Funk / Soul / Jazz / Disco

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

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

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

An addendum to Makaya McCraven's critically-acclaimed 2018 release Universal Beings, which The New York Times said "affirms the drummer and beatsmith's position as a major figure in creative music," Universal Beings E&F Sides presents fourteen new pieces of organic beat music cut from the original sessions, prepared and produced by Makaya as a soundtrack to the Universal Beings documentary film. Learn More

London has long been a hotbed for experimentation for music from West Africa, and it’s into this global-local story that we can situate London’s newest afrobeat innovators: Kokoroko. In the 40’s World War Two veteran Ambrose Campbell and his West African Rhythm Brothers, were enticing Soho music lovers with sweet palm wine sounds. The following decade, a young Fela Kuti (and his Koola Lobitos outfit with drummer Tony Allen), would jam with Campbell, and the seeds for his global Afrobeat revolution were sown. Learn More

Sometimes, the perfect track just comes out of nowhere, and that's exactly how Mamacita's 'Tu Amor' came to be. A Chilean rendition of Jamie Principle & Frankie Knuckles' 'Your Love,' the track was originally released in 2012 and gained attention after being played by the Idjut Boys in their sets. DJ Steve KIW caught wind of it and passed it along to Mr Bongo, where it quickly became a favorite. During a performance in Barcelona, Luke Una dropped the track and immediately felt the connection. The song's raw, DIY energy, combined with its unique arrangement, made it a natural fit for E Soul Cultura, leading to its first vinyl release. Created by Chilean DJ Mamacita (Carolina Vallejos) and producer Persona RS (Sebastian Roman) using lo-fi equipment, the track captures the spirit of early Chicago house. It gained a following within Chile’s underground scene but didn’t get much exposure outside Latin America and the US. For this release, Luke Una and Luke Solomon have re-edited the track, extending it and highlighting its quirky synths while maintaining that cosmic, offbeat vibe. Both the original and the re-edit are included in this vinyl release, giving new life to this previously underappreciated gem. Learn More

Here the three-tracker Deep Disco house EP returns in freshly remastered form. Learn More