TRACK: Liam Bailey – ‘Champion (Remix)’ feat. Black Thought: Roots man reprises for Notts reggae star
NOTTINGHAM’S Liam Bailey, who’s dropped some excellent singles throughout the summer ahead of the release of his forthcoming third album, Ekundayo, for New York’s cooler-than-you’ll-ever-be Big Crown, has shared a nicely dubby reversion of “Champion”, one of the album’s bangers. Take a listen below. The remix features the lyrical flow of Black Thought, rapper and co-founder …
NEWS: Short film celebrating ‘Smokers Delight’ quarter-century premieres at 4pm today
AN ABSOLUTE stone(d) classic when it was released, up there with Massive Attack’s Blue Lines, Tricky’s Maxinquaye and Portishead’s Dummy as providing the heady downbeatz for a generation, it’s something of a shock to yours truly that Nightmares on Wax’s Smokers Delight has reached its quarter-century; but in celebration, Warp Films are premiering a 12-minute …
NEWS: Leron Thomas to stream his new album live from Rough Trade – with a very Pop-ular guest
THE HOUSTON-born, NYC-resident jazz musician Leron Thomas, who’s dropped some superb, intelligent and eclectic funky tracks right across this year, is celebrating the release of his new album, More Elevator Music, on Lewis Recordings with a live-streamed showcase of the album from Rough Trade at 6pm tomorrow, October 2nd – and you can expect a …
NEWS: World of Echo launches label with Mutabor! 12″ repress – hear a track
LONDON’S excellent World of Echo record shop, out on Columbia Road in E2, has taken the step from not just stocking an excellently curated selection of records, but issuing them too. The shop is launching a label of the same name and is assigning 001 in its catalogue to a repressing of the only 12″ …
MEET: Donald Johnson and Martin Moscrop of A Certain Ratio, on the release of ‘ACR Loco’
A CERTAIN RATIO, overlords of multifaceted Mancunian funk, have been with us now an incredible 43 years: hard to believe, isn’t it? They were the first artists to release a single for Factory, the wiry post-punk of “All Night Party”, back in 1979; but it was the skeletal, angular, hook-laden funk of second single “Shack …
TRACK: Keep Dancing Inc – ‘No Milkshakes In Hell’: tough-edged new wave synth-sweep
KEEP DANCING INC are breaking out of the French alternative scene armed with a line in synthy post-punk fire. They’re barely in their twenties but the now-trio – we’ll come back to that later – of Louis, Joseph and Gabrielle, already have power, poise and mastery. They’ve been around for a little while: they released a …
TRACK: Yo La Tengo share the warm hush of ‘Bleeding’ from their new EP
AWW, YO LA TENGO, when they’re on (sleepy) fire, you just have to adore them; and they really are, right now. They’ve just shared a second song from their forthcoming Sleepless Night EP, to follow their blissful cover of The Byrds’ majestic “Wasn’t Born To Follow”. “Bleeding” is the only original on the single-sided five-tracker, …
SEE: Red Rum Club’s ‘The Elevation’: brassy pop for the blue-tick age
AS THE rain starts to wrap us in autumn, at least Liverpudlian sextet Red Rum Club are here to bring a little thoughtful pop sunshine. Today they’ve dropped a video for “The Elevation”, a sweet brass-led groove about a fractious relationship in the WhatsApp age: when you get no reply even after “the ticks go …
PREMIERE: Fixtures – ‘Five Ft One, Six Ft Ten’: proper scruffy, shredding alt.guitar pop like they used to make
BROOKLYN five-piece Fixtures know how to do a ridiculously fun guitar pop rush. Really, they do. They’ve just signed on the dotted with Spain’s Bobo Integral, and will be releasing their debut EP, Weak Automatic, for their new home in December. We’ve had a little listen, and another one, and another; and it really is …
SEE: Quantic – ‘Theme From Selva’: vinyl to follow, Selva label comp announced
WILL HOLLAND, the Brooklyn-based, British-born musician who dazzles us with his absolute nous in a array of deeply danceable styles, has announced a twin celebration for the first anniversary of his imprint, Selva Records. He’s releasing a compilation looking back at the eclectic grooves he’s been producing in his long-dreamt of, handcrafted studio this year, …