Thandi Ntuli Carlos Niño
Rainbow Revisited

The crate-diggers behind the Mr Bongo label can usually be relied upon to showcase some seriously good tunes old and new. That's certainly the case on this third volume in their occasional "Record Club" series of compilations. Spanning sunshine soul, obscure samba, spacey jazz-funk experimentation, wide-eyed underground disco, fiery funk, weirdo rock, cheery South African bubblegum, synth-laden early '80s highlife, Ramsay Lewis style workouts and the psychedelic Middle Eastern disco-funk of Elias Rahbani, the compilation's 20 tracks are not only near faultless, but genuinely surprising and eye-opening. To quote a cliche, this collection genuinely is all killer and no filler.

From the heartbreak that defined his previous EP robyn, cktrl elevates above it with the more hopeful, intimate, and serenading tracks on zero. Exploring love as freely and naturally as possible, zero finds its catharsis in blossoming, rippling layers of organic instrumentation merging with subtle electronic textures. ‘mazes’ with harpist Ahya Simone opens to a sweet earthen symphony of faintly fluttering pianos and full, brassy saxophone. Stuttering beats drift smokily around the title track, with effortlessly cascading guitar plucks matching Mereba’s velvety vocal harmonies.

Afrotronic is the new album by legendary Dutch dance pioneer and producer Eddy de Clercq, inspired by African rhythms and atmospheres.All songs on the Afrotronic album are influenced by music from Southern to North Africa. Largely recorded in South Africa, not only electronically but also with an instrumentation of typical African instruments played live, such as the mbira (kalimba) and traditional drums and percussion. Exotic instruments adding a fresh characteristic sound to the music, not programmed via any existing electronic soundbank.The plaintive vocals of a muezzin on 'Ibrahim' and the melody of 'Topaz' are unmistakably North African. The funky dance track 'Miss Ghana (Afro Baby)' is sung by the Ghanaian singer Consular. Although not typically African in origin, the didgeridoo, perhaps the oldest wind instrument on earth, plays the leading role in the North African-inspired instrumental 'A Track Called Africa'.Inspired by his travels through South Africa and his love for the African languages of that country, Eddy wrote texts that he had translated into Xhosa. 'Coral Reef' was the first song recorded with South African singers Yemu Matibe and Alungile Sixishe, supplemented with classical arrangements for cello and piano. The original English text describes the loss of coral reefs worldwide due to climate change.Afrotronic has ultimately become an adventurous, electronic, jazzy album, in which influences can be heard from Afro-pop, Dub Step, Deep House and South African Amapiano.

Ce n’est que justice que les premiers albums live officiels de Khruangbin soient des doubles albums en collaboration avec leurs compagnons de tournée : des artistes dont ils aiment et admirent la musique, des amis qui sont devenus leur famille en cours de route. La série d'albums "Live At" de Khruangbin ne retrace qu'une petite partie de la feuille de route du groupe au fil des ans : c'est un avant- goût de certaines de leurs villes, scènes et soirées favorites. Surtout, la série "Live at" de Khruangbin fait ressortir les deux aspects de la magie du groupe : la sensa7on chaleureuse et prismatique de leurs albums et l'énergie envoûtante de leurs concerts. Live At Radio City Music Hall, le deuxième volet de la série Live, comprend des performances de Nubya Garcia et contient les titres "Time (You And I)", "Pelota", et "So We Won’t Forget".

Re-mixed and re-mastered at Gondwana's home from home, 80 Hertz studios in Manchester , pressed on vinyl for the very first time, ON THE GO appears here in an extended format that adds three new tracks alongside the original album !Manchester based, DJ, bandleader and trumpeter Matthew Halsall is a gifted trumpeter with a beautiful, expressive tone, his music draws on his love of the transcendental, spiritual and modal jazz of Alice and John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, as well as the glories of '60s British jazz.His previous albums 'Sending My Love' and 'Colour Yes' released on his own Gondwana label have won him a legion of fans across the world and acclaim from the likes of Gilles Peterson and Radio 3's Late Junction, MOJO, BBC Music Magazine and even BBC 6 Music.His third album 'On The Go' is a heartfelt love letter to the jazz of the late '50s and early '60s. Inspired by the evocative sounds of Miles Davis' soundtrack to the Louis Malle film 'Lift To The Scaffold' and the legendary early '60s recordings of Art Blakey and Max Roach the album is nostalgic but always soulful. However, while Halsall's elegiac music is imbued with a sense of history, the young trumpeter and DJ nevertheless brings a contemporary bounce to his music ensuring that his music breathes with a personality all it's own.