"Chakalaka Jazz" is a compelling compilation curated by DJ and collector Fred Spider, in collaboration with Heavenly Sweetness. This 2xLP collection delves into the rich tapestry of South African jazz and jazz-funk, spanning tracks from 1969 to 2003. The compilation's title, "Chakalaka Jazz," draws inspiration from a traditional South African relish made from tomatoes, onions, and chili. This relish is known for its spicy and diverse flavors, mirroring the eclectic and hybrid nature of the tracks selected. Featured artists include Victor Ntoni & Clarence Wilson, Gibson Kente, The Soweto Boys, The Drive, The Cliffs featuring Winston Ngozi, The Four Sounds, Jazz Ministers, The Tailfeathers, Clarke Cassidy, Zim Ngqawana, and Johnny Dyani. These artists contribute to a compilation that not only showcases the diversity of South African jazz but also highlights its evolution over three decades. JAZZ CHILL. The 2xLP is presented in a gatefold sleeve, with artwork by Romy Brauteseth and design by Laurent Belando. The compilation has received acclaim for its insightful selection, capturing the essence of South African jazz's golden years. Simon Ndlovu from All About Jazz/SA commented, "This is a super compilation which captures the essence of our South African jazz.
Learn More
Presenting an official reissue of Coke’s audacious, engrossing self-titled album from 1972, originally released on Manuel J. Mato’s collectible Sound Triangle Records imprint. It’s a heavy hit of Miami Latin-funk, dosed up with psychedelic garage rock and gritty soul excellence, making for an intoxicating blend of styles and genres on this highly sought-after LP.
Predominately sung in English, Coke’s only album under this moniker is a sumptuous melting pot of influences, tied together with bright funk drumming, flavourful organs and zesty horns. With a garage band attitude and sensibility, the lineup consisted of Paul Garcia on guitar, Ariel Hernandez on bass, Ruben Perez on drums, Jose Rubio on the keys, a host of guest horn players and Peter Fernandez on vocals, whose tone and delivery was often mistaken for that of a woman. Learn More
Encore has been remastered from the original tapes and features 11 compositions by Arthur Verocai who was joined by the legendary Azymuth, Ivan Lins and a nine-piece string section. The album was a long-awaited follow-up to his 1972 debut so bridges 35 years and bottles up Brazilian influences with American soul and cinematic experimentation. Initially overlooked amongst his wider canon, Verocai's debut gained cult status thanks to Far Out Recordings' Joe Davis who rediscovered it in the late 80s. In 2004, producer Dave Brinkworth brought Verocai back to the studio to reignite his musical brilliance. A master arranger, Verocai's work with Brazilian legends shaped his visionary sound and have helped to cement him as a timeless force in music history.
Learn More
Liner Notes by Marcus J. Moore: Over the past few years, concert patrons have stopped the musician Carlos Niño after gigs to ask two simple questions: “Are you a shaman?” “I hear the medicine in your music, can I come to your next ceremony?” The queries are fair enough: Looking at Niño, a tall man with a wild beard and kind eyes, one would think he’s from some faraway time and could maybe cast spells. Once you get to know him, you find that he’s just an incredibly sweet guy with a laid-back demeanor, and that he isn’t some guru claiming to have an all-access pass to the otherworld.
Learn More
For the third release in our Mr Bongo Cuban Classics series, we reissue the iconic 1974 debut album by the mighty Grupo Irakere. Led by Chucho Valdés, son of Cuban pianist and bandleader Bebo Valdés, the band would go on to become of the most influential and successful groups emanating from Cuba in this period. Learn More
Not a nowadays-style remix, more an extended mix in the classical tradition headed by Tom Moulton, back in the days when Francois Kevorkian was his teaboy, and there was a cupboard in his office stuffed with Studio One master-tapes. This record brings to Afrobeat the dubwise intelligence of the discomix. It’s beautifully crafted, irresistibly grooving, heavy. Learn More
Issue Two of SEEN focuses on decolonising electronic music and features photography from Alina Akbar and writing from Iyunoluwanimi Yemi-Shodimu, Amelia Fearon, Dhruva Balram, Jessica Rogers, Jad Ghazali, Dr Zakiya Mckenzie, Sashwati Mira Sengupta and Stephanie Ewurama (aka SCAPA). Articles include a project linking Mancunian and Palestinian artists, an interview with AFRODEUTSCHE, the ethics of sampling and a reggae orchestra led by a visually impaired Jamaican. Long reads include a look at a Ghanaian festival, a thinkpiece on solidarity and protest sounds in South Asia and the diaspora and the role of social media platforms in framing beauty standards in electronic music. A review of our panel at WOMEX in October 2024 is featured too. For the launch contributors Amelia Fearon, Jessica Rogers, Sashwati Mira Sengupta and Iyunoluwanimi Yemi-Shodimu will be in conversation with the SEEN founders, exploring the themes of the latest issue. The night will feature a DJ set from Taxi Cab Industries (who also designed the issue) with the magazine on sale to the public. No tickets are required for the launch at 7:30pm. Learn More
This latest offering is a testament to Guts' curatorial flair, stitching together rhythms from across the globe. Each track is carefully chosen to highlight soulful grooves and infectious melodies, all while maintaining a sense of discovery. The release moves effortlessly between vibrant Afrobeat, laidback funk, and hypnotic Caribbean influences, creating a natural flow that feels like an intimate DJ set. This is music with heart and authenticity, a celebration of the dancefloor's rich diversity.
Learn More
Flowing water is an essential element of Earthly existence, a living force, a process of nature, a path-making which combines infinite sources mixing imperceptibly into a singular energy. It’s also a potent metaphor. A childlike wonder at flowing water’s presence and power, all the impressions it makes and creative neurons that it fires, happens to be a personality trait shared by Evan Shornstein (aka Photay) and Carlos Niño. The two producers/musical connectors may have grown up and reside a continent and daily realities apart — Photay in the forest serenity of New York’s Hudson Valley, Niño on Los Angeles’s ocean-adjacent west side — yet this magnetic power of fluidity, its sound, its meaning, what it can teach us about art and circulation, mesmerizes them both. Learn More
Kokoroko, the London-based band, have released their brand new EP ‘Get The Message’. Conceptualised as a project to hold fans over until their forthcoming second studio album due next year, ‘Get The Message’ is a 4-track opus that positions the band in a more introspective and meditative space. Eschewing the brassy and exuberant sound of their previous work, the new EP notably beholds more of a minimalist slant.
Learn More
Placenta is the fourth collection of broadly imaginative and highly collaborative Carlos Niño & Friends music released on International Anthem in the last four years. It is also the first new music to be released by Carlos Niño & Friends following the November 2023 release of André 3000’s New Blue Sun – an album which Carlos produced alongside André, while co-writing, co-creating/playing, and co-mixing every song. Learn More
Following a first iteration which set the tone for our newly-minted Heimat series in explosive fashion, here comes the much anticipated second batch of our zeitgeistian take on today’s scene’s, its current potential and destination. Showcasing productions from artists keen to roll up their sleeves and sail into the impassible status quo, this new number packs the kind of red-hot hammering and cutting-edge punch we’ve been so adamant to push and defend over the past decade. Learn More
This is The Last Poets' 50th anniversary year, and they've celebrated it with an album that matters - not just musically, but as a record of the times we're living in. The Last Poets are weathervanes, warning of the future and past sins in poems that are indivisible from the rhythms they're voiced on. Think warriors reporting from the battlefield; but their work is also a test of our own courage, because are you ready to receive what they're saying? And is your heart clean and strong enough to withstand the truth?
Learn More
Resavoir - the collaborative project led by Chicago producer/composer Will Miller - presents their second self-titled album. The new 'Resavoir' is a subtly radiant symphony interweaving modern-day soul-jazz with bedroom beats, synth serenades and twilight sonatas. It represents Miller’s most assured and refined work to date. Imagined, instigated and produced by Miller, who ties the diverse sounds into an expansive, coherent whole, 'Resavoir' features a wide and vibrant cast of collaborators, including Elton Aura, Whitney, Akenya, Matt Gold, Eddie Burns, Lane Beckstrom, Jeremy Cunningham, Irvin Pierce, Macie Stewart, Peter Manheim and more.
Learn More
In full gatefold LP form comes the latest Brazilian boogie compilation by Horse Meat Disco, selected selectors of the best rarities in the disco genre. Curated mostly by founding member Luke Howard and with added consultations from crewmates James Hillard, Severino Panzetta and Jim Stanton, a lifetime of frolicking among samba troupes, carnival processions and yearly Rio visitations went into the choices you hear here, consummating one man's intuitive taste for a sound whose appeal stretches far wider than its nation of origin. Mr Bongo invited Howard to their Brighton HQ for an extended on-site selection, proving its off-the-cuff expertise: early electronica experiments from Ze Carlos blend voluminously with Jorge Ben pennings and mouth-watering Luiza Maura 7" cullings, proving a hand-picking that is at once eclectic and unifying.
Learn More
Crate-digging reissue specialists Africa Seven has decided to flip the script on this fantastic album, asking a range of contemporary producers to "re-imagine" a string of rare soul, funk, Afrobeat and disco jams. Thrillingly for those who remember the original West London broken beat scene, the comp contains some killer "bruk" revisions - not least Silkie's brilliantly fluid and groovy take on Ekambi Brillant's "Soul Castle" and EVM's rolling, Bugz in the Attic style revision of M'Bamina's "Mosi Zole". Elsewhere, Appleblim delivers a typically fuzzy and bass heavy rework of Sorry Bamba, Dj Food chops up Sookie's organ-laden funk slammer "Rhythm on Rhythm" an IDM heroes Plaid join the dots between vintage African jazz and woozy electronica. In a word: superb.
Learn More