Chewy Rubs - Free Love

Chewy Rubs - Free Love
Midnight Riot Records

Tom Vine AKA Chewy Rubs is back with a new EP of infectious Disco loops on Midnight Riot. Pleasingly diverse in tone while plying trademark repetition to devastating effect. Disco gold for the dancefloor that carries a refined, modern aesthetic while retaining all the character of the sample source material. Out now exclusive to Juno Download

The Allergies - Push On

The Allergies' debut album introduced the world to the way they effortlessly fuse funk, soul, disco, hip-hop and breaks into dancefloor-ready nuggets of ear candy. Taking classic sounds and reshaping for the modern age is the signature that won them plaudits across the globe. 

Not ones to rest on their laurels, it hasn't taken long for them to deliver more of the goods on their second full-length album, 'Push On'. As well as taking the successful formula of the first record and expanding on the sound with raw Funk, Psych, Northern Soul, and Boogie influences, The Allergies enlisted two giants of underground Hip-Hop to bless mics on the album as well. 

After a hugely successful collaboration on their debut LP, once again the dynamic lyricism and production skills of the inimitable Andy Cooper (Ugly Duckling) are present and correct in this new collection. Besides bringing the party on tracks like 'Main Event', he also settles scores with 'It Won't Be Me', before destroying all-comers on the battle Rap behemoth, 'Buzzsaw'. Also joining in on the action is UK MC veteran, Dr Syntax (The Mouse Outfit, Foreign Beggars) who prescribes some more healthy Hip-Hop advice on the track 'Remedy'.

Other highlights include the vintage Soul stomper, 'Entitled to That', Sixties uptempo groover, 'Hold You Close', and the fantastic little strutter, 'Get Down On You'. All in all it's a brand new set of future classics from your new favourite funky beatmakers, The Allergies.

Get it below

The Eminent Stars - Bar Shift

Release date: 1 September 2017

Genre: Funk / Soul / R&B

Label: Tramp Records

Format(s): 7" EP / Digital

Cat #: TR1043

The Eminent Stars were founded by saxophonist Ben Mendes and drummer Toon Oomen. They both share the love for the great music emerging from cities like New Orleans in the ‘60s and ‘70s: Dr. John, Freddie King, The Meters and many more! Just mix up some soul, rhythm & blues, funk and blues and there you have it: a sound that consists of authentic elements: danceable, intriguing, vibrant and fresh!

Their debut Sittin' In With was released in February 2014, accompanied by a single. In the past three years The Eminent Stars heavily toured in their home country Netherlands and in Europe. They kept writing new songs and here we go with two new, fresh cuts. “Bar Shift” features guest vocalist Bruce James while “Brown Thang” is a smokin' blues-funk instrumental. These two sides give you an excellent foretaste of their second full-length album, scheduled for release in early 2018.

Check out this awesome live performance on video 

 

Pre-order now available from the Tramp Bandcamp store
https://tramprecords.bandcamp.com/album/pre-order-bar-shift-b-w-brown-thang

Tony Allen & Afrobeat 2000 - NEPA (Don Dayglow Remix)

More Afrobeat meets Disco here as the devilishly handsome and charismatic Don Dayglow reimagines Tony Allen's 1984 jam NEPA Dance Dub

Free Download too!

Feature - Cultures of Soul Records

I'm delighted to have grabbed a few words with Deano Sounds, head honcho at one of my favourite repress labels, Cultures of Soul. CoS seek out fantasticmusic from across the world that always manages to be both unusual and yet dancefloor-friendly. I don't think I've played a vinyl set in the last few years that hasn't included at least one CoS record!

 OK let's start with the basics... I note from your website that you started in 2008, born out of a radio show on Viva Radio, but there's obviously a lot of behind the scenes action required to turn that idea into reality. Did you have any prior experience? And what can you tell us about the first steps of the Cultures of Soul imprint? 

I was DJing and collecting records and had also wanted to start a music label at some point.   I guess the first steps would be that my friend had some contact info for Bili Sparrow who turned out to be our first release. And then it went on from there.

   

What's the line up at CoS? 

We've got two ambitious projects coming out now and coming out soon. First a box set of 7 x 7inches of Brazilian Funk and Soul and then out in January the Boston Creative Jazz Scene which is an album compilation with an 80 page book about the underground Jazz scene in Boston in the 70s..

How many releases have you out out so far?  

Too many to count! 

Do you try and do a certain number a year, or is it more a case of 'it's ready when it's ready? 

It's really a case of when releases are ready. There's really no master marketing plan other than to put out the most interesting high quality product that we can.

You've developed a reputation as a purveyor of a more international brand of funk, soul, disco and jazz... you've unearthed some astonishing music from Bollywood, Brazil and the Caribbean, to name but a few unusual sources. How do you find the music, and what criteria do you use to choose which tracks to release? 

I usually start a project by looking for interesting music or an interesting theme and then I try to fill the compilation with the best material that fits together in that particular cultural lens. 

I think our readers would be interested in the process of getting a record out on your business model... talk us through the basic process, from sourcing and selecting tracks to designing and distributing. 

That is quite a long answer and one I feel your readers might finding boring. It's like sauuges the process is not pretty and sometimes you don't want to know what you have to go through to get to the other end!

You're clearly a busy working DJ in your own right - has the label opened doors for you to perform at more illustrious or far-flung venues? 

It has to a certain extent. It's still tough to find great venues willing to host DJings playing eclectic vintage music. But I did recently play a gig at a night in Montreal called the Goods that was amazing!

There's an evident growth in the reissues vinyl market - do you see that as a positive thing? Have you worked with any other labels or collaborated with any? Do you find there's a sense of community between independent reissue labels? 

Well it's great that the younger generation is buying vinyl. The only problem is in my opinion so much wasted vinyl releases are coming out i.e. dollar bin fodder like Fleetwood Mac - Rumors type stuff. I don't believe in pressing vinyl in massive quantities or unneccesarily.I worked with Frank Gossner Voodoo Funk. I think there is definitely a community among the older more established reissues like Numero, Strut, and Soul Jazz. Those are the labels we look up to.

What are the future plans for Cultures of Soul? 

We're actually working with a lot of interesting remixers and producers at the moment including Ruf Dug, Africaine 808, Alma Negra, and Names You Can Trust on a project of unreleased material from the leader of the Kelenkye Band - Jagger Botchway. And I'm also working with Rahaan and Gerd Janson on a few companion 12"s to go with some of our upcoming compilations.

We're putting out a compilation of rare Gospel Disco compiled by Greg Belson and a compilation of South African Disco/Boogie as well as the unreleased material from Jagger Botchway with the remixes. And also some new music produced in 2015 so stay tuned!