SHANDY WILL & GRUFF - ISLAND TIME
New
Mastersounds bassist and veteran independent music producer Pete Shand finds an
outlet for his Jamaican roots with this sun-drenched pop-reggae album, a
collaborative studio project recorded between Menorca (where he is now based),
Yorkshire (where he hails from) and New York City (where he regularly records
& performs) - an international collaboration featuring vocal performances
from Brian J (Pimps of Joytime, Brooklyn), Aoife Hearty (Rodina, UK) and Kirsty
Rock (Easy-Star All Stars, NYC). Perfect laid-back summer sunshine music.
Pete
explains how the album came about:
"Since
I relocated to the island of Menorca some seven years ago, the ambience and
cool Balearic pace has been a constant inspiration, so it wasn't too long
before it started to be reflected in my music. The formation of SWG as a
music-making team occurred quite naturally, with William Woodlock - the
musician/producer responsible for introducing me to the island - and Gareth
Colley, my long time production partner in UK. Having set out just to have fun
and make beats in the sun, as an album began to take shape we consciously
decided on a feel-good vibe: holiday music; nothing too challenging or intense.
To keep the good times rolling we have featured vocals from our very talented
friends on both sides of the Atlantic - respect! We hope you enjoy having our soundtrack
in your lives."
SHAWN LEE PRESENTS GOLDEN AGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
A
whole new side of Shawn Lee's talents – an album that mixes his great ear for
funk with rhymes from a series of guest MCs – all at a level that really takes
us back to true school productions of the 90s! Lee's got plenty of 60s and 70s
funk and jazz elements in the mix – and a number of tracks are instrumentals,
which showcase his deft instrumental creations without any lyrics at all. The
vocal tracks are great, too – and feature performances from Ohmega Watts,
Braille, Think Tank, MC Shawny Shawn, Princess, Earl Zinger, and others – on
tracks that include a great remake of "We Got The Jazz", plus
"Wake Up", "Back To The Future", "Stay On
Course", "Forward To The Past", "Ashes To Ashes",
"Schoolhouse Funk", "Baby Breakin", "Marimba",
"Hip Hop Harp", and "Big Bad Wolf". ~ Dusty Groove
DEBRUIT & ALSARAH - ALJAWAL
Weirdly wonderful
sounds from Debruit & Alsarah – a duo who offer up their own take on older
Sudanese modes – but with a very stripped-down style overall! Most numbers
feature just Alsarah's lovely vocals atop beats and keys from Xavier Thomas –
used in modes that evoke older folkloric sounds, but with a very contemporary
level of expression! The mix is almost a more global version of some of the
more inventive projects from the early years of 4AD – and titles include
"Khartoum", "Jibal Alnuba", "Alhalim",
"Loulia", "Alsahra", "Hawya", and "Jamilla
X.O". ~ Dusty Groove
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