Just a quick lunchtime post on this rainy day in London (btw wtf is that all about, yesterday was like a summer’s day in July). Big up the man like Domu for dropping a killer selection of tunes for us this past Saturday night in the basement at Cosmobar. The man is a true gent and a ninja in the art of DJing and producing – believe that. Nuff broken goodness, boogie, soul, hip hop, house and DJ Zinc’s “128 Trek”! And was so good to hear Raphael Saadiq’s “Skyy, Can You Feel Me” again at the death (Catching Mr Saadiq’s gig at the Indigo2 tonight – can’t wait!). Don’t forget to keep an eye out for Domu’s forthcoming double CD on Brighton’s finest Tru Thoughts “One Offs, Remixes and B-Sides”, due out June 29th – a collection of eh… one offs, remixes and I guess b-sides.  Check the tracklist below for all the heavy hitters. Before then a 12-inch sampler “Springbreak” will be released June 15th.

Domu – ‘One Offs, Remixes and B Sides’ [TRUCD196]

Full Tracklisting

CD1
1. Domu – Collecting Dust
2. Domu – Message To Omar
3. Domu – Last Time (feat Nicola Kramer)
4. Chaka Domu & Lady Yolanda – Mash Up [The Dancehall Mix]
5. Nicola Kramer – Best in Me
6. Jinadu – Turning the Tide [Original Mix]
7. Domu – Springbreak
8. Domu – Something New
9. Domu – Quarantine
10. Domu – Dangerous Times
11. Domu – Worldwide [Original Mix]
12. Domu – Taking Flight
13. Domu – Snake Eyes [Edit]
14. Domu – Save It (feat Face)

CD2
1. The Rebirth – Talking Me Down [Domu Slow Remix]
2. Spanky Wilson & The Quantic Soul Orchestra – Waiting For Your Touch [Domu Remix]
3. Bukola – Hypnotised [Domu UMOD Mix]
4. AC Lewis feat Ndidi Cascade – Tickles [Domu Remix]
5. Daedelus – Impending Doom [Domu Remix]
6. Small Arms Fiya feat Ayah – Gotta Decide [Domu Remix]
7. Maddslinky feat Jenna G – Somethin’ Extra [Domu Mix]
8. Nathan Haines – Tell Me [Domu Vocal Mix]
9. Unforscene feat Alice Russell – Don’t You Worry [Domu Remix]
10. Simon Grey – The Galáctica Suite
11. Jazzanova – Soon [Domu Vocal Mix]
12. The Cinematic Orchestra – Man With The Movie Camera [Domu Slow Mo Mix]
13. Broke ‘n’ English – Take It Low [Domu Remix]

In the meantime why not go head over to his Soundcloud to get a taster of future Domu productions. Definitely worth checking. Also you can catch him again in London this Friday at Cargo with our musical compadre Hugo Mendez from Sofrito. Another hot session guaranteed.

Also big respects to both JC from Here and Now Recordings and Colonel Red who passed through with the goodness too.  John sure knows his disco boogie and played a wicked little warmup set (Go find him behind the counter every week at one of London’s remaining record shops Flashback in Essex Road and pester him for recommendations). Shame it was a bit of an intimate session – it was always going to be a challenge  going up against so many big nights including Phlash’s “Information Inspiration” (no offence Phil, just a mix up in dates) and wasn’t helped by the upstairs runnings – a bizarre mix of Elvis impersonators, Minnie Ripperton’s “La Fleur”, Postman Pat and minimal tech (Lots of confused faces from our crowd walking through the jawn). Anyways, no need to dwell on the negative. A massive thanks to all who passed through, hope you all had a great night. Good feedback on the night and we’ll be back shortly with another killer “Future Thinking” lineup. Watch this space…

So it’d only  been a short while since I’d heard anything from one of West London’s leading lights Colonel Red, but having just launched a record new label ‘Ruff Language‘, he’s back once again with his latest EP entitled “Roaming Lion”, which is scheduled for digital release on May 4.

At the height of the West London sound, you could find Colonel Red’s vocals on many a track, from those later releases  on People (and subsequent first album, Blue Eye Blak), through to the many collabs he’s done with the likes of IG Culture, Domu, Alex Attias, John Beltran and the various members of Bugz in the Attic. A recent move to Rotterdam has seen him expand his musical horzions, and work with a plethora of Dutch producers including Gerd and Delgui for 2008′s Milez Benjiman project (an album of killer nu soul and future funk flavours – check the tracks ‘Chop That Wood’, ‘Glorious’ and the personal favourite, the ill interlude that is  ‘Ixlanaplaz’),  Flowriders‘  for their recent R.U.E.D.Y release and young broken producer C.O.N.E. for the massive CO-OP track “Victim” (Seek out the original rub and Kay Suzuki remix).

Now with his second album “Sweet Liberation” soon to drop, we get a flavour of what  to expect over this six track EP. Definitely more soulful than broken, the tracks present are more akin to the spoken word style he used on the Flowrider’s release, a style he refers to as “Spoetry”, with original album versions taken from the forthcoming release evoking a more mellow, downtempo almost spiritual vibe. Remix duties on the release are taken care of by Japan’s DJ Mitsu the Beats, who pushes  ‘Pave The Way’ into a more low slung bumping hip hop direction, Ballentyne, drawing out the more underground soul undertones of ‘Roaming Lion’  and C.O.N.E, who pulls out a great hybrid mix of broken, hip hop and dubstep.

As a little exclusive, you can download both an MP3 of the album version of ‘Spoetry’ for the next seven days and a 5 minute sampler mix of the various EP tracks, as well as stream edited versions of the rest of the tracks from the EP using the links below. And if you like, make sure to support the release, either by buying it from the Ruff Language ithinkmusic store or from your preferred online seller.

Plus a little reminder that we’ll have Colonel Red dropping into London via Rotterdam this Saturday night to launch the EP and give us a couple of the tracks live (and most probably some MCing too) at our Future Thinking night in the Cosmobar basement with special guest Domu (TrebleO/CO-OP). Full details here.  Really looking forward to it – could be quite a session. As a little further incentive, we’ll give the first 50 people through the door on Saturday a free copy of the EP. So get down there early.

Downloads

Download MP3 of Colonel Red – My Spoetry

Download MP3 of Colonel Red – Roaming Lion Mini Mix

Streams

Colonel Red – Roaming Lion [Original Mix]

Colonel Red – Pave The Way [Original Mix]

Colonel Red – Pave The Way [DJ Mitsu The Beats Remix]

Colonel Red – Roaming Lion [Ballentyne Remix]

Colonel Red – Roaming Lion [C.O.N.E Remix]

Other links

Check the Ruff Frequency Radio show on VertexFm

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

So I guess the best thing about this Twitter thing is its got me thinking on my feet. As such, here’s a quick review of the launch night of Arale.tv tonight that took place right here in London upstairs at The Lexington.

Got to admit I didn’t know what to expect when me and the lady tipped up just before 8pm. The main reason to drop by was to cop the exclusive 7″ (physical vs digital? – cmon, the little purple 7″ looked so much nicer) that was being given out with admission that featured bits from both Muhsinah and Ben Jones (coming soon to the Soul-Identity radio stream), and also to catch the DC vocalist after her impressive showing here in London at Favela Chic last year. Since descending onto my radar after that session with her Daybreak LP, she has been slowly making a name for herself – appearing on the latest Common and Foreign Exchange LPs to name a couple and also getting the aforementioned Daybreak LP signed to Japanese label Circulations, before dropping her sophmore effort ‘The Oscillations’ back in March. Anyways straight to the point, she didn’t disappoint with another strong set of tracks (‘Once Again’ being a particular highlight) and a stage presence which I think really endeared her to the audience. Definitely one to watch in the coming months / years.

However, I got to say the thing I most got out of this session was witnessing Ben Jones and the live band he’d put together. Ben Jones was definitely a new name to me and someone I’ll be checking for more closely now. The lad definitely has some skills and he’s surrounded himself with some major players. Anyone who copped the Tawiah EP early last year should be aware of the genius and talent that is Jodi Milliner, who during the night got busy on the keys and bass, and the rest of the band were as equally tight. Three songs in with guests vocalists Leon King and Vula bringing the soul, I was hooked on the sounds. Seems despite trying to keep up will all  the suff that’s being put out on a weekly basis, there’s defintely a pool of London talent and session musicians yet to be discovered (or maybe I’m just not trying hard enough). Anyways it made for a refreshing change. Hopefully this wasn’t a one off session and people will continue to get the chance to check them out and see what the underground soul artists London still have to offer. And for my sins, I still haven’t managed to reach the West London Jazz Refreshed Sessions which I just know are essential viewing and thrive on a similar policy. Feel free to call me LATE anytime soon. Have to also drop a Special mention to the Arale Warm Up DJ, Ben from Honest Johns who I personally thought KILLED it with the old school boogie selection. Respect is due.

In other news, today we had confirmed that another UK talent, Colonel Red will be flying in from Rotterdam to join us on Saturday for an exclusive UK PA to launch his label and upcoming EP ‘Roaming Lion’ at our Future Thinking night with Domu in the Cosmobar basement. Still just £3 on the door before 11pm  so just an added reason to come check us out on Sat. Should be a heavy dancefloor session. But more about that tomorrow.  I need to get some sleep.