2xLP

The discovery and release of The Nonce ‘1990’ is an important milestone recorded during the Golden Age of Hip-Hop. Recognized as innovators of the LA Hip-Hop Underground, The Nonce was formed by two seventeen year olds, Nouka Basetype aka Sach and the late Yusef “Afloat” Mohammed. As The Nonce, the duo was part of the Project Blowed collective.Just after High School graduation in 1990, the young duo was given the chance to go into a professional studio. Their dreams of a record deal were soon dashed after the production company raised objections to their artistic choices. Unwilling to meet the demands, The Nonce walked away from the project, leaving behind the Masters of the very tracks that make up The Nonce ‘1990’.Daniel Borine, of the independent Family Groove label, discovered the lost material for this album in 2017. Borine rescued the Master tapes from the studio where they were first recorded and subsequently misplaced, (but not forgotten), since 1990. Sach had assumed the tapes were destroyed or thrown in the dumpster bin.These 14 rare tracks by The Nonce, predate their critically acclaimed 1993 single, Mix Tapes and the classic World Ultimate from 1995. Borine returned the found tapes to Sach with the idea to mix multitracks from the 2” tape master tapes and issue the album. The goal was to preserve the original sound from the era in which it was created. For that, they turned to producer and recording engineer, Kamal Humphrey, of Flying Carpet Studios in Redondo Beach. Humphrey mixed the tracks on the SSL console that had belonged to legendary 1980’s Producer, Maurice Starr and to Atlanta’s LaFace label of Outkast, TLC and Usher fame before reaching Humphrey’s Flying Carpet Studios.What was once thought to be lost forever is now preserved for generations. The Nonce 1990 available through Family Groove Records- Lost Full-Length Album from The Golden Age of Hip-Hop- Previously Unreleased Material from 1990- Legendary L.A.Underground Hip-Hop Duo, Part of the Project Blowed Collective- Audiophile Quality Mixing & Mastering from the Original Multitrack Sessions

Ten years on, crate-digger Samy Ben Redjeb unveils a new treasuretrove of Vodoun-inspired Afrobeat heavy funk crossover greatness. Right from the raw guitar fanfare which kicks off Les Sympathics’ pile-driving opener, it’s clear that African Scream Contest II is going to be every bit as joyous a voyage of discovery as its predecessor.A great compilation can open the gate to another world. Who knew that some of the most exciting Afro-funk records of all time were actually made in the small West African country of Benin? Once Analog Africa released the first African Scream Contest in 2008, the proof was there for all to hear; gut-busting yelps, lethally welldrilled horn sections and irresistibly insistent rhythms added up to a record that took you into its own space with the same electrifying sureness as any favourite blues or soul or funk or punk sampler you might care to mention.Ten years on, intrepid crate-digger Samy Ben Redjeb unveils a new treasuretrove of Vodoun-inspired Afrobeat heavy funk crossover greatness. Right from the laceratingly raw guitar fanfare which kicks off Les Sympathics’ pile-driving opener, it’s clear that African Scream Contest II is going to be every bit as joyous a voyage of discovery as its predecessor. And just as you’re trying to get off the canvas after this one-punch knock out, an irresistible Afro-ska romp with a more than subliminal echo of the Batman theme puts you right back there. Ignace De Souza and the Melody Aces’ “Asaw Fofor" would’ve been a killer instrumental but once you’ve factored in the improbably-rich-to-the-point-of-being-Nat-King-Cole-influenced lead vocal, it’s a total revelation.The screaming does not stop there, in fact it’s only just beginning. But the strange thing about African Scream Contest II’s celebration of unfettered Beninese creativity is that it would not have been possible without the assistance of a musician who had been trained by the Russian secret services to "search and destroy" enemies of the country’s (then) Marxist-Leninist president Mathieu Kerekou.Already familiar to fans of the first African Scream Contest as a mainstay of ruthlessly disciplined military band Les Volcans de la Capitale, Lokonon André vanished in a cloud of dust at Ben Redjeb’s behest with a list of names and some petrol money, only to return a few days later having miraculously tracked down every single name he’d been given. The source of this Afrobeat bounty-hunter’s impressive people-finding skills - his training with the KGB - highlights the tension between encroaching authoritarian politics and fearless expressions of personal creative freedom which is the back-story of so much great African music of the 60s and 70s.Happily, in this instance, Lokonon was tracking the artists down to offer them licensing deals, rather than to arrest them.Where some purveyors of vintage African sounds seem to be strip-mining the continent’s musical heritage with no less rapacious intent than the mining companies and colonial authorities who previously extracted its mineral wealth, Samy Ben Redjeb’s determination to track this amazing music to its human sources pays huge karmic dividends.Like every other Analog Africa release, African Scream Contest II is illuminated by meticulously researched text and effortlessly fashion-forward photography supplied by the artists themselves. Looming large - alongside Lokonon André - in the cast of biopic-worthy characters to emerge from this seductive tropical miasma is visionary space-nerd Bernard Dohounso, who laid the foundations for Benin’s vinyl predominance by importing and assembling the turntables that would play the products of his Bond villain-acronymed pressing plant SATEL, a factory that would revolutionise the music industry in the whole region.The scene documented here couldn’t have been born anywhere else but in the Benin Republic , and the prime reason for that is Vodoun. It’s one of the world’s most complex religions, involving the worship of some 250 divinities, where each divinity has its own specific set of rhythms, and the bands introduced on the African Scream Contest series and other compilations from that country were no less diverse than that army of different Gods. At once restless pioneers and masters of the art of modernising their own folklore, the mystic sound of Vodoun was their prime source of inspiration. One especially irascible Vodoun-adept was Antoine Dougbe, who styled himself “The devil’s prime minister” while turning ancestral rhythms into satanically alluring modern beats. As Orchestre Poly-Rythmo songwriter Pynasco has observed sagely, “Evil is not elsewhere; evil extends into the house”. And African Scream Contest II is a gloriously cinematic road-trip through an undiscovered realm of music lore whose familiarity is every bit as thrilling as its otherness.

"Before slipping this LP on, you need to nail the AOR modus opeara ... That means: a Hawaiian shirt à la Magnum PI, loafers without socks as in Miami Vice, jump in your convertible and drive under the coconut trees. This is a sunset ride through Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, Miami, Hawaii. Aloha!" Ed MottaToo Slow to Disco take a dive into an often overlooked side of Brazilian music: Brazilian soul, funk and AORWe’d like to introduce you to the compiler of our new Too Slow to Disco release, a giant of musical endeavour, the young nephew of Brazil’s legendary soul icon Tim Maia, the ‘Colossus of Rio’, as he’s known: Ed Motta. At the end of the 1980s Ed Motta burst upon the music scene as a major singer and one of the writers and producers in the band Conexão Japeri. He’s now fifteen albums into a career that hops from genre to genre, perhaps one of the savviest music makers and curators out there. He is a refined practitioner of jazz, funk, soul, AOR and much else besides, having worked with everyone from Gilles Peterson to Roy Ayers, 4Hero, Seu Jorge, Patrice Rushen, Greg Phillinganes, Bo Diddley, Incognito, Ryuichi Sakamoto and many other insanely talented musos. In this collector’s compilation, you’re coming on a kind of expert guided time travel mission – just picture yourself following Ed’s fingers as they trace along the sleeves in that massive library-sized vinyl vault of his. So we dart back through over two decades of music making, dancing in one style then the next from soul to funk to AOR, you’ll feel the air coming out of the horn section right the way through, and a mixologist’s golden touch tying everything together. The artists Ed has play-listed for you include über-obscure figures like Carlos Bivar or Gelson Oliveira & Luiz Ewerling – both of whose songs here derive from privately pressed albums – so rare they’re not even listed on Discogs! He’s also gathered together a real pantheon of Brazilian musical heroes like Rita Lee (who was part of the legendary Os Mutantes), Cassiano (one of the founders of Bossa Trio and Os Diagonais) and million sellers like Roupa Nova, lovingly referred to as ‘the Brazilian Toto’ (who would have thought that would become a compliment by 2018?)! And as ever with the Too Slow to Disco series, the artists might be new to you, but they’re always bringing a killer tune.Join us to discover another dimension of the Brazilian sound: TSTD Brasil - Compiled by Ed Motta.- Brazil edition of the critically acclaimed compilation series by DJ Supermarkt- Complied by Ed Motta and includes über-obscure figures like Carlos Bivar or Gelson Oliveira & Luiz Ewerling – both of whose songs here derive from privately pressed albums – so rare they’re not even listed on Discogs!- Comes in two formats: compact disc (with o-card) and heavy weight black double vinyl including MP3 download card

 

Bosq's aptly titled third full-length effort "Love & Resistance" is a collection of songs that reflect a producer's continuing emergence by diving deeper into his influences. The strains of Afro and Latin flavors are interwoven and still heavily permeate but the underlying groove and rhythms have taken on a more modern, jazz-funk and disco-soul vibe with nods to Bobby Caldwell, Roy Ayers, the Mizell brothers and Nile Rodgers' Chic.Originally based out of Boston, MA but now calling Medellin, Colombia home, Bosq's new surroundings have inspired him to create his most diverse and creative album to date. Already featuring the top tune "Can't Seem To Hide" with Megan Doherty that made a splash off the gates as the first single from the album (10/10 rating from Mixmag), the whole album is soldered together with each track being a single-worthy release in it's own right. Featuring guest vocalists on all but one of the tunes including frequent collaborators Kaleta, and Nicole Willis, along with Ray Lugo who's known for his work in Kokolo and Boogaloo Destroyers. LA based singer Induce and new duo Lucid Paradise (E da Boss & Ishtar) along with vocalist Bruno Morais whose classic Brazilian voice is reminiscent of Jorge Ben round out the cast of Bosq's most vocally varied album work to date, reflecting both his growth as an artist and his willingness to push his own sonic boundaries.A relentless work ethic fused with a broad and varied music palette all attuned to the groove and a focus on making folks move has led to numerous remix projects, most recently with legendary Benin-based Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou. With a steadily growing fan base and reputation amongst fellow artists and musicians, Bosq's immediate future is already laden with releases lined up for Fania and his collaborative effort Body Music alongside The Rapture's Vito Roccoforte.

Revolutionary, spiritual jazz from the unlikely city of Houston, Texas, reissued for the first time.Drummer, bandleader and activist Bubbha Thomas had toured America with R&B revues, served as a session musician for Peacock and Back Beat Records, and played straight ahead jazz with legends before the political and social upheaval of the late 1960s led him to a path first charted by Coltrane.Fancy Pants is his second LP with his Lightmen band and, like the deep-set, maverick jazz issued by the likes of Tribe and Strata East, is amongst the best of the 1970s jazz underground, a collective voice of resistance to the musical and cultural status quo. Presented in both stereo and mono mixes. Extensive booklet, download card for WAV files and footage of live performances included.