Ideism - Object, Subject

Radio Juicy presents “object, subject”, the new album by Ideism. Painting an absolutely breathtaking picture for the album this fresh body of music is like a wonderful trip into the creative mind of the artist. For this project he wanted to work with two main styles, Jazz and electronic beats while finding a middle ground in between the two worlds. Meant to be taken like an “emergence”, crossing from one side to the other, and sort of hanging there in observation. Like coming above the surface of water but without fully emerging. “object, subject” is meant to be interpreted in different ways, intentionally vague, leaving room for personal interpretation. The album is simply incredible and we recommend listening to it in one go, truly immersing yourself into the music.

Tracklist:
1. early light
2. burn
3. outer star
4. windows down
5. surface
6. all this time
7. fine
8. ease
9. rhizome

Gilles Peterson, Lionel Loueke - HH Reimagined

Gilles Peterson re-imagines Lionel Loueke’s incredible and acclaimed album HH, released in 2020, featuring the music of his long-term mentor, the legendary Herbie Hancock, for release in 2022.

Gilles Peterson and Lionel Loueke have long term respect for each other's music and when an opportunity to collaborate together came about, both jumped at the chance. The result is a brilliantly chaotic clash of worldwide club rhythms and guitar loops.

The connection is the master Herbie Hancock - a massive influence on the London based DJ and the Beninese guitarist. Performing the music of his mentor HH, released on Edition Records in Sept 2020, was a pivotal album in Loueke's already fascinating journey from humble roots to illustrious career.

Reimagined, refocused and reinvented by Gilles and co-producer Alex Patchwork with parts re-recorded by Lionel, this is a kaleidoscopic view of HH which realises the full range of colours inherent within it.

Tracklist:
1. One Finger Snap Version
2. Watermelon Man Version
3. Driftin' Version
4. Hang Up Your Hang Ups Version
5. Tell Me A Bedtime Story Version
6. Butterfly Version

Förnuft och Känsla - Målsrydskiosken

The repertoire was tried during a countryside tour where one of the highlights was a concert by the local pizzeria/newsstand/kiosk in the tiny village Målsryd. That’s where ”Målsrydskiosken” was born. In the contrasting spirit of urban and rural; old and new. The sense and the sensibility. Ying and yang.

Förnuft & Känsla is the collaboration between three highly in demand musicians on the Swedish jazz scene with original and unique expressions of themselves. Together they make music made up of challenging rhythms and abstract concepts but at the same time naive melodies and raw energy that somehow makes everything easy to digest. Modern jazz piano trio music at its finest.

Tracklist:
1. Byn i Staden
2. Cherokee
3. Herrliche Tage
4. Bits
5. Little T
6. Blues Vaccine
7. Sense and Sensibility
8. First Summer Lawn
9. Evidence

VA - To Illustrate

‘To Illustrate’: a new collaborative album co-produced by a group of artists from the extended Wisdom Teeth family, spotlighting a scattered scene of producers making forward thinking electronic music of various hues around the 100 bpm mark.

It’s been impossible to miss the unparalleled levels of creativity taking place at lower tempos in recent years. Whether it’s the reggaeton-inspired club music coming out of the Americas, the resurgence of downtempo and trip-hop influences in ambient and electronica, or the chuggy UK bass variants coming out of cities like Bristol, London and Manchester, there has been an unprecedented creative buzz around these slower BPMs.

‘To Illustrate’ attempts to capture just a small slice of the action taking place here, and looks to an international pool of producers and interrelated sounds to do so. Nick León represents the booming Miami scene, where Latin American sounds are being reimagined and reframed to create something kindred with UK bass music. Salamanda and abentis - from South Korea and Japan respectively - contribute low-slung, tripped out takes on ambient and downtempo, finding close sonic counterparts in UK producers Iglew and Glances. Elements of hip-hop and RnB creep through in label-heads Facta & K-LONE’s ‘Kiss Me, Can’t Sleep’, while UK artists Henzo, Clemency, Yushh and Hussko pull things closer to the slow/fast stepping rhythms of dubstep and drum and bass. Taken together, we find a cross-pollinating global scene of producers making genuinely forward-thinking and no-name electronic music - interconnected, but only just.

Tracklist:
1. Glances - Sun Dapple
2. Facta & K-LONE - Kiss Me, Can't Sleep
3. Abentis - Bicycle
4. Hussko - Two Nights In Peter's Bog
5. Iglew - Rockpool Pool Party
6. Salamanda - Kríni Tis Nymfis
7. Nick Leon - Separation Anxiety
8. Henzo - Whirlpool Vanish
9. Clemency - Girl Food
10. Yushh & Facta - Fairy Liquor

Kosmo Sound - Fruit Of The Void

Belgian dub-jazz outfit Kosmo Sound release their sophomore album: ‘Fruit of the Void’. Prepare yourself for a wonderfully fresh sound that is indebted to dub, yet offers a fresh take on the genre. With an infectious love for deep basslines, meditative sounds and dense grooves they proudly display their jazz influence through a sense of experiment and rhythm.

Tracklist:
1. Amethist
2. Chloris Hell Prevention
3. Ototoxic
4. Carolina Reaper
5. Ferocious
6. Banoffee Pie
7. Electric Spider
8. Channel Raceway
9. Blue Mountain

Waajeed - Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz

Inspired by revolutionary efforts against oppressive hegemonies in Detroit, and in Black locales around the world, Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz is a sound score evocative of that resistance.

It is also a reminder that although violence and injustice looms, it is not the only story: we are much more than what oppresses us. The album celebrates Black leisure and play; the mundane joys that persist in spite of the depleting realities of the world.

Movement, and the very mobility of the car specifically is integral to Memoirs of Hi Tech Jazz. Timed perfectly to match the duration of a round trip drive from Underground Music Academy in the North End, to Detroit’s island park, Belle Isle-- the album is undoubtedly best experienced in while driving.

That journey signifies the transition from labor to pleasure: from the neighborhood of the Techno Museum in North End to an outdoor park that has long been a destination for Black Detroiters to cookout, park their boats, play spades, and listen to local music.

Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz embodies the feeling this place engenders—a reprieve from the midwestern work ethic, and a reminder to ground in the pleasures of your body and the land.

Tracklist:
1. Memoirs of Hi Tech Jazz (feat. Black Nix)
2. Rouge
3. The Ballad of Robert O'Bryant
4. Motor City Madness
5. Let's Give It Up (feat. Archpriest Rev. Wanika K. Stephens & De'Sean Jones)
6. Snake Eyes
7. The Moment is Now
8. Right Now
9. Good Trouble
10. Keep It Coming
11. The Dub
12. Remember

Shijin - Playful

This new release takes the opposite approach to the previous album "Theory Of Everything". Following this very produced record, the group had a furious desire to play... In every sense of the word. "PlayFul", recorded during a series of concerts, is designed and produced for listening on vinyl. The aesthetic is similar to the jazz recordings of the 60s both in terms of the length of the pieces and mixing techniques: the instruments have been placed directly in your living room and will give you the impression of being present at the recording sessions. It’s a record that shows our happiness to play togetheragain. It's « PlayFul »:

Tracklist:
1. Toy Train (Radio Edit)
2. Tin Soldiers (Radio Edit)
3. Mystery of a White Dwarf (Live Version)
4. You Are Here (Live Version)
5. Time Travel (Live Version)
6. Separating Circle (Live Version)

Modus Pitch - Polyism

Leipzig-based musician, engineer, and producer Friedrich Brückner has, despite his youthfulness, been a decisive figure in the Leipzig music scene for literal decades, being involved, in one way or another, in many, if not most notable releases coming out of the city. Having received a classical musical education, Brückner most recently figured as part of the German-American band White Wine, playing the bassoon, but has also, as either musician, producer or engineer, toured internationally with the likes of Yoko Ono, Get Well Soon, Modeselektor, or Dear Reader.

For a few years now, Brückner has been working on his solo debut, which now comes in the form of his remarkable »Polyism«, out on Altin Village & Mine. On it, Brückner puts his considerable musical chops to use, in the service of a rollercoaster of an album that truly eschews categorization, being, as its title suggests, a work of being multiform. While the sound takes wide ranging cues from jazz, new age, dub, electronics to post punk, Brückner’s compositions never feel accidental in the slightest. Instead they share a distinctive sense of dramaturgy, a pronounced attention to sonic texture, and a sense of purpose both within the individual pieces as well as in the context of the album as a whole. The result is an LP that is astonishingly coherent, considering the multitude of means it employs.

On »Polyism«, Brückner also enlists a veritable all-star cast of guest performances, ranging from his parents Isabell and Bernd Brückner, both professional musicians, on saxophone, clarinet, and flute, Martin Wenk (Calexico) on trumpet, to Hendrik Otremba (Messer) and Brückner’s four-year-old daughter Rosa both on vocals, to name but a few. Each lend their own notes to »Polyism«, a work of what it means to live, that is, to be many — truly exceptional stuff. 

Tracklist:
1. Drive
2. Rainbow
3. Hill Top Jacuzzi
4. Compound Eye Dialogue
5. Gelée Royale
6. Suspender
7. Outer Veil
8. Lava Fans
9. Iridescent Path

Eddie Piller & Dean Rudland present​.​.​. Acid Jazz (Not Jazz)

Back in the early 1990s as Acid Jazz began a period of extraordinary commercial success where acts like the Brand New Heavies and Jamiroquai sold millions of records, and US groups such as A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Digable Planets were actively influenced by what was being played in London, the whole scene was being fuelled by a small number of clubs, led by Gilles Peterson’s Sunday afternoons at Dingwalls but taking in nights in Leeds, Bari, Munich, Tokyo, Stockholm and New York. In those clubs funky jazz, latin boogaloo and 70s soul soundracks competed for time on the dance floor with import records from New York, and the latest sounds coming out of bedrooms and makeshift basement studios that created contemporary sounds out of the past.

Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller and Dean Rudland have put together this compilation of the sort of sounds that we were playing at the time. They are releases on Acid Jazz and other label’s that surrounded the scene and they were mainly made by people we knew from either around the club scene, behind the counters of our favourite record shops, or from trips to New York or Europe. They range from The Ballistic Brother anthem ‘Blacker’ to the jazz house of A-Zel - a Roger Sanchez mix that still sounds fresh today. We have the Humble Soul’s instrumental version of ‘Beads Things And Flowers’ which at the time was only available as a DJ special on Acetate. There is the presence of A Man Called Adam before they went to Ibiza, and the early Mo’ Wax (before they went Trip Hop) single by Marden Hill ‘Come On’.

These records could fill a dance floor in seconds and we feel that they are today largely forgotten, as they were non-album, underground club records. It’s time to celebrate them!

Tracklist:
1. The Ballistic Brothers & The Eccentic Afros - Blacker
2. Humble Souls - Beads, Things & Flowers
3. Marden Hill - Come On
4. The Subterraneans - Last Night Beats
5. A Man Called Adam - APB
6. The Quiet Boys - Modal
7. A-Zel - Jazz Jupiter
8. Dhama B & Ace of Clubs - Everything Is Going To The Beat (Strictly Speaking Mix)

Minder - Sanctuary

After a devastating opening salvo of 19 modernist rave mutations on a double tape pack for Sneaker Social Club, Minder lands on Hypercolour with another 19 cybernetic fever dreams still reeling from the open season NRG of hardcore.

If you need to understand where Minder wants to take you, strap in for the labyrinth narrative of ‘Knotted’, a smudged, 15-minute breakbeat suite barrelling through lurid dystopian street scenes with only a blown-out bass sprite as a guide. Throughout Sanctuary, bass is the constant when all else is chaos. It comes in thick, warped Reese tones on ‘Simulated Hunt’, gets twisted out through angry filters on ‘Popcorn Lover’, comes on wobbly in true 2-step style underneath grimey garage anti-anthem ‘Ard’.

There’s a lot to take in across the spread of Sanctuary. It’s the sound of every rave genre slowly digested over 30-plus years, until the lactic acid metabolises every snare rush, every searing lead line, every chipmunk vocal lick, and everything gets mashed up and spat back out into a gnarly signal chain at the flash point of inspiration. The time taken is key – this is the sound of a life in front of the speaker stack manifesting in something too wild and weird to be derivative. You’ll hear snatches of familiarity thrown into unfamiliar contexts, but for all the detectable lineage, Minder’s sound is unsettling in its originality.

Dislodged ragga jungle techno, muffled hardcore nightmares, hard n’ haggard acid trance, junked up jump up – you could write an essay on the sounds you can spot and the way they’ve been twisted. Aside from the omnipresent low-end, it’s the unflinching honesty of Korron’s repeat appearances on the mic throughout which bring Minder’s disturbing patchwork into focus. For all the futurism attached to these sounds, it’s also caked in a very human filth which can only come from this earth. The roots run deep, and the fruit is rotten, and isn’t that how it should be? 

Tracklist:
1. Ard
2. Mills
3. Boxes
4. Dollar Bill
5. Service
6. Shard
7. Pomeroy
8. Cold Shoulder
9. Simulated Hunt
10. Sticks
11. Sharded
12. Popcorn Lover
13. Coleshill
14. Manipulate
15. Show Me
16. Knotted
17. Plough
18. Castle
19. Virus 

Work Money Death - Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction

“Extraordinary music, sounds sublime” - Gilles Peterson 

“What a delightful, excitingly beautiful album. From “At once familiar “ all the way through to “meditation on healing vibration” everything song feels and sounds sonically glorious. A modern day classic” - Nightmares On Wax

Taking a short sabbatical from their journey into the spiritual stratosphere and beyond, Work Money Death landed on terra firma just long enough to record a follow up to the critically acclaimed “The Space In Which The Uncontrollable Unknown Resides Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises”. The new album “Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction” explores many of the meditative motifs that mould this unique group in their quest for the perfect sound and space. Those who are familiar with Work Money Death will know their output is as much an adventure for the listener as it was for the musicians.

Recorded, as always, at ATA studios, a temple purpose built for the worship of all things analogue, “Thought, Action, Reaction, Interactions” is a salute to the now sadly deceased master of the spiritual sound Pharoah Sanders, and in particular the spontaneity of his recording process.

Each of the four tracks on “Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction” were recorded in one take with no rehearsal and while the players may have known where they were starting off none of them were sure where they would end. As much as it is entertainment, and have no doubt this LP is an unctuous, spirit-smoothing joy from beginning to end, this is an experiment of making music in the moment. Spontaneous and spiritual in its truest sense, “Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction” is a work of innovation and unsurpassed beauty.

“At Once Familiar” is a rising salute to the day, meditative, moving and fierce. An introduction to Burkill’s emotive style, at once sweeping and succinct. It fills a room, and your head, with a very real sound, rich in texture and spirit.

“Freedom As A Heartfelt Song” is buoyant with harp, the spirit of the Yorkshire Pharoah is never more to the fore. Visceral sax rides over and uplifting backing, symbiotic and pinioned with power and beauty. Think Sun Ra horns meets Don Ellis brass.

“Song Of Healing” drifts on a river of music, guided through the rapids with a heartbeat bass line. This is temple sombre, with Eastern flavours and an overarching calm. A communion of sound, a master class in the understatement and power of the slow note, deceptively light.

“Same As Before” is spoken word playing foil to the call and response of the brass, dancing alongside and against each other. Spiritual vibrations cement ethereal forms to substantive sounds. A prayer to change.”

Following in the same vein as previous Work Money Death releases, ATA studio boss Neil Innes conceived the album with tenor sax player Tony Burkill, a vehicle for the latter’s improvisational chops, bolstered by sterling personnel.

A stalwart of the Leeds music scene for the best part of three decades, Tony had maintained a low profile nationally, choosing to favour continued study and development on the instrument over attainment of success or recognition within the music industry.

Also featured on the record are; Sam Hobbs, drums, Neil Innes, double bass, Gareth Wilkins, harp, Chris Dawkins, guitar and K.O.G. (Kweku of Ghana) vocals.

As with the previous Work, Money, Death release (which was recorded in difficult conditions due to the Covid pandemic) the aim was to recreate a situation, in this case the impromptu and unrehearsed recording sessions of Sanders in the late 60’s and early 70’s, everything recorded in one take, creating a body of work that is a strong nod to a certain time and ethos but not a pastiche of it.

Tracklist:
1. At Once Familiar
2. Freedom As a Heartfelt Song
3. Song of Healing
4. Same as Before

Lee Clarke - Genes

Producer Lee Clarke draws on themes of memory, degradation and the evolution of sound and bloodlines with his beat tape Genes.

The initial ambition was deceptively simple: compile and release a set of beats from the last few years. But the project morphed into a transtemporal collage layered with samples from unfinished work with collaborators like Ivy Sole and Kingsley Ibeneche and decades old cassette recordings of Clarke’s family members.

In the early stages of compilation, Clarke encountered the Morphagene—a sampler described by the manufacturer as “a next generation tape and micro sound module that uses reels, splices and genes to create new sounds from those that already exist.”

Reflecting on repetition, degradation and the process that is sampling and resampling, which in some ways parallels the way genetic information is passed down, Clarke used samples from old family recordings of his grandmother Ahvagene—a NYU-trained pianist with perfect pitch and his biggest musical influence—and her sisters playing, singing, and talking about their childhood.

Over the course of twenty-two tracks Clarke explores not only how sound degrades with time and processing but also how memory is itself ever evolving as the one who remembers recalls it.

In a nod to the nonlinear nature of grieving and even of time, Clarke discovered that his interest in iterative music processes and reimagining sounds from the past created openings for previously un-accessed dimensions of grief surrounding the death of his grandmother whose end-of-life Alzheimer’s disease took much of her memory but spared the muscular memory of being able to play jazz standards. 

Tracklist:
1. Dwight Likes Jazz
2. Booties
3. It'll Be Burning
4. Seasonal
5. I'm You
6. One More
7. Ball4
8. Doing Too Much
9. I Was Solid
10. We Were Water
11. Decide
12. Morphing Gene
13. Sleepy
14. Can't Sleep
15. Ball1
16. Two Chords
17. Wisdom
18. Hold Space
19. Rainyday
20. Rainbow
21. This Life In Space
22. Bittersweet

VA - Future Bubblers 6​.​0

On 18th November, Brownswood Recordings releases the 6th edition of the Future Bubblers compilation. An expansion of Gilles Peterson’s network supported by Arts Council England, the ongoing talent discovery and artist development scheme focuses on developing unsigned talent and building audiences for new left-field music. With support from PRS Foundation as Talent Development Partners, the professional recording, manufacturing and physical release of Future Bubblers 6.0 is made possible. Unlike any other initiatives within music, the compilation acts as a springboard for the musician’s careers with the cooperative model providing direct revenue to the artists by a share of the profits resulting in a sustainable income to work from. Previous Future Bubblers include artists such as Yazmin Lacey, KinKai, MC Snowy, Forest Law and Kayla Painter to name a few.

The 9 track compilation is a musically diverse collection of tracks, fusing genres that span across Electronic, Alt-R&B, Alt-Hip-Hop, Spoken Word, Neo-Soul, Jazz and beyond. Opening the project, Plumm showcases her hypnotic vocals on ‘To Be A Woman’, a stripped-back, live rendition of the track whilst siegfried komidashi combines layers of instrumentation with his dream-like vocals on ‘Voyager One, Lost’. Up next, London-based Zeñel highlights their trumpet and guitar skillset alongside guest vocals from Plumm for ‘Crinje’ followed by Jericho Noguera’s genre-bending single, ‘Keeping On’ which is dedicated to remaining faithful and maintaining an optimistic mindset. Manchester-based Victoria Jane - who has gone on to host her own show on BBC Radio 1 - highlights her diverse vocal range in the emotive track ‘Good & Low-Key’ before Shirkers creates a cloudy instrumental for Ceeow’s vocals on ‘Like Summer’. Maintaining the ethereal sonic, Ceeow’s ‘Twice’ is reflective of his Rap and singing abilities followed by Zimbabwe-born, Norwich-based Tadi The Great’s Hip-Hop-meets-Psychedelic soundscape on ‘Catastrophe’. Rounding off the compilation nicely is nowsm’s epic ‘Rough Of The Felt’ which perfectly combines Breakbeat, House, and Experimental sounds.

Spanning just over 40 minutes, Future Bubblers 6.0 is an extremely impressive assemblage of talent who have all delivered top-shelf singles. Released both digitally and on vinyl, the compilation embodies the spirit of the musicians as well as the team behind Future Bubblers.

Additional Information
Each year, Future Bubblers are paired with an industry mentor who is tailored to their individual needs and from there, the journey begins. Each Bubbler will receive a number of opportunities that will ideally set them up professionally. The venture offers; one-to-one production workshops from music software company, Ableton, performances at live Future Bubblers showcases, recording live sessions from the iconic Brownswood basement, professional press shots and beyond the year, long-term support throughout their career.

Tracklist:
1. Plúmm - To Be A Woman (Live)
2. seigfried komidashi - Voyager One, Lost
3. Zeñel - Crinje (feat. Plumm)
4. Jericho Noguera - Keeping On
5. Victoria Jane - Good & Low-Key
6. Shirkers - Like Summer (feat. Ceeow)
7. Ceeow - Twice
8. TADI THE GREAT - Catastrophe
9. Nowsm - Rough of the Felt

STR4TA - STR4TASFEAR

Welcome to 'STR4TASFEAR’, Gilles Peterson and Jean Paul “Bluey” Maunick’s sophomore STR4TA album. A collection of songs, melodies, grooves and sounds that sit perfectly in the brand new music world it’s part of. Gilles and Bluey are both men who emerged into the Brit-funk world. They were both part of this truly thrilling chapter in the story of homegrown music; which manifests itself here in a sumptuous mixture of twanging basslines, spacey synth melodies, clicking beats and wispy, ethereal voices. 'STR4TASFEAR’ is available on digital, CD & 12" vinyl LP formats with a special edition white 12" LP on 11th November 2022 released via Brownswood Recordings.

For this new set, they’ve got a few like-minded souls along to join the party, connecting legacy with a new generation of innovators on the music scene. As a core concept of the album, nostalgic reflection meets a pivotal desire to celebrate the present moment, expressed through key features on the record. Namely, multi-talented neo soul Godfather Omar, who in a shock plot twist, was enlisted to lay down his intricate wonky synth lines on ‘Why Must You Fly’. The legacy family collaborations ensue with celebrated vocalist, Valerie Etienne, on ‘Find Your Bounce’ co-written by Rob Gallagher (Galliano, Talkin’ Loud) emulating Brit-funk’s first wave.

Extending the family, catapulting STR4TA to a cosmic contemporary plane, is free-spirited musical polymath, Emma-Jean Thackray laying down her refreshing, breathy vocals and production acumen on ‘Lazy Days’. Also welcomed into the fold and garnering the admiration of Gilles and Bluey over his illustrious career, is Floridian trumpeter/vocalist Theo Croker, who breezed into the jam-style studio session encapsulating the innovation of future jazz with the soulfulness of a bygone era on ‘Soothsayer’ and ‘To Be As One’. Representing the dynamic US influences from the birth of Brit-funk and the current surge of multifaceted, jazz-trained artists exploring unchartered soundscapes. Plus Brighton duo Anushka, jump on ‘Bad Weather’, whose melting electronica sound gleefully displays its roots from that aforementioned era.

The epicentre of 'STR4TASFEAR’ still remains the ‘meeting of minds’ and treasured friendship between the band’s founders, a solid production duo whose clearly defined roles compliment and inspire each other. Gilles Peterson as executive producer, sonically enriching the production process with his extensive and encyclopaedic knowledge from Brit-funk and Electro-soul of the late 70s/ early 80s to ushering in a new wave of musicians over his esteemed career as a DJ, label owner and broadcaster. Feeding the creative flow of highly acclaimed musician and producer Jean Paul “Bluey” Maunick who in record-time, single-handedly produced ‘Night Flight’ following one of their inspirational sessions characterised by the TR808 drum machine. With the invaluable contribution of Mo Hausler, an instrumental figure in completing the soundscape of the album. The vision was finessed by the magic touch of legendary keys/piano player Peter Hinds (Atmosfear, Light of The World, Incognito), appearing throughout the record, and is at the pinnacle of paying homage to the incredible pioneering work of bands such as SunPalace & Freeez, paving the way of UK electro-soul for artists like Total Contrast & Stephen Dante (produced by Bluey in the mid-80s). This sound is now being revived by contemporary producers like Dâm-Funk, Zopelar & Space Ghost to name a few.

STR4TA is the new wave jazz funk project pioneered by Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick. Long-time friends and collaborators, STR4TA sees them mine new musical possibilities inspired by a shared formative era. Their debut album ‘Aspects’ was released in March 2021 to a rapturous reception, in the first material that Maunick and Peterson have released together in over a decade. With standout tracks ‘We Like It’ achieving over 1 million streams on Spotify, ‘Rhythm In Your Mind’ exceeding 12 weeks on Jazz FM’s playlist, and a remix EP featuring Melé, Dave Lee, Greg Wilson, Dave Aju & more released at the end of 2021. Heavily supported by BBC 6Music, The Guardian, Wax Poetics, The Vinyl Factory, CLASH, Télérama (FR), Radio Nova (FR), KCRW (US), Rolling Stones Italy & Japan. STR4TA have performed electrifying live shows at We Out Here (UK), Primavera Sound (Spain) and headline show at The Jazz Cafe, London.

STR4TA’s second studio album ‘STR4TASFEAR’ is released on digital, CD & 12" LP formats with a special edition white 12" LP on 11th November 2022 via Brownswood Recordings. 

Tracklist:
1. Galactic Fanfare
2. City Sounds
3. Turn Me Around
4. When You Call Me
5. Why Must You Fly (feat. Omar)
6. To Be As One (feat. Theo Croker)
7. (Bring On The) Bad Weather [feat. Anushka]
8. Reflections (Chaser 1)
9. Night Flight
10. Soothsayer (feat. Theo Croker)
11. Reflections (Chaser 2)
12. Lazy Days (feat. Emma-Jean Thackray)
13. Find Your Heaven (feat. Valerie Etienne)
14. Virgil (Vocal Version)
15. Something, Anything

Homeboy Sandman - Still Champion

Following a 17-stop tour, the incomparable Homeboy Sandman and MC/producer Deca come together to release Still Champion, a ten-song masterpiece brimming with positivity, deliciously soulful production and enough affirmations to move a mountain.

After first being introduced to Deca’s music back in 2020 via mutual friend Matt Diamond (who sent him the Colorado MC’s single “Clay Pigeons”), Homeboy went on a deep dive, eventually discovering “Fairburn” off of the mostly instrumental effort Forest Agates. This beat became their first collaboration, “All Because of You,” which dropped in January 2021. The song perfectly set the tone of what was to come.

The LP serves as a spiritual apex (something Sand notes he hasn’t felt close to since his 2010 effort The Good Sun), with a victorious tone as he once again finds himself creating from a happy headspace.

The unmistakable sense of connectedness is something Sandman directly attributes to Deca’s production and approach to songwriting, of which he counts himself a huge fan. Specifically, he praises how [Deca’s] music focuses on what one could consider truly meaningful. He doesn’t boast about how great or cool he is in his rhymes.

Homeboy is–admittedly–a much different artist, not one to shy away from injecting ego into his discography; however, they sonically connect like peanut butter and jelly.

The resulting influence from their musical partnership sees the New York rhymer remaining steadfast to an optimistic, grateful vibe, never wasting time on typical rap-isms or anything devoid of a message.

This is a pivotal project in Sandman’s deep catalog. It’s the end of an arc that began with 2019’s Dusty, an album he loved at the time but unabashedly considers the furthest depth he strayed from God. Likewise, in his eyes, the follow-up (2020’s Don’t Feed The Monster) served as a rock bottom. While there were signs of the hard work he’s put into his mental health apparent on his last EP There in Spirit (see the song “Feels so Good to Cry” as an example), with Deca’s curation in tow, he has now reached a point of feeling powerful again.

Having learned from faltering in different ways throughout his career—and life—this album delivers a powerful potency not felt or heard in past releases. Still Champion is chicken soup for the soul blended in a pot with the best Ted Talk you’ve ever heard.

Tracklist:
1. Thanks & Praises
2. Satellite
3. Radiator
4 Source Code (feat. Deca)
5. Today
6. Fresh Air Fund
7. All Because of You
8. News to Me (feat. Deca & Randy Mason)
9. Let Go
10. Get Yours