Germany

MOP MOP continue their journey through musically wide open spaces and places. Refining their sound even more, creating an unique and deep atmosphere based on the idea of traditional Gnawa rhythms mixed with a heavy Dub-Jazz-Funk pulse. They left the „Isle Of Magic“ - but the magical experience of their music and vibe gets even more exciting . . .... as ANDREA BENINI and MOP MOP once again take a wonderful imaginary trip to a place which echoes and results in another deep musical trip. From the „Isle Of Magic“ to „Lunar Love“ - „There are other places out there“ – Sun Ra knew about these places outta space, MOP MOP now take a journey from a mystical bright shining star called „Adhara“ to Mother Earth, being aliens from a kind of similar but yet different planet which they had to leave as they have destroyed and abused their ground, now in search of a new land. Looking at our blue planet from a different point of view. „Show me this place they call Earth and let me land this ship“, says ANTHONY JOSEPH in one of the key tracks „Spaceship:Earth“.Starting the trip with the soothing sounds of a Hang Drum, „Alfa“ leads into the four movements of „Lunar Love“ – The Journey, The Awakening, The Experience and Close Encounters. „Adhara“ then sounds like the Sultans Of Swing found their Karmacoma finally, melodies of leaving and inquiring discoveries at the same time. Unquestionably, Adhara must have been a wonderful place, but now it’s time to find a new life somewhere in space, all under the sign of the magical „Lunar Love“ in the end. Hardly anyone can elude the irresistibly rhythms of intrumental tracks like „Habibi“ or „Plato“ as parts of the journey through space and time. „Supreme“, a beautiful and soulful love ballad and the dreamy „Foreign Correspondent“, which is about the amalgamation of aliens and humans, the destiny for a new way of living and caring, are the soundtrack to the release in a quite peaceful setting after a long journey.„Lunar Love“ once again features over ten brilliant musicians, each one contributing their art homogeneously to ANDREA BENINI’s musical visions. ALEX TREBO on piano, PASQUALE MIRRA on vibraphone, balafon and marimba, SALVATORE LAURIOLA on electric and double bass, DANILO MINEO playing all kinds of primary percussions like surdo, udu drums, tumbadora and the morrocan krakebs, which BENINI also uses on most of the tracks like a traditional drum set. Additional hang, ARP synthesizers, Moog, guitars and many other instruments create this unique atmosphere of the album. Poet and musician ANTHONY JOSEPH on the vocals adding his outstanding poetry as an essential ingredient, telling the story and matching perfectly with the overall vibe of the tribal Dub Jazz Funk pulse. WAYNE SNOW’s sweet voice making „Supreme“ this beautiful love song and Ninja Tune artist ANNABEL ELLIS dreamy chant inspired by Satie and Debussy feels just right in place in „Foreign Correspondent“.The whole album has been recorded in five excellent studios located in Berlin and Ravenna using vintage analog equipment for he bliss of a warm sound, which can only be achieved by using analogue tape in the end. „Lunar Love“ is MOP MOP’s fifth studio album and it turns out to be BENINI’s best work to date, deep and sometimes dark, but uplifting, very soulful and very original at the same time. Combining his afro american jazz background with a tribal offbeat approach and a wonderful story on top. Reaching out to a state of trance which feels very good once you let yourself go. Please take your seats and join MOP MOP on this journey to these „Other places out there“ you haven’t seen and heard yet.

Starting life as a small New York event aimed at raising awareness for Fela Kuti's musical message, Rich Medina's Jump N Funk party has now been rocking dancefloors across the globe for over 15 years. Honouring Fela's contribution to music as well as his political and cultural legacy, Medina has made his events a platform to celebrate Afro-Life across the Black Diaspora. With guests such as Wunmi, the cast of Fela! On Broadway, Asiko and Antibalas providing captivating live performances, Jump N Funk is so much more than a club night. In creating this compilation to represent the spirit of his events, Rich Medina has chosen an eclectic selection of undeniably afro-tinged, unashamedly life-affirming music. With most tracks either referencing, sampling or inspired by the great man, the record also includes material by Fela himself, as well as son Seun Kuti and long-time band member Tony Allen the inventor of the afrobeat set drum syncopation that is equally as notorious as Fela and his message... The album's artwork has been lovingly created by Lemi Ghariokwu, the fabled Nigerian artist who designed some of Fela's most iconic covers. From the record's sleeve to the music contained within, Jump N Funk is a cultural artefact with one foot in the past, the other in the future. An echo of Fela's message: a reminder to celebrate, to empower, to progress.

Hand-stamped 12" repressThis 12" marks the first release in German label Lehult's Lehultsub series of hand-stamped, limited-edition releases. It boasts contributions from two of Lehult's founding fathers, Liem and Lucky Charmz. The former impresses from the off, layering drowsy electronic piano chords and bluesy vocal samples atop a crunchy, kick-driven groove. It's a fairly simple concoction in the grand scheme of things, but quietly soulful and undeniably dancefloor-friendly. Lucky Charmz flip the script slightly on the B, with their "Buy Urself A Friend" delivering a quick dose of filter-heavy, soul-sampling disco house that gets just the right balance between low-end heaviness and loopy dancefloor abandon.

BACK IN STOCK !!!Give'n'Take is a new series on Uncanny Valley that focuses on favourite and like-minded producers from some of our core artists. For the start, Cuthead picked Max Graef, S3A and Moony Me and also contributed two tracks to the EP himself. Berlin's wunderkind Max Graef hands in "Tittenkuschler", a slow burner that will find a home on heartfelt dancefloors and sofas alike. Cuthead's follows up with a punchy house affair called "Braziliance" and the super-relaxing Hip-Hop-cut "Oef Oef". On the flipside we have S3A from Paris with the discoid "Theuz Hamtaak". He takes no prisoners with extensive sampling and an up and down bouncing arrangement. "Magergarten" from Vienna's Moony Me runs in the same vein with its string-heavy break and powerfull drumming. For the visual component Uncanny Valley asked Lucas Hunter aka Luca Lozano aka Luke to create one of his oldschool-praising artworks.

Two ultra fat slow house jamz outta Detroit by the man now better known as Ibex (Planet E). His legendary release from 1997 comes around with fresh mastering - special thanks to Mr. Terrence Parker! His stuff from this period is actually better than his Planet E releases smpling Detroit classics like Was Not Was etc. Classic Detroit house, which goes perfectly with Moodymann & Theo Parrish stuff. Super Tip!