Conch Records

Date

October 23 2012

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UPCOMING: The Greg Foat Group - Girl And Robot With Flowers (JAZZMAN)

Written By 1 - October 23 2012

Due out December 2012, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

It's been a year since the magnificent 'Dark is the Sun' first enchanted listeners back in 2011, and we're thrilled to announce the next installment of mesmerizing non-contemporary jazz by the Greg Foat Group with their new album 'Girl and Robot with Flowers'.

Evading the dreaded 'second album syndrome' with consummate ease, 'Girl and Robot with Flowers' is a sonic soundscape of epic proportions that leaves 'Dark is the Sun' in the dust while propelling the listener into infinity - and beyond!

With a doff of the hat to sci-fi writer Brian Aldiss, we're whisked off on a thematic journey into the emotive and enthralling realms of cinematic jazz, seductive ambience and exciting, majestic drama. Often unpredictable and certainly never dull, British pianist/composer/arranger Greg Foat uses everything from brass bands and kettle drums to Moog synthesizer and harmonium to take us above and beyond the stratosphere of our senses. Have spacesuit? Let's travel!

As with 'Dark Is the Sun', this album was recorded in a unique, pure analogue studio in Sweden to capture the full warmth and dynamic range of the wide variety of instruments utilized. The spacious, high quality sound that was achieved by recording direct to tape through high quality vintage equipment is absolutely impeccable, revealing in stunning detail a magical atmosphere the likes of which is rarely heard in the current climate of digitalization and MP3s.

Over the years Greg Foat has collaborated withmusicians and artists such as Wendy James, Questlove of The Roots, The Black Lips, Justice and The Bees. This past year has been a busy one with tours of Europe and the UK, exposing their music to seasoned audiences: Jamie Cullum, Chris Evans, Gilles Peterson, Craig Charles, Ozwald Boateng, Helena Christiansen, Jude Law, Benicio Del Toro, Lyndsey Lohan are just a few of the many faces who have enjoyed the music of the Greg Foat Group.

Date

October 20 2012

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BOOK: Soul Jazz Records presents Reggae 45 Soundsystem

Written By 1 - October 20 2012

The label art of Reggae Singles; A Visual History of Jamaican Reggae 1959-79. Compiled by Steve Barrow and Stuart Baker

Reggae Soundsystem 45! is a new stunning deluxe 500 page flexibound book that features over 1000  full size record label 45 rpm single designs that span the history of reggae music. The book is compiled by the renowned author and reggae expert Steve Barrow (Rough Guide to Reggae/Blood and Fire Records) and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records). Text by Steve Barrow and Noel Hawks. As well as the stunning full-size 45 designs, this book is ram-jam filled with text on many of the records, artists, producers and record companies featured in the book. The 45rpm 7” single is at the heart of reggae music, the main tool in which reggae music has been communicated to the public by the deejays in the dancehalls of Kingston, through to its dissemination worldwide, over the last 50+years. These unique label designs give us a hidden history of design that is raw, innovative and hip. Ever since the birth of the Jamaican music industry  through to the present day, these idiosyncratic label designs have helped illustrate, signify and energise the music that they accompany. Reggae 45 Soundsystem is released to coincide with the publication of a second large format hardback 12x12" book, Reggae Soundsystem which features original album cover art of reggae, also published by Soul Jazz Books.  

Date

October 19 2012

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We Can Create @ Mercury Theatre - 27th October

Written By 1 - October 19 2012

1 day, 6 speakers, 1 live performance, millions of ideas and very limited seats. Book now and don't miss New Zealand's only industry-strength creative showcase.

MORE INFO HERE  / BUY TICKETS HERE

We Can Create is a general admission event so you can sit wherever you like in the Theatre. On arrival you will receive a removable wristband that will grant you entry to any of the 4 sessions, the wristband is transferable. 1 x entry per wristband per session. This is one show where you can leave your mobiles on - feel free to text your questions to the speakers for the Q&A session after each presentation.  

EXHIBITION: Rockin' Jelly Bean

A night to celebrate one of our more fringe guests. The totally wicked Rockin' Jelly Bean and a selection of hi work will be exhibited and on sale at our K' Rd local. THURSDAY 25 OCT, Hard Luck Cafe, 103 K' Road, 6 – 9pm  

Date

October 19 2012

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Adrian Sherwood - Survival & Resistance 2LP (ON U SOUND)

Written By 1 - October 19 2012

Available Here on 2LP, here on CD

For more than three decades, Adrian Sherwood has been one of the world’s finest and most consistently groundbreaking producers, artists and remixers. In the ensuing journey, he has wrought his deep, dark magic upon such internationally acclaimed artists as Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, Blur, Primal Scream and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, as well as coining countless mind-melting new sounds with legendary acts such as Tackhead and Mark Stewart, whose influence is ongoing and, to this day, omnipresent.

Sherwood has always preferred to operate in the shadows, where his creative integrity is least threatened by the all-corrupting ludicrousness of the pop mainstream. Largely left to his own devices, he has built up a colossal body of work, whose staggering diversity – after launching off from reggae and dub, he duly innovated with electronic experimentation, industrial grind, various world music’s, and far more – somehow never eclipsed his own identity, nor diluted his unique bass-anchored sound. With a musical life that reads like a trans-Atlantic road map of recent music history’s important moments - from underage excursions into West London’s seminal reggae and soul parties to the frontlines of England’s punk movement and the creation of one of post-punk’s defining collectives with his legendary On-U Sound labels, producing the New York upstarts who helped create hip-hop and toiling with some of the biggest, most credible names in the pop world of the 1990s. All of this done with the spirit and grit of punk and the mystic genius of Jamaica’s dub tradition, but through the eyes and ears of a restless originator. While much of the chat surrounding Sherwood’s legend has tended towards the scope and deftness-of-touch of his innovative production and remixing work, his output as a solo artist has always woven strands of haunted polyrhythms, helter-skelter pop sensibilities and post-rave haze into some of the most unique “dub” music ever recorded. Now comes Survival & Resistance, a palpable evolution of the sounds introduced on these preceding albums, yet feeling like the perfect addition to a triptych. Dark atmospherics, creeping electronics and an almost orchestral approach to arrangement are married to brilliant melodic sense and analog technique. An exciting and long-overdue transmission of the On-U Sound. Opening with the circuit-bent reggae balladry of “Balance” the sense of agitation and unease is palpable, but by the time you’ve been drawn into the paranoid transmission of “U.R. Sound” and the plaintive optimism of “Effective” a much more complex picture comes into focus. Drawing on the upheaval of the all-too-recent London riots and staring down the current international economic crisis, the album is an earnest critique of current injustices, and like all great dub music is also potently enjoyable. The cornerstones of Sherwood’s singular production style are as strong as ever here – experimental techniques that pit noise against melody, dub as female resistance song and foregrounding the missing links between dub, blues roots and Brazilian Bossa. Equally as formidable is the post-punk lineage of the On-U aesthetic and the mythic mixing approach he has evolved over the years. A swirling maelstrom of skull-shaking, heavy electronic tones and masterful deployment of breathing space and alien echo, Survival & Resistance is the sound of avant-garde dub music in 2012.

Track List & Soundclips: 01. Balance 02. Trapped Here 03. URSound 04. Starship Bahia 05. Effective 06. We Flick The Switch 07. Bossa 2 08. Two Semitones And a Raver 09. Last Queen Of England 10. Greensleeves

Date

October 19 2012

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BOOK: Soul Jazz Records presents Reggae Soundsystem!

Written By 1 - October 19 2012

Due out November 2012, to reserve a copy please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

Original Reggae Album Cover Art: A visual history of Jamaican music from Mento to Dancehall. Compiled by Steve Barrow and Stuart Baker

Reggae Soundsystem! is a new deluxe 200 page hard-back 12”x12” book featuring hundreds of stunning full size record cover designs that span the history of reggae music.

 The book is compiled by the celebrated author and reggae expert Steve Barrow (Rough Guide to Reggae/ Blood and Fire Records) and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records).

Beginning in the 1950s, Jamaican music developed into one of the most important and influential music industries in the world. From its early Mento (Jamaican Calypso) beginnings through to the invention of Ska, Rocksteady, Roots, Dub and Dancehall, Jamaican music is also one of the richest and innovative veins in popular music.

 This stunning hardback deluxe book is a timely look at the endless visually creativity of  reggae record cover designs, iconic, classic, rare and unique artwork spanning sixty years of Jamaican sounds.

 The book includes a fascinating introductory essay on the history of reggae by Steve Barrow and the book is edited by Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records and editor of the book Dancehall, and cover art books on Bossa Nova, Freedom, Rhythm & Sound and Studio One Records).

 

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