Daptone Gold - CD available here, LP available here
Daptone Gold is a collection of hits and obscurities, album favorites and unheard exclusives from the Daptone Records catalog. Since first rearing it's head in 2001, Daptone has upheld it's reputation as both a premier source for new raw soulful music and a model for the possibilities of independent music today. With a library of albums and 45's spanning from rhythm and blues to afrobeat, gospel to funk, Daptone has established a sound that is consistently sincere, heavy, and soulful.
As Gabriel Roth (Daptone Records co-owner, engineer and bass player for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings) sees it, "Over the past decade, a lot of blood and sweat was shed in this little house in Bushwick, and when people experience all these recordings together in a package like this, they are really going to feel what the "Daptone Sound" is all about." Roth continues, "I'm very proud of this record. It's hard evidence of what the Daptone family has accomplished. I'm also excited to finally have so many of my favorite Daptone cuts, many of which were previously only available on vinyl seven inches, included on a proper album. People should really hear this."
After much heated debate, Daptone has selected and sequenced the tracks that were chosen to represent both the depth and breadth of the Daptone sound. It features some of the most popular songs such as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' "Tell Me" and the Budos Band's "Up From the South", alongside some deeper selections such as Lee Fields' "Could Have Been" and Charles Bradley's "The World (Is Going Up In Flames)" which have previously only been released as 45 rpm singles. With the inclusion of unreleased tracks such as Binky Griptite's "A Lover Like Me" and Sharon Jones' version of Gladys Knights' "Giving Up", Daptone Gold promises to be a special addition to the collection of Daptone die-hard fans, as well as a perfect introduction to the label for those who have not yet been experienced. As always, Daptone has made sure that the entire presentation is of a quality and design consistent with the music it contains: decadent gold foil packaging with the Daptone logo prominently embossed across the front, incentives for the vinyl fans, and extensive liner notes.
"Daptone's aesthetic is built around sounds, attitudes and even design sensibilities that were invented 35 or 40 or 45 years ago, but their best records end up sounding timeless rather than retro. They've struck gold in their own backyard." - Excerpt from Douglas Wolk's liner notes.
Double LP includes:
o Deluxe Gold foil embossed gatefold jacket
o Coupon for .mp3 downloads of all 23 tracks
o Full-Color Daptone Records collage poster
o Big sparkly Daptone sticker
o Exclusive Photos
Get it hereOctober 2009 heralds the release of ‘5 Years Of Low End Contagion’, a double CD marking Hyperdub’s five years of life as a record label.Honouring their past, present and future in equal measure, ‘5 Years Of Low End Contagion’ is comprised of one disc of prior highlights, and one of freshly-composed material contributed by Hyperdub artists and close friends.Tracklist
CD1:
01. King Midas Sound - Meltdown
02. Kode9 & The Spaceape - Time Patrol (ft. Cha Cha)
03. Darkstar - Aidy's Girl's A Computer
04. Samiyam - Roller Skates
05. Flying Lotus - Disco Balls
06. Black Chow - Purple Smoke
07. Burial - Fostercare
08. Cooly G - Weekend Fly
09. Zomby - Tarantula
10. Martyn - Mega Drive Generation
11. LV - Turn Away (ft. Dandelion)
12. Mala - Level Nine
13. LD - Shake It
14. Quarta 330 - Bleeps From Outer Space
15. Ikonika - Sahara Michael
16. Joker & Ginz - StashCD2:
01. Kode9 - 9 Samurai
02. Burial - South London Boroughs
03. Kode9 & LD - Bad
04. The Bug - Money Honey Remix (ft. Warrior Queen)
05. LV - Globetrotting (ft. Erol Bellot)
06. Burial - Distant Lights
07. Kode9 & the Spaceape - Ghost Town
08. Kode9 & the Spaceape - Fukkaz
09. Samiyam - Return
10. Darkstar - Need You
11. Zomby - Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix)
12. Ikonika - Please
13. Zomby - Kaliko
14. 2000F & J Kamata - You Don't Know What Love Is
15. Joker - Digidesign
16. Kode9 - 9 Samurai (Quarta 330 Remix)Also check a recent interview on the Times Online with the head of the Hyperdub label, Steve Goodman aka Kode9
Shafiq Husayn (Sa-Ra) - Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka 2LP/CD (Plug Research)
Shafiq Husayn is a Master Teacher, someone who combines innate talent with the spiritual focus needed to reach their potential. As one third of the groundbreaking production trio Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Shafiq has been using his prowess to assist some of the greatest musicians of our generation, from Herbie Hancock to J Dilla, Dr. Dre to Erykah Badu. This fall Shafiq takes a step away from collective efforts to direct his own opus—his long-awaited debut album on Plug Research entitled Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka.
Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka is 17 tracks of innovative music that defies any singular classification. “The U.N. Plan†sounds like a call to arms with Shafiq roll calling nations over uncomprimising drums. “Major Heavy†takes the listener to the clouds with a hypnotizing chorus by the perennially underrated Count Bass D and superb lead vocals from LA’s Sonny Coates. “Lil Girl†finds Shafiq crafting a lo-fi, head-nod inducing beat that is perfectly matched with UK newcomer Fatima’s vocals. Shafiq enlists the help of more than 30 musicians and vocalists on the album, from bass phenomenon Steve “Thundercat†Bruner, the amazing Bilal, Om’Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, the classically trained multi-instrumentalist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and many others.
Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka is an experience in a way very few modern albums are. The title itself is clever but meaningful. In ancient Kemet, now known as Egypt, Ka signifies the soul or the mind, so this album represents Shafiq Husayn in a state of complete mental and spiritual freedom. Genres are melded, barriers are broken and trails are blazed through Shafiq’s masterful direction of music equipment, live instrumentation and vocalists.
Tracklisting:
1. Intro / Electra
2. Nirvana
3. The U.N. Plan
4. Cheeba
5. Lil Girl
6. Lost & Found
7. Dust & Kisses
8. No Moor
9. All Dead
10. Major Heavy
11. Evil Man
12. Changes
13. Love Still Hurts
14. Le'Star
15. Egypt
16. The Odd Is C
17. Rebel Soldier
Mayer Hawthorne grew up just outside of Detroit, and vividly remembers, as a child, driving with his father and tuning the car radio in to the rich soul and jazz history the region provided. “Most of the best music ever made came out of Detroit,†claims the singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, who counts Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hutson, Mike Terry, legendary songwriting and production trio of Dozier, Holland, and Holland Jr. The “retro†tag is added to almost any contemporary work that sounds like it was originally recorded between 1966 and 1974, and Hawthorne, among the newest contributors to the genre, is aware of how trends come and go. After being introduced to Stones Throw label head Peanut Butter Wolf, even the label boss was skeptical. “He showed me two songs and I didn’t understand what I was listening to,†Wolf recalls. “I asked him if they were old songs that he did re-edits of – I couldn’t believe they were new songs and that he played all the instruments.â€
And after meeting in person, it was even harder for Wolf to believe that Hawthorne was also the lead vocalist. Few expect such heartfelt sentiment to come from a 29-year-old white kid from Ann Arbor, but he has caught the ear of his family at Stones Throw, as well as BBC Radio 1 host Gilles Peterson and producer/DJ Mark Ronson. Expectations are high for the admitted vinyl junkie who never planned on taking his crooning public. Hawthorne’s hanging-by-a-string falsetto and breakbeat production on his first recorded effort, the tender “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out,†are simultaneously Smokey and J Dilla – equal parts “The Tracks of My Tears†and “Fall in Love.†“It’s soul,†he explains, “But it’s new.â€
Hawthorne has produced and played instruments for much of his life, but never intended to become a singer. He isn’t formally trained, and never sang in the church choir or in any of the bands he was in before founding the County (formerly the County Commissioners). But here he is, new school soul sensation, who has taken the Motown assembly-line production model and eliminated nearly every element but himself and a few hired hands. “I think Mayer is the only artist in the history of the label that I’ve signed after hearing only two songs,†says Peanut Butter Wolf. “Sometimes, you just know it’s the right thing to do.â€And for those willing to believe anything is possible, be grateful to have Mayer Hawthorne on the scene. It’s not just throwback music anymore – this revival is all about progression.
Available on CD / 2LP with 4inch Single
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