Childish Gambino
Camp

What happens when you bring together a space hop juggernaut with a spacey electro-soul outfit? The Hue collective, hailing from Space City, is the aftermath of combining the critically acclaimed groups H.I.S.D. (Hueston Independent Spit District) with their cosmic kinsmen and rising sensation Radio Galaxy. Their mission is to explore the creation of music with no boundaries.Conceived in 2013, this futurist soul hybrid consists of songstress/femcee Spacebunny Jefferson, emcees Scottie Spitten, Equality, and Savvi, along with producers King Midas and DJ Cozmos.Coming off of stellar projects, H.I.S.D.’s The Weakend and Radio Galaxy’s We Come in Peace, the aptly titled collaborative sequal, Aurora marks a new beginning in the ongoing mission to end the weak and space up the world through sound and color. What’s your hue?

Wu Hen is the sophomore album from Peckham visionary Kamaal Williams -- an invitation to elevate to a higher state Cinematic strings from Miguel-Atwood Ferguson and virtuoso saxophone from Quinn Mason are textural additions that make for a deeper, multi-layered experience than previous releases.Bringing groove back to the forefront, Wu Hen oscillates between celestial jazz, funk, rap and r&b reinforced with the rugged beat-heavy attitude of grime, jungle, house and garage - a self-styled fusion Kamaal describes as Wu Funk.New players on this record include LA’s Greg Paul on drums (of Kalayst Collective), Rick Leon James on bass, Quinn Mason on saxophone alongside vocal features from cult rapper Mach-Hommy and Kaytranada collaborator Lauren Faith. Multi-talented renaissance musician Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (who has worked with Ray Charles, Flying Lotus, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, and Seu Jorge) contributes signature strings, which add vivid colour and rich depth, evoking vintage David Axelrod.Kamaal rose to prominence with the hugely acclaimed Yussef Kamaal alongside drummer Yussef Dayes and a catalogue of 12”s for imprints such as MCDE, Eglo, and Rhythm Section as Henry Wu that became essential DJ tools. In 2018 he launched Black Focus Records with the Kamaal Williams debut The Return, which charted in the UK and saw sold out shows and festival appearances across Europe, North America and Asia.

Alfa Mist started out as a teen music maker by dabbling in hip-hop and grime and then went to college and taught himself piano. He self-released an album digitally that was picked up by YouTube's algorithm and rightfully suggested to millions of people who hadn't previously heard of it. Thankfully his newfound audience encouraged him to press his debut to wax and since then he has gone from strength to strength on multiple fronts. Nocturne followed and now gets repressed due to popular demand - it's a gorgeous mix of jazzy, hip-hop and broken beat.

Powerful.

eissue of two of the standout tracks from Scotch's classic SA house/kwaito album from 1995!By 1995 Kwaito was already a well established and distinguishable sound compared to the International House Remixes that preceded. The tempo was slowed down, Soulful vocal samples were replaced by catchy and repetitive hooks and versus sang in vernacular. The new hit sound had a template and studios worked around the clock to pump fresh releases into the demanding market.After the successful 1995 release of Import mixes Vol 4, The Groove City team behind the productions now decided to venture into the territory of Mid Tempo. They would craft an album for a young frontman with the help of Kwaito pioneer Oscar Warona, and without much trouble, the team had their first hit on their hands. Filling the boots of their cars with copies of the cassettes and taking the stock to various townships around Johannesburg the tape quickly circulated and sold out every new batch that was printed. Demand was high for the release but as with much of the music at the time, the fast paced demand for the music moved on. Without a follow up release Scotch failed to ride the momentum built by the debut and remained largely unknown although he is still in the music industry to this day.Even with their first artist release being a success, the following years proved more difficult in reaching such a large audience for the Kaleidosound studio. With popularity for the genre growing, the simple templates for early classics were changing as Kwaito fused with hip hop. Rapping took over as the preferred vocals for the masses. Mysterious production teams and labels that served as guides for music lovers were eclipsed by frontmen and groups that could draw crowds. The fight for fresh sounds continued as the airwaves became the main battleground for artists and the more club oriented music was pushed back underground, eventually evolving into some of the earliest examples of Deep House seen on the continent. The Kaleidosound production team would finally strike gold again in 1997 when reviving Groove City for vol. 5 which acted as the debut for the newly formed group Chiskop. The group would become superstars of the new commercial era that followed, sparking solo careers for the members and creating some of the biggest hits the genre knew.To this day Scotch remains one of the best albums to come out of the golden era of Kwaito. Although it was outperformed by other groups from the time it has a special place for those who knew it and can still be found as a treasured piece in many collections. The various people involved created a one off fusion of sound that has remained fresh for 25 years. Playful lyrics over floaty grooves resulted in favourites like “Jam Alley” which uses catch phrases from the beloved TV show and “Bafana Bafana” guaranteed to get the boys on the dance floor. Here you have these two tracks taken from the album pressed on a club ready Maxi Single for the Deejays

La Brésilienne Flavia Coelho, devenue Parisienne, sort son quatrième album. Avec DNA, son disque le plus personnel, elle aborde notamment la situation politique de son pays natal après l’arrivée au pouvoir de Jair Bolsonaro.