Good Block
Aquaculture EP

Habibi Funk presents a selection of works by Algerian-born, Amazigh artist Majid Soula. Majid’s music blends the best of Arab-disco, highlife and groovy funk into something wholly unique.Born in Kabylie, Algeria - a place that remains fundamental to his career - Majid Soula is a self-made musician, artist and producer. With no formal music education, Majid’s tenacity has led to a career that is still blossoming. His synths, driving drums, guitar & strong lyrics make a unique sound. A strong proponent for the rights of the Amazigh, he has a band that to this day plays shows, most linked to cultural events of the Amazigh diaspora in France, as well as in Belgium, Russia the UK and Sweden. He was part of a new wave of widely popular and successful Kabyle artists in the 1980s, such as Ait Menguellet, Lounès Matoub, Takfarinas, Idir and many more.Habibi Funk as a label is dedicated to re-releasing music from “The Arab World”, but this release shows how reductive this term can be, as the countries from North Africa and West Asia being summarized under this term include a vast number of languages and identities. Obviously, headlines sometimes come with limited space, and one can’t avoid using terms that paint a half-finished picture. That being the case, however, we are even more happy that Majid Soula liked our idea to work on a release of a selection of his music with us. The tracks here are incredible and need to be introduced to a new generation of listeners.For Majid Soula music is more than just entertainment. He considers himself an activist through music, and foremost a “chanteur engagé”, as he says of himself: „I take my inspiration from the daily life of my people and I share all their aspirations, mainly the official recognition of Tamazight as a language, culture and identity.”He still works on new music in his small home studio in Belleville and occasionally plays concerts for the Amazigh community of the city.We sincerely hope that for you reading this and listening to Majid’s album, his music will have the same revelatory feeling it had on us, and that this will be part of a momentum that will allow Majid to keep on working, playing, and sharing his message for many years to come.

NOOD5 features contributions from six friends of the Noods family, consisting of Berlin based techno iconoclast Ossia, shadowy Bristol producer fresh from a highly acclaimed EP on Berceuse Heroique, Pessimist, Timedance affiliate Cleyra, Milanese sound experimentalist Katatonic Silentio, Rio underground lynchpin and RBMA graduate Valesuchi and a collaboration from Dekmantel’s Epsilove and the elusive Ployer Fower.The record is a confident assertion of the station’s sonic ethos; filled with tense, dread-laden soundscapes that foreground the percussion and sub bass. Reverbs and delays are utilised in the true dub tradition, wringing out unconventional grooves from the negative space between the drums: it’s music for the head and the body.Originally intended to be released on our fifth birthday hence the name, fuck it — the pandemic slowed much down so have it on our sixth birthday instead.

Linda “Babe” Majika’s insanely brilliant Don’t Treat Me So Bad is a tight six tracks of blistering electro-flavoured bubblegum and synth-drizzled solar-powered machine-funk. It has become increasingly hard to find, with copies currently moving for over £200. But this is definitely a case of eye-watering price equalling heart-thumping quality.The enormous “Let’s Make A Deal” is probably the best known track here, and it’s definitely the best one if you ask us. Linda’s vocals drip with attitude over warm, breezy synths and an urgent, edgy electro beat to create a timeless club-ready bomb that sounds as fresh as ever. But the rest of the album is far from filler.Don’t Treat Me So Bad is the work of one badass woman who can hold her own, and then some.

France's reputation for underground techno is on the rise and this new album from Marcelus won't do it any harm. The Parisian producer has already a string of acclaimed releases on Tresor and Deeply Rooted House, and Vibrations showcases his ability to craft killer, purist grooves. "Forplay" and "Steel Drums (Take 2)" are heads down, tribal rollers that will cause chaos on the dance floor, while "Transient" is a dense, drum track that takes its cues from the Lost / Cosmic strain of 90s techno. On "Multiply", Marcelus flirts with the legacy of Sativa and Dave Tarrida to create an unpredictable, sprawling groove. In between these pillars of functionality and wild abstraction Marcelus also delivers the introspective "Initial Sense" and the loose house groove of "Funky Datas". It's one of the bravest techno works of 2016.

Pionneer album. in great shape !

Depuis son premier album en 2011, Hollie Cook s’est imposée en matière de reggae revival de cette décennie. La protégée de Prince Fatty s’est rapidement démarquée du lot pour son mélange de reggae et de tropical-pop notamment parce qu’elle fut membre du groupe The Slits, ce qui explique cela. Quatre ans après son second album remarquable nommée Twice, l’éternelle fille de Paul Cook (batteur des Sex Pistols) a décidé d’effectuer un grand saut en signant chez Merge Records pour son troisième opus nommé Vessel of Love.