We Are Busy Bodies
Album Review: Elegua/Elegua : a long lost Latin Jazz treasure that resonates beyond its history.
After the ultra-hip Virgilio Armas re-issues last year Toronto crate curators extraordinaire We Are Busy Bodies are on the case again, excavating the rich seams of Latin-jazz heritage with an enticing Venezuelan focus. The result of their latest exploration is the re-release on May 19th of Latin jazz collective Elegua’s significant and exceptionally sought after …
Track/Video: Peace Flag Ensemble preview their exhilirating new album ‘Astral Plains’ with the deep beauty of ‘You Can’t Pin Joy Like A Moth’.
Now here’s a follow up that has been much anticipated. The experimental jazz collective Peace Flag Ensemble have announced the arrival of their sophomore album ‘Astral Plains’ via We Are Busy Bodies on 14th July. This fluid group of Saskatchewan musicians, first convened by ambient sound artist Michael Scott Dawson and pianist Jon Neher, take …
Track/Video: We Are Busy Bodies to re-issue more seventies Latin Jazz treasure, the self-titled sole release from big band progressives Elegua.
We Are Busy Bodies are on the case again, dipping into the firmament of Latin-jazz heritage. After the ultra-hip Virgilio Armas re-issues last year (check the Backseat Mafia review from October), the label has kept up its Venezuelan focus and dug deep to re-release Elegua’s enticingly rare self-titled album on May 19th. Originally out in …
Album Review: McNeal and Niles – ‘Thrust’/ Wilbur Niles and Thrust – ‘Thrust Too’ : Late seventies lo-fi funk gems re-discovered.
Super curators We Are Busy Bodies are at it again, digging up those buried sounds and the forgotten stories from music’s underground archive. Last year saw them spotlight Almon Memela’s joyous South African funk and the pristine latin jazz of Virgilio Armas after near fifty years gathering dust. Now comes another retrieval from the backroom …
Album Review: Night Plow/Night Plow : a pulsating electronic offering, beat driven and sonically fresh.
Some things are just meant to happen. For proof just plug into the highly charged self-titled debut from Night Plow, available now from the venerable We Are Busy Bodies. It’s a pulsating electronic offering carved out from the partnership of bassist/beat maker Tim Lefebrve and keyboard afficionado Gregory MacDonald (aka Cola Wars), a spontaneous collaboration …
News/Tracks: Coming soon – two lo-fi funk lost gems ‘Thrust’ and ‘Thrust Too’, kickstarting an overdue retrospective of Wilbur Niles seminal grooves.
A label that does the crate digging for you, Toronto’s We Are Busy Bodies have announced a gold dust reissue series shining a light on the work of guitarist/producer Wilbur Niles. Much sampled but seldom celebrated this lo-fi funk luminary based in Cleveland, Ohio made infectious groove music crackling with unrestrained soul, jazz and rock …
Album Review : New Age Doom & Lee Scratch Perry – Remix The Universe : a daring excavation of The Upsetter’s parting gift.
This is exactly how Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry would have liked it now that he’s left us. Not just commemoration with a stream of inevitable reissues or out-take raids from his archive but something more vibrant, new music with him providing its soul. Dial back to November 2021 when the legendary Upsetter performed as the inspirational …
Track: Death Grips delivers ‘Life is an experiment’ from ‘Remix The Universe’, new perspectives on Scratch’s last offering.
It’s inevitable that the mercurial genius of Lee Scratch Perry will live on both in spirit and in some physical form. Dial back to November 2021 when the legendary Upsetter performed as inspirational touchstone on New Age Doom’s ‘Guide To The Universe’, the album that unexpectedly became his parting shot. Perry’s wisdom, fearless flair and …
Album Reviews: Virgilio Armas – ‘De Repente’ & ‘Espejismo’ : Sensational 70’s Latin jazz twin releases.
They are definitely spoiling us ! So far this year Toronto’s We Are Busy Bodies have graced us with seminal releases from the less frequented corners of South African jazz history. Now they’ve switched the spotlight to the equally hip seventies Venezuelan scene where the fusion of American jazz and Latin stylings reconsidered the possibilities. …
Album Review: Affiliate Links – Enough Light : poetic, powerful indie song-craft.
They may be best known for their excavation of long lost classics but, in their noble pursuit of ‘changing the world one record at a time’, Canadian label ‘We Are Busy Bodies’ also champion the new and undiscovered. Cue ‘Enough Light’ by Affiliate Links available from WABB, September 9th onwards. The album marks Bradley Davis …