The 2015 semester is now in session and what better way to reignite than with an absolute banger of a release from one of our favourite South London crews. Yes the 22a imprint makes a welcome return to our turntable with a fourth outing, an EP entitled ‘Thoughts of You’ from label boss Tenderlonious. Since we last caught up with the South London multi-instrumentalist and vocalist behind 22a’s existence a little under a year ago, things have moved on at a rapid pace for him and his 22a bredren. A third split release featuring beats from Mo Colours and Reginald Omas Mamode IV appeared back in September of last year and quickly sold out (original copies of the vinyl are now fetching a tidy sum on Discogs), while two tracks from Tenderlonious were picked up by Sounds of the Universe for their ongoing Art+Sound 12″ series on Soul Jazz Records.
For his first release of 2015, Tenderlonious returns to his own label and drops four tracks of low slung, jazz inflected deep house sounds that clearly take inspiration from days gone by without ever resorting to pastiche – a trap which so many of today’s producers seem to fall into. Kicking things off on a loose limbed tip with the spatial ‘Something Special’, cosmic keys ride over chattering percussion for a pretty excellent opening shot. ‘Little D’ is a little darker in mood but no less essential with its nagging rhythms, while on the flip, ‘Thoughts Of You…’ continues the mid tempo four to floor attitude, pairing flourishes of jazz piano with a driving kick. This is most definitely Detroit Beatdown… Peckham style. Finally, the set closes out with possibly the strongest cut ‘Wow Wee (Not Seen U B4)’, which slowly drifts into view after a brief interlude, a minimal beat giving way to elongated and circular tones that produce the sort of mesmerising effect you would normally find exuding from the depths of downtown Chicago . Without doubt a solid four-tracker, you should get your hands on this limited release before you have to resort to finding a (more expensive) copy on the second hand market. It seems the 22a crew are here to stay and with each record, the music just keeps getting stronger.
Stream a few clips of the EP below and then go grab the 12″ either via the 22a Bandcamp or Soho’s finest Sounds of the Universe. We guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Well unless you are this girl…
Tomorrow night I’ve been invited down to Shutterbug to play a two-hour selection of tracks for the Colectivo Futuro team. Having only recently met Miguel and Oliver at the Dust & Grooves Book Launch Party back in May, I was a little surprised to get the call up, but I have to say I’ve really enjoyed flicking through the lesser travelled records in my collection in preparation for a vinyl only set of some of my current and past faves on a house, hip-hop, Jazz, Latin and bruk flex.
Since that spring evening by the river, I’ve grown to know the pair a little better and it’s become clear that Colectivo Futuro is by no means a fly by night operation. A lot of thought has gone into the concept and with a staff of six people based worldwide, including an editorial team, graphic designer and, of course, DJs, everyone seems to bring something unique to the table when it comes to the presentation of their website, blog or events. The split themes of music and art are constantly juxtaposed to ensure things go just a little bit deeper than just throwing a simple party, while the knowledge on show is equally impressive. Just a cursory glance at their regular radio show playlists have introduced me to an unknown gem (or five) and their recent Carnival special at the same venue incorporated an expansive soundtrack steeped in soulful tones (the whole night was actually captured in full for prosperity here. Stream it at your leisure).
I presume as you’re on this site, you already have an inkling of what we’re all about (if not, the sidebar should offer up some clues), but if you’re new to the whole Colectivo Futuro family, then I urge you to read on for a little further background on what the crew are all about.
As for tomorrow, if you’re in we’ll see you there. If not, have a great weekend regardless!
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SPOTLIGHT: COLECTIVO FUTURO
Q. Can you give us a brief history of Colectivo Futuro, and how you initially came to meet each other?
[Miguel] I started Colectivo Futuro (CF) with a group of friends from Miami in 2006. We had the opportunity to collaborate on some Detroit inclined parties. We managed to book Derrick May, Stacey Pullen, and Bryan Zentz. We came up with Future Collective then. Soon after, I left the US and wanted to keep doing things under that name, although I changed it to Spanish, so I started a forum first and then a blog where I was mainly writing about music. Later on I developed an interest for visual arts and wanted to write about that too, often times writing about the connection between art and music. It was at that point that I started seeing CF as a brand for the future. Luckily, my wife is a great graphic designer and she helped us in creating a strong visual identity for it going forward.
While CF always kept getting involved in different music nights, it wasn’t until we moved to London that we started organizing exhibitions and collaborating with visual artists on different projects. But CF’s growth has also coincided with meeting some great people along the way who are always willing to put in work for any of our projects.
Oli and I met in Madrid, while we were both living there. We started doing a night together and coincidentally ended up moving to London around the same time. Musically, we have a similar taste although we both come from different backgrounds, which is why I think we are able to cover a lot of ground musically at any of our parties.
Q. How did you both get into DJing, and who would you say are your main inspirations when it comes to music?
[Miguel] I started just before finishing Uni out of curiosity really. My step-dad bought me a pair of CDJs and I learned on those. As you do, I then started buying records online, but I never lived in a city with a decent record shop scene. So I’m really enjoying living in London because of the great shops we have here. In terms of musical inspirations, seeing and hearing Derrick May when we booked him in Miami was a game changer. He went through all kinds of genres, which changed my outlook on what a proper DJ set should be. Catching Theo Parrish at Plastic People has been a huge inspiration in recent years too, again because of the way he is able to go through genres and play the right record at the right time. I’d say London is a massive influence for me in terms of music, there are so many excellent DJs, labels, and crews here playing and releasing so much good music!
[Oli] Well by the time I started A-Levels, all my part time job money was going on CDs, mainly hip hop, but also some soul and jazz. My best mate was more into playing house and had bought a pair of decks and encouraged me to make the jump to collecting vinyl and subsequently DJing, so I did just that, and bought a pair of belt-drives and a dodgy mixer.
Too many inspirations to mention, but seeing Theo Parrish on numerous occasions was invaluable, Gilles (Peterson) at That’s How It Is, everything about the Co-Op sessions back in the day, any radio shows/DJ sets/recommendations from Kirk Degiorgio, and hip hop samples – it’s thanks to A Tribe Called Quest, et al, that I first heard Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, and so on. Radio too was a big inspiration, especially Gilles, and then Benji B and the Rinse DJs, which were like a lifeline to London for me when I lived abroad. These days, amongst an absolute flood of online shows and mixes, I try to at least catch Alex Nut & Josey Rebelle at the weekend. My friends are an inspiration too, whether it be their mixes or just their recommendations.
Q. You host a number of events around the capital, how are you finding London at the moment from inside the booth? There seems to be a really nice vibe of late and perhaps a more open-minded approach embraced on the dancefloor than five or six years ago.
[Miguel] It’s hard for me to say as I’ve only lived in London for almost 3 years. I missed all the fun years, or so I hear. But compared to other cities where I’ve lived London and DJed, London is a blast. I love seeing mixed crowds, both in terms of age and race, getting together and dancing to good music. In fact it’s the dancing element that I love the most, specially when we have proper dancers turn up at our parties.
[Oli] Bit hard for me to say too, since I took a few years out to live in Madrid. However, I have to say that with the community of DJs, dancers, friends and acquaintances around me now since moving back to London I am enjoying DJing more than ever. I also have a lot of good memories from Southport, That’s How It Is, Co-Op etc, at Plastic People, that I probably hold up as ideals, so when I see glimpses of that it’s quite a buzz!
Q. What’s the ethos idea behind Boom Music and how does it differ from your other parties?
[Oli] The idea of Boom Music is that anything goes. Funk, dub, hip hop, boogie, broken beat, house, afro beat, a little footwork or grime even. Soulful music that reflects our varied tastes, and our guests reflect that too. Of course the space itself, the vibe and the timing of our sets, affects what we play too, naturally.
Q. Can you share a recent acquisition that has become a firm favourite in your bag?
[Miguel] On the new releases tip I’m really feeling the Zackey Force Funk album on Hit+Run. Will definitely be dropping some of that at Boom Music.
On the second hand tip I recently picked up the Doug Carn compilation on Universal Sound and I’m very happy about that as I have some of the Black Jazz bootlegs and the sound quality is not great on those. ‘Revelation’, ‘Power and Glory’, ‘Higher Ground’, too much fire on this one.
[Oli] I second Miguel on the the Zackey Force Funk album, but I’m particularly happy with the Samba Mapangala album I picked up recently after hearing one track on it sampled heavily. The whole album is beautiful but ‘Yembele’ is the bomb.
Q. Finally, what have you got in store in the coming months? Are you working on anything worth shouting about?
[Miguel] Coming up very soon we have our third Collective Futures exhibition going down in Berlin. Really excited about spending some time there, working with a group of talented artists. I’m sure we’ll also sneak some diggin’ sessions while there. More infos on that here.
With the World Cup finally over, so finishes our month long hiatus from the Internet (well, predominantly this blog), but that’s not to say there’s not a little more Brazilian sunshine to enjoy before we get plugged in again and the clouds descend (although we expect the mood in Rio is still pretty overcast). When thoughts turn to sunnier climes, it’s always nice to pack a tropical tune or two, and whether it be South American or otherwise, it seems the French production duo Souleance share the same view as they’ve turned in a new four track EP of beat-orientated Brazilian edits for the First Word Records fam.
Since pairing up back in 2009 for the supremely well-received boom-bap mission that was the ‘Le Monde’ EP, DJ Soulist and Fulgeance have already released an album and several EPs for the London-based record imprint and here they pull together another quartet of beats that are this time heavily indebted to Bahia and beyond. Released last week on digital, the little collection packs a serious kick when it comes to all things Samba and things start promisingly with ‘Segrados do Samba’, a heavily filtered Samba rhythm giving way to snapping drums, percussion, a nimble electric piano line and a choice vocal refrain that gives the tune a boisterous bounce. Elsewhere there’s ‘Vem Jogar’, a suitably smooth journey that comes some way to giving us an idea of what would happen if Maga Bo got hold of the Azymuth master tapes, while ‘Novo Mundo’ is another choice cut, underpinned by a funky breakbeat and a curious vocal hook. Finally, for the digital heads there’s ‘Dum Dum’ which so happens to be our preferred rhythm and one sure to cause a little damage on the dancefloor.
Preview all four tracks below via the wonders of Bandcamp and look out for a 7″ to drop later this month.
Just squeezing in the right side of May, here’s the stream and track list for our latest show on MEATtransMISSION radio. 2 hours of assorted Soul-Identity endorsed beats from the crates, a miss mash of soul, hip-hop, house and disco.
PLAYLIST
1. LSK – Hate or Love (Mahogany Mix)
2. Dwelogy & SV – Brandi [Flava Dré Brandizzle Blend]
3. Five Deez – Kissyface
4. Al Dobson Jr. – Nankoo on Keys
5. Bok Bok Feat Kelela – Melba’s Call
6. Slakah & The Beatchild Feat Ayah – Keep Up
7. Low Leaf – As One
8. Mark De Clive-Lowe – The Mission
9. Dele Sosimi Afro Orchestra – Ojoro
10. Te’Amir – Ballake
11. Dames Brown – Soul Fly (Extended Mix)
12. Seven Davis Jr. – One
13. Massimiliano Pagliara – It’s A Lately Thing
14. Chez Damier, Siler & Dima, Thomas Zander – Speechless (Rex Club Paris Mix)
15. Ron Trent – Future Shock
16. Mark E – Being Hiding
17. Ugly Drums – Don’t Let Life (Passing by)
18. Mome – About A Groove
19. Raw Essence – Disco Fever
20. Al Kent – Gee Whizz
21. Wood, Brass And Steel – Funkanova
A little late in the month but no doubt we hadn’t forgotten. Just in time for the Bank Holiday break we present our fourth guest mix of 2014 and it’s a cheeky little number from Neil Bopperson of Wah Wah 45s fame. The third man behind the blazing London imprint does not disappoint either, digging in the crates for some lesser known gems that take us on a 50 minute journey of deep and funky grooves. As a permanent fixture on London’s club circuit, Bopperson has already shared bills with a varied array of talent including BBC Radio 6 Music’s Huey Morgan, Plan B, Debruit, as well as seemingly everyone’s favourite DJ Theo Parrish and Jazzanova! Kicking things off here with a little mellow Montana, you get raw soul, funk and jazz in abundance.
For a few more of Neil’s selections, make sure to check out his Mixcloud page and if radio is more your thing, it might be nice to know that he also also hosts a show on the excellent French online station Le Mellotron once a month. As part of the Wah Wah 45s collective, you can also find him regularly rocking an assortment of London’s venues – next up for him is this Friday’s Wah Wah South event at Brixton Jamm featuring a guest DJ set from edit king Yam Who?, as well as a June 20th date out East at The Hive Project / The Yard alongside Andrew Ashong,Josie Rebelle and a live PA from Lea Lea. Then it’s time to head out for this summer’s festival season where Wah Wah 45s will be making appearances at the Southern Soul festival in Montenegro and Bestival on the Isle of Wight.This year also sees the independent label celebrate its 15 year anniversary and on October 11th, amongst a glittering array of live talent, the boys will be flying in the legendary Kenny Dope to headline their birthday bash at Oval Space. You can pre-order tickets here.
On the label front, Neil helps out on the day to day running of the business and having just announced the signing of London’s Afrobeat king Dele Sosimi to their artist roster, it’s looking like another busy summer of releases. Look out for a brilliantly atmospheric cover of the Talking Heads classic (and Greg Wilson favourite) ‘Pyscho Killer’ by Lea Lea, as well as a reissued gem in the form of the rare ‘One More Step’ LP from Canadian pianist Henry-Pierre Noel and more new music from Paper Tiger, The Gene Dudley Group, Hackney Colliery Band and Stac!
To stream this month’s mixtape click below and if you dig it, make sure to let Neil know over on his Twitter.
Montana – Warp Factor II (Atlantic)
The Soul Fantastics – Ain’t No Sunshine (Soundway)
Willie West – Fairchild (Josie Records)
Slide 5 – Outerspace (Ubiquity Records) Alain Toussaint – Get Out Of My Life Woman (Bell Records) The Lost Generation – This Is The Lost Generation (Brunswick) Richie Phoe – I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You (Wah Wah 45s) Gary Burton Quartet – Las Vegas Tango (Atlantic) Teotima Ensemble – Gloves Off (First Word) The Five Corners Quintet – Hot Rod (Ricky Tick) The Soul Session – Horse With No Name (Bopperson Edit) (Free Download)
