NYC Records - Hiding in the Shadows

VA - Hiding in The Shadows

NYC Records

A deadly EP from NYC Records here... all Electro vibes, classic drum machines, vintage synths and an overall aesthetic of a top-notch Miami Vice library submission. Bafflingly, the label themselves describe the music within as 'Modern Funk' which is absolutely not true. Neither modern, nor Funk, it's a curious description. There are some funky touches, but the old addage that one swallow does not a summer make rings true. Still, all that really matters is the music, which Hiding in Tthe Shadows delivers with conviction and quality.

The dedication to retro synthesis is clear, but unlike many of the current crop of revisionists, this EP eschews straight imitation and instead maintains the prerogative to craft proper songs rather than merely rehash classic tropes. 

A nice mix of styles across these 4 tracks, too. From the Prince style Electro-pop of Synthman's Nord Lead, to the suspenseful Acid vibes of Windy City's, er, Windy City. Kozmik Funk delivers a slow groover while Synthman's first effort steals the show, the slow-but-dancefloor-friendly fun of Synths in the Jungle, which sounds like a theme tune for a short-lived 1986 cop show called Palm Springs Police Squad. Or something.

These songs could all be by the same artist and one wouldn't be able to tell, which leads me to wonder if they have a time-share scheme on the same expensive synth collection. Speculation aside, this is a cracking little EP from a label I'll be paying close attention to from now on. Go get it on 12" or digi here

The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY - My God Has A Telephone

The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY - My God Has A Telephone

Colemine Records

Legend has is Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in return for his virtuosic guitar playing. The same devil must have traded with the Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY to afford them the ability to cut a record in 2017 that sounds 100% like it was cut in 1953. Only, for that to have happened, Beelzebub would have their souls, which would render the performance of this gospel-tinged soul joint impossible. Can't cut soul records without soul, right? Maybe the devil used the souls of The Flying Stars as a muse and performed through the vehicles of their bodies. Yes, that's it - like Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost. Must be. Either way, this is an exquisite record. Well worth swapping your soul for. Or alternatively, head here and exchange cash money instead.

Courtney Pine - Black Notes From the Deep

Courtney Pine - Black Notes From the Deep

Freestyle Records

Tender, full-bodied and refined; every note sounds beautifully necessary, with a form to match. Omar Lyefook's voice soars above Pine's luscious arrangements.

Pre-order here

No musician embodies more the dramatic transformation in the British jazz scene over the past thirty years than Courtney Pine. His debut album, Journey To The Urge Within in 1987, was the first serious jazz album ever to make the British Top 40, notching up sales to qualify for a silver disc.

As an artist always looking to work outside of and across established musical genres, it is easier to list the musicians and artists he hasn't worked with, but now in 2017 Courtney releases brand new music featuring another British music legend of equal repute, his Freestyle Records label mate and an artist also honoured for his own creative endeavours; Omar Lyefook MBE.

Black Notes From The Deep is the 19th album of his stellar career, and sees Courtney return to the tenor sax for the first time in over a decade, an instrument he has been playing the longest and is often associated with. With over 30 years in the limelight, and one of the very first black musicians to make a firm imprint on the jazz scene this side of the Atlantic, the new album demonstrates why he is considered to be one of our most cherished national treasures.

Just the one song available to stream ahead of the release, check it here (along with another opportunity to pre-order

Out October 27th on LP, CD and digi formats

Alfa Mist - Antiphon

Alfa Mist - Antiphon

Pink Bird

Heartbreakingly CMFCP only just discovered this - too late to bag one of the 250 LP copies that Pink Bird pressed. Stumbled upon purely by chance, Alfa Mist Antiphon is one of the finest modern jazz records in a long time. Possibly ever. It's right up there with Kamasi Washington, BadBadNotGood, Jaga Jazzist or Yussef Kamaal/Kamaal Williams, who are widely recognised as among the elite of today's jazz maestros. Alfa Mist appears to have come from nowhere, but his forward-facing blend of striking jazz arrangements, punchy beats and innovative instrumentation make Antiphon stand out a mile. Apparently conceived and recorded after conversations with his brothers, it's a record that invokes the true spirit of jazz, while not once sounding generic. Stunning stuff.

Sampha wins Mercury Music Prize with Process

Sampha - Process

Young Turks

Mercury Music Prize Winner

I'm not going to lay into Ed Sheeran online. For starters, I'd be very late to the party. Secondly, I really don't think he deserves the monstrous amount of negativity he receives from the self-proclaimed Music Heads across the globe. Thirdly, he's ginger. As a flame-haired brother-in-arms I'm with anyone that could navigate the school system of the 90s and emerge emotionally intact.

He's talented, he looks like someone you know from the pub, and he's insanely, inexplicably successful. I can't stand his music, but at least he writes it himself. At least he isn't another pretty boy puppet on the end of Simon Cowell's strings. Fair play to him.

Having said that, I'm infinitely pleased he didn't win the Mercury Prize, as he was tipped to do. If that is the best album of 2017 we're all doomed.

Sampha, on the other hand, released not only the album of the year, but possibly of the last five. Process is a spell-bindingly beautiful, gloriously unpolished album that lays bare the emotional journey he went through processing the death of his mother. It's a work of such staggering soulfulness it could reduce Putin to tears. Yet, in contrast to many emotionally-charged, melancholic records, it is never maudlin. Pure, raw, heartfelt and musically brilliant, the record begs to be listened to in entirety, although if you had to pick one track No-One Knows Me like the Piano is a towering example of Process' magnificence.

CMFCP would like to congratulate Sampha on a richly-deserved achievement! 

Jackson - Rain/Change

We aren't just about the vinyl at CMFCP... We also reserve the right to champion pieces of inspired, curious music for all you curious people. Whatever the medium. Particularly when it's your mate what wrote it.

Jack Baldus is a bit of an unsung hero on the Bristol scene, but I'm pleased to see him being a bit more, er, sung, recently. Having gained acclaim as the eye-catchingly prodigious keyboardist in Laid Blak, he's been ploughing his own furrow for a while, even featuring on my last album Robot Soul (and some tracks on my next one!). The most polished and cohesive of these furrows is his new band Jackson. The debut EP was produced by none other than Full Cyclist and all round bristol leg-end DJ Die, and comprises 8 outstanding musicians, conducted by the man like Jack. Kind of like Sun-Ra's Arkestra without all the illegitimate children and cosmic flim-flamming. Musically, however, there are definite similarities to the cosmic jazz-tronaut. It's pleasingly reminiscent of Chick Corea, Sun Ra, Jaco Pistorius and Stanley Clarke... intricate, full of texture and displaying virtuoso levels of songwriting and performance.

But don't take my word for it - check out Jackson's first two videos below - recorded live at Factory Studios, Bristol