Painspeople newie

Lovely dreamy new tune from Painspeople (ex Hallelujah Picassos), take a listen.

New album from Sababa 5

Out now on Batov Records (LP/digital), another middle eastern psyche funk groover...

"Sababa 5 continues their musical journey following the success of their acclaimed self-titled debut album, which fused deep funk and Middle Eastern grooves. Their latest offering, still under the Batov Records label, ventures into more explorative and experimental instrumental compositions. While evolving their musical direction, 'Aspan' delves into the realm of psychedelic rock while retaining the essence of the band's signature Middle Eastern groove. 

In recent times, Sababa 5's talent has gained recognition on prominent French radio stations such as Radio Nova and FIP. Their tracks have become regular features on BBC Radio 6 Music, drawing the attention of notable figures and emerging talents like Gilles Peterson, Cerys Mathews, Jamz Supernova, Gideon Coe, and Deb Grant. Leading music publication "Songlines" has praised the band's "slick precision" and the captivating elements they infuse, ranging from "Moog synth licks" to "flavors reminiscent of Wes Montgomery-style guitar."

Dub Asylum-Time & Space review... "like a day spa in purgatory"

OK, getting reviews of your music is pretty damn hard to get these days, so thanks to Callum Wagstaff and Muzic.net.nz for taking the time to review my new Dub Asylum EP....

"... Every song is full of mind-stretching delay tails and deep, chesty bass notes that mean you can't help but breathe longer and feel wiser as you zone in your chosen direction. Ebbs in the instrumentation leave you feeling as if you've been thinking deeply, even if you've only n that you haven't moved, let alone thought anything, because the sound of the tracks changing makes you realize yourself again. Touches like the Gregorian-esque chanting in Critic of Clouds leave relaxing footprints in the air that they travel through to get to your brain.

While centred around meditative motifs, Time & Space EP is like a day spa in purgatory, combining reliable and relaxing rhythms and tones with chaotic intermittent tweaks and musical suggestions. Calming elements like the steel drums in Bass on the Backlash, which alternate between two pairs of pitches that become a hypnotic, semi-regulated frequency, are not so much interrupted as they are assaulted by short contributions from other instruments.

The effect is like being in a damp forest full of birds singing back and forth with each other.
Also like a forest of birdsong, eventually all the components become part of the scene, just long enough to patch into the chaos before it gives way to the next track.

Perhaps the most endearing quality to Time & Space EP is the playfulness of the sound choices. From the soft and cuddly laser beams of the title track to the sinister balloon rubbing sounds and drum attacks so slow they sound like gunshots in Delectable vs Electable, Dub Asylum has a quizzical wrinkle of noise set to spring around every corner. Heartbeats, stretchy synth pads and crunchy, possum-in-a-cereal box sounds await you when you make the choice to spend a few minutes in time and space with Dub Asylum and the Time & Space EP."

Stance Brothers new single

"We Jazz Records share 'Sao Paolo', the third single taken from The Stance Brothers upcoming new album 'Duktus'

Finnish drummer / producer Teppo "Teddy Rok" Mäkynen returns with his alias The Stance Brothers.

Lauded by the likes of Kenny Dope and Gilles Peterson, Mäkynen's studio creation has been visible on the 7" format during the recent years. Now, he is back with a full LP, the project's first in more than 10 years. 

'Duktus' is a treasure-trove for everyone into crunchy jazz funk à la Bob James & CTI, but this is no retro exercise. Teddy Rok moves forward in all directions, constantly bringing new elements into his sound, which is more layered and deep than ever before. At the same time, the crunch & the breaks are there when you need them." 

Album out Nov 24 2023, LP, CD, digital.

Souleros

Fascinating look at the Souleros/Oldies scene, collecting sweet soul records. As noted in the doco, these music fans flip over the uptempo soul number often associated with Northern soul, and plays the other side of the 45 single, where the slower sweeter soul cuts reside: "Soulero (or Soulera) is a slang term used by homeboys and homegirls to identify themselves as long time collectors of rare soul records. As the scene has grown, so has the popularity of the term Soulero. 

This short documentary focuses on some of the pioneers of the rare soul record collecting scene in Northern California, who are committed to keeping the legacy of so many unsung soul artists alive. 

We interview members of the Northern Souleros; Victor Vasquez, Sleeps and Robert Mendez. We also talk to long time collectors Tommy Siqueiro and David Bird. Margarita Mejia aka Soulera talks about her love for the music. 

Also featured is radio host J.J. Amaya of "The Lowriding with J.J. Show" on 89.3 KOHL in Fremont, CA and soul recording artist legend Joe Bataan. 

Souleros was an official selection at the following festivals: San Francisco Latino Film Festival and Sacramento International Film Festival (2022) XicanIndie Film Fest (Colorado) and San Francisco Independent Film Festival (2023) WINNER BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - Lone Star Film Festival (Fort Worth TX) (2023)."

Dallas Tamaira on the solo tip... once again

Dallas Tamaira (aka Joe Dukie), singer for the mighty Fat Freddy's Drop, has released a brand new solo EP today(digital/vinyl), his second one after a 24 year gap - his first one, Better Than Change, came out in 1999, two years before the first Fat Freddys release.

Martyn Pepperell talked to him about it, and found a connection between Dallas and Dei Hamo....

“We became good friends, and he would come and stay with me when he came down to work on music with our friend Hamish [Clark],” Dallas remembered.

"Throughout February and March of 1994, the late great Phil Fuemana - the founder of Urban Pacifika Records - led a litany of South Auckland hip-hop, RnB and new jack swing groups across New Zealand to promote the release of the classic album Proud: An Urban-Pacific Streetsoul Compilation. 

When the tour arrived in Christchurch (the largest city in the South Island), a then-teenage Dallas Tamaira, aka Joe Dukie, who went on to find global underground fame as the smooth soul voice of the hi-tek soul big band Fat Freddy’s Drop, was in the audience.

Thinking back twenty-nine years, Dallas remembers the experience as having a profound impact on his younger self. “That was one of my most important experiences in terms of finding brown musical role models,” he said, speaking by Zoom on a Tuesday morning. “Seeing a whole show of amazing and polished artists gave us a sense of how far we could take it. It was really affirming for us.”

Dallas and his mates, a vocal group called Symphony, ended up in Auckland auditioning for Kane Massey of Deepgrooves, thanks to Dei Hamo.

Read Martyn's interview with Dallas in full.

When Motown came to Britain (doco)

This 2023 doco is fascinating, touching on how black r'n'b and soul music wasn't heard at all on radio in the UK as BBC had it on lock, at least until pirate stations arrived with the likes of Radio Caroline. 

It's also a tribute to UK soul devotee Dave Godin, a huge Motown fan who worked tirelessly to share the label's music. He got invited to Detroit by Berry Gordy, who funded the fan club Godin set up, including it's own magazine. The British soul fans who attended the tour thought they'd died and gone to heaven.  While the tour itself wasn't a huge success in terms of attracting crowds, it laid down the base for Motown's future successes in the UK. 

Godin coined the term Northern soul, read more about that in the Red Bull interview below, done in 1998.

DJHistory/Red Bull Academy interview - Dave Godin

Romi Wrights single coming

Out Nov 23, this is a very cool sneak preview from Wellingtonian singer Romi Wrights, paired with Kenny Sterling, worth a listen of you're a fan of Daptone/Truth and Soul vibes... love the drums from Julien Dyne. Romi is opening for Lee Fields on Dec 10 at his Auckland show at Hollywood Cinema.

New Dub Asylum ep out now

Some new music from me... dropping some originals after a string of cover versions. Here's some sparse, moody, repetitive dubs to tune in or zone out to. 

Written over five days in the middle of winter, staring towards the future thinking about lux flakes, lost causes and loose units, while watching dem youth make a difference. Enjoy.

Stance Brothers new single, album

"We Jazz Records share 'Again', the second single taken from The Stance Brothers upcoming new album 'Duktus' (out 24 Nov 2023, LP/digital)

Finnish drummer / producer Teppo "Teddy Rok" Mäkynen returns with his alias The Stance Brothers.

Lauded by the likes of Kenny Dope and Gilles Peterson, Mäkynen's studio creation has been visible on the 7" format during the recent years. Now, he is back with a full LP, the project's first in more than 10 years. 'Duktus' is a treasure-trove for everyone into crunchy jazz funk à la Bob James & CTI, but this is no retro exercise. Teddy Rok moves forward in all directions, constantly bringing new elements into his sound, which is more layered and deep than ever before. At the same time, the crunch & the breaks are there when you need them.

The basic core of The Stance Brothers is to be solo studio vehicle for Teppo Mäkynen to experiment across a varied instrumentation and musical ideas. After the project's celebrated first album (Ricky-Tick Records, 2007), The Stance Brothers took to the stage as well, creating one of the most beloved live outfits of recent history in the Helsinki scene. Now, after more than 10+ years of time spent in releasing one hard-hitting 7" after the other, The Stance Brothers are back, both on the record and live on stage.

Whereas the Stance 7" sides are often dominated by crunchy drums and crystal clear vibraphone melodies, the new album sounds broadens up into a more synth-heavy, "postmodern" realm, taking its space in a form resembling a mixtape."