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Ditching the Ethio sounds, Karl Hector heads to the other side of Africa with his new LP for Now Again Records and drops a defiantly vintage yet timeless LP of psychedelic Afro funk rock that is going to be a ton of fun to check live.

WHAT THE RELEASE NOTES SAY

Ghanaian Afro-Rock from German producer/composer JJ Whitefield, inspired by his Karl Hector & The Malcouns and Whitefield Brothers projects.
Fans of Zamrock, Ebo Taylor, Khruangbin and William Onyeabor will find joy in Johnny!’s hypnotic grooves
JJ Whitefield, who in the early ‘90s revived the gritty, analogue Funk sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s with his Poets Of Rhythm, has been working with Now-Again Records for over decade, releasing a flock of acclaimed projects with Karl Hector & The Malcouns, Whitefield Brothers, Rodinia and the Original Raw Soul anthology.
He first started exploring African rhythms with the Whitefield Brothers in the late ‘90s, continuing in the ‘00s with Karl Hector & The Malcouns. He’s been instrumental in launching Ghanaian Afro Beat/Funk legend Ebo Taylor´s international career, decades after the maestro recorded the landmark albums that have inspired thousands. Whitefield recorded two new studio albums with Taylor and toured in his band between 2009 and 2013, where he met Taylor’s son Henry and percussionist/Singer Eric Owusu.

The trio now front the Johnny! band and find inspiration not only in Ghana’s hypnotic grooves, but also the full frontal fuzz guitar assault heard on the legion of 70s Zambian Zamrock albums reissued by Now-Again. Indeed, Whitefield credits his tours with Zamrock godfathers Rikki Ililonga and WITCH’s Jagari Chanda as instrumental in creating the Johnny’s sonic backdrop. The band is rounded out by Turkish drummer Bernd Oezsevim (Woima Collective, Rodinia) and Indonesian bassist/multi instrumentalist Tomi Simatupang (Whitefield Brothers).
This is what was oft-called “Afro Rock” at the core, with the possibilities to stretch out into swinging highlife, sweet soul or psychedelia . The results, point at a new direction for the music inspired by the Great Continent. One that takes a direction once mocked as derivative and asserts its importance on the globe’s current musical stage.​

WHAT YOUR EARS SAY & WHAT THE COVER LOOKS LIKE

WHAT WE SAY

Never one to sit about idle, despite sonically encouraging others to pull up a chair, Hello Meteor continue their exploration of all things easy listening & electronic with their second e-dream transmission of 2021.

WHAT THE RELEASE NOTES SAY

It is 1894. Following the first moon landing, Earth's nations engaged in cataclysmic nuclear war, turning our once abundant planet fallow. By 1938, the decades-long space race had revealed Jaladri, a small planet where tropical, temperate islands blanket lush landscapes stretching beyond The End of All Known Land. Travel to Jaladri is arduous and lengthy, but soldier and civilian pathfinders brave tumultuous passage in hope of finding a solution for future and past alike. 

It is 1991. Opportunity abounds on Jaladri, now fully colonized. The discovery of a precious algae offers hope for Earth's arid fortune and a second chance for humanity. 

theendofallknownland.com ​

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WHAT YOUR EARS SAY & THE COVER LOOKS LIKE

WHAT WE SAY

Assembling a dream team of soul jazz collaborators Scrimshire channels their shining lights into a spiritual leaning, orchestra nu-jazz world in one of the most positive meditations on the age of virus I've heard so far for Albert's Favourites.

WHAT THE RELEASE NOTES SAY

So many of us head back out into the world post-lockdown, with a different perspective on the overpowering nature of it. 

Nothing Feels Like Everything, looks deeply at how the absence of something can be just as overwhelming, whether the absence of physical contact, the absence of love, the absence of empathy and respect. 

This album uses gentleness beside power and cacophony to recreate the vast swings of emotion experienced in isolation. When nothing can be too much, while at the same time, all we want. 

The sixth studio album from Scrimshire is an atmospheric and emotional experience. Moments of swirling orchestral energy perfectly countered by quiet, meditative calm. 

With only four vocal contributions on this record, it is his most instrumental exploration to date, with moving string arrangements alongside delicate synthesiser soaked rhythms. And those few vocal contributions are captivating. From the opening explosion of UK jazz and soul legend Cleveland Watkiss, with a powerfully clear call on behalf of the marginalised and oppressed in society to the deeply intimate and supportive incantations of Ursula Rucker. No word iswasted here. 

The record still carries on a tradition of collaboration on Scrimshire albums with contributions from Jessica Lauren, Idris Rahman (Soothsayers, Wildflower, Ill Considered), Nat Birchall, Huw Marc Bennett, Miryam Solomon, Emanative and recent Albert's Favourites signing Pie Eye Collective. 

"Throughout lockdown I've been writing so much, and when I released Believers Vol. 1 back in November, I'd wanted to bring people something that captured the warmth and hopefulness I think we needed in spite of deep political and cultural turmoil. But there were obviously very low moments, socially and personally and I was capturing those too. This album holds more of those times of loss and being lost, of solitary contemplation and meditation, of yearning, of anxiety. More than I've experienced before, the collaborations came through long and beautiful phone conversations, developing friendships with new people, rekindling and supporting older relationships, taking time and giving each other time, care and space to create. It's what makes this album special to me." 
 
CreditsContributions by Ursula Rucker, Cleveland Watkiss, Miryam Solomon, Faye Houston, Jessica Lauren, Emanative, Chris Boot, Bev Lee Harling, Frank Moon, Huw Marc Bennett, Pie Eye Collective, Idris Rahman, Daudi Matsiko, Vince Vela and Philip Harper. 

Mixed by Adam Scrimshire 
Mastered by Walter Coelho 
Artwork by Adam Scrimshire 
Back cover and label design by Jonny Drop 
Digital distribution by Believe Digital 
Vinyl distribution by Prime Direct Distribution​

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​Welcome to the latest radio show for Music For Dreams, as I look back through the month in music and give the podcast/streaming faithful a taste of the label's new artists and forthcoming releases. From hazy lo-fi bedroom pop to Japanese ambient, New Age constructs and microdosed Anglo-Thai folk, ethereal electronic breaks to comatosed house, it's all hear.

heka - Mask (Balloon Machine)
Iu Takahashi - Gallery window (The Slow Music Movement promo)
Meernaa - Bells (Strictly Canadian)
Blue Mantra Rhymes - The Evening Tide (The Slow Music Movement promo)
Joel Vandroogenbroeck - Fairy Tale (Drag City)
Joa Joys - Talbero (Self Released)
Mimsy - Ginster feat. Lydia Schmidt (Karaoke Kalk)
Beverley Glenn-Copeland - Sunset Village, Blood Orange Remix (Transgression)
Sean La'Brooy - Bar Solitude (Analogue Attic)
Backbeat Convention - Love and Happiness, Quartz Ddub All Over Mix (Pikes)
Session Victim & Erobique feat. Jamie Lloyd -  The City (Eukalyptus Files)
u-Ziq & Mrs Jinx - Unheard Melodies (Planet Mu)
Lone - Realise (Greco Roman)

WHAT YOUR EARS SAY & THE COVER LOOKS LIKE

WHAT WE SAY

​Ever the artistic enabler Ambient band leader M Sage does a fine job of crafting 16 different musical ruminations on the work of 20th century modernist poet Wallace Stevens into a cohesive, restless yet (mostly) relaxing, abstract ambient soundscape for Florabelle.

WHAT THE RELEASE NOTES SAY

With The Wind of Things and the heralded completion of the Fuubutsushi album cycle all arriving this year, Matt Sage has generously offered further proof of his talents as an empathetic musician and composer. As curator of Cached Media, those same qualities emerge in his artistic vision and goodwill, which are necessarily intertwined. Yet even in the sizable company of such achievements, Wants A Diamond Pivot Bright, his new LP, immediately stands out, thanks to its unique framework. 

In short, Sage asked sixteen other artists to spend some time with Wallace Stevens' poetry--"his engagement with sound as a medium and also a carrier of meaning is remarkable," Sage writes in his liner notes--and they each then sent him a track named after or inspired by a poem or line of Stevens's that especially resonated. Bringing closure to this ekphrastic equation, Sage added his own elements, primarily on guitar and piano. There is resonance in Sage's playful but committed invitation to participate--especially so during a time of imposed isolation, sure, but a meaningful gesture at any time--an act of faith that has shaped his discographies as an artist and label head. 

Given the breadth of sensibilities here, it would have been easy for the results to sit together more like a compilation ofexercises without cohesion. This is not that. This is an album, rich with movements, motifs, and a genuine emotional arc that lasts way beyond the initial excitement of seeing the list of artists involved. "Together we created something prismatic in collaboration," Sage offers--and finally now it's found refracting onto you. "Together we created something prismatic in collaboration," Sage offers--and finally now it's found refracting onto you.
  CreditsM. Sage: piano and electric guitar w/electronics throughout 

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claire rousay: field recordings 
Francesco Covarino: snare drum, floor tom, small percussion 
Ned Milligan: chimes 
Patrick Shiroishi: tenor saxophone, clarinet, sample 

Chihei Hatekeyama: electric guitar 
Joseph Edward Yonker: samples, tape 
Zander Raymond: modular synthesizer, monome+norns 
Chris Jussell: violin 

Lee Noble: modular synthesizer, field recordings 
Gianni Andreatta: trumpet, voice, guitar 
Matt Wenzel: JP-08, acoustic baritone guitar, harmonica, DD-7 
Theodore Cale Schaefer: VSTs 

Hakobune: electric guitar 
Beth McDonald: tuba, electronics 
Josh Mason: modular synthesizer 
Peter Speer: field recording, synthesizer 

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Arranged by Matthew Sage in Chicago, Illinois. September 2020. 
Mastered by Sean McCann