05 May 2011 - 0 Comments

VARIOUS – NEW JAZZ ESSENTIALS – 4 x CD 

Another bumper CD collection from the people who bring us lots of other excellent bumper compilations.

That’s right, 4 CD’s featuring a ton of great artists like Mr Scruff, Uptown Funk Empire, Kid Loco, Wax Tailor, Cinematic Orchestra, Mayer Hawthorne, St Germain and loads loads more! This CD really has some funk in it that will undoubtedly keep a smile on your face through those cold winter months.

Fans of: Mr Scruff, Jill Scott, St Germain, Ladi 6, Mayer Hawthorne

ELI ‘PAPERBOY’ REID – ROLL WITH YOU – 2 x CD

If you didn’t know otherwise you’d think this was an album from the 60’s released by Stax.

Clearly a compliment in every way to the talent that is Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reid. Not only does he have one of the most impressive singing voices in modern music, he’s a multi instrumentalist.

This album is a treat from start to finish for anyone who likes the sound of old Motown, Stax style music. Reid has a voice that’s sits somewhere in between James Brown, Little Richard, Wilson Pickett and James Carr. Backed by a band that wouldn’t be out of place sharing the stage with Booker T and The MG’s. All too often people try and fail to re-do a classic sound, not this time, essential listening.

And on top of you get a 2^nd bonus CD including a cover of Motorhead classic ‘Ace of Spades’!

For Fans of: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Wilson Pickett,

FEFE – JUENE A LA RETRAITE – CD

Member of lauded French Hip Hop crew Saian Super Crew fly’s solo on debut album.

For those not up on the history of French Hip Hop, Saian Super Crew were one of the best and most successful crews from the 00’s. Known for a more musical take on Hip Hop they are held with high regard throughout Europe.

Taking that musical ethos forward, Fefe enlists some production help from Dan The Automater and makes one of the more interesting albums to be released this year.

Taking in a large dose of Funk, Soul, Blues, Hip Hop and some African rhythms thrown in for good measure, it’s a melting pot of sounds and influences.

For Fans of: Saian Super Crew, Dan The Automator, MC Solaar

ARTHURS LANDING – ARTHURS LANDING – CD

Strut are proud to present the debut album by Arthur’s Landing, a broad collective of musicians that worked with New York’s revered Arthur Russell at different times during his career, from his more reflective acoustic work (‘World Of Echo’) to his disco projects (Loose Joints, Dinosaur L).

Led by guitarist Steven Hall, the band comprises a core of six members with ‘floating’ guests joining for specific recordings and live shows. The collective also work together on side projects which will become part of the Arthur’s Landing umbrella, including Steven Hall & Joyce Bowden’s Recent Memory acoustic duo.

The Arthur’s Landing album will entirely comprise new versions of Arthur Russell songs, some known, some never previously heard, and will be produced by the band’s Peter Zummo, himself a legend on New York’s experimental music circuit. Tracks include a new update of the Loose Joints anthem ‘Is It All Over My Face’, ‘Your Motion Says (featured on the Russell compilation ‘Love Is Overtaking Me’) and the ever-popular ‘In The Light Of The Miracle’ featuring original co-composer Elodie Lauten.

For Fans of: Arthur Russell,Dinosaur L,

SCARLETT O’ HARA – LOST IN EXISTENCE – CD

Hailing from Texas Post Hardcore band Scarlett o Hara were formed in 2007 and signed to Rise Records to release the debut album ‘Lost in Existence’.

Originally releasing a demo EP in 2008 the band sold out of those and started to generate some noise within the Post Hardcore scene. Soon after the band penned a deal with Rise Records leading to this debut album.

Lost In Existence is immediately brutal and savage as we were hoping, bringing the walls down with its opener “Welcome To The Brodeo”. From there, Scarlett O’Hara deliver track after track of hard hitting screamo accompanied by catchy, sung choruses.

For Fans of: MsWhite, Woe Is Me, Motionless in White

VARIOUS – SMM: CONTEXT – CD

SMM: Context is the first release in Ghostly International’s new yearly compilation series of evocative, exploratory music.

In 2003, Ghostly International introduced SMM, an unknown acronym used to evaporate the already-unspooling musical boundaries between classical minimalism, electronic and drone composition, film soundtracks, and fragile imaginary landscapes. SMM: Context features a hand-picked selection of some of the world’s finest musicians from Poland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, North America and the UK who traffic in SMM’s slow-moving, texture-focused compositions, simple in instrumentation, but infinitely complex in execution.

The songs on SMM: Context can’t be categorized. They do their work in a multitude of ways, seeming to change depending on when and how they’re listened to, providing a backdrop for life’s small movies, or—if you’re not into the whole “ambient as life soundtrack” thing—acting as their own context, existing simply as elegant, heartbreakingly beautiful music.

For Fans of: Brian Eno, Hatchback, Sigur Ros

THE SUBMARINES – LOVE NOTES/LETTER BOMBS – CD

Another Husband and Wife duo release for 2011, edgy pop indie about the tribulations and rewards of marriage, they’ve been through it themselves before reconciling and making an album, the debut in 2006.

If Love Notes is their best album, it’s because it’s also their most emotionally conflicted. As usual, Blake Hazard sings lead on most of these songs, and where other singers might milk these lyrics for every bit of emotionalism, her bright vocals and breathy phrasing prove cooler and almost matter-of-fact, as if these are matters of the head more than of the heart.

As songwriters, she and Dragonetti are incisive enough that these sure songs never come across as one-sided. There’s real tragedy here, but also undeniable happiness.

And that’s the Submarines’ secret appeal: They specialize in the sneaky juxtaposition of dark thoughts over bright hooks. Rarely does postmillennial pop music sound so energetic and balanced in its contradictions.

For Fans of: The Weepies, Freelance Whales,

Thanks to www.border.co.nz for this story.

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