Mixes

GUESTMIX004 | Neil Bopperson (Wah Wah 45s) (May 2014)

Posted by soulid on May 27, 2014
Posted in: Guest Mix, Mixes, Soul, Funk & Jazz. Tagged: , , , , , .

GUESTMIX004 | Neil Bopperson (Wah Wah 45s) (May 2014)

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.

GUESTMIX004 | Neil Bopperson (Wah Wah 45s) (May 2014) by Soul-Identity Music on Mixcloud

TRACKLIST

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)

Sector 12/12 return with Mike Davis’ techno orientated ‘Baniza EP’ and new mixtape

Posted by soulid on May 26, 2014
Posted in: House & Disco, Sound Bites. Tagged: , , , , .

Mike Davis - Baniza EP

Hot on the heels of their recent EP from a seemingly revitalised Domu, fledgling UK label Sector 12/12 returned to the fray last week with a brand new release from Berlin-based producer Mike Davis.

The digital imprint Sector 12/12 first appeared on our radar a few months ago following a low key launch at the beginning of the year. In that time, label head Mr Shift has already delivered two free Bandcamp releases to pique listeners’ interest, following up an initial EP of deep ambient electronica from the producer Infest with the well-received (and somewhat out of the blue) comeback release from Domu. Both shed some light on the agenda of the new label, a love for pushing twisted electronic sounds overground clearly proving to be a pivotal force that initially brought Sector 12/12 into being. This fact is further confounded by the release of this third EP, written and produced by Mike Davis, a quality four-tracker that features conflicting takes on forward-thinking techno.

Davis is a new name to us, although we’ve been reliably informed that he’s been making electronic records since 2011. Of Canadian heritage but currently based in the musical hotbed of Berlin, he’s a prolific producer (so much so that when asked to submit a demo, he sent through 22 tracks) and by the sounds presented on this EP, a well-versed one at that. Here he flexes his production chops in various ways, pulling together diverse strands of the techno genre and showcasing them in a more than cohesive manner. The productions unmistakably share a common bond with the rawer elements of 90s house and 303 acid culture, yet each of the tracks explores the territory in a different way.

The title track ‘Baniza’ opens things up and heads straight for the jugular with a deep and gnarly sound propelled forward by the simplest of kicks and a relentless bassline that provides perfect fodder to fuel those 6am shuffles on the dancefloor. ‘Toasted Acid’ begins in a similar vein before breaking out into a more refined and driving slice of futuristic funk, while the 303 (as the name suggests) is heavily worked in the background. It’s a mixdown which is more than capable of blowing the doors off any night at Berghain, yet has enough going on to stand out from some of the more soulless productions of its contemporaries. The second half of the EP is slightly more ‘soulful’ kicking of with ‘Synaptic’ which layers syncopated synth stabs on top of a driving hypnotic groove. For us though, it’s perhaps the final track ‘Pedestrian Sound’ which takes the prize, a warm old school style jam with skippy drums and sweeping synths that create an evocative hybrid of deep house and soul-infused techno. Overall, it’s an inviting glimpse into the world of Davis and another solid collection of sounds presented by Sector 12/12.. We can’t wait to hear what’s in store for #4!

Check out samples of the all four tracks below and if some take your fancy, make sure you support by picking them up via the label’s Bandcamp page.

GUESTMIX003 | Danny Clark (Late Night Audio / Luxor Records) (April 2014)

Posted by soulid on April 3, 2014
Posted in: Guest Mix, House & Disco, Mixes. Tagged: , , , , , , .

GUESTMIX003 | Danny Clark (Late Night Audio / Luxor Records) (April 2014)

GUESTMIX003 | Danny Clark (Late Night Audio / Luxor Records) (April 2014) by Soul-Identity Music on Mixcloud

April’s guest mix comes courtesy of Late Night Audio’s Danny Clark and it’s a deeply dubby and low slung excursion into underground house sounds just the way we like it. As Late Night Audio, Clark alongside Toby Tobias (Rekids) promoted some of the freshest house and disco events in London Town over the course of four years, as well as running a record label under the same name, putting out tracks from Tobias, Das Volt and New York legend Jovonn. Since then he’s established a second label, Luxor Records that has so far released new music from Stee Downes and original Chicago house diva Liz Torres. He upped and left these fair shores a while ago and can now be found spinning his own unique take on house over in Singapore with an online radio show also in development.

There’s plenty of newness in the works from both Danny and the LNA camp with a solid flow of new tracks and edits to drop in the coming months. New digital remixes from Merwyn Sanders (Virgo 4) as well as new takes by Tobias and Citizen Kane (Disques Sinthomme/NY) of Liz Torres ‘Your Love Is All I Need’ are hot off the press and available online as is the addition of a Dub Mix to the recently released Fabric 72 compilation by Move D.

The Late Night Audio label is are also prepping their first new material since 2012. Watch this space for the eagerly anticipated Jovonn Revival EP2 which features the Brooklyn producer on two tracks‘The Deepest Move’ and ‘Wait a Minute (Stop!!!)’, and a remix from Danny and Das Volt. New material from Roy Davis Jr. and also Lady Blacktronika are forthcoming with special remixes on a limited 12″ vinyl to be made available to selected record shops and online stores soon.

We hope you enjoy the mixtape and if you dig it, make sure to show Danny some love in the comments.

GUESTMIX002 | Tamar Osborn (Collocutor) (March 2014)

Posted by soulid on March 3, 2014
Posted in: Guest Mix, Mixes, Soul, Funk & Jazz. Tagged: , , , .

Tamar Osborn (Collocutor)

Image used courtesy of Ruby Woo, Docuphonic

GUESTMIX002 | Tamar Osborn (Collocutor) (March 2014) by Soul-Identity Music on Mixcloud

We first came across the name Collocutor, when On The Corner Records boss Pystol Pete passed us a cheeky test press of an Emanative remix of the track ‘Instead’. The tune was as it happened super nice, the kind of low-slung electronic masterpiece more people should get excited about but probably won’t without some serious prompting (consider this a nudge). As it happens, the person behind Collocutor is Tamar Osborn, a saxophonist who for the past five years been performing with Dele Sosimi’s famed Afrobeat Orchestra as well a number of other Afro inspired outfits including Emanative’s live collective (check the Sun Ra inspired  ‘Love In Outer Space’ for a taster of that particular vibe). Collocutor is her first solo project, created with it’s primary focus to showcase her original production work. Needless to say having played the tune out a couple of times on a BIG system, we wanted to find out a little more about Tamar and her plans.

Digging a little deeper (as we do) it turns out that there’s a full album in the works (to be produced by that man Nick ‘Emanative’ Woodmansey and to be released through On The Corner this summer) and the first proper single to be culled from that collection is ‘Archaic Morning’. We got a sneak preview and in its original form, the track in question is a rather dreamy Middle-Eastern flavoured modal jazz tune, not too unlike something you would have picked up on Atlantic Records by Brother Yusef Lateef back in the late 60s, early 70s or (if you weren’t alive back then) perhaps even the late 90s! Clocking in at just over seven and a half minutes, the track is a masterful take on classic deep jazz, beginning as it does with a little loose percussion which when paired with the bass, slowly unravels into a hypnotic groove upon which flute, tenor sax and trumpet combine to produce the intoxicating lead melody.

Also included in the package is a more housier remix which is conducted by a newcomer to our ears, Antoine Abayomi. Not much is known about this gentleman aside from his location of Paris by way of West Africa but one thing is for certain, he can certainly produce a tropical banger, channelling as he does the original’s Eastern promise into a fully functioning warehouse ready drum track. Stripping the original right back to it’s bare bones, gone is the wistful sound of congas and triangles and instead a great big rolling bassline, reminiscent of late 00’s UK Funky, takes centre stage. A simple but effective percussive take on dance music that is sure to be heard on the more adventurous dancefloors in coming month.

Stream both tracks in their entirety below and if you’d like to have both delivered to your inbox on their release March 24th, there’s a handy pre-order option on the On The Corner Bandcamp site.

COLLOCUTOR on Facebook
COLLOCUTOR on Twitter

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Tamar very kindly left us with the first part of a two-part inspirations mix. As you can imagine it’s heavy on the jazz (which we certainly are not afraid of!) as well as touches of Afrobeat, Brazilian and other assorted worldwide flavours. If you are in need of something soothing to listen to this afternoon you can stream the mix above or via our Mixcloud page. Also look out for the second part to drop next week on our sister site The Jazz Meet along with a full Q&A with the saxophonist.

TRACKLIST

Miles Davis – Solea (LP, Sketches of Spain [Bonus Tracks])
Abdullah Ibrahim, Cecil McBee, Roy Brooks – Ishmael (LP, Banyana)
Charles Mingus – Fables Of Faubus (LP, Mingus Ah Um)
Wallias Band – Muziqawi Silt (LP, The Very Best Of Éthiopiques [Disc 1])
Bassekou Kouyate / Ngoni Ba – Jonkoloni (LP, Segu Blue)
The Headhunters – Mugic (LP, Survival Of The Fittest)
Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath – Do It (LP, Brotherhood)
Steve Reich And Musicians – First Movement [Fast] (extract) (LP, The Desert Music)
Fiium Shaarrk – We Advance Covered (LP, No Fiction Now!)
Elis Regina – Yê Melê (LP, Brazilian Beats 5)
Jessica Lauren Four – The Name Of Fela Will Always Stand For Freedom (LP, Jessica Lauren Four)
Dr. John – I Walk On Guilded Splinters (LP, Gris-Gris)
Krar Collective – Ende Eyerusalem (LP, Ethiopia Super Krar)
Dele Sosimi – Omo Mo Gba Ti E (LP, Identity)
Wayne Shorter – JuJu (LP, JuJu [Japan])
Éder Quartet – Shostakovich: String Quartet #8 – Allegretto (LP, Shostakovich: String Quartets #1, 8 & 9)
Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Chik Chikka (LP, Inspiration Information)
Polar Bear – Held On The Tips Of Fingers (LP, Held On The Tips Of Fingers)
Herbie Hancock – Ostinato (Suite for Angela) (LP, Mwandishi)
Josephine Davies – Paranoid Dementia (LP, Elation)

GUESTMIX001 | Pystol Pete (On The Corner Records)

Posted by soulid on February 6, 2014
Posted in: Beats & Bass, Guest Mix, Mixes. Tagged: , , , .

Pystol Pete (On The Corner Records)

GUESTMIX001 | Pystol Pete (On The Corner Records) (February 2014) by Soul-Identity Music on Mixcloud

At the tail end of last year, on a cold Monday evening in the heart of Central London, we were passed a cheeky white label of deep electronic jazz sounds while sipping a cappucino (or was it a Camden Hells?) in a small cafe just east of Oxford Street. Certainly not a grandiose (or even out of the ordinary) occurrence by any means, but it was one that effectively shuffled the embryonic On The Corner Records (OTC) into our collective conscience. For a 12 inch with such an unassuming appearance, the music on it certainly had some big ideas, pairing as it did the imitable talents of both RocketNumberNine and Earl Zinger (William Adamson, 2BO4) on the deep jazz house influenced  ‘Over’, while on the flip, an intense and slightly moody track by the name of ‘Instead’ was debuted, albeit in remixed form. Both compositions involved British drummer Emanative, the first as producer and the second as remixer for Tamar Osborn’s new project, Collocutor, and both picked up considerable support in those opening weeks with Gilles Peterson, Patrick Forge, Dom Servini and a host of other forward-thinking DJs including the tunes in their sets.

With that tricky first release now in the bag (or rather other peoples’), you’d think the next step would be easy. Well we managed to ask one half of the OTC crew exactly how easy it has been, as Pystol Pete stepped into the Soul-Identity booth to drop some knowledge on the workings of the label, what’s coming up and in our first guest mix of 2014, share some of his picks for the New Year. Read on to learn a little bit more about one of London’s newest, left of centre labels…

Q. Pete, tell us a little about how you got started in the record business ?

The label came into being just a couple of months ago. I’d been hanging on to Nick (Emanative) Woodmansey’s coat tails while he went about directing a rather epic album project for the Steve Reid Foundation (SRF). We only properly met at William Adamson’s (Rob Gallagher AKA Earl Zinger) album launch less than a year ago and now we are collaborating to take the label project forward. I’m the label curator and sponsor and Nick’s the creator and talent.

Our (actual) first meeting was without incident at the appropriately named Jazz Meet where Nick had been the evening’s guest selector. I’d been blown away by his Burial vs Blakey bootleg and his fucking brilliant reworking of Lions of Judah was set to come out on Brownswood for the SRF so I was a bit in awe. Over the following twelve months I continually hassled Nick for exclusives for an Aussie web radio programme I was doing after returning from some beat ambling in Africa.

Q. So musically you were kind of on the same wavelength?

Yes, I ran a ludicrous, Sun Ra inspired video idea past him during a well lubricated chat that then led to going on to capture some rushes for the SRF project. I remember pulling out some records over an ale and vinyl session (Roy Ayers “He’s a Superstar”, Donald Byrd, the Pharaoh (Sanders), Theo Parrish and of course “On The Corner” by Miles) and they were favourites for us both. I think from that we decided to put on a Monday evening session at a café just around the corner.

Q. And there started the partnership right? How did you go about picking the first tracks for the project?

During a few balmy summer sessions last year I felt the eclectic and rather special pieces of art that Nick was modestly working on should be put on a platform and heard. After a couple of conversations with people in the know (I’m indebted to the support, wisdom and example that all at Wah Wah 45s have provided), Neal Birnie from Sounds of the Universe pointed out what was glaringly obvious “You put it out!”. I think I suggested Emanative’s Fela edit as a 7″ and whilst looking into the practicalities we decided against that release, and to instead unleash some fresh original material on your ears in the form of “OVER”.

Q. So tell us what’s next on the horizon. Can we expect to hear some more new music this year?

It’s amazing to have Nick as the label’s in-house producer and we have plans to put out Tamar Osborn’s Collocutor project that Nick recommended to me. The work is substantial and gloriously beautiful, I’m honoured to be handling a piece of music this rich, evocative and stands strongly to the canon from which it was inspired. The Collocutor album will be out on wax in the summer and we have a raft of ridiculously tasty producers to come in for a remix edition later in the year.

Q. Sounds like a heavy album. So is this destined to stay a two-man band or have you got other people you’re linking with in the background?

An old friend and fellow journeyman, Antoine Abayomi, I met on my wanderings in Africa is also playing around with a few edits, productions and remixes for OTC whilst he is in Paris. The combination of art worked sleeves and exploratory sound is inspired by the great job that Firecracker are doing up in Edinburgh. Our in-house design is also created up there by the patient and talented, Dr Jimmy Lister Sinfield, me and Nick share the labours of screen-printing, stamping and numbering each and every copy. The  Emanative artwork is made by the inimitable hand of Gene Pendon, check out Emanative’s “Love in Outer Space” video for a shining example of Gene’s work – make sure you have your safety belt on though.

Q. So what’s next for the label?

We hope OTC can balance the deeper side of our Sun Ra leanings whilst sating the itch for grubby basement electronics. The Sun Ra vid may happen yet!

ON THE CORNER RECORDS on Facebook
ON THE CORNER RECORDS on Twitter

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TRACKLIST

Tomorrow the Rain Will Fall Upwards – Thus They Sang in the Golden Age (How Great A Fame Has Departed LP, Blackest Ever Black)
Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program – All Is Well (Back On The Planet LP, Brainfeeder Records)
Buddy Peace – Ten Horn Core Part 4 (Sons Of Bitches LP, Bandcamp)
Débruit & Alsarah – Khartoum (AlJawal LP, Soundway Records Records)
DJ iZem – Hajja (Unreleased)
Wildheart – Feel Loved (12″, Wildheart)
OS Kings – Minino Na Tchora (Sound of Cape Verde EP, Sofrito)
Unknown – New York Edits 4 (12″, NY Edits)
Zara McFarlane – Angie La La (Yoruba Soul Remix) (12″, Brownswood Recordings)
Truby & Marlow – Peace Part 1 (Peace EP, Fifty Fathoms Deep)
Turtle – Opposite of Low (Who Knows EP, Beatnik)
Scrimshire feat Stac – Emperor (Stubborn Heart Remix) (Emperor EP, Wah Wah 45s)
Romanthony – Trust 2014 Part 2 (12″, Motor City Drum Ensemble Instrumental Dub) (Glasgow Underground)
Steve Reid – Long Time Black (Emanative Edit) (CDR, On The Corner Records)
Al Dobson Jr – Mr Mellow (22a)
Ibibio Sound Machine – Got to Move, Got to Get Out! (Ibibio Sound Machine LP, Soundway Records)
Collocutor – Archaic Morning (CDR, On The Corner Records)
Let Us Worship – Untitled Live (Unreleased)