Strut hat nun eine neue Honepage: http://www.strut-records.com
2 interessante Veröffentlichungen stehen demnächst an:
Am 20.03.2009 erscheint ein Reissue des schon seit längerem vergriffenen Nigeria 70 Samplers aus dem Jahr 2001.
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„As West African sets go, this is one of the best. It is comprehensive and cohesive in its approach to one incredible period in Lagos. Clearly a labour of love, this compilation will take you back to one of Nigeria’s most fertile musical eras.”
Andrew Frankel, Rough Guide to World Music 3, Volume 1: Africa & Middle EastOriginally released riding a wave of global interest in Afrobeat at the turn of the decade, Strut’s original Nigeria 70 set broke the mould for African compilations when it first surfaced in September 2001. Digging deep into Nigeria’s archives, the collection showcased for the first time on CD the stunning variety of fusions recorded across the country during the ‘70s, from national icons like Fela Kuti and Sunny Ade to lesser known young bands like Monomono and Ofo The Black Company.
Across 2CDs, the compilation touches on the many subtle regional variations of the time – from the East, the Igbo groove of The Funkees, from the Hausa North, the Arabic flow of Bala Miller and, from Lagos, the hard-hitting Yoruba soul of Segun Bucknor. The set also made available many rare cuts on CD for the first time including obscure soundtrack ‘The Quest’ by Afro Cult Foundation and one of the most requested DJ tracks on the album, Shina Williams’ hypnotic Afro disco classic, ‘Agboju Logun’
‘Nigeria 70’ paved the way for the many fine labels like Soundway and Analog Africa who have since continued to document the detailed story of rare West African music and it has remained heavily in-demand since it was deleted in 2003. Original copies now sell for over $100 online.
Compiled by leading Afro archivist Duncan Brooker and Strut’s Quinton Scott, Nigeria 70 comes packaged in a 2CD digipak format with full booklet featuring the original extensive sleeve notes and track notes by acclaimed African and Latin journalist and DJ, John Armstrong and Strut’s Quinton Scott.
Am 04.04.2009 erscheint der 3. Teil der Inspiration Information Reihe, dieses mal mit Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics.
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The third in Strut’s Inspiration Information studio collaboration series brings together an intriguing pairing between one of Africa’s great bandleaders, Mulatu Astatke, with the next level musicianship of The Heliocentrics collective from the mighty roster of Stones Throw / Now Again.Known primarily through the successful ‘Ethiopiques’ album series and the film soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Broken Flowers’, Mulatu Astatke is one of Ethiopia’s foremost musical ambassadors. Informed by spells living and studying in the UK and the USA, his self-styled Ethio-jazz sound flourished during the “Swinging Addis” era of the late ‘60s as he successfully fused Western jazz and funk with traditional Ethiopian folk melodies, five tone scale arrangements and elements from music of the ancient Coptic church.
The Heliocentrics have become known as one of the UK’s foremost free-thinking collectives of musicians, inspired by a wide palette covering Sun Ra, James Brown, David Axelrod and all manner of psych, Afro and Eastern sounds. Now a fixture within the Stones Throw / Now Again roster, they forged their own genre-breaking directions in the astral analogue groove on their 2007 debut album, ‘Out There’.
The recording liaison took place thanks to some inspired programming by Karen P for her ‘Broad Casting’ session at Cargo in London on 17th April 2008. Securing Mulatu for his first UK live date in over 15 years, she called on The Heliocentrics to back the maestro and, with only a day of rehearsal, they tore the place up with a series of original Mulatu classics, chalking up one of the most memorable gigs of the year. The show itself was recorded for Red Bull Music Academy Radio (Mulatu has been involved with the Academy for some time) and is still available to listen to on-demand at www.rbmaradio.com A Gilles Peterson Maida Vale session followed for BBC Radio One.
The new recording is a mouth-watering prospect. Driven by groove and melody ideas exchanged upfront of the sessions, the bulk of the album was laid down at Quatermass studios, an analogue HQ in East London during 8th to 14th September 2008, a week of frenetic writing and recording. Alongside Mulatu, London-based Ethiopian musicians including Dawit Gebreab, Yezina Nagash, Mesafnit Nagash and Temesgen Taraken guested on several tracks, contributing traditional sounds using instruments like the krar (a six-stringed, five tone instrument), washint (a flute traditionally made from bamboo) and Begena (a ten string instrument dating back to the 15th century, sometimes referred to as “David’s Harp”).
Joel Yennior from Boston’s Either Orchestra scored and arranged the horn lines on the fly and the Heliocentrics overdubbed and arranged each track following the main recording period, adding the individual production touches to each piece of music. The result is a true fusion of styles. At times the feel is reminiscent of Mulatu’s earlier recordings, at others The Heliocentrics sound cuts through with Mulatu bringing his haunting vibes lines into more experimental territory as the band whip up their own fresh Ethio-hybrid.
Mulatu: “There are new compositions like, ‘Cha Cha’, and ‘Dewel’, heavily influenced by an Ethiopian Coptic Church composer called Yard. The band took it and added what they feel. It’s a nice experiment.”
The Heliocentrics: “We haven’t tried to recreate an ‘Ethiopiques’ LP, this is more a collision of both our musical worlds, complete with the diverse influences and experiences that the alliance encompasses, a true exchange of ideas and influence. Something new, grounded in something old.”
The album will be released as a CD digipak, LP and digital format across all platforms and will be supported by a full touring schedule during Spring / Summer 2009
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Wann kommt Horst Lichter mit dem Händlerkärtchen und knallt mich ab?