12 May 2011 - 0 Comments

ASA – BEAUTIFUL IMPERFECTION – CD 

Renowned for fusing her Nigerian roots with contemporary soulful pop, on her internationally acclaimed self-titled debut album Asa proved herself to be an intelligent and socially conscious individual using her musical talents to address social and political issues. As an ever evolving songstress Asa has another goal to reach with her second studio release, Beautiful Imperfection “The first album reflected my state of mind then” Asa says. “I had a lot to talk about – social and political issues.

This time, I felt different: I wanted to create something that would help people come out of sad moods and feel uplifted. It is different from the first album; it has more brightness.”

'Beautiful Imperfection' is, quite simply, a beautiful record. Genuinely strong radio singles sit side by side alongside a stack of album material, no filler on this album at all.

‘Why can’t We’ has already added to the ZM playlist and received an impressive write up on the Elsewhere website.

For Fans of: Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse,

BOBBY LONG – A WINTER TALE – CD

Bobby Long believes in making up for lost time. The young British singer-songwriter didn’t even start to play guitar until he was 17, but from then on he’s been creating memorable songs inhabited by hauntingly poetic lyrics. He is a formidable presence even before he begins to sing. And when he does sing, it's with a heart-wrenching soulfulness that crushes any chance for apathy. It's a voice that simply demands attention.

On A WINTER TALE he wanted to capture the immediacy of his many live performances, over 160 in the last year “to have flaws in it, some signs of human nature.”

Grammy-winner Liam Watson (The White Stripes, Elephant) and his analog Toe Rag Studios in London proved an ideal match for the artist's old-school recording approach.

He cites Bob Dylan's career, as well as his songwriting, as a major influence. He also lists Richie Havens, Neil Young, Tim Buckley and Leonard Cohen as influences, along with more modern troubadours like Elliott Smith and Conor Oberst. 

For Fans of: Mumford & Sons, Bob Dylan, Damien Rice

RHIAN SHEEHAN – SEVEN TALES IN THE NORTHERN WIND – CD

Rhian Sheehan’s new release “Seven Tales of the North Wind” is the follow up to his much-acclaimed “Standing In Silence”. The EP comprises of 7 dreamy ambient tales that explore the emotions of nostalgia and memory, of the past as it informs the present – a magical swirling of warm organic and textural layers.

Already at album number 6 Rhian Sheehan’s music has featured on many TV and cinematic outings, the strength of his work is unquestionable, another fine ambient outing.

For Fans of: Module, Brian Eno

AFRICA HITECH – 93 MILLION MILES – CD

Africa Hitech aka Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek bring to the table one of the freshest albums of the last couple of years. The lead single ‘Out in the Streets’ literally tore down dancefloors all over the world, taking ‘Juke’ to a whole new level. Mark Pritchard is really a producer’s producer, he’s been releasing music in various guises in different genres for many years, Steve Spacek was part of new soul/Hip Hop/Broken Beat group Spacek.

Together they bring an album of pulsating rhythms fusing Electronic beats, Juke, Dubstep into something quite special and unique.

For Fans of: Harmonic 313, Hudson Mohawke, Flying Lotus

VARIOUS – DJ KICKS (WOLF & LAMB vs SOUL CLAP – CD

Wolf + Lamb and Soul Clap, two like-minded DJ teams from Brooklyn and Boston, respectively, are kind of having a moment right now.

This is a well-crafted, cohesive mix that features some great materia, they impressively blend genres, like on Soul Clap's "3 Wheel E-Motion" which is almost ambient g-funk, or the astral, bubbly R&B of Double Hill's "Everytime I Go". There's this great mix of old and new on these tracks, an unlikely fusion of dusty urban sounds and lush synth trickery.

Overall this really is an interesting mix, some deeper rhythms in here, an early 80’s thing going on amongst everything else. You’ll put the CD on hear it’s a pretty unique collection of music which is why this works so well as another installment to the long running DJ Kicks series.

For Fans of: Chromeo, Deniz Kurtzel, Nicolas Jaar,

KID LOCO – KILL YOUR DARLINGS – CD

Four years after his debut, an LP of clever, double-entendre trip-hop, Kid Loco plunged deeper into the world of knowing naïveté with Kill Your Darlings.

This is the kind of album that opens up with repeated listens, at first it appears a bit shallow but then you really start to appreciate what Kid Loco has tried to achieve with this album.

As well as a couple of instrumental cuts, Kid Loco’s ability to harness killer hooks and delicious grooves is really what start’s to stand out. It’s more than just a Trip Hop album, it’s lounge pop, Loco has finely tuned the sound of his 2^nd album in a way no one really expected, quite a gem.  

For Fans of: Boozoo Bajou, Tosca, DJ Cam

VARIOUS – DISCO LOVE 2 (AL KENT) – 2 x CD

Disco Love is a series of fabulous disco records that you’ve probably never heard of. All of these superb records are presented to you by the legendary Al Kent from the unlikeliest disco haven of Glasgow.

Al's been buying records a few years now, usually ignoring the in-demand or more obvious titles and searching a little harder for fabulous disco records. Disco Love contains just some of them. Not only that, but most of them are exclusive, unissued re-edits, spliced together especially for this album by Mr. Kent. And he's mixed them all together for one disc.

Al's northern soul past can clearly be heard in his choice of tracks here – from gritty backstreet crackhouse recordings, to uplifting dancefloor gems, if you like your disco music deep, soulful and/or funky, then you've come to the right place.

For Fans of: Disco, Larry Levan, SalSoul

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

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