• Music

    Jorge López Ruiz – Un Hombre de Buenos Aires

    I have to say that, until a few days ago, I knew nothing about Jorge López Ruiz, but after reading this writeup and listening to the funky exotic jazz on this album, I’ve become a fan.  From the Bandcamp website: “Jazz, funk, and bossa vibes kiss each other, all wrapped up in JLR’s trademark cinematic feel. In his colourful Un Hombre de Buenos Aires, recorded in 1978, JLR puts the political outcry of his early 70s works aside and focuses on his love for the city of Buenos Aires. Jorge López Ruiz gets far less credit than he deserves. His…

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    Nicola Conte – Umoja

    My friends, mark your calendars for June 30, 2023.  This is the date that Italian DJ/bandleader/impresario and all-around man of good taste Nicola Conte releases his latest album under the banner of  Far Out Recordings, who have never let me down on a single release all these years. As Nicola’s music spreads to all corners of the globe, rather than having me describe it to you, let us start with who’s on this platter: Zara Mcfarlane – Lead Vocals On Arise/life Forces/freedom & Progress Bridgette Amofah – Lead Vocals On Dance Of Love & Peace/soul Of The People/flying Circles Myles…

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    Felix Lebarty – Girls For Sale

    It’s safe to say that 1976 Nigeria was a somewhat different world from today’s.  The Edo-Delta region must have been a rather swinging place if this reissue of Felix Labarty’s classic, Girls For Sale, is any indication.  The music is lush, perhaps a little tinny, disco mixed with reggae vibes and lyrics filled with a combination of braggadocio and grieving over lost loves.  No, not love, but loves.  He was quite a player in his day.  An essential for those who want their Afrobeat to come in a different flavor.

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    Groove Paradise – 欲望

    I have to say that I know next to nothing about vaporwave and the history of the scene.  Most of what I’ve heard is, to put it mildly, awful.  However, Groove Paradise, a Spanish artist, left me with a more positive view of the genre.  The music sounds like something you would hear on 1980’s mainstream radio, with AOR, funk and soul influences, only underwater.  I was a teenager during the 80’s, so hearing the music left me with a very pleasant sense of nostalgia.  If this is truly representative of vaporwave, then then album is done well.

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    Harold Land – Damisi

    The ever-magnificent Wewantsounds have produced another vinyl masterpiece! They have released, for the first time, Harold Land’s classic LP ‘Damisi,’ recorded in Los Angeles for Bob Shad’s Mainstream Records and released in 1972. It’s a superb mix of Funk and modal Jazz and the vinyl edition features newly remastered audio and a 2-page insert including new liner notes by Kevin Le Gendre. For more information on the release, click here to see the promo sheet.  You can click here to purchase the album on the label’s Bandcamp site.  It’s due out on May 26, 2023, so pre-order now.    …

  • Music

    Various Artists – Mainstream Disco Funk

    Our friends at Wewantsounds have come out with another banger, this time From the label’s Bandcamp site: “In the mid-70s, Bob Shad’s cult New York Jazz label Mainstream Records turned to the burgeoning underground Disco scene and released a handful of great singles produced by the likes of Tommy Stewart, Jimmy Roach or Bert DeCoteaux. Featuring artists from the early Disco hotbed including South Side Coalition, Chocolate Syrup and Three Ounces of Love, these singles, proving Shad’s great flair, accompanied the rise of the New York club and block party culture that was going to revolutionise the musical landscape a…

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    Dur-Dur Band Int. – The Berlin Session

    Somalia’s Dur-Dur Band have released fresh material, so if you’re interested in Somali music, Afrobeat, funk or soul, you might want to pick this up quickly. From the band’s Bandcamp site: “The Berlin Session travels far beyond the gems collected from dusty cassettes. It is a bridge between the sorrow of all that has been and the delight of a magic which survived, a shining pearl rescued alive from the Atlantean fate of forever drowning in the Indian Ocean.”

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    Afro National – African Experimentals (1972​-​1979)

    An Afrobeat treat from Sierre Leone originally formed in 1972 is what we have here from Afro National. From their Bandcamp site: “The Afro National band was formed in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1972. Their inspirational leader, Sulay Abu Bakarr accompanied by his wife Patricia and Ayo Roy Macauley split from the Sabanoh Jazz Band to form their new group. They skillfully merged highlife and jazz sounds with a deep knowledge of West African sounds. Growing to become one of the premiere bands to emerge from Sierra Leone they not only defined the sound of the country for a generation…