Ring The Alarm playlist, May 23

Shannon - Do you wanna get away (dub version)
Jocelyn Brown - Hands off
Luther Vandross - She loves me back
Aural Exciters - Spooks in space
Aurra - Make up your mind (inst)
Tom Tom Club - Genius of love (extended version)
Marty Acuna - Dance, dance, dance
Lancelot Layne - Yo tink it sorf?
Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra - 90% of me is you
Ramsey Lewis - Do you wanna (Mr Scruff remix)
Nina Simone - Take care of business (Pilooski remix)
Poets of Rhythm  -Rhodesian girl
Alison Durbin - It's your thing
Gene Faith - Family man
Bob Marshall and the A/Cs - Big ladies man
Beat Bronco Organ Trio - Easy baby
Tubbs - T's groove
Sabres of Paradise - Ballad of Nicky McGuire
Massive Attack vs Mad Professor - Bumper ball dub
African Head Charge - Beri version
Mere Mortalz feat U-Brown - Dis a boom
Herbs - French letter (dub version)
The Yoots - E papa waiari
DLT feat the Mighty Asterix -Return of the Lion King
Submariner - Generation to generation

Bandé-Gamboa: Revamping rare gems from Cabo Verde and Guinéa​-​Bissau

From Heavenly Sweetness: "Bandé-Gamboa is a project made up of two All-Star bands, created to reinterpret extremely rare or unreleased tracks from Guinéa-Bissau and Cape Verde, a project explicitly dedicated to the living memory of Amílcar Cabral, the intellectual force and strategist behind the independence of both countries, whose dream was to have them forever united.

The project was created by executive producer/DJ/digger Francisco “Fininho” Sousa and produced by Guts, with the aim of bringing to light musical compositions that either never had success despite their potential, or were never released at all.

The band comprises of only outstanding musicians from both Guinéa-Bissau and Cape Verde, mixing older and younger generations. The tracks from Cape Verde focus mainly on stretching the possibilities of musical languages within Funaná, and the tracks from Guinéa-Bissau are a modern take on traditional rhythm Gumbé, rarely seen in stages worldwide.

The album 'Horizonte - Revamping Rare Gems From Guinéa-Bissau and Cape Verde' is in-between a compilation and a band recording, joining the knowledge of decade-long research on the music of both countries with the talent and creativity of world-class musicians."

Out 12 June on CD/2xLP/digital

Ring The Alarm playlist, May 16

Tenor Saw and Buju Banton - Ring the alarm quick
Born Jamericans - Boom shak a tak
Damian Marley - Move!
Johnny Osbourne - Budy bye (Kenny Dope remix)
Clarence Reid - Masterpiece (Kenny Dope edit)
Soul Severes - I got it
Speedometer - Soul safari
Darondo - Do you really love me
Sharon Jones and the Dapkings  -New shoes
Cliff Nobles - My love is getting stronger
Ann Sexton - You've been gone too long
Marvin Gaye - Can I get a witness
Stevie Wonder - Contract on love
Stevie Wonder - As
Cherelle with Alexander O'Neal - Saturday love
Extra T's - E.T. boogie
Ballare - Dancing (Peter Mac edit)
Jose James - Black magic (Joy Orbison remix)
Fat Freddy's Drop - Mother mother (Theo Parrish translation)
Phase 5 - Box juice
Jack Costanzo - Green onions
Manny Corchado - Chicken and booze
Willie Bobo - La descarga del Bobo (MAW remix)
Tony Allen - N.E.P.A
Manu Dibango - Weya

Kiwi Animals: Future/ Primitive Aotearoa compilation coming

Official blurb: ‘Kiwi Animals’ is a personal catalog of local oddities; affectionately recasting the 1980’s New Zealand Top 40 in a parallel universe of misfit pop, gonzo-tronics & voodoo-waves.

Channeling South Pacific gothic sensibilities and edge of world melancholia, the album highlights unexpected electronic tangents from iconic NZ groups Blam Blam Blam & Headless Chickens.

It dredges the C-90 revelations of art avante-gardists’ Drone & Kim Blackburn, along with the bittersweet pop of Rupert & Norma O’Malley. There’s the infectious minimal wave of Ballare and a reprised dance suite from Tom Ludvigson & Graeme Gash.

The furthest depths of Flying Nun’s catalog are also plundered - a brilliant earworm from Stiff Herbert and a mysterious Roger Knox birthday promo. Mining the various disparate seams of a local indie label awakening, ‘Kiwi Animals’ congeals with future/primitive ingenuity and an underlying Antipodean pop mischievousness…

release Early May pending DJ Covid & her infectious beats..." on digital/vinyl from Strangelove

Tracklisting:
1. Kim Blackburn - Lizards in love
2. The Kiwi Animal - Woman & Man Have Balance
3. Rupert - Soul Brothers 
4. Stiff Herbert - I Could Hit the Ceiling
5. Drone - Nothing Dominant
6. Norma O'Malley - Some Tame Gazelle
7. Headless Chickens - Throwback
8. Blam Blam Blam - Respect 03:43
9. Roger Knox - Whole Weird World
10. Tom Ludvigson & Graeme Gash - Uallang Jnr
11. Ballare - Dancing

Golden Dalvanius 12"

Coming for RSD in June now...

"Dalvanius & The Fascinations – Voodoo Lady First up on the A side is Dalvanius & The Fascinations phenomenal track, Voodoo Lady. On first release this track started life as the B-side of the lead track “Checkmate on Love” but later moved to the A side with a slightly longer Disco Version at 5.55. This version is more recently starting to appear in collectors want lists and on auction sites around the world. The vibe is disco, the energy is high and the vocals are soaring from Dalvanius’s backing singers, The Fascinations. Try this one around midnight on any dancefloor. It’s a winner.

AA, Golden Harvest – I Need Your Love On the flip is Golden Harvest with their AOR-Disco anthem, I Need Your Love. Both Ali and Micky agreed that this was an easy inclusion in the series as it’s one of those tracks that once you hear it, you won’t get it out of your head. One of those tracks for premium dancefloor moments of joy and hands in the air excitement. This one started life on the independent NZ label Impact in 1977 and later in 1978 got the Warner Bros treatment for neighbouring Australia and was later to be included on their only album Golden Harvest – Golden Harvest. 

Record Store Day 2020 sees the inaugural release from RE:WARM Records 001. A label concentrating on unearthing and releasing music that curators, Ali Tillett & Micky Browne are passionate about and intend on reintroducing to a whole new generation of music lovers, DJs and collectors.

The guys have worked tirelessly over the last 18 months to put together a schedule of releases that would give a good cross section of their own personal collections and also some long out of print private pressings, rare 7”s and albums that have become more and more difficult to get hold of for collectors and music lovers alike.

All forthcoming music on RE:WARM Records has been officially licenced and released with the artist’s consent and comes lovingly repackaged with new artwork, photographs and information about the artists and the original release. Expect music from dancefloors around the world, from all eras in a Kaleidoscope of cultural fusion and genres.

Music to love and treasure, non disposable. Music you will return to again and again. Music that never loses its emotive power and retains its energy on every play. We hope you love what we have in store for you over the coming months and years."

Thee Sacred Souls - new video

Daptone's Gabe Roth aka Bosco Mann has kicked off a new sub label called Penrose Records, dropping a series of sweet soul singles, here's the video for one of them, spot the lowriders. The vinyl has been delayed but the digital is out now.

"It is our distinct pleasure to present Penrose, a new imprint poised to usher in a whole new era of soulful sounds. Founded by Daptone Records' own Bosco Mann after building a new recording studio in his hometown of Riverside, California,

Penrose will showcase the most exciting acts emerging on the blossoming SoCal souldies scene today. For its inaugural release, the label offers up five singles by five exciting new artists: Thee Sacred Souls from San Diego; Jason Joshua from Miami; East L.A. mainstays Thee Sinseers, and The Altons; and Altadena veterans, Los Yesterdays.

What better way to christen Daptone’s fledgling imprint Penrose Records than with “Can I Call You Rose?,” a sumptuous and serendipitously titled mid-tempo premier by San Diego’s blossoming young soul serenaders, Thee Sacred Souls. Stepping off the stage after their very first club date, Josh, Sal, and Alex were tugged aside by producer Bosco Mann whose seasoned ears had been tickled by their set. Backs were patted, hands were shook, and three days later heads were bobbing in Mann’s Riverside studio, as the Souls laid their first notes to tape.
Penrose Records Volume 1: The release date for the 45s from Thee Sacred Souls, Thee Sinseers, Jason Joshua, The Altons, and Los Yesterdays has been moved to June 19th, but you can listen to all 10 songs via this digital compilation now."

Ring The Alarm playlist, March 21

Gary Bartz and NTU Troop - Celestial blues
Bill Doggett - Pimento
James Bown - Aint it funky now pt1
Honeydrippers - Impeach the President
Betty Everett - Take me
Paul Humphrey and his Cool Aid Chemists - Detroit
Willie Hightower - Walk a mile in my shoes
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - Jenny takes a ride
The Winstons - Amen, brother
Ray Charles - You're just about to lose your clown
Ollie and the Nightingales - Girl you make my heart sing
Booker T and the MGs - Can't be still
William Bell and Judy Clay - Loveitis
Mar-Keys - Philly dog
Sam and Dave - Wrap it up
Carla Thomas - Something good
Rufus Thomas - 6-3-8
The Newcomers - Pin the tail on the donkey
The Barkays - Copy kat
The Dramatics - Get up and get down
The Emotions - Boss love maker
Eddie Floyd - Under my nose
Jean Knight - Carry on
Otis Redding and Carla Thomas - Lovey dovey
Johnnie Taylor - I am somebody pt1
Booker T and the MGs- Soul limbo
Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
El Michels Affair - Tearz
Lady Wray - Come on in
Jerry Butler - I'm a telling you
Bobby Bland - I'm so tired
Jan Bradley - Mama didn't lie
Bobby Moore - Hey Mr DJ
Isley Brothers - Fight the power pt1
Parliament - Up on the down stroke
Prince - Housequake (7 minutes mo quake)

New Speedometer

Official blurb: 'Our Kind of Movement' is Speedometer's 5th album release for Freestyle (excluding two compilations of archive releases) and sees Vanessa Jamie and Najwa Ezzaher join James Junior on vocal duties.

On this album, the band re-explore their own diverse influences combining the heritage of Latin Funk in 'Funky Amigo', Afro Beat on 'Abuja Sunrise', Indian Psychedelic on 'Kashmir', the Northern Soul on 'We gave up too soon'.

There is, of course, a hefty dose of new heavyweight funk and soul tunes, as you would expect.

After 20 years of making funky music, this LP brings their experiences all together on one record whilst keeping the funk groove at its heart.

Over the years, Speedometer have worked with a host of US funk legends including Joe Quarterman, Eddie Bo, Marva Whitney, Martha High, Sharon Jones, James Bell (Highlighters), Lee Fields, Billy Wooten and Robert Moore. All were blown away by Speedometer's authenticity and dedication to faithfully creating that original soul-funk sound."

Out April 3 on Freetsyle Records on LP/CD/digital

Ring The Alarm playlist, March 14

Beats On Canvas - Doki (DJ Vadim remix)
Nextmen vs Joe Dukie - The drop
Jean Jaques Perrey and Luke Vibert  -Ye olde beatbox
Talvin Singh feat Amar - Jaan
Umod - Love divine
Erykah Badu - Love
The O'Jays - For the love of money
Bill Withers - You got the stuff
Roy Ayers - Love will bring us together
Kokolo - The magnificent seven
Dele Sosimi - E go betta (dub)
Ikebe Shakedown - Tame the beats
Lightning head - Afro spot
Issa Bagayogo - Dibi
Chaka Khan - Too much love
Archie Bell and the Drells - Tighten up
Barbara Acklin - Just aint no love
Gene Chandler - No peace, no satisfaction
Shirley Ellis - Soul time
Fontella Bass and Bobby McClure - Don't mess up a good thing
Sharon Cash - Heighty hi
Merry Clayton - Whatever
Aretha Franklin - Won't be long
Len Barry - Bullseye
Gene Faith - Family man

Hannah Williams and the Affirmations new single

Cracking new soul cut off 50 Foot Woman, the latest album from Hannah Williams and the Affirmations, produced by Shawn Lee, out now on vinyl/CD/digital

Ring The Alarm playlist, March 7

Gary Byrd - The crown
T La Rock - It's yours
Dream Warriors - Wash your face in my sink
Chico Hamilton - El Toro (Mark de Clive Lowe remix)
Dee Felice Trio - Nightingale
Ramsey Lewis Trio - Slipping into darkness
The Mike Nock Underground - Space bugaloo
Mark Putney - Don't come around here anymore
Freddi Hench and Soul Setters - Funky to the bone
Joyce Jones - Help me make up my mind
Tami Lynn - Mo Jo Hanna
Society's bag - Let it crawl
Ann Winley - Watchdog
Stovall Sisters  -Hang on in there
Sister Love - Give me your love
Taana Gardner - Heartbeat
Hot, Cold Sweat - Move like that
Madness - Death of a rude boy (Andrew Weatherall remix)
Prince Fari - Clean hands, pure heart
Roots Radics - Babylon wrong
Scientist vs RSD - After all dub
Kode9 - You don't wash (dub)
Katchafire - Sensemilla (Pitch Black's sensi dub)
Lord Echo - Molten lava

Single off Dumama + Kechou's upcoming debut LP 'Buffering Juju'

Second single off this forthcoming album, out now, very cool skittery rhythms and great vocals...

"Intaka is the second single taken from Dumama + Kechou's upcoming debut LP 'Buffering Juju' - a work that relates to the process of “excavating spiritually charged content from within”.

The duo’s textural sound, driven by cyclical song structures and chant making, not only captures the angst of the modern world but mines this state of affairs for regenerative potential. The duo’s approach to music is a coalescence of their respective individual journeys into the self and society, making their sound – described as nomadic future folk music - the sonic result of an organic meditative process.

Dumama (Gugulethu Duma) and Kechou (Kerim Melik Becker) met in Cape Town in 2017. It was a time of intense socio-political upheaval in South Africa, coming off the back of student-led protests for free education and the wider societal striations those protests exposed. This period coincided with individual spiritual breakthroughs for the duo, signified by fruitful study and mentorship projects.

The jam sessions and initial clutch of shows that etched the dumama and kechou sound were marked by their fortuitously-timed meeting. There was an instinctive pulse to the interaction, not to mention the vast sonic and conceptual possibilities it blew open. “I guess we were in similar places with our music processes in trying to push healing music to the edges and be more experimental with it,” says dumama.

The result is that buffering juju plays out as a lush narrative meeting its sonic equivalent; one whose world is self-contained and interwoven. The narrative unravels as a piece of magical realism informed by South African folklore and reality, detailing a woman’s liberation story where the characters shift shape and traverse multiple realms, deploying various iterations of their power or lack thereof. “It has an organic, natural, cyber and modern kind of energy - all rooted in African aesthetics of sound and storytelling,” says kechou.

There is a unity of purpose that, on selected tracks, seamlessly brings together the talents of trombonist Siya Makuzeni, pianist Nobuhle Ashanti, vocalist Odwa Bongo, vibraphonist Dylan Greene, clarinet player Angel Bat Bawid, bassist Shane Cooper and synthesisers by Dion Monti. All of this sits on a bed of the duo’s unique musical language, one that, although applied electronically in the form of looping and soundscaping, is founded on approaches to string, vocal and percussion tones that reflect a merger between Northern and Southern African heritage and a collective study into continental music.

Recorded primarily in Cape Town and Johannesburg over the first quarter of 2019, Buffering Juju is a conduit to a past we were not necessarily present for, and a future where threatened indigenous technologies thrive in an increasingly digitised world."

Album out March 20, digital/vinyl/CD on Mushroom Hour Half Hour label.

Ring The Alarm playlist, February 29

Tracey Thorn feat Corinne Bailey Rae - Sister (Andrew Weatherall dub)
Sabres of Paradise - Ballad of Nicky McGuire
Paul St Hilaire - One after one
Derrick Morgan - Do you love me?
Sound Dimension - Real rock
Althea - Down town thing
African Head Charge - Animal law
Tackhead - Ticking timebomb dub
Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Lady O'Kpele
Will Powers - Adventures in success (dub copy)
Beat Bronco Organ Trio - Easy baby
The Chi-Lites -  We are neighbours
The Fantastic Johnny C - Boogaloo down Broadway
Stevie Wonder - You met your match
The Supremes - Your love is like an itching in my heart
Jr Walker and the Allstars - Hip city pt1
Four Tops - Sad souvenirs
Little Eva - Keep your hands off my baby
Brenton Wood - Some got it, some don't
Bob Wilson and the San Remo Quartet - All turned on
Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters - Cry to me
Johnny Taylor - Jody's got your girl and gone
Curtis Mayfield - (Don't worry) if there's a hell below, we all gonna go
The Temptations - It's your thing
Staple Singers - Respect yourself
Conclave - Sunny (Seven Davis Jr remix)
Primal Scream - Goodbye Johnny (Andrew Weatherall's Nyabingi noir mix)

Ring The Alarm playlist, February 22

St Etienne - Only love can break your heart (Andrew Weatherall remix)
Sabres of Paradise - Bubble and Slide II
Primal Scream - Loaded
Andrew Weatherall - Fail we may, dub we must
Sabres of Paradise - Wilmot
Nightmares on Wax - Finer
Rae and Christian - Ready to roll
Willie Bobo - La descarga del Bobo (MAW remix)
Nicola Conte and Spiritual Galaxy - Universal rhythm
Metrophonics feat Mel Collins - Latin racer
Mike Young! - Si si no no (Bobby Duprea's mix) feat Graciela Perez
Big Daddy Kane - Aint no half steppin'
Rufus Thomas - Itch and scratch (pt1)
Booker T and the MGs - Tic tac toe
Jean Knight - Do me
Dee Dee Warwick - Suspicious minds
Mable John - Shouldn't I love him
Cookin' on Three Burners - Cars
D'Angelo - Really love
George Clinton - Hey good lookin' ('rush this' mix)
VV Brown - Crying blood (Andrew Weatherall remix)
Lightning Head - PPQ dub

Ring The Alarm playlist, February 15

Bo Diddley - Hit or miss
Dramatics - Stand up clap your hands
Gwen McCrae - 90% hanging out (Jim Sharp edit)
Beastie Boys - Hey ladies
Charles Bradley - Aint it a sin
Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers - Searching for soul
Betty Wright - Clean up woman
Donny Hathaway - Come little children
Cold Blood - Kissing my love
Fred Wesley and the JBs - Blow your head (undubbed version)
Lynn Collins - Take me just as I am
Sly and the Family Stone - Are you ready
Prince & the Revolution - Raspberry beret (12" version)
Kid Creole and the Coconuts - I'm a wonderful thing bbay
The Waitresses - I know what boys like
James Blood Ulmer - Jazz is teacher, funk is the preacher
Sun Ra - Where pathways meet
Ekadek - Love in your eyes
Phase 5 - Box juice
Dub Asylum - French letter
George Faith - In the midnight hour
Lightning Head - Second line stomp
Cutty Ranks - The cutter
Johnny Osborne - Budy bye (Kenny Dope remix)
Sugarman3 - Pull my cart
Jamie and the Numbers - If this is love (I'd rather be lonely)