There is a proper procedure for taking advantage of any investment.
Music, for example. Buying music is an investment.
To get the maximum you must
listen to it for the first time under optimum conditions.

Not in your car or on a portable player through a headset.
Take it home.
Get rid of all distractions, (even her or him).
Turn of your cell phone.
Turn of everything that rings or beeps or rattles or whistles.
Make yourself comfortable.
Play your LP.
Listen all the way through.
Think about what you got.
Think about who would appreciate this investment.
Decide if there is someone to share this with.
Turn it on again.
Enjoy yourself.

Gil Scott-Heron
(from I’m New Here liner notes)

Thank you Gil. You are a huge inspiration.

VA - What A Fine Mess We Made

label: Affine
releasedate: April 11 2011
cat #: aff 006

JSBL – the band comprised of Dorian Concept, Cid Rim, The Clonious and Willi Rosner – is featured twice on this collection. They open with their signature sound in Big Kariba, and return in Project Mayham Sandwich for another slice of live played bombastic electrofunk. Incomparable, highly effective. What Sixtus Preiss & The Clonious do next in Specimen From Springbing is pure magic: uptempo beats underlining a plethora of otherworldly synths in a spaced out arrangement. Or something. The Clonious returns twice more, for his off the hook remix for Dorian Concept’s keyboard extravaganza Tropical Hands and the crunktastical monster Alter-Ego-Cate complete with haunting cut up vocal loops. If you haven’t heard his debut album on Ubiquity, what are you waiting for?!

Next up are Ogris Debris, the Austrian house duo that first caught my attention with their G-thong back in 2008. Sexy Chair reminds me a bit of Henrik Schwarz, and their remix of Trilingual Dance Sexperience is a 10-minute musical journey of epic proportions, blending Underworld, Henrik Schwarz and Dorian Concept. Of course there’s plenty of room as well for the guy it all started with for Affine, Dorian Concept: two shorter tracks where Oliver really explores his experimental side.
Cid Rim is the last one getting two tracks to do his thing. And what a ride his Dark Cide Rymbal is, a big crowd on a summer festival would totally go crazy for this peaktime distortion scorcher. His remix for The Clonious’ Earringer on the other hand is a welcome downtempo banger.

There’s some time left for other/newer talent too, with new signees Zanshin and Krts delivering solid tunes. The Ubiquitous Cosmin TRG finally is present as well with a very deep and dope rendition of Orgis Debris’ Light Aery.

It all sounds unlike anything I’ve heard before, and it kicks major ass. We warned for these guys before, and this label compilation confirms our worst fears: you’ll be seriously hooked.

Buy it now! (only €7)

Here’s the full tracklist – you get a nice pdf with more info about the artists along with your purchase. Also thanks to Fabien and Tokyo Dawn Recordings for the great job on the mastering.

1. Chris Barker – Out Of Dark
2. Kira Neris – Awakening
3. Emanative – Space In Veda (Dub-In-Vader Mix)
4. Daeque – Star Spanged Beauty
5. S13 – In Japan
6. Title – Put Your Pants On
7. Jazz Neversleeps – Live In Maredsous
8. Crackazat – Bouncer Pounce
9. Basic Soul Unit – The Cloak
10. Opolopo – Tennhauser Gate
11. Aybee – Memories Of Tomorrow
12. Souled – Hanky Skank
13. Lensco – Midlite

We’re releasing these compilations because we’re really into good music of course, but also to financially support the podcast. Hosting several 100mb files for 1200+ subscribers isn’t cheap, so if you dig our radioshow, show some love back!

And if all this wasn’t enough already, all our previous compilations are now available at the absolute bargain price of €4! What are you waiting for, head to the shop!

Preliminary feedback on the compilation has been very good, with airplay on OFFtrack, Basic Soul Radioshow, Kev Beadle’s Solar Radio, We Are… On Air, FM Brussel, Further In Fusion, … plus articles on On-Point, Numblog, Commercial Break and The Jazz Meet. Also, check these quotes:

“congratulations for edition no. 4! exceptional great flow and some fantastic tunes on it.” —Jamal (Affine Records)

“Great to have you guys back on another comp and WHAT A SELECTION… EXCELLENT!!! Gonna be hammering for months” —Simon Harrison (Basic Soul Radioshow)

“New Beyondjazz compilation is brilliant — would have loved for a vinyl release.” —Nitzan / Edit (Fine Art Recordings)

More feedback coming soon!

Spaven - Spaven's 5

label: Jazz Re:freshed
releasedate: December 6, 2010
style: Future Jazz

Maybe you’ve never heard the name Richard Spaven before, but chances are big you’ve heard the man play, maybe even live. He’s been a household drummer for so many artists: Mark de Clive-Lowe, José James, The Cinematic Orchestra, GURU, 4hero, … the list goes on. But now that the good cats at Jazz Re:freshed have kickstarted a new series of mini-albums called 5ive’s, it’s time for Richard to step out of the shadow and deliver his first proper release. He is accompanied by a few great guests though: José James and Dj DooWop on vocals, Brotherly’s Robin Mullarkey on bass, Flowrider’s Vincent Helbers on keys, and many more.

The result is amazing. The drumming of course is fingerlicking good, but the intricate jazz arrangements, quirky time signatures and modern electronic production are top notch as well. Give these 6 tracks a few spins and you’ll be hooked. From the hypnotizing Rockers Round Window to the enchanting ballad Maz and the headnodding jazzhop of Zeebra III. The mysterious and slightly discomforting Network could have been on Two Pages, or a Domu album. And 1759 finally is the perfect closing track – mesmerizing and soothing. This is future jazz, people. Give this man a 5-album contract!

Check this Youtube video of Richard introducing the album.

Cid Rim vs The Clonious - Full Nelson EP

label: Affine
releasedate: December 1, 2010
cat #: AFF 005

Onto another fantastic debut, from Vienna this time. Cid Rim is the drummer of the JSBL band (together with The Clonious, Dorian Concept and Willi Rosner) but here he has three tracks to prove his solo worth. Opener Jerome could very well be played on more adventurous radio stations, as it sports a quite poppy sound and a straightforward verse/chorus progression. Nice, but then things start to get crazy – as in crazy good. Chop Suey Cide Step has a driving midtempo beat and a bumpy acid bassline like Luke Vibert likes them. On Bear Hug Love Cid Rim pulls open all registers, with squelchy synths, bleeps and stabs on a ruff dubstep riddim. Madness!

On the flip The Clonious takes his turn. He released his (excellent) debut album on Ubiquity last year, and here takes a similar approach to side A: one catchy vocal tune and two tunes-gone-wild. The vocal is courtesy of Paul Randolph, who turns Truth into a bit of an anthem that will work well on dancefloors. Earringer is the counterpart to Cid Rim’s Bear Hug Love: frantic, agitated and just plain crazy. The final track called Paul’s Suite is a bit more balanced, where The Clonious paints an intricate musical story with otherworldly synths and stuttering beats.

Another excellent release by Austria’s Affine label – fans of Dorian Concept and the like: don’t sleep!

Erdbeerschnitzel - Suave EP

label: 4lux
releasedate: December 2010
cat #: 4LUX010-01
style: Midtempo synth house groovers

Erdbeerschnitzel (German for “a slice of strawberry”) aka Tim Keiling usually produces house/electro music, but for this EP on the 4lux label he went for a midtempo approach. The sound in these three tracks reminds a lot of Floating Points, but label boss Gerd assured me that Suave for example was recorded two years ago. So what you get is three great arrangements with funky midtempo house grooves and several layers of playful synths and filtered samples. The Suave EP will have you nodding your head frantically!

Krystal Klear - Tried For Your Love EP

label: All CIty
releasedate: December 2010
cat #: ACKK12x1
style: Disco Boogie madness

Hailing from Manchester comes Krystal Klear with the new disco sound! With Boogie Wan and Dekryptic you get two perfectly produced slices of electronic boogie, but the main dish here is Tried For Your Love, and even more the Hudson Mohawke remix. The original is a lovely dreamy synth adventure reminiscent of Dâm-Funk – although a bit cleaner – while Hud Mo completely transforms this and mutates it into a ridiculously effective new jack swing revival! Our limbs are busting down in all kinds of uncontrollable moves to these killer piano stabs, sax loops, hard claps and jaw dropping breakdowns! Look for this remix in my 2010 favorites chart.

Samples at the All City website.

Are you waiting for some tune to be finally available? Let us know in the comments!

Kele Le Roc – That Rhythm
Killer bruk production by Mark Force and Kaidi Tatham, for UK pop singer Kele Le Roc. First heard in a 5-minute Blakai productions mix in 2008, but to this day unreleased.

Mashepest – Orange
Super killer dubstep riddim that’s been doing the rounds with the famous dj’s, but for some reason hasn’t found its way to the shelves.

Rhythm Plate – Bring It On Back
First heard this rough diamond in 2008 when Domu was sitting in for Benji B on Deviation, but it has gone dark ever since…

Joy Orbison – GR Etiquette
There’s a bunch of unreleased Joy Orbison cuts circulating on the net – try Smother or Tentative Bidding – but this one is pure gold. This is just a snippet taken from a mix, but supposedly it will never be released because of the uncleared samples. Boohoo!

Jo Stance - Jo Stance

label: Ricky-Tick
releasedate: October 13, 2010
cat #: RTCD019

Back in 2007 Ricky-Tick Records introduced Stance Brothers and their album Kind Soul, a gritty instrumental soul / funk setting masterminded by and fully canned by Teddy Rok at his home studio.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we are blessed with a magnificient new album from ”A Magnificient New Talent” (as declared on the cover). A singer by the name of Jo Stance.

Although Jo Stance is a standalone project, not meant to be a straight continuation to what made the Stance Brothers, the connection is evident in more ways than just the name. The album is recorded in pretty much the same manner, at home using analog multitracks, with the duo responsible of nearly all the sounds, only helped out by friends on horns, Jukka Eskola and Timo Lassy – or should we call him Diamond T. Sparks (remember him?) on this occasion?

In fact I’m told that this session would not be without Mr. Sparks, who initally drove Teddy Rok to produce some of Jo’s album, which later on took the current form.

I’m so very glad it turned out this way, because the result is astounding. Last summer many top clubs and various DJs picked up the 45, ”Hey Girl!”, making it a bit-of-a-hit for afficionados from Helsinki to Brooklyn, NY. The tune’s laid-back, vibraphone driven melody was ideal for the summer breeze, alright, but I was still caught off-guard when I first listened to the whole set.

I knew Jo could sing the Soul, she had done so on the background of the great Finnish soulman Tuomo, and Huba, to name but a few, but to step out into the spotlight is something very different. I feel the singers in Finland usually tend to be a bit wary, as if a bit excusing to be on the mic. But that can’t happen singing soul. You have to lay it all on the table so as to tell you’re the star.

This is where I think Jo Stance succeeds with flying colors. Whether she is in-your-face raw and powerful – the way you know I love it – like in ”Sticky” (an absolute future classic), ”Treated” or ”Changes”, or heart-warmingly mellow as in ”Me and You” or ”No More Tears”, she feels real, the songs feel really close to her.

This is the one of the most significant records out of Finland this year (there is still one gem waiting at the Ricky-Tick HQ…) and the best Finnish Soul album since 2006′s ”Keep Reaching Up” by The Soul Investigators. The album is a homerun for Jo Stance as a singer, for Teddy Rok invading new territories as a soul producer, as well as Ricky-Tick for expanding their release range into soul music.

5/5 by Janski Arnimaa

CD/LP + mp3/ Digital out in Finland now, with international release to follow (will elaborate on the dates later)

http://www.jostance.com/

http://www.myspace.com/jostance

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jo-Stance/156441657708658

Webstore with international shipping options @ http://www.recordshopx.com/

A lot of you readers may not know, but a few years ago Beyondjazz released three compilations, aptly called Beyondjazz vol. 1-3. They featured members of the community site we had running back then, a lot of whom went on to do great things in music: Inverse Cinematics, Dogdaze (2562), David Borsu, Jonny Miller, Yosaku, Surra, Nemoy, Mixed Moods, and many others. Released in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively, these albums pretty much stood the test of time and still sound fresh.

We still get emails from people asking where to get these compilations. They were available at some online shops, but we’re making it really easy again for you. We’ve set up a Bandcamp page and hereby (re-)introduce the Beyondjazz shop!

We’re currently setting up a little home studio to keep recording the Beyondjazz podcast next season, and we could use a bit of support. So if you like what we’re doing hop over to our shop, help us pay the gear and bandwidth costs, and get some great music on top!

I’m not sure if this was the fourth or fifth time I saw The Cinematic Orchestra, but what I do know is that they never disappoint. When the band got on stage J Swinscoe promised us a selection of tracks from the entire TCO discography, and that is what we got. Most of the tracks started with that recognizable looped sample, when one by one the musicians stepped in. In quite a lot of tracks they kept on building and improvising until it became a real wall of sound. It was not noise however, all the little intricacies and notes were still audible, making for several goosebumps moments. Maybe they took their ad libs and solos a little too far occasionally, but only moments later the groove was back.

Richard Spaven, Heidi Vogel, Stuart McCallum, Tom Chant, Phil France, … they all shone on stage. A question that kept popping in my mind though was why those samples can’t be played by the band? A full size Cinematic Orchestra, wouldn’t that be something? A minor niggle however, I had a marvelous time!

The Cinematic Orchestra

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All pictures © Bruno Bollaert

Next up were Kruder & Dorfmeister. 16 years after their debut, the godfathers of triphop (I bet they hate that phrase!) have swapped their spliffs for tuxedo’s and champagne. They’re touring the globe again with a ‘live’ show, backed by an impressive videowall of 12 big ass screens. The gig was split into three parts: past, present and future. The past was basically nothing more than a K&D Remix Megamix™ – great nostalgia for the fans, who were present in great numbers. It felt very scripted though, which is partly unavoidable with all those visuals, but still…
The present part was more like a regular DJ set, with very long housetracks. I didn’t recognize a lot of tunes although I heard that Christian Prommer version of Nights of the Jaguar. The third and final part of the show showed us a glimpse of the G-stone future but to be honest, it sounded like more of those long house tracks from the present. Assisted by MC’s Earl Zinger and Ras MC they reached a few stomping house peaks. The gig had its moments and the big crowd loved it, but subtle or memorable, it was not.

On sunday we had something more exciting to look out for: Soil & “Pimp” Sessions! Like The Cinematic Orchestra, I have seen them a few times now and they never disappoint either. Their totally of the hook death jazz sound still blows away first time spectators and stays fresh for the long time fans. Of particular interest this time was the J.A.M. intermezzo in the middle, where Josei, Akita Goldman and Midorin played some new tracks from their upcoming second album. I heard superfast Brazillian bossa like only Japanese can play it!
And you can say what you want about Shacho, the agitator of the band, but without him most people would just see a bunch of weird freak jazz musicians on stage. Add him to the picture and you get an entertaining show that the audience can relate to and – most importantly – dance to!

Here are a few beautiful pictures from Jan Vandevyver:

José James and Jef Neve

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All pictures © Jan Vandevyver

Moodio.tv also has a video interview online from earlier this year, where you get some more background info on the record.

Art Of Tones - The World As I Live It EP

label: Room With A View
releasedate: April 2010
cat #: VIEW008
style: House

I remember when Ludovic Llorca’s 2001 album New Comer came out of F Communications, at the height of the “French Touch” era. It still is a great album, but it’s been rather silent around the Llorca project. Since 2005 Ludovic has been working under the Art Of Tones monniker however, and he just released a new 3-track EP on the prolific Room With A View label.

The presh sheet calls The World As I Live It “a kind of vitaminised version of Mr Parrish’s Ugly Edits” and that’s not far from the truth: a long and slow-evolving disco stomper. The highlight for me is Breaking Bad, an incredibly deep banger, filled with lush keys and a great buildup. It can easily stand next to some of the best tunes Jimpster has ever released. The Argument finally features clever use of samples, and is backed by the same powerful 500hp drive that runs throughout the whole EP. It’s simple: if you dig deep house music, you need to get this.

Listen to the EP on Soundcloud or buy it straight from the source here.

Lewis McCallum - Syntheology

label: Finch
releasedate: March 2010
style: Synthfunkhop

This is the sophomore album from New Zealand multi-instrumentalist Lewis McCallum, after Wake in 2007. He also plays the saxophone in Opensouls, the NZ band that also brought us Julien Dyne, and released a 12″ on Antipodean Records. And you can’t get around it, Lewis’s sound closely resembles the style of fellow kiwi Mark De Clive-Lowe. But mind you, it’s not a carbon copy at all.

Expect a whole lot of headnoddin’ beats and some broken beats, overlayed with a whole rack of synths in a splendid and dense production. A lot of vocal guest appearances as well, from the likes of Tama Waipara, Cherie Mathieson, Mara TK and more. Really a great album that deserves your attention!

Available on iTunes and several other stores.

Floating Points - Peoples Potential

label: Eglo
releasedate: 21 March 2010
cat #: EGLO06
style: broken-house

Another winner release from the mighty Eglo label out of UK and Sam Sheperd aka Floating Points. Peoples Potential is already big on dancefloors and heavily played by Benji B, Gilles Peterson or Simbad. This release is a stricly limited one-sided vinyl but there’ll be a full single coming out later this month with Shark Chase on the flip. Also look out for Floating Points’ new remixes of Four Tet‘s Sing or Bonobo‘s Eyesdown.

Peoples Potential by floatingpoints

Scuba - Triangulation

label: Hotflush
releasedate: 22nd March 2010
cat #: HFCD003-HFLP003
style: dubstep

Following his debut album ‘A Mutual Antipathy’ released in 2008, Paul Rose aka Scuba‘s sophomore long player ‘Triangulation’ is finally out this month on his own imprint Hotflush Recordings. The new material offers twelve great fresh cuts which all prove Scuba could take his sound to a next level of fusing dubstep with house, vocal elements and deep atmospheric vibes. Highlights for me are Three Sided Shape, You got me, Before and Tracers. Dont forget to check the video for Before and cop Scuba’s latest mix from the RA website.

Scuba – You Got Me by Hotflush

Timeless: The Composer/Arranger Series DVD

label: Mochilla
releasedate: 30th March 2010
style: live music

LA-based production company Mochilla is about to release an amazing 3 DVD Box Set of the concert series that was created in homage to three influential musical heroes Mulatu Astatke, J.Dilla and Arthur Verocai. The live performances were recorded in Los Angeles during February and March 2009 including the performances of over 150 musicians. You can read all the info, watch live footages and pre-order this must-have gem at the Timeless’ minisite here: http://mochilla.com/timeless

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – A.N.G.E.L. ft. Dwele

Here you can watch the duo performing ‘Dreaming’ at Montreux Jazz Festival 2009 (more videos here)

Don’t forget to join their official facebook page and go to their myspace site for some demo previews and live dates. On 11th of February, they will be holding a lecture at Red Bull Music Academy 2010 in London followed by a live performance in Royal Albert Hall alongside Carl Craig and more a day later. Get your tickets here!

Plus: Henrik Schwarz has shared his own made and heavily used software called Schwarzonator for Ableton heads.

Gum Dragon EP and release party

One of the first times we got introduced to Dynooo, was through his Sol Waters project on the City Wurl label of Billy Palmier. While back then he was both an mc as beat producer, the latest years have seen him focusing on producing. “Rooted in hip hop’s rich soil, but definitely branching out beyond the edges of the genre, Dynooo’s music is for fans of the likes of Daedelus, Samiyam, Hudson Mohawke and next-gen beatcrafters alike.” That includes us.

His live shows at the Release event (a joint effort between Brussels crews Onda Sonora, On-Point and Laid Back), and at the Pluto Festival, already gave us an impression of his sound today. Jay Scarlett and Cinnaman‘s Beat Dimension compilations also featured a track by him.
That sound is now coming to you on wax. Dynooo: “The upcoming EP is called ‘Gum Dragon’. It’s not a complete style switch from previous own releases. It’s been more of a gradual process, looking for a sound that … well, is less boring than the shit I used to make (laughs).”

Dynooo’s Gum Dragon is centered around Fuh Real, a song that features Swedish singer Naboobia laying down a floaty vocal over a high-end 80’s r&b inspired club banger. The rest of the mini-album is a collection of glitching electronics that ranges from soothing (Furbee) to smashing (Cawf Drop) and psychedelic (the Beyondjazz favourite: Will Flattened). Make sure to download the sampler of the EP.

Dynooo: “The music has left for the vinyl pressing now, and will hopefully be available next week. Hopefully, because next week we’re having a release party in Antwerp. I’ve invited Cupp Cave and Richard Colvaen from Bretzel Zoo. It’s in Kavka, on the 22nd of January.”

Next to the Gum Dragon EP, you might want to watch out for a bunch of other releases Dynooo’s got in the pipeline for 2010, including a feature on a project of Cupp Cave. Dynooo: “And hopefully a more live shows.”

Mac Fly

Since November 2008, Gent is one shop richer. In the Mac Fly concept store Dynooo sells music, clothing, kicks and other random cool stuff. When asked if he opened up this store in search for a place he’d love to go shopping himself, Dynooo says: “Well, that’s it, in fact. Dat heb je goed gezegd.”
Every now and then there’s expositions. Dynooo: “A few weeks ago we did an expo by Melika. She’s a student photography of whom we displayed some of the recent work. In the past we also set up expositions in cooperation with Laid Back. Those were more focusing on street art.”
Dynooo: “For future events at the store I’m thinking of maybe doing a listening session around the Gum Dragon ep. Those things just happen spontaneously.”

The biggest selling item in the shop has been the Mac Fly shirts and sweaters, so far. Dynooo: “I wouldn’t call it a clothing line, but it sure would be fun if it evolved in that direction. I’d need some funding for that, but yeah, it’s cool to know people appreciate the prints I’ve designed myself.”
We suggest you to subscribe to the Mac Fly blog or check Dynooo’s tweezies to stay informed.

Download the mix

Dynooo’s guestmix for Beyondjazz is a one hour trip with 31 beats going all over the place. Dynooo: “The mix is a bit of everything. Music I love and want to get heard. During a live show I’d go a bit heavier, but the blueprint of this one is definitely the same.”
Check for music by Rustie, 8bitch, GLK, Flying Lotus, the (“much overlooked”) Two FingersCarlos Nino, and a couple of Dynooo exclusives. Head over to the podcast to check out the full mix.