Return of the Tropical Gangster

Over the last year, the record label Strut has teamed up with a number of music legends like Dennis Coffey, Ebo Taylor, and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo to release fresh batch of new studio material. The latest notable artist to team up with the London based label to release a new record is legendary disco producer August Darnell, better known as Kid Creole. Darnell made a name for himself during the seventies and eighties producing classic disco releases by group's like Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, Cory Daye, Gichy Dan's Beachwood # 9, Aural Exciters, Machine, as well as his own Kid Creole & The Coconuts' releases. Much like Coffey and Taylor, this new studio album, titled I Wake Up Screaming, represents the first new studio album in over a decade. This record was recorded at Darnell's own studio in Sweden and mixed by Brennan Green and Lars Nissen. The new album also features co-compositions and co-productions with Andy Butler of Hercules & Love Affair. I Wake Up Screaming has all the elements of a classic Kid Creole album with it's funky swagger on tropical groove-oriented music. Fans of Kid Creole will definitely not be disappointed. I highly recommend checking out this release!

Kid Creole & The Coconuts - We're Rockin' Out Tonight



You can purchase Kid Creole & The Coconuts' I Wake Up Screaming by clicking here.

Horse Meat Disco III

When it comes to throwing disco parties, there probably is nobody out there doing it better than the London based DJ collective Horse Meat Disco . For over seven years now resident DJs James Hillard, Jim Stanton, Severino, and Filthy Luka have been putting on packed residencies at The Eagle in London’s Vauxhall, Lux in Lisbon and Tape in Berlin. These incredible parties are inspired by the music and culture that surrounded the New York club scene during the 70's and early 80's. The DJ collective have once again teamed up with Strut Records to put out the third Horse Meat Disco compilation, full of rare disco gems and edits. This amazing compilation includes superb originals like T.S. Monk's "Candidate For Love", "Seconds" by Salsoul Orchestra feat. Loleatta Holloway, Two Tons of Fun's "Just Us", Idris Muhammad's "For You Love", and many others. The compilation also features a number of great edits including Todd Terje's reworking of Claudja Barry's "Sweet Dynamite", Ron Hardy’s famed and previously bootleg-only cut-up of First Choice’s “Let No Man Put Asunder, as well as a funky edit by Leftside Wobble titled "Grapevine Boogie". I highly recommend picking up a copy of this compilation, as it is easily one of the best disco compilations of the year.

Here is a very interesting video of Jim Stanton and James Hillard of London's Horse Meat Disco collective speak about the history of the 'sleaze' disco subgenre, and the UK's unique perspective on American dance music.



Purchase the Horse Meat Disco III compilation by clicking here.

Calypsoul

Even though a few years have past since it's release, I thought I would feature a track titled "The Little You Say" by The Revolution Of St. Vincent from one of my all-time favorite compilations in Calypsoul 70. This well crafted comp was released by Strut Records back in 2008 and features a funky collection of rare seventies-era gems from within the Caribbean region. Some of the highlights include Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra's version of Gwen McCrae’s "90% Of Me Is You", Duke's Afrobeat-flavored "Freedom in Africa", Juan Formel & Los Van Van's latin gem "A Ver Que Sale", Biosis Now's funky "Independent Bahamas", Boris Gardiner's psychedelic organ-based jam "Negril" and the superb disco cut by The Checkmates titled "Disco Groove". The compilation was compiled by Duncan Brooker, the man behind Strut’s Nigeria 70 selections. Unfortunately, this album was only released in CD/ Digital format, leaving us vinyl collectors scratching our heads. Hopefully the people over at Strut will possibly consider doing another edition of this Caribbean focused compilation in the future, with of course a vinyl format release. Regardless, there has been a number of amazing compilations that have been released over the past couple of years that have focused on this culturally and musically rich region, however there might not be a better compilation that has paid homage to the area's more dancefloor friendly gems than Calypsoul 70. Enjoy!

The Revolution Of St. Vincent - The Little You Say

Sweet Music

This week Strut released the third volume to their pioneering Nigeria 70 series with a funky batch of seventies Afro funk, Highlife, and Juju gems in this new compilation titled Sweet Music. This compilation, which was compiled by series curator Duncan Brooker, continues in the same great spirit as the past two releases in the series by digging deep into Nigeria's forgotten label archives and highlighting some of the regions lost treasures. Each song is very different from the next, as group's across the region at this time began to experiment with fusing many different sounds which crossed over into many sub-genres. Some of the records best cuts include Tunde Mabadu's "Viva Disco", Admiral Dele Abiodun & His Top Hitters International's "It's Time For Juju Music", Eji Oyewole's "Unity In Africa", Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey & His International Brothers' "Ajoyio", and my personal favorite Moneyman And The Super 5 International's "Life". Overall, Sweet Music is a solid new compilation and great new addition to the always superbly crafted Nigeria 70 series. Enjoy!

Moneyman And The Super 5 International - Life



Purchase Nigeria 70: Sweet Music by Clicking Here.

Life Stories

If there is one record that you need to buy in the next month, it undoubtedly needs to be Strut's new retrospective release on Ghana Afrobeat & Highlife legend Ebo Taylor, entitled Life Stories. This new release is solid from start to finish, highlighting a number of great rare tracks by the legendary Ghanaian guitarist during the musicians most productive years from 1973 to 1980. Some of the many amazing tracks that appear on the record include the funky gems "Heaven", "Atwer Abroba", his collaboration with Pat Thomas titled "Ene Nyame Nam 'A' Mensuro", his collaborative effort with Uhuru-Yenzu titled "What is Life", and the funky "Tamfo Nyi Ekyir" that he composed and arranged for the group Apagya Showband. Overall, it's hard to capture a legend like Ebo Taylor in just one double vinyl record, however Strut has done an amazing job in bringing together and highlighting this legendary Ghanaian artist's most brilliant work in this "must-own" retrospective record. Without a doubt, one of the year's best releases!

Ebo Taylor - Peace on Earth



Click Here to purchase Ebo Taylor's Life Stories.

Funky Sounds From Central Africa

Personally it's been a long and quite exhausting day, therefore I'll keep it short and sweet with the superb Afro funk gem titled "Ererimbot Ayafung Oko" by Rex Williams. I'm a bit unsure as to when this track came out, however it was one of the many great tracks featured on the amazing Afro funk compilation Club Africa 2, released by Strut back in 2000. Just a solid dose of funky Afro grooves to help wind down the day. Enjoy!

Rex Williams - Ererimbot Ayafung Oko

Coffey is the Color

With Detroit guitar legend Dennis Coffey guest appearing tonight along side The Adrian Younge Sound Orchestra at Waxpoetics Records SXSW Showcase, I thought it would be appropriate to feature a track off of Coffey's upcoming new self-titled album in "Don't Knock My Love PT.1". The track is a cover of Wilson Pickett's psych-soul jam from the early seventies and features Fanny Franklin from Southern California's funk outfit Orgone. The album, which will be released on April 25th off of Strut Records, will include both original compositions and new interpretations of tracks he originally first appeared on back in the day like Pickett's "Don't Knock My Love", The Parliaments' "All Your Goodies Are Gone", and Funkadelic’s "I Bet You". Coffey has enlisted a number of special guests on this record besides Franklin, which include Kings Go Forth, Mayer Hawthorne and many others. Outside of tonight's special guest performance, the guitarist will play twice this Saturday (Check www.denniscoffeysite.com/ for more details). Overall, it's nice to see this guitar legend performing and recording once again. Enjoy!

Dennis Coffey - Don't Knock My Love PT.1

The Return of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo

In mid April, Strut Records will be releasing the first studio album by the legendary Afro funk band Orchestre Poly-Rythmo in over 20 years. This exciting new album titled Cotonou Club, will feature both new versions of the group's classic songs like "Gbeti Madjro", as well as new compositions. This new recording features five original members from the very first sixties incarnation, as well two members from the seventies line-up and three new members to help round out the group. The band, which has recently gained a lot of attention due to the more recent releases put out by Soundway and Analog Africa highlighting the group's Afro funk classics, plans on touring worldwide later on this Spring. It's very exciting to see a group that has helped influence other legendary artists like Manu Dibango, Gnonnas Pedro, Bembeya Jazz, as well as African music itself, has decided to come together and release a new album. Here is one of the many great tracks from the upcoming album in "Pardon". Enjoy!

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - Pardon



Strut Records will release Orchestre Poly-Rythmo's new album Cotonou Club on April 12th. To find out more about this upcoming release, visit www.polyrythmo.com

Arthur's Landing

I'm finding that this is rounding out to be a huge couple of weeks for new releases, especially for Strut Records. Last week, the label partnered up with the Afro-Latin crew Sofrito to release one of the best new compilations of the year in Tropical Discotheque. This week, Strut is releasing the much anticipated debut album by Arthur's Landing. For those that may not know, Arthur's Landing is a group that features many of the musicians and close friends that Arthur Russell collaborated with during his lifetime. These members include Ernie Brooks, Mustafa Ahmed, Joyce Bowden, Steven Hall, Elodie Lauten, Bill Ruyle, John Scherman, and Peter Zummon. If you have read Tim Lawerance's excellent biography on Arthur Russell, titled Hold On To Your Dreams, many of these names will sound very familiar as they are featured throughout the book playing an important part in Arthur's development as a musician and an artist. The whole purpose of this group is to help pay tribute and build from the wide-range vision of Arthur's music. Some of the tracks feature new arrangements of some of Arthur's most notable work including "Miracle 2" which is a new take on "In The Light of The Miracle" and "Love Dancing" which is a new version of "Is It all Over Your Face?", while other songs like "Bobby", "You Can't Go Back", and "Your Motion Says" are re-interpretations of Arthur's lesser known compositions. Even though there is certainly one important member of the group missing, in Arthur Russell himself, Arthur's Landing has nicely captured Arthur's complex vision and nicely funneled it through to these new recordings. It's truly hard to say because Arthur's music was always changing and re-inventing itself, however I would like to think that this album might help shed a little bit of light on what Arthur's music might have sounded like today if he was still with us. At least some of his closest friends and former bandmates have come together and released this great new album that helps give us a little more insight into Arthur's world. Let's Go Swimming!

Arthur's Landing - Miracle 2



You can buy the debut album by Arthur's Landing by Clicking Here.

Tropical Discotheque

Two heavy-weights in Strut Records and Sofrito have come together to release the best new compilation of the year so far in Tropical Discotheque. This highly anticipated release, which was put together by Sofrito deejays Hugo Mendez, Frankie Francis, and The Mighty Crime Minister, bring together fifteen unmixed, dynamite tropical grooves old and new ranging from raw cumbia, heavy Congolese soukous, bassline calypso, and cosmic highlife. Some of the many highlights found on the compilation include an exclusive cumbia jam by Quantic Y Su Conjunto Los Mỉticos Del Ritmo titled "Cumbia Mochilla", a funky re-edit of Victor Uwaifo's disco gem "Ohue", alongside classic cuts like Gnonnas Pedro's "Yiri Yiri Boom", Roaring Lion's "Carnival Long Ago", Adolfo Echeverria's "Sabroso Bacalão" and one of my personal favorites in Frente Cumbiero's funky intrumental gem "Pitchito". If you've been following Sofrito over the past half decade, you already know that everything these guys put out is of the up most quality and the same can be said about this incredible new release. From what I've been able to notice, this compilation has already been flying off the record shelves, therefore I highly recommend picking up a copy while some still exist. Strut and Sofrito, between the two of them, have definitely put out a number of amazing records, however their collaborative release of Tropical Discotheque might be their best yet. Enjoy!

Frente Cumbiero - Pitchito



You can purchase a copy of Sofrito and Strut's new compilation release Tropical Discotheque by Clicking Here.

Tropical Discotheque Mix

I've been busy lately putting together my "Best of 2010" blog post, which will appear at the end of the month. As we start to wind down this year and look ahead to 2011, we already have some superb upcoming new releases to be excited about. One of those releases, as I've mentioned before on this site (SEE Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque), is Sofrito's upcoming compilation titled Tropical Discotheque off of Strut Records. This album doesn't make it's way onto record shelves until January 25th, however DJ Hugo Mendez of Sofrito fame has cooked up a great new mix featuring tracks from their upcoming compilation. Think of it as a little "tropical sunshine" to help de-frost the current cold winter days. Enjoy!


Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque mini-mix by DJ Hugo Mendez

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And if that isn't enough, here is Frankie Francis and Simbad's superb edit of Victor Uwaifo's funky tropical gem "Ohue", which is featured on the compilation.

Victor Uwaifo - Ohue (Frankie Francis & Simbad Edit)

Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque

I was excited to receive a press release from Strut Records this week that they have teamed up with tropical dancefloor label Sofrito to release an upcoming compilation titled Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque. This compilation, which was put together by Sofrito deejays Hugo Mendez, Frankie Francis, and The Mighty Crime Minister, bring together fifteen unmixed, dynamite tropical grooves old and new ranging from raw cumbia, heavy Congolese soukous, bassline calypso, and cosmic highlife. Some of the compilation highlights will include an exclusive cumbia jam by Quantic titled "Cumbia Mochilla", a funky re-edit of Victor Uwaifo's disco gem "Ohue", alongside classic cuts like Gnonnas Pedro's "Yiri Yiri Boom", Roaring Lion's "Carnival Long Ago", and Mighty Shadow's "Dat Soca Boat" among many others. If you've been following Sofrito over past half decade, you'll know that everything these guys put out is of the up most quality and definitely worth owning. The highly anticipated compilation release will begin to make it's way into record shops on January 25th. Mark your calendars!

Gnonnas Pedro - Yiri Yiri Boum

The African Sounds of 'Love and Death'

When it comes to Record labels, there might not be a label having a better year than Strut Records, as they have continued to release quality compilations and albums throughout the year. The label's most recent release titled Love and Death by Ghanaian music legend Ebo Taylor certainly continues along that same stream of quality releases. The album Love and Death, which features a heavy dose of funky Afrobeat grooves, is Taylor's first international studio album release in over 20 years. After a growing interest in Taylor's earlier recordings from the seventies thanks to a series of compilations recently put out by labels like Soundway Records and Analog Africa, Taylor has decided to take this opportunity to as he called it "Advance the cause of Afrobeat music". On his new album Love and Death, Taylor achieves this goal by including new versions of classics like "Victory" and "Love and Death" alongside new compositions like "Kwame" and "Nga Nga". Overall, Love and Death is an amazing album that sounds like a lost masterpiece that has recently been re-discovered from the early seventies, which in my opinion is a good thing. With that being said, I highly recommend picking up this new album, which now can arguably considered the latest chapter in Afrobeat music. Enjoy!

Ebo Taylor - Nga Nga

Music For Dancefloors

Last night on KALX, I played a couple of tracks off one of my favorite compilations in Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of The Chappell Music Library Sessions. This amazing compilation was released by Strut back in 2001, and features an incredible assortment of music taken from the renowned Chappell Music Library. Focusing on the archives of the sixties and seventies, the compilation brings forth many of the more funky and cosmic tracks from the Chappell's collection including Paul Dupont & His Orchestra's "Rainbow Bridge", Ensemble Rager Roger's "Afro-Beat/ Afro-Syn", Keith Mansfield's "Blockbuster", and Stringtronics' "Safari Park" among many others. As with most decent library music, there is plenty of great percussion breaks and sampling material to go around. Overall, with library music becoming more expensive and harder to find, a compilation series like Music For Dancefloors becomes absolutely essential to any record collection. Here is one of my favorite tracks from this compilation, and a song I'm currently re-editing in Irving Martin & Brian Dee's 1980 cosmic disco gem "Indianapolis 2". Enjoy!

Irving Martin & Brian Dee - Indianapolis 2

The Sounds of Jungle Music

It's safe to say that Strut Records has been very busy recently releasing some of the year's best albums and compilations. Their hot streak continues as one of the summer's most highly anticipated releases in Walter Gibbons' first multi-label retrospective tilted Jungle Music (which was first discussed on this blog back in late May-See 'Jungle Music') has started to makes it's way to record shops, with an official release being August 17th. This retrospective sheds light on some of Gibbons' best work, as he became a fixture in the studio while setting the blueprint for all disco twelve-inch mixes. Some of the album's highlights include Dinosaur L's "Go Bang", Jakki's "Sun... Sun... Sun...", Arthur Russell's "Calling All Kids", Gladys Knight's "It's A Better Than Good Time", Bettye Lavette's "Doin' The Best That I Can", and Double Exposure's disco classic "Ten Percent" among many others. It's hard to capture the brilliance of Gibbons' legendary music accomplishments in just one release, however Strut has done an impressive job of recapturing some of the magic and musical genuineness that was Walter Gibbons. Enjoy!

Gladys Knight - It's Better Than A Good Time (Walter Gibbons Mix)



You can purchase Walter Gibbons' Jungle Music by Clicking Here
For more info on the release check out waltergibbons-junglemusic.com

Next Stop...South African Jazz

Even before Strut records released the third and final volume of the critically acclaimed compilation series Next Stop...Soweto, the label had put together an astonishing selection of underground South African music that ranged from soul and funk, to the golden age of the Zulu-influenced sounds of mbaqanga. With this month's release of Next Stop Soweto Vol 3: Giants Ministers & Makers: Jazz In South Africa 1963-1978, Strut certainly saved the best in the series for last by putting together an impressive collection of hard-to-find jazz gems that surfaced in the South African region during the sixties and seventies. The music on this compilation captures some of the best South African jazz music that was able to survive a region that, at the time, was full of radio restrictions, government repression, and an environment full of hostility. Some of the highlights include Spirits Rejoice's "Joy", The Heshoo Beshoo Group's "Emakhaya", Mankunku Quartet's "Dedication (To Daddy Trane & Brother Shorter)", Dennis Mpale's "Orlando", among many others. The jazz music here at times features elements of Afrobeat and highlife, showcasing some amazing instrumentation and complex arrangements. Overall, the third volume of the Next Stop...Soweto series is a powerful and brilliant compilation that results in one of the year's best releases, making the "final stop" a remarkable one. Enjoy!

Dennis Mpale - Orlando

Edits By Mr. K, Volume Two

I was excited to get a press release today from Strut Records announcing the much anticipating upcoming release of Edits By Mr. K Vol. 2 by the one and only Danny Krivit. The first volume, which was released by Strut back in 2003, included some incredible re-edits including Diana Ross' "No One Gets The Prize", Lenny Williams' "You Got Me Runnin'", Ecstasy, Passion & Pain's "Ask Me", The Sisters Love's "Give Me Your Love", and Betty Wright's "Where is the Love" among many others. Volume 2 of the series will begin where the first record left off with Krivit tackling Milton Hamilton's "We Have All The Time", Midnight Movers' "Follow The Wind", Black Blood's "Chicano", The Fatback Band's "Spanish Hustle", and Rare Pleasure "Let Me Down Easy" just to name a few. This new collection of re-edits will be released on September 14th. From the difficulty that I have found in trying to hunt down the first volume, I will assume that this record will move very fast and quickly become just as hard-to-find, therefore making it an absolute priority to purchase this record very shortly after it's been released. I heard about this release way back at the beginning of the year and have been anticipating it's release ever since. I am certainly going to enjoy the remaining days of summer, however I now have at least one reason to look forward to the fall and the upcoming second volume release of Edits By Mr. K.

Tracklist:
1. PATRICE RUSHEN – MUSIC OF THE EARTH
2. MILTON HAMILTON – WE HAVE ALL THE TIME
3. MIDNIGHT MOVERS – FOLLOW THE WIND
4. BLACK BLOOD – CHICANO
5. RARE PLEASURE – LET ME DOWN EASY
6. BLUE MODERNE – THROUGH THE NIGHT
7. PHILADELPHIA ALL-STARS – LET’S CLEAN UP THE GHETTO
8. SOUND EXPERIENCE – DON’T YOU KNOW YOU’VE BROKEN MY HEART
9. THE FATBACK BAND – SPANISH HUSTLE
10. CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD – LIFE & DEATH

Here is one of my favorite re-edits from the first volume. Enjoy!

Lenny Williams - You Got Me Runnin' (Danny Krivit Edit)

I'm Hurtin' For Your Love

I thought today I would re-post one of my favorite re-edits by Danny Krivit. This classic reworking of Betty Wright's 1974 classic "Where Is The Love" can be found on Krivit's hard-to-find album "Mr.K Edits", which as the title suggests, is a collection of classic Krivit edits. The album also features some other great re-edits including Diana Ross' "No One Gets The Prize", Lenny Williams' "You Got Me Runnin'", Ecstasy, Passion & Pain's "Ask Me", The Sisters Love's "Give Me Your Love", as well as many others. When Strut Records, who originally released "Mr.K Edits", put out a press release earlier in the year, it mentioned that there would be a follow up re-edit album by Krivit. I haven't heard anything since, however hopefully the plan is to release the second volume of the series at some point in the coming months. Until then, we will have to continue to enjoy some of his classic edits like "Where Is The Love". Enjoy!

Betty Wright - Where is the Love

Jungle Music

I was excited to receive an email this week that the good people over at Strut Records are gearing up to release the first multi-label retrospective on legendary DJ/ remixer Walter Gibbons, titled Jungle Music. During the mid to late seventies, Gibbons became one of the first to make his own reel to reel edits that where specifically designed for the dancefloor. His multi-track re-working of Double Exposure's 1976 track "Ten Percent" became the foundation and blueprint for all disco twelve-inch mixes. Gibbons' went on to be a staple, re-working mixes for many of the Salsoul twelve-inch releases, and in the end became the only remixer that Arthur Russell trusted which led to his fabulous re-working of "Go Bang!", "Let's Go Swimming", and "Treehouse/ School Bell". He also went on to remix classic dancefloor cuts from artists like Gladys Knight, Arts & Craft, Sandy Mercer, and many others. This compilation, which includes many of Gibbons best remixes, is due out sometime in July. Here is a one of my favorite Gibbons' remixes, that unfortunately won't be on the compilation, titled "Rocket Rock" by Luv You Madly Orchestra. Some called his style "Jungle Music", I would just call it pure brilliance. Enjoy!

Luv You Madly Orchestra - Rocket Rock (Walter Gibbons Mix)

Quarried From Across The Continent

Another great African based compilation, titled "Afro Rock Volume 1" was recently released by the good people over at Strut Records. Like most of the Afro-based compilations that have been recently released, this funky record is very solid. The compilation focuses on a diverse selection of very rare Afro beat and Afro funk gems alongside some more psychedelic cuts that have, until now, been nearly impossible to track down. Some of my favorite cuts include Jingo's "Fever", Mercury Dance Band 's "Envy No Good" , Orchestra Lissanga's "Okuzua", and the funky laid back gem "Kyenkyen Bi Adi M'awu" by K. Frimpong & His Cuabo Fiestas. Overall, this compilation is one of the more diverse African based releases I've heard over the past few years as each track tends to stand on it's own. With Strut's impressive showing of "Afro Rock Volume 1" , it's safe to say that I'm already looking forward to the follow-up releases to this new series. Enjoy!

K. Frimpong & His Cuabo Fiestas - Kyenkyen Bi Adi M'awu