SEALED

Fat Beats Records is proud to present Baker’s Dozen, an exclusive series that shines a light on the best minds of instrumental hip-hop, ambient, and electronic music. Each installment gives one artist carte blanche to capture their signature sound.Every volume’s limited vinyl pressing features one artist and twelve tracks, and comes equipped with a 5x7” postcard insert that features a photo of the artist’s workspace along with the equipment used in their music-making process. Visually cohesive and packaged with the utmost attention to detail, Baker’s Dozen is a series that speaks up for artists whose craft renders voices superfluous, whose instrumentals alone suffice to make a statement.Volume nine highlights the Guelph, Ontario producer Elaquent, who breaks down his creative process below:“Since the beginning, my philosophy has always been that perfection is boring, so despite all the changes that have occurred with my equipment and system, that main philosophy remains the same. In the beginning it was all about flipping samples with FL Studio and just my computer keyboard, and over the years, I added the MPD and Masterkey in order to be able to jam out drums live and play keys, which speeds up the workflow. I like the effects on the 404, and there’s a lot of dope ways to integrate my iPad into it, but at the end of the day, it starts with a melody or sample, and I kinda just let the vibe take over.”-ELAQUENT

Anglo-Mauritian producer, singer and percussionist Joseph Deenmamode aka Mo Kolours is set to release ‘Inner Symbols’, his third solo album, on 22ND June via Five Easy Pieces.You won’t find many producers quoting Plato - ‘Inner Symbols’ takes its cue from the philosopher’s words "Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, charm and gaiety to life and everything''. Influences are many and all, ranging from colonization and African diaspora to Korean shamanism, Doug Hammond to Junior Byles.“Inner symbols is a musical path that begins within, and reveals itself outwardly, only to return to the INNER. Themes are, introspection, truth, history, family, mental nature of reality, recognizing positivity, greed, honesty, unity, love, ignorance, lust, and of-course DRUMS!” - Mo KoloursThe entire album was created on a Electro Harmonix looper using samples and live instrumentation and a Roland drum machine. Similarly his energetic, improvised live show sees tracks layered up from loops of voice, percussion and drum machine before skewing in new directions. It’s a thrilling approach which has taken him to clubs and festival stages from Brighton to Brisbane, as well as to the BBC’s hallowed Maida Vale studios at the invitation of Gilles Peterson.Raised on the traditional sega music of his father’s Indian Ocean homeland alongside records by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson, Mo Kolours adds hip hop, dub, soul and other electronic styles to his individual sound. His approach could find him placed alongside Madlib or The Gaslamp Killer but he would be equally happy in the company of James Blake, Erykah Badu, Theo Parrish or Moodymann.Along with Reginald Omas Mamode IV, Jeen Bassa, Henry Wu, Al Dobson Jr and Tenderlonious, he’s helped forge in the 22a co-operative that The FADER calls “a kaleidoscopic patchwork of hip-hop, house, and groove investigations bound by one thread: a timeless belief in rhythm as a universal language”.

Songs about the unity of Sudan, peace between Muslims and Christians and the fate of war orphans, backed by grooves equally taking influence from Arabic sounds, American funk as well as neighboring Ethiopia.Kamal Keila was among the first artist we met in Sudan during our two trips to Khartoum and Omdurman last year. He is one of the key figures of the Sudanese jazz scene that was a vital part of the musical culture in Sudan from the mid 1960s until the islamist revolution in the late 1980s. When we meet Kamal he luckily presented us with two mold covered studio reels.Each tape included five tracks. One with English lyrics and another with Arabic ones. Musically you can hear the influence of neighboring Ethiopia much more than on other Sudanese recordings of the time, as well as references to Fela and American funk and soul. His lyrics, at least when he sings in English which gave him more freedom from censorship, are very political. A brave statement in the political climate of Sudan of the last decades, preaching for the unity of Sudan, peace between Muslims and Christians and singing the blues about the fate of war orphans called „Shmasha“.A note inside one of the boxes specified the track titles, durations and the fact that the sessions were recorded on the 12th of august 1992. Both sessions stand as a hearable testament how Kamal Keila stuck to a sound aesthetic from decades ago, while incorporating current events into his lyrics.Kamal Keila’s album is the first in a series of releases covering the Sudanese jazz scene on Habibi Funk. Be on the lookout for albums by The Scorpions and Sharhabeel coming soon.2LP + Download Code + 8 Page Booklet

2LP version Hunee presents a collection of his favorite dance floor cuts.Going from afro to disco to techno, "Hunchin' All Night" holds a wide spectrum of songs, tracks by the wonderful Boncana Maïga, Black Beat Niks, Larry Heard, Mappa Mundi and many more.Hunee, aka Hun Choi, is a Korean Berliner who has been drawn in music since a very young age. After working in record stores and studying musicology he resided in Amsterdam, where he released his debut album Hunch Music. As a DJ he has always followed ‘a hunch’, which gave him wings to communicate the music he loves with crowds all over the world. With Hunchin’ All Night, Hunee expresses his relationship with the dance floor.

Into the Light continues its journey to unearth and update overlooked Greek music. This time focuses on a smooth, warm, youthful yet intelligent work that finds effortlessly its place in the tiny Greek electronic scene of the mid 90's. . Gilb'r (Versatile): "Each release on this label is good news. There is no exeption.""The Nireus Years" is a rare selection of eight unheard home recordings produced between 1995 and 1997 by the then 16-year old Angelo Ioakimoglu in Athens. The album encompasses his most special productions ranging from bucolic new age to dubbed out midi electronics, jazzy r&b to Mediterranean ambient trance!Angelo was born and raised in Zografou area of Greece's capital in 1981. It was there where his father had a typical 80's electronic lab and it was that specific environment where Angelo spent most of early childhood. A first attraction for electronic musical equipment was developed that very soon became a passion for hunting down used pieces of gear soon to form the basis of his well equipped bedroom setup.During his teens, his connection with music was either practicing the piano at home or listening to the most recent dance hits at his uncle's place who happened to be a professional DJ. Big part of Angelo's demos around that period is driven by those two aforementioned worlds. But there were moments of escape. Moments where the music went for the unexpected. Leaving the producer following a solitary path where he could express his teenage dreams and fantasies...through extensive midi programming, live keyboards mimicking string, brass and steel instruments and sampled portions of his live percussion burst.Angelo's work, which can sometimes seem naive or surrealistic, is supported by his unique and surprisingly energetic approach, one that gives us the courage to continue something different.

After his success with the ‚Michael Boothman Sound‘ and What You Won’t Do For Love, a song Michael had recorded in 1980 with Charmaine Forde he decided to change his musical direction again. Once again, he incorporated Calypso and other Caribbean musical genres in his music. In the early 1980s he rebranded the ‚Michael Boothman Sound‘ as ‚Kysofusion Band‘.Change and experimenting has been an important part of Michael Boothman’s career since the 1960’s when he started with his first group The Rockerfellas playing contemporary pop music. During the 1970 revolution in Trinidad and his experiences at the QRC Jazz Workshop The Rockerfellas evolved into Family Tree, a band that experimented with African rhythms, Calypso, Jazz, Funk and Latin music.A few years later The Michael Boothman Sound was born which was a Caribbean Pop/Disco project.The name Kysofusion Band is based on the name of the musical style ‚Kaiso‘, a type of popular music in Trinidad & Tobago that has its roots in West African music and evolved into Calypso music.The band had many different line-ups over the years but the core of the band were Michael Boothman, Wayne Bonnaparte , David Boothman, Barry Howard, David Batiste and Sydney Joseph. In 1985 after a collaboration with Ralph MacDonald and Keith ’Designer’ Prescott on Jump With Me, Michael went into Coral studios with Designer again to record Can’t Stop Dancing, a balearic and athmospheric Disco song with Calypso influences. The song got some minor recognition on the radio and in the local clubs in Trinidad & Tobago.Can’t Stop Dancing is very sought after among record collectors and has now been picked up by DJs on the international club scene and is the perfect soundtrack for a mellow summer night.