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
The now iconic ‘Live from Studio S2’ memorizing performance gets a sought after limited vinyl edition and now features all four tracks from the session including the previously unreleased ‘Hawaii Oslo’ and ‘Glass’ which will also be available to stream and download. First premiered on the Gondwana Records YouTube channel on Sunday March 28th 2021 at 8:00 PM / 9:00PM CET, it has since become a global success reaching 3 million views and counting and has earned Rani many more devoted fans. 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
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
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.
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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.
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Bringing together over 50 of Jamaica's greatest session musicians, whose work spans from the birth of reggae in the late 1960s until today, Roots Architects is the largest gathering of Jamaican musical talent on one all-instrumental album. Never before have so many veterans, who helped create the immortal rhythms that made reggae internationally successful, been assembled to play on new material without vocals. This album aims to celebrate and pay tribute to the unsung heroes of reggae music: the rhythm builders or Roots Architects. 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