Beautify Junkyards - Verde Pino [2023]

YANDEX (192 Kbps)

releases September 9, 2023

electronic tropicalismo cosmic folk experimental electronic kosmische Lisbon

Azar Azar - Cosmic Drops [2023]

DESCARGA (320 Kbps)

A surrealistic space travel, around sounds, and colours… A melancholic journey through different music places, where you can just seat back and chill, watching the autumn leaves falling from the trees… where you can dance like nobody's watching, to a drum’n’bass beat and imagine that you are at a Bristol dark club in the late 90’s, or at an afrobeat party in Lagos… or just drinking a caipirinha with Carmen Miranda… all this in less than 45 minutes, it’s cheaper than flying with a low cost airline company, and better for the environment...

I met Sérgio Alves when he was playing with the Groovelvets. I

immediately felt I was dealing with a special musician. It wasn’t

easy to find a keyboard player that could embody the diferent

expressions of African- American music, and its characteristic

groove in Portugal among the musicians of my generation.

Even though I had been A&R for over twenty years, I just came

across with the special João Gomes, and little else. Sharing the

love for the African- American sounds, straightened our

relationship, and I had the privilege of having all the keyboards

on my mini-LP Bonfim, played by Sérgio. I was also able to see the

development of the initial demos, the raw material that was in the

origin of Azar Azar, the musical adventure in which, for the first

time, he fully exposes his artistic personality.

He debuted the project with an E.P., on the brand new and

admirable Jazzego, in 2020.

Although only two of the five songs, that make up the EP, are

original work (the remaining three are remixes by K15, Minus +

MRDolly and Esa), the record was a beautiful calling card, but it

hadn't prepared me for the piece of work that was

about to come to my hands.

Like other musicians of his generation, Sérgio Alves grew up in the

midst of the development of Hip Hop, House, Techno, Broken Beat

and many other expressions of the most modern dance music. He

even has 20 years of a consistent career as a Dj. And that seems

to have contributed to the way he consolidates his musical

personality, allowing him to control an immensity of musical

impulses.

It is true that his compositions are settled in Jazz Funk, but,

throughout the eight tracks of his debut LP, we can feel the

inspiration of huge figures such as Roy Ayers, George Duke or

Donald Byrd that are intersected by the presence of a

kaleidoscopic variety of genres that have filled dance floors, from

Detroit to New York or London, in such a way that allows the

creation of piece of music that can be seen as autonomous,

intense, stimulating, personalized and relevant in any place of the

planet.

In this year of 2023.

Pedro Tenreiro

17th Jan 2023 

released 10 de março de 2023

A1. Space Gazing

Music - Azar Azar;

Bass - Bruno Macedo;

Drums - Ricardo Danin;

Flute - João Samuel;

Percussion - Manu Idhra;

Keys & Sampling - Sérgio Alves;

Trumpet - Gileno Santana.

A2. Miles Backyard

Music - Azar Azar;

Bass - Pedro Ferreira;

Drums - Ricardo Danin;

Flute - João Samuel;

Percussion - Manu Idhra;

Keys & Sampling - Sérgio Alves;

Trumpet - Gileno Santana.

A3. Dreaming Waves

Music - Azar Azar;

Lyrics - Beth Hirsch;

Bass - Bruno Macedo;

Drums - Ricardo Danin;

Flute - João Samuel;

Percussion - Manu Idhra;

Keys & Sampling - Sérgio Alves;

Trombone - João Sêco;

Trumpet - João Sousa;

Vocals - Beth Hirsch.

A4. Instant Star

Music - Azar Azar;

Bass & Keys - Sérgio Alves.

B5. Golden Wonderland

Music - Azar Azar;

Bass - Bruno Macedo;

Drums - Ricardo Danin;

Percussion - Manu Idhra;

Keys & Sampling - Sérgio Alves;

Trumpet - Gileno Santana;

Vibraphone - Eduardo Cardinho.

B6. Subway

Music - Azar Azar;

Bass, Drums, Keys & Samples - Sérgio Alves;

Saxophone Tenor - João Samuel.

B7. Moving in Outer Space

Music - Azar Azar;

Bass - Bruno Macedo;

Drums - Ricardo Danin;

Percussion - Manu Idhra;

Saxophone Tenor & Baritone - João Samuel

Keys & Sampling - Sérgio Alves;

Trombone - João Sêco

Trumpet - João Sousa

B8. Sunlight

Music - Azar Azar;

Bass - Bruno Macedo;

Drums - Ricardo Danin;

Percussion - Manu Idhra;

Saxophone Tenor - João Samuel.

Keys, Sampling & Vocals- Sérgio Alves;

Mixing - Sérgio Alves

Dreaming Waves Mixed by New Max

Mastering - Reel Mastering Studio

Design - Ricardo Leite

hip hop jazz jazz fusion dance music jazz lo.fi world fusion Porto

Genevieve Artadi - Forever Forever [2023]

DESCARGA (320 Kbps)

"Forever Forever” is the new album by Genevieve Artadi, the LA-based singer-songwriter, producer, archer and Dr. Mario enthusiast (“I keep my Switch in my back pocket most days”). A creative tornado, Genevieve is known for being the force in KNOWER, Expensive Magnets and her former band Pollyn, signing to Brainfeeder to release a sparkling solo album “Dizzy Strange Summer” in 2020. The following year she also collaborated with Thundercat, Raedio and Louis Cole on ‘Satellite Space Age Edition’ for the Insecure Season 5 soundtrack (HBO). “Forever Forever” encompasses a truly kaleidoscopic range of influences, making it impossible to pin down stylistically. Rooted in jazz, but winding up at alternative rock or avant pop, it’s in the lineage of legendary boundary-testers Stereolab and Talking Heads.

Genevieve hails from the scarily talented crew that includes Louis Cole, Pedro Martins, Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes, Jacob Mann and Chiquita Magic, bearing a similar foundation of classical and jazz traditions offset with a healthy punk attitude and passion for musical hybridity and fusion. She admits that being surrounded by these talented individuals is motivation to create in and of itself.

Drawing on the spiritual teachings of Thích Nhất Hạnh – the Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk known as the “father of mindfulness”; Ram Dass (guru of modern yoga); Eckhart Tolle and Jiddu Krishnamurti, Genevieve reflects on her relationships, growing up and her adventures in life on this new album. “‘Forever Forever’ is an album about the love I have for the people in my life, attempting to express with a lot of care different sides of it: reassurance, acceptance of change, ruptures, joy.”

Genevieve also emphasizes the importance of anime in her life: “It has inspired me to adopt a bold, full-hearted attitude to my music but also my life more generally,” she acknowledges, referencing a few favourites: Naruto (“It’s changed my life”), Attack on Titan, Rurouni Kenshin, Hikaru No Go, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures.

Half of the songs for “Forever Forever” were originally written for big band, with Genevieve having struck up a relationship with the Grammy-nominated Norrbotten Big Band from Sweden with whom she has been a composer in residence and performed live many times. Consequently, she says that she listened to Duke Ellington and Gil Evans with Miles Davis in pursuit of a creative spark. “The rest I think is just everything from my past that is in my subconscious,” she says. “Random flashes of inspiration from Chopin, Bach (I was learning some 2-part inventions during the lockdown), Debussy, Nancy Wilson, Björk, Ryan Power, Nobukazu Takemura, The Beatles, Dionne Warwick…”

With an accompanying tongue-in-cheek video that goes hard in an 80s hair metal style, the first single ‘Visionary’ climaxes with suitably epic solos from Pedro Martins (guitar), Chiquita Magic (synth bass), Christopher Fishman (piano) with Louis Cole and Daniel Sunshine doubling up on the drums. “It’s a celebration of love, expressing gratitude to ‘the other’ who was first to be brave enough to jump into a relationship when I had lost hope,” says Genevieve.

Genevieve’s relationship with the Brazilian guitarist and Thundercat collaborator Pedro Martins is also evident in the music, with Genevieve drawing inspiration from Brazilian legends of the ‘60s-’70s such as Beto Guedes, Toninho Horta and Elis Regina that Pedro brought into her orbit.

Recorded on location in Mexico at El Desierto Studio on a recommendation from Thundercat keyboard maestro Dennis Hamm, Genevieve travelled with best pals Chiquita Magic (keyboards, vocals), Pedro Martins (guitars, vocals), Chris Fishman (keys), Louis Cole (drums, synth bass), Henry Halliwell (additional production) and Daniel Sunshine (engineer) to elevate her demos. “The band made the music come alive with their skills, making all the written stuff more musical, adding ambient layers, choosing sounds that were perfect for the songs,” says Genevieve. “They played beautiful solos too. I loved watching them get so into it because all of them have musical visions I respect.”

“My previous albums were made at home, so this was a big jump”, she explains. “But I felt like it was the right move for these songs and, thankfully, it ended up better than I imagined. El Desierto is a big, beautiful wooden house in a forest designed for music, with everything we could possibly need. There was a camp vibe because we all slept there, had meals together, played on the crazy instruments everywhere, jammed and practiced day and night, and partied in the kitchen after sessions.”

“Forever Forever” will be released on Friday 17th March via Brainfeeder Records. The limited edition LP features photography by B+. 

released March 17, 2023

pop lo-fi pop Los Angeles