and synths!) The Grits kick up a storm with a phat break-heavy sound from their hefty nine-piece line-up, sounding like 'the love-child of The JBs and Delia Derbyshire'(!) Following their well-received debut album for Freestyle and a bunch of singles on a variety of labels (Mocambo, Music With Soul, Fraternity, Hamhock), The Grits have beefed up their indeed 'gritty' raw funk with fuller instrumentation and explored the possibilities suggested by a move further in a psychedelic direction. Their music brings to mind an array of influences: think Dick Hyman's moog albums with the eastern vibes of an Anandar Shankar, and maybe a touch of the Small Faces, and you're getting warm. They cite The BBC Radiophonic Workshop (where the aforementioned Derbyshire shook up the musical and social establishment), Funkadelic, Os Mutantes, Pierre Henry, and even Stockhausen as artists that have shaped their sound. Singer Sophie Alder-McKean, with her distinctively English voice providing vivid contrast to all the sweaty funk comes to the fore on (I'd Walk A) Funky Mile, Just A Little Bit and Yeah, No. Black Sambuca is in the tradition of early 70's sitar-funk, culminating in some experimental Moog madness, and we almost get into dub territory as the track breaks down. Heel and Toe sounds like Afrobeat organ atop hip-hop drums, and references James Brown's immortal advice to Bootsy Collins, 'You gotta get to the heel and toe, or else you're gonna blow!' for the funk cognoscenti. Six Pack is slow grinding psychedelic-funk complete with spoken/shouted vocals provided by Brazilian DJ Joel Stones and a girlie chorus. Let Me Know is also pure '60s beat business with its catchy hook, plus some stinging guitar work and an exciting percussion and bass breakdown. Make A Sound (Like James Brown) is another pure funk groove, with the horns to the fore and some wicked percussion/bass/drums interplay, mutating into psychedelic electronics, while Skin and Bone could be a long-lost psych-funk curiousity of the early '70s, complete with a very 'punk' chorus and a really wild guitar outro! It seems The Grits never play it totally straight… Further proof comes in their choice of covers: not many listeners under 60 are likely to know the Rosco Gordon R&B original of Just A Little Bit, here turned into a squelchy Moog-fest, with musique concrete percussion effects. We're perhaps not a million miles from the kind of thing the Flying Lizards used to do with the Motown songbook. Psycho meanwhile, is another affirmation of the band's love of '60s garage pioneers The Sonics, given the psych funk treatment (having previously covered The Sonics' classic tune Strychnine). With their breakbeat sensibility, their ease with greasy funk licks, and an irreverent sense of humour, this band manages to condense all the excitement of their live sets into the album format, a trick many a great band before them has failed to perform. Expect to hear them played across the board.  |
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Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:10 AM PST
The versatility of Shane "DJ Sureshot" Hunt is something to be believed: three albums with the Starshooters, three reggae compilation in the 'Soundbwoy Super Status Reggae Breaks And Beats' series, more recently a hip hop album as The Sureshot Symphony Solution, compiled in Paris DJs' 'Take The Chains Off Your Brains' earlier this year, and a modern soul/boogie compilation just released on Ubiquity focusing on the Sheridan House Records label. Add to that this fantastic album from Shane's latest project The Excelsiors and you know you have spotted what we could call a super-producer! Mostly consisting of covers, this is a hard to pigeonhole project, between reggae, hip hop, soul and afrobeat, with Jamaican flavors all over. The double vinyl version (with an exclusive bonus track) will be released late november, don't think twice, it's all good, dubbed out soul!!
 The Excelsiors - Control This (CD/2LP) Barely Breaking Even BBE302, 2014-09-08 Tracklisting : 01. Mrs Magic 02. It's Too Late 03. Lookout Weekend 04. Here I Come (Broader Than Broadway) 05. In The Name Of The Father 06. People Make The World Go Round 07. A Land Far Away (Satta Massagana) 08. This Is Sunshine Music 09. Mirror In The Bathroom 10. Cold As Steel (instrumental) 11. Soon I Will Be Done Note : the 2LP version contains the exclusive vinyl only bonus track 'Ashes to Ashes' Links : The Excelsiors : bbemusic | juno | junodownload Press Release : Sounding quite like nothing you have heard before, The Excelsiors come correct with their debut album, Control This. The latest project fromShane 'Sureshot' Hunt, known for his Sharpshooters group, and for his highly-regarded Soundbwoy Reggae Breaks series wherein he has liberally dropped science, sharing his in-depth knowledge of ska, rock-steady, reggae and dancehall for the instruction of the hip-hop massive, The Excelsiors is the logical extension of Shane's passion for classic Jamaican music (and more) of the '60s through '80s. At a time when seemingly everything is made using the same software packages, Control This is a defiantly old-school, analogue record,dispensing with the uniform polish and sheen of contemporary production methods and instead showcasing an array of 'real' instruments and a variety of styles and moods. In the mix are not just bass, drums and guitars and some real antique keyboard sounds but percussion including steel pans, organ, horns, backing vocals, and even strings! All new music, cut live to tape and then seamlessly pieced together across an album of (mostly) cover versions, a living link with the music that was the inspiration for the project. Sounding like something that would be very expensive to produce in this day and age, the finished result nevertheless retains a rawness and gusto that virtually leaps out of the speakers. Nor is this simply a reggae album - in fact, here we have Sureshot bringing together a whole array of cultural influences, in a lively mash-up style. Vocals come from northern soul/disco legend The Mighty Pope and Omega Rae of Blackalicious, coming from opposite ends of about four decades of black music styles. Mrs. Magic is the Grover Washington Jr. jazz-funk staplegiven a gender re-assignment, and an earthy reggae treatment: Esther Philips, Roberta Flack and even Amy Winehouse have previously recorded vocal versions atop this killer rhythm, this is how it might've sounded if Toots and The Maytals had done it at the time it came out, raucous and intense. Carole King's It's Too Late has been covered notably by Dennis Brown in reggae and the Isley Brothers in soul. It's given a reggae groove but its strings and deep backing vocals bring to mind classic '70s soul. It takes a particularly fertile imagination (and an extensive record collection) to think of versioning Debbie Deb's freestyle classic Look Out Weekend as a sprawling, organic Afrobeat tune… Shane Hunt is clearly the man with that imagination! Check the fierce horns here. Similarly, Barrington Levy's Here I Come, the digital-dancehall tune to end them all, is here re-imagined as a hugely infectious 'live' jam …try listening to this without breaking into a grin, it's so 'wrong' and yet so right! Thom Bell and Linda Creed's People Make The World Go Round has been covered countless times since its original Stylistics version, and seems to have more resonance than most of the classic Philly era with contemporary listeners. The Excelsiors' version might not even be the first version to use steel pans, but it definitely is the first to combine such instrumentation with a vaguely psychedelelic, eastern drone. Essential version! The version of Gene Rondo's A Land Far Away acknowledges its debt to the greatest of all reggae anthems, the Abyssinians' Satta Massagana … while This Is Sunshine Music is a funky-soul version of This Is Reggae Music by the under-rated Zap-Pow. The optimism and yearning of the former is tempered with dark psychedelic elements making it stand out dramatically from other versions. The great era of conscious roots reggae is brought back to life with a bang with these unexpected covers. The script is flipped with a cover of The Beat's Mirror In The Bathroom, a classic from the two-tone era, given a digital rhythm. Two-tone marked the definitive arrival of a new multicultural generation as a distinctively British creative force… a splash still rippling to this day, with projects like The Excelsiors. As well as Shane's version of a traditional spiritual, named here Soon I Will Be Done, he also shows his own songwriting prowess with a couple of originals, In The Name Of The Father and Cold As Steel, demonstrating influences from gutbucket funk to island music. This is an accomplished work, essentially the creative inspiration of one man, with some very talented musicians on board, and with its phenomenal 'live' sound definitely marks this producer out as an artist to watch in his own right.   |
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Posted: 17 Nov 2014 07:22 AM PST
Between the late 70s and the mid-80s, a Los-Angeles based label named Sheridan House was releasing slabs of modern soul, boogie & funk on (now rare) wax. DJ Shane "Sureshot" Hunt has compiled his favourite 27 tunes from that catalog for a 2-CD or 6x12" boxset anthology on Ubiquity/Luv N' Haight Records. Most of the songs were recorded at Ray Charles's home studio in L.A. with Ray engineering. Kool and the Gang were session musicians as well as the Jazz Crusaders, who were childhood friends of the label's founder, Kent Harris. A superb selection of modern soul really more leaning towards funk, synth-funk & boogie rather than disco - essential for DJ's spinning at disco and boogie funk nights! The boxset version seems particularly tasty, including 6 tunes previously unreleased on vinyl (tracks 21 to 26 on the digital version)...
 Catch Action: The Sophisticated Boogie Funk of Sheridan House Records (2xCD/6x12" boxset) Luv'N'Haight LH075, 2014-09-02 Links : Buy on bandcamp or juno Sheridan House Records on discogs Dh Shane 'Sureshot' Hunt is on facebook and on discogs Ubiquity Records : official | facebook | parisdjs | soundcloud.com | twitter | youtube Press Release : Luv N'Haight along with Shane "DJ Sureshot" Hunt presents "Catch Action: The Sophisiticated Boogie Funk of Sheridan House Records." With a total of 27 tracks allocated over 6 x 12"s along with a booklet and housed in a slipcase, the boxset compilation provides a comprehensive story of Kent Harris' Los Angeles based label releasing obscure yet timeless gems from the golden-era of modern soul, boogie and funk.  |
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Posted: 17 Nov 2014 08:30 AM PST
Kevin Martin a.k.a. The Bug is quite big in the UK, where is albums 'Pressure' (2003) and 'London Zoo' (2008) made a lot of noise in the dubstep scene and its experimental dancehall variations. He's now moved to Berlin and has just released a new album, 'Angels & Devils'. AS the title implies, this is an album of two halves, opposing some trip hop moods that would be… the light, to some more noisy electro dub that would be darkness. Or something close. Dreadful and menacing, this is rather the opposite of easy listening. You've been warned.
 The Bug - Angels & Devils (CD/2LP) Ninja Tune ZEN211, 2014-08-25 Links : The Bug : official | bandcamp | facebook | juno | ninjatune | twitter Press Release : "It's after the end of the world, don't you know that yet..." With recent reports from various think tanks predicting we have somewhere in the range of 15 years left before the collapse of society begins, it would seem like Kevin Martin's sonic predictions of dystopian London that were set out on 2008's London Zoo were pretty accurate. And if we are in fact declining rapidly to chaos, there's no better time then the present to take the focus of that sonic assault from earthly domains and blast it to the netherworlds above and below. The aforementioned London Zoo is where Kevin Martin, found his true voice. Pulling the fringes into a collective, unilaterally hateful assault. A psychological warfare driven by bass that on one hand captured a moment of London, yet also encapsulated a global message influenced by years of timeless and classic out-music. The latest offering from the The Bug, Angels & Devils, escapes the London cage, drawing on it for influence yet blowing it up into a world-view now seen from Kevin Martin's new Berlin home. A record that simultaneously draws on London Zoo, completes a triptych cycle which started with his Bug debut Pressure, and fills the spaces between and inserts what was missing previously. Both a year zero re-set and a continuation of what has been. Like the Bowie/Eno classic Low, or Can's Tago Mago, the album is split into two distinct themes and explorations of light & dark. Bringing the angel & devil voices together under a single common banner. Antagonist at times, but not solely for the sake of being antagonistic, there's a beauty and lush sparseness to be found within, even when at its most chaotic. Truly only The Bug could find the common ground between Liz Harris (of Grouper) & Death Grips and make it seamless. Angels & Devils stretches the polarity of its predecessor in both directions simultaneously and is even more extreme for its new found seductiveness and added intensity. Deep space is explored, and physical assault is administered. In these days of YouTube quick fixes, and single tune memory spans, its a joy to witness Martin actually charting a cohesive narrative that rejoices in celebrating life through sonic sex and violence, beauty and ugliness. This is an audio thriller that delights in pursuing its own singular path/vision. With the Angel side(s) up first, things kick off with Liz Harris (of Grouper) in the submerged lushness that is "Void". Followed by contributions from ex Hype Wiliams half copeland ('Fall'), the blissed out patois of touring partner Miss Red (Mi Lost), two truly zoned Bug instrumentals, and rounded out by Gonjasufi on "Save Me". It's a collection of heady, dubbed out cinematic blissfulness with a lurking darkness before giving way to devils... Devils leads off with the return of long time collaborator Flowdan on the mic and the guitar of Justin Broadrick (Godflesh / Jesu) bringing a complete about face to the proceedings and setting the tone with "The One". Roll Deep's Manga steps up next with the instant Bug classic "Function", which is being currently smashed on dubplate, by Mala, Kahn and Logan Sama. Death Grips raise the antagonistic bar with Fuck A Bitch. Flowdan & Justin Broadrick come back for the cinematic death crawl of Fat Mac. Warrior Queen steps in for hands down the nastiest vocal she's ever delivered (which is saying a lot) for "Fuck You", and finally Flowdan steps up again to round it all off with a Devils battle cry of sorts "dirty, fuck that murky...". The concept is completed by the artistic expression it's packaged in, courtesy of Simon Fowler (Cataract). Known for his work for Sunn O))), Earth, and others, Simon has delivered a stunning hand drawn illustration, that sort that would make Bosch proud, showing the duality of the proceedings. Not one to ease anybody into the proceedings, first out the gate for first listen will be a California combo, misanthropes Death Grips with their first ever outside collaboration "Fuck A Bitch", and and the Warp Records mystic Gonjasufi with the heavy nod-out of "Save Me". Utopian/dystopian, black/white, complexity/singularity, negative/positive... Angels/Devils.  |
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