Conch Records

Date

March 06 2013

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Various - Diablos Del Ritmo (ANALOG AFRICA)

Written By 1 - March 06 2013

Available Here on 2xCD, 2LP Part 1 here, 2LP Part 2 Here

Track List & Soundclips:

01 Wganda Kenya El Caterete clip
02 Julian y su Combo Enyere Kumbara clip
03 Myrian Makenwa Amampondo clip
04 Wasamaye Rock Group Wasamaye clip
05 Grupo Abharca Shallcarri clip
06 Sexteto Manaure Bajo El Trupillo Guajiro clip
07 Fuentes All Stars Pégale a La Nalga clip
08 Grupo Folclórico Juipiti clip
09 Wganda Kenya Shakalaodé clip
10 Los Salvajes Amor Salvaje clip
11 Calixto Ochoa y Los Papaupas Lumbalu clip
12 Abelardo Carbono Quiero Mi Gente clip
13 Conjunto Son San Cumbia San Pablera clip
14 Conjunto Barbacoa Calambre clip
01 Sonora Dinamita Eco en Stereo clip
02 Peyo Torres y sus Diablos del Ritmo La Veterana clip
03 Sonora Tropical Lluvia clip
04 Pianonegro La Cascada clip
05 Andrés Landero Busca La Careta clip
06 Alejandro Durán Cumbia Costeña clip
07 Andrés Landero La Pava Congona clip
08 Ramiro Beltrán Agoniza El Magdalena clip
09 Cresencio Camacho Santana en Salsa clip
10 Los Alegres Diablos La Motilona clip
11 Cumbia Soledeña El Garabato clip
12 J. Alvear Cumbia Cincelejana clip
13 Juan Piña Y su Muchachos La Nena clip
14 Roberto de la Barrerra y su Piano Sabrosón clip
15 Los Curramberos de Guayabal La Bulla clip
16 Conjunto Típico del Valledupar La Pegajosa clip
17 Carmelo Gutiérrez Y Su Conjunto Fantasías Del Carnaval clip
18 Alfredo Gutiérrez y sus Estrellas Pájaro Madrugador clip

There are a number of theories as to how, in the mid-20th century, African music made its way to Colombia’s vibrant port city of Barranquilla, today’s mecca of Caribbean tropical music flled with the chaos of loud music, frenetic taxis, delicious Sancocho soup aromas and a charminglycolourful aura. Some maintain that a man named “Boquebaba” remains responsible. Others claim that seafaring traders and merchants imported the frst sizeable amount of African vinyl.

An absolute certainty is that in March 2007 Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb arrived in Barranquilla, by some still considered the “Golden Gate of Colombia”. Unaware the impact it would have, he brought along several African records to be used as trading currency for Colombian music. Ben Redjeb’s collection allowed contemporary diehard music collectors to fnally hold their cherished records and learn the real names of many of their favourite songs, which they had heard through coastal sound systems for nearly three decades. In return, the gesture opened pathways to depths of Colombian music the likes of which he would not have encountered otherwise.

After half a decade in which seven expeditions were made to Barranquilla, Analog Africa is honoured to present “Diablos del Ritmo,” an anthology of – and tribute to – the immense sound of 1970s Colombia. Thousands of records were collected, boiling down to a colourfully diverse selection of 32 tracks (available on double CD, 2 x double LP and digital format), split between Afrobeat, Afrofunk, Psychedelia-inspired rhythms on Part 1 and an array of danceable tropical rhythms on Part 2.

Perhaps nothing epitomizes the lush tropical character of Colombia’s Caribbean coast more than Barranquilla’s carnival, the city’s most important cultural event. The pridefully celebrated occasion was once a grand stage on which record labels of the ‘70s would competitively showcase their best material for the frst time to an endearing public. Competitions continue to take place these days to crown the collector with the most exclusive tracks – and some have been won in recent years with records provided by Analog Africa’s founder. This sort of exchange between African and Colombian music typifes what was happening beneath the surface in 1970s Colombia.

Colombian music in general, especially the music from the Caribbean coast, is heavily infuenced by the drums, percussion and chanting of African rhythms. Music from big players of the day – from Nigeria, Congo, Ivory Coast and Cuba – entered Barranquilla constantly. Afrobeat, Terapia and Lumbalú clashed efortlessly with the tropical sounds of Puya, Porro, Gaita, Cumbiamba, Mapelé and Chandé to create a rich amalgam of irresistible dance music while traditional styles were refned by an elite cadre of accordion players that included Alejandro Duran, Alfredo Gutierrez, Calixto Ochoa, Anibal Velasquez and Andres Landero.

Signifcantly, Colombia is home to the largest black population in the Hispanic world and second only to Brazil in Latin America. And, as such, communities of African descendants, like the Champetuos and the Cimarrones, were empowered by the thick African ether consuming the country, and stirred the musical melting pot even more. The heights Afro-Colombian music had reached by the early ‘80s was nothing short of exceptional. But, none of it could have been possible without two vital engines. One was the Picó sound systems – roaming street clubs dedicated to mobilizing and spreading the rawest music of Africa, the Caribbean and the rest of the transatlantic black world. The second were forwarding-thinking producers. Discos Tropical, named after the palm tree-flled tropical character of Barranquilla, Felito Records and Machuca, amongst several other key players, governed and diversifed the psychedelic and coastal music scene of Colombia.

Alongside an all-encompassing 60-page booklet inclusive of 40 vintage photographs, 24 interviews and documented frst-hand knowledge, the deep cuts of Analog Africa’s 12th compilation will instantly transport any listener to Colombia’s thriving Caribbean coast to indulge in the succulent belly of tropical music’s untold historic tales.

Please note: The 32 songs will all be included on the double CD. For the vinyl release they will be divided into 2 separately available double LPs.

PART ONE: Funky & Psychedelic Sounds (Afrobeat, Palenque Sounds, Tropical Funk, Terapia) PART TWO: Tropical music (Puya, Porro, Gaita, Cumbambia, Mapalé, Chandé)

 

Date

March 06 2013

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UPCOMING: Heliocentrics - 13 Degrees Of Reality (NOW AGAIN)

Written By 1 - March 06 2013

Due out April 2013 on CD & 2LP, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

The Heliocentrics' debut album, Out There (2007) was a confounding piece of work. Drawing equally from the funk universe of James Brown, the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra, the cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone, the sublime fusion of David Axelrod, Pierre Henry's turned-on musique concrète, and Can's beat-heavy Krautrock, Out There pointed the way towards a brand new kind of psychedelia, one that could only come from a band of accomplished musicians who were also obsessive music fans. Drummer Malcolm Catto and bassist Jake Ferguson are the Heliocentrics' masterminds and producers, and guitarist Ade Owusu, percussionist Jack Yglesisas and keyboardist Ollie Parfitt hold constant presence within this ever-evolving ensemble.

They have been playing together for over a decade and their collective drive is to find an individual voice. The Heliocentrics search for it in an alternate galaxy where the orbits of funk, jazz, psychedelic, electronic, avant-garde and "ethnic" music all revolve around "The One." Back at Now-Again with 13 Degrees of Reality, the Heliocentrics have returned to develop this epic vision of psychedelic funk, while exploring the possibilities created by their myriad influences - Latin, African, and more. Thus, the electro-Latin fusion of "Descarga Electronica" sits next to weeping strings piled atop "Collateral Damage's" chunky rhythms, which nearly misses the undulating swing of "Wrecking Ball," a dirge as irresistibly funky as it is devastating. No surprise, then, that the Heliocentrics have earned lifetime fans in the likes of questing spirits like Madlib (with whom Catto has collaborated on numerous Yesterdays New Quintet projects), DJ Shadow (both as a touring ensemble and in the studio), Quantic and Ethiopian jazz giant Mulatu Astatke, with whom the Heliocentrics recorded and released Inspiration Information 3, the fourth classic Mulatu album - released nearly forty years after his other three. Out There may have been one hell of an opening volley, but having spent some years in the wild running among mavericks like Astatke and Oriental Jazz pioneer Lloyd Miller, the Heliocentrics have realized that their strongest statements are made somewhere between the persistent fuzz of Owusu's distorted guitar, Catto's impossible syncopation and Ferguson's looping bass lines. 13 Degrees of Reality is one of the most distinctive musical statements you'll hear all year. As promised, we’re giving away one freebie from the album – the stalking, smashing, psych-funk dronefest that is “Wrecking Ball.” If you like what you hear – and we’re sure that fans of Jake Ferguson and Malcolm Catto’s dense production will – then stay tuned. There’s quite a lot more to come. Download: Heliocentrics “Wrecking Ball” Tracklist & Soundclips: SIDE A: 1. Feedback (Intro) 2. Ethnicity 3. Public Safety 4. Mysterious Ways 5. Dreams 6. Collateral Damage SIDE B: 1. Outtake (Interlude) 2. Freeness Part 2 3. Wrecking Ball (Prelude) 4. Wrecking Ball 5. Mind Readers 6. Descarga Electronica SIDE C: 1. A Musical Conspiracy (Interlude) 2. Eastern Begena 3. Hall Of Mirrors (Interlude) 4. Mr. Owusu, I Presume? 5. The Abstract & The Absolute (Interlude) SIDE D: 1. Black Sky 2. Prepare For Lift-Off (Interlude) 3. Path Of The Black Sun 4. Calabash 5. Vibrations Of Fallen Angels (Outro)

Date

February 27 2013

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FaltyDL - Hardcourage (NINJA TUNE)

Written By 1 - February 27 2013

 Available here on CD, here on 2LP+MP3

Welcome if you will, to the coming of age of FaltyDL, AKA Drew Lustman. A producer who's already carved out a name as one of the most exciting talents to emerge in electronic music of late, he's released albums on Planet Mu, supported Radiohead (and topped Thom Yorke's office playlist,) as well as remixed the XX, Scuba and Mount Kimbie - to name but a few. He also has his own label, Blueberry Records, in collaboration with which Ninja Tune presents 'Hardcourage.'

'Hardcourage' is the NYC-based Lustman's masterpiece: an electronic opus inspired by love and crafted with renewed intent and dedication. Lustman often makes mention of attempting to channel the music in his head, to allow it to pour forth direct from his subconscious. In 'Hardcourage' it seems he's succeeded. The music here feels incredibly natural, the songs taking the most perfect of shapes, their emotive rise and swell both subtle and immensely powerful.

Halfway through making the album, Lustman fell in love - the object of his affections rapidly becoming his muse. He's been very lucky in more ways than one: 'Hardcourage' is full of uplift, energy and purpose - it genuinely feels like all the best parts of falling in love.

The album's opener 'Stay, I'm Changed' is much more than just a track that happens to come first, it genuinely opens the album, setting the tone and enticing the listener in to the self-contained world within. From its initially tentative, horn-like synths, it gradually grows in urgency, drama and emotional depth.

Second single 'She Sleeps' is the only vocal track on the album, featuring a brilliant, haunting turn from The Friendly Fires' Ed Macfarlane. The pair bonded over a shared love for garage music, (ironically, garage being the sound Falty has moved away from on the album.) The collaboration feels instinctive and inspired, two minds meeting to make a song with a purity and vulnerability not often found in electronic music.

‘Finally Some Shit/ The Rain Stopped’ feels like the blues lifting. Its pattering drums bring to mind rain against a windowpane, the driving bassline is like renewed resolve captured in music. ‘Hardcourage’ is about ‘when things are in Limbo and having the courage to carry on,’ says Lustman, and nowhere is that more in evidence than here.

The album’s first single ‘Straight and Arrow’ summarises the musical direction Lustman has taken with ‘Hardcourage.’ His move away from a US take on garage has resulted in a masterful brand of atmospheric, soul-drenched house and electronica. As you'd expect, Falty has applied as much vision to the album's close as he has its beginning. 'Bells' has a strong claim to be electronica's greatest love song. Like the clouds parting, the heart leaping, the world seeming to chime with happiness, it's the perfect end to the perfect declaration of love.

‘I didn't make this album with the intent of sharing all of it,’ Lustman has said. That’s obviously served him well. Luckily for us, share it he has.

Track List & Soundclips:

01 Stay I'm Changed clip
02 She Sleeps clip
03 Straight & Arrow clip
04 Uncea clip
05 For Karme clip
06 Finally Some Shit / The Rain Stopped clip
07 Kenny Rolls One clip
08 Korben Dallas clip
09 Re Assimilate clip
10 Bells clip

______

Drew Lustman aka FaltyDL was born and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. It’s a place best known as the home of top Ivy League establishment Yale University. Other than that, Lustman explains “it’s a big ghetto.” The young Lustman found himself bouncing between these two worlds, not entirely comfortable in either. “i was a shitty student,” he explains. “I barely graduated, did a lot of drugs, and ended up in rehab at 16/17. Music was my way to get out of it.” He started off playing in jazz and rock bands, but by 19 he’d decided to go it alone and named himself FaltyDL.

There followed a few years of intensive music making interpersed with attempts to find a home for what he was making. Eventually Mike Paradinas of the legendary Planet Mu said he’d release the young producer’s records, “a huge moment,” Falty remembers. Shortly after, he relocated to New York and it was here that his musical career really took off. “My good friend Boxcutter advised me to the slow the BPM down to like 130BPM and was sending me a lot of garage-influenced stuff like Horsepower and El-B, and I started making "Love is a Liability."” Since then, Lustman has looked to expand and evolve his signature sound over two albums, an EP and three singles for the label. In addition, he has released an afrobeat-inspired 12”, “Mean Streets Pt 1” with Loefah’s Swamp81 label, a single on Ramp backed with a remix from Jamie XX and begun releasing collaborations with Machinedrum online. An in-demand remixer, he has made versions for the likes of Seun Kuti (Fela’s son), Mount Kimbie, The XX, Scuba, Photek, Anthony Shake Shakir and others. Recently he supported Radiohead in New York and topped Thom Yorke’s office playlist. In additon to all this, he set up his own label, Blueberry Records, named for both the fruit and the Blueberry Hill he used to climb near his grandmother’s house.

But if FaltyDL was known for his own twisting of the garage template (a music which had crossed the Atlantic, mutated, and now come back to be twisted again) his new music signals another change. “I've moved completely away from that sound,” he says. “Production-wise it’s the best thing I've ever done. It’s about getting sounds I hear out of my head onto the software/synths I’m writing on. Filtering through the sounds in my subconcious. This is the closest I've ever got." Partly the changes are down to that old black magic, love. Lustman met his girlfriend mid-way through the writing of the record (shortly after signing to that cupid amongst labels, Ninja Tune!) and she “became my muse. I didn't make this album with the intention of sharing all of it. Of course some of it, but most was made for one person in particular.” And, more than anything else, that honesty and intimacy shines through.

Date

February 26 2013

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UPCOMING: Lapalux - Nostalchic 2LP (BRAIN FEEDER)

Written By 1 - February 26 2013

Due out March 2013, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

In a world in which upstart DiY talent is flooding the gates of electronic music, a few recent voices have been so strong as to be startling. Lapalux - AKA 25-year-old Stuart Howard - is certainly one such. As singular as a brilliant artist always should be, his instinctive understanding of the atmospheric power of texture grips the ear immediately on listening. 'Nostalchic' is his debut album, mission statement, and the climax of many years of studying his craft. The amalgam of words that make the title is aptly, and perhaps knowingly chosen. The album evokes nostalgia without ever sounding nostalgic, and Howard may have had his tongue in his chic when he added the second half of the title. The album is his most focused document to date, adding his beloved R&B and soul into elements of house and hip hop, all with the trademark Lapalux finish, infectious, lopsided swing and achingly deep texture. Lapalux was raised in rural Essex, midway between countryside and town, the classic, isolated hinterland that's produced many a distinctive British voice. There's a yearning sense to the record that it's tempting to relate to the young Howard's dreams about what his eventual escape into larger life might be. He certainly had a dream start when a shot-in-the-dark email to electronic hothouse Brainfeeder was immediately answered by label head Flying Lotus himself, who quickly moved on to sign him. To this day, Lapalux remains the only British artist on the Los Angeles based label. Having made fans out of Diplo and SBTRKT, remixed everyone from Lianne La Havas via Crystal Fighters to Bonobo, Tawiah, AlunaGeorge and Speech Debelle, as well as supporting FlyLo and playing the main stage at Sonar and in Japan with Clark, it's prime time for Lapalux's debut full length. Happily, it was well worth the wait. As declared by opener 'Tape Intro,' Lapalux is a keen experimenter with tape, looping and layering sounds via the warm-feeling format provides textures that are haunting, beautiful, fragile, and somehow familiar and alien all at once. These experiments are both purposeful and successful, and their result is dizzyingly good. Add to this his gift for treating a vocal, and the effect is profound. If many producers use the electronic staples – glitches, fragments and unfamiliar swing – few know how to use them with such intent as Lapalux. Howard adopts these devices only to enhance the emotional force of his music, never simply for their own sake. On single 'Without You,' (which features the brilliant Kerry Leatham,) the rainy-day, heartbreaking blues is made all the more powerful by the slowed-and-sped vocal. Sung straight, it wouldn't have had the sense of shattered, conflicting emotion that it does. This is electronic music at its finest: affecting and haunting in a way no other 'genre' can be. ‘Straight Over my Head’ illustrates Howard’s ability to write a brilliant song. From its tentative, melancholic start, a bassline opens up like a sudden, breathtaking vista, the song abruptly driving forward and taking the listener helplessly with it. On 'The Dead Sea,' a squall of jazz trumpets plays over urgent percussion, swirling bass and vocal-like textures to heady effect. ‘Nostalchic’ not only has all the hallmarks of a great album – a sense of cohesive purpose, its own themes, arcs and internal logic – it’s an album that could only have been made in electronic music. Howard understands the power and capabilities that are offered by his form, and he’s used them to the full.   Tracklist 1.IAMSYS (Tape Intro) 2.Guuurl 3.Kelly Brook 4.One Thing (ft. Jenna Andrews) 5.Flower 6.Swallowing Smoke 7.Without You (ft. Kerry Leatham) 8.Straight Over My Head 9.Dance (ft. Astrid Williamson) 10.The Dead Sea 11.Walking Words 12.O E A (ft. Kerry Leatham) (Tape Outro)

Date

February 24 2013

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Mop Mop - Isle Of Magic (AGOGO RECORDS)

Written By 1 - February 24 2013

Available here on LP, here on CD

Anyone familiar with Mop Mop will already know that their refined style has already lend them a unique place somewhere between the worlds of jazz, funk, latin and the Italian Postmodern style allowed the band to achieve the International film business as part of Woody Allen's 'To Rome With Love' movie soundtrack. But with this latest LP 'Isle Of Magic', Mop Mop digs even deeper to bring us one of their most engaging and organic records yet.

Mop Mop's fourth studio album has come together over the course of a couple of years where producer Andrea Benini has been searching for new directions with the band. Collaborations in the album include Funk legend Fred Wesley, Trinidad-born poet/singer Anthony Joseph and Finnish-Egyptian vocalist Sara Sayed. Over fifteen musicians were involved during the production of the album including Andrea Benini's co-arranger Alex Trebo on piano, Pasquale Mirra on vibraphone and marimba, Guglielmo Pagnozzi on clarinette and flute, Johannes Schleiermacher (Bajka, Radio Citizen, Woima Collective) on baritone sax, Lorenzo Ternelli and Salvatore Lauriola on bass and Danilo Mineo on percussions - just to name a few.

'Isle Of Magic' contains 13 tracks of pure Voodoo Jazz, Caribbean flavours, Afro-Funk, Exotic rhythms and Soul music. The album has been recorded between Germany and Italy with the use of vintage analog equipment to achieve a sound with all the “warm” qualities of vintage analog tape recordings, sessions have been recorded during the period March/August 2011. Isle Of Magic is an imaginary land populated by musicians who spend their time fishing, cooking, playing and practicing Voodoo rites at night. The whole album represents the soundtrack of this imaginary life.

Tracklisting: A1. Jua Kiss A2. Let I Go feat. Anthony Joseph A3. Kamakumba A4. Heritage feat. Anthony Joseph A5. Phantom Of The Panther A6. The Golden Bamboo B1. Run Around feat. Fred Wesley & Anthony Joseph B2. Loa Chant feat. Sara Sayed B3. Black Ivory B4. Damballah B5. Mojomamy B6. Afro Jojo Part One B7. Afro Jojo Part Two

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