"Jungle Music" is due out in August, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz Walter Gibbons remains one of the most important and unheralded DJ / remixers in New York dance music history, a pioneer of reel to reel edits and the art of the remix and a tangible link between early hip hop and disco through his quickfire turntable skills developed during the mid-70's. At his famed residency at Galaxy 21 (alongside a then young percussionist, Francois Kevorkian), Gibbons perfected his turntable prowess, mixing two copies of records seamlessly at a similar time to Kool Herc's famed block parties across town in the Bronx in 1975. He was among the first to make his own reel to reel edits of tracks, extending breaks and restructuring tracks specifically for the dancefloor. As a direct result, he was the first DJ to be granted access to multi-track tapes as Ken Cayre's Salsoul Records brought him in to re-work Double Exposure's 'Ten Percent' in '76, a mix that would set the blueprint for disco, the 12" format and all future dance music mixes. This compilation focuses on some of the more ...

Now available on 2LP here Following his acclaimed collaboration on Strut with The Heliocentrics, the Father of Ethio jazz presents his brand new studio album, 'Mulatu Steps Ahead' for 2010. The album explores new directions in fusions of Western jazz with Ethiopian modes, moving forward the pioneering sound Mulatu developed during the '60s and '70s, showcased on the recent Strut compilation 'New York * Addis * London'. For the new album, tracks were recorded with members of Either/Orchestra in Boston, with contributions by traditional Ethiopian musicians in Addis, members of The Heliocentrics and some of the UK's leading jazz and African players during the final sessions in London in November 2009. Each track on the album tells its own story. The reflective, meandering opener, Radcliffe, was composed specifically for the Radcliffe Institute during Mulatu's time lecturing at Harvard in Boston - the original score is now framed on the wall there. The Way To Nice was written and arranged on the tour bus during Mulatu's recent French dates - "with this track, you are travelling on a long journey, talking and thinking" explains Mulatu. "It was inspired by the many beautiful places on the coast road around Nice." Assosa adapts traditional music ...

Released late February 2010, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz 'Afro Rock Vol. 1' is one of the most important compilations of heavy original '70s Afro funk and soul to be released in recent years. Originally surfacing on Duncan Brooker's indie Kona label in early 2001, the album single-handedly kick-started the thirst among jazz, funk and soul fans and 'diggers' to rediscover lost music from Africa made during the '60s and '70s from a time when many countries were gaining independence and celebrating a Pan-African identity within their music. The album was one of the first to reach a far different audience to the traditional 'world music' market and spawned many further projects and labels in its wake. A year later, the 'Nigeria 70' compilation surfaced on Strut and labels like Soundway and Analog Africa would continue to unearth amazing lost gems from the Motherland. The album is testament to the determined work of Brooker following several research trips, especially to East Africa - Kenya and Zaire. It brought to light East Africa's finest funk band, Air Fiesta Matata, led by the recently deceased Steele Beautttah, 'The Nigerian James Brown' Geraldo Pino from Port Harcourt in Nigeria, and the storming Afro ...

The Blank Generation: Blank Tapes NYC 1975-1985 Released in February 2010, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz The first ever album retrospective of one of New York’s most revered of all producers, Bob Blank, this album traces the history of his independent studio, Blank Tapes, one of the city’s most important creative dens during the vibrant arts scene of the mid-‘70s to mid-‘80s. Strut, in the label’s first collaboration with Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton’s DJ History, celebrate Blank’s time at Blank Tapes with an exclusive compilation, covering the many facets of his work. We feature the very first track ever recorded at the studio, Milton Hamilton’s ‘Crystalized’, anthems including Fonda Rae’s ‘Over Like A Fat Rat’ and lesser known Blank classics from the vaults from Debby Blackwell and Mikki. Tracklisting with Clips: 01 Debby Blackwell Once You Got Me Going clip 02 Charanga 76 Music Trance clip 03 Milton Hamilton Crystalized clip 04 Lydia Lunch A Cruise To The Moon clip 05 The Necessaries State Of Art clip 06 James Blood Ulmer Jazz Is The Teacher, Funk Is The Preacher clip 07 Sun Ra Where Pathways Meet (Unreleased Acetate Mix) clip 08 Mikki Itching For Love (M&M Mix / Unreleased John Morales Edit) clip 09 Fonda Rae Over Like A Fat Rat ...

Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen - Inspiraton Information 2LP (Strut) Get it here Strut's Inspiration Information series moves on from the critically acclaimed Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics collaboration with the fourth album in the series, a mouthwatering head to head between Finnish maverick Jimi Tenor and Afrobeat drumming legend, Tony Allen. Jimi Tenor remains a fascinating enigma in modern day music. Consistently one of the best and most unpredictable live artists around, his work since his breakthrough album 'Intervision' (Warp, 1997) to a series of Afro-based albums with his band Kabu Kabu. Tony Allen continues to attract new fans as one of the greatest drummers alive today. Celebrated as the creator of the Afrobeat rhythm and a lynchpin of Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band, his recent work has included The Good, The Bad & The Queen collaboration with Damon Albarn and his first album for World Circuit Records released earlier this year, 'Secret Agent'. Recorded at Lovelite Studios in Berlin with further sessions this year in Finland and Paris, the Tenor / Allen collaboration whips up a raw, heavy analogue sound mixing the full range of Allen's Afrobeat repertoire with Tenor's off-kilter brew of dark humour, tongue-incheek lyrics and tight, firing musicianship. The sessions ...

From Ventvox.com Strut Record's Information Inspiration series has established itself as a reliable source of globe-trotting, genre-bending sounds; the product of spontaneous collaborations between two musical forces.  Hot on the heels of volumes from Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics, Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle and Sly & Robbie & Amp Fiddler, Strut is pleased to announce that the latest volume will feature legendary Fela Kuti drummer and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen along side Finnish electronic / jazz maverick Jimi Tenor.  The is a raw and forward-thinking take on Afrobeat which will thrill fans looking for the next evolution in worldly future funk.  See the teaser trailer below for a taste. To preorder a copy please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

Back in 2002, Strut released ‘Black Rio’ compiled by London DJ Cliffy, a snapshot of the ‘70s Black Rio soul and funk movement in Brazil. Strut Records release the second volume in the series, delving deeper into the vaults to sample some of the lesser known gems emerging from the Carnival capital during the era. Whilst Tropicalia had given Brazil’s musicians and songwriters a powerful political voice during the ‘60s, the Black Rio movement had to battle the odds – black soul was perceived as not being authentically Brazilian and the country was under the rule of General Emilio Garrastazu Medici’s oppressive dictatorship which effectively suffocated cultural expression between 1969 and 1974. Still, the movement took hold as disenchanted black Brazilian youth mirrored the struggles of their contemporaries in the US with their own potent brew of samba, soul and funk. Black Rio parties attracted thousands, bands including Banda Black Rio and Uniao Black were created from the scene and music figureheads like Jorge Ben began exploring more dense, Afro directions on albums including ‘Africa Brasil’. While Black Rio Vol. 1 brought together pioneers of the movement like Tim Maia and Gerson King Combo, Volume 2 digs deeper still, exploring more of ...