Werkha - Beat Tapestry

First Word is pleased to bring you more music from Werkha!

'Beat Tapestry' is a 14-track affair, previously released only on a very limited cassette, and comprised of various beats and bobs from Werkha's harddrive, ranging from slow synthy grooves, to wonky astral house vibes, up to funky 140bpm territory.

This follows recent acclaimed releases for First Word, the 2022 sophomore album 'All Werk Is Play', and 2020 EP 'The Rigour', additionally to a 10 year anniversary version of Werkha's debut 'Cube & Puzzle'.

Werkha recently toured the UK supporting Manchester legends A Certain Ratio, who he's also just provided a remix for, as well as performing live shows recently at Glastonbury, Love Supreme, Kelburn Garden Party, Jazz In The Park, Brick Lane Festival and Dour Festival, to name a few.

In the past, Werkha has toured with artists like Mr Scruff and Bonobo, and previous radio support comes from BBC's Jamz Supernova, Tom Ravenscroft, Afrodeutsche & Huey Morgan, as well as selectors such as DJ Paulette, Scratcha DVA, Zakia Sewell, Harvey Sutherland & Jyoty.

Tracklist:
1. FAH 23
2. Nu Junior
3. Low Art
4. Head Rush
5. Now Flux
6. Time Between
7. Ego State
8. The Common
9. Wooden Truck In The Sky
10. Battered Mars Bar (Beat Tapestry Edit)
11. Daft O'Clock
12. The Bee
13. Phase 9 Fnk
14. Hold The Rail

Kaidi Tatham - The Only Way

First Word Records is very proud to welcome the return of the inimitable Kaidi Tatham, with his 5th album for us, entitled 'The Only Way'.

Kaidi Tatham is a legendary multi-instrumentalist born in the Midlands and based in Belfast. Established as one of the original creators of the Broken Beat sound, he is a virtuoso on the keys and a true innovator in sound production.

A deeply prolific artist, this is Kaidi's 5th solo album under his own name, following on from 'Don't Rush The Process' (2022), 'An Insight To All Minds' (2021), 'It's A World Before You' (2018), and 'In Search Of Hope' (re-pressed in 2020), all released on First Word, along with several EPs from 2017 onwards.

'The Only Way' is the latest chapter in Kaidi's entirely unique explorations into sound. 11 tracks touching on bruk, funk, jazz, mid-tempo hip hop and hyper-energetic Brazilian flavours, all thrown into a melting pot that's difficult to define, but all containing Kaidi's unmistakable sonic signature. The epic opener 'Reason We're Here' starts the album softly, before switching midway into KT's trademark synth-lead bruk boogie, to set the scene of what's to come. Lead track 'The Only Way' sees the return of Philly MC Uhmeer (Jazzy Jeff's son), his third collab with Kaidi and a timely celebratory track about this thing called Hip Hop, in its 50th year. 'Feels Like I'm On My Own' is a statement within itself, starting off as a jazz-funk jam, before switching to breakneck Brazilian choro, in the only way Kaidi can, with 'It's On' on a similar vein. 'Fricassee' is some heads down dancery business, and there are more guests with Tiran Kayhatu appearing on 'Alien @$^%' and Matt Lord on the super energetic album closer 'Not Suffering'.

Kaidi Tatham continues to grow on his already impressive catalogue, a body of work that falls within the cracks of jazz and dance music, exemplifying modern British black brilliance; uncompromising, innovative, groundbreaking, intricately sophisticated and deeply funky. His fanbase expands on every release and it's no surprise that that fanbase includes a diverse set of peers such as Madlib ("ahead of his time"), Gilles Peterson ("a key part of an entire movement") and K15 ("a limitless source of inspiration") to name just a few of the many influenced by Kaidi's sound.

About Kaidi Tatham....

Over the years, Kaidi Tatham's musical prowess has graced numerous projects, from the likes of DJ Jazzy Jeff, Andrew Ashong, The Herbaliser and longtime accomplice, Dego, in addition to session and remix work for artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Slum Village, Marcos Valle, Amy Winehouse, Soul II Soul, Nubya Garcia, Cody Currie and Leroy Burgess, along with First Word label mates Eric Lau, Children of Zeus, Allysha Joy and Darkhouse Family.

Kaidi is also a revered DJ known for rocking parties globally, whilst his solo catalogue spans tons of EPs and releases for labels such as Dego's 2000 Black, Alex Nut's Eglo Records and Theo Parrish's Sound Signature, along with an array of aliases, including Agent K, Shokazulu, Blakai, Da One Away and Likwid Biskit, the last two with another First Word label-mate, IG Culture (New Sector Movements / LCSM / CoOp Presents), to name but a few. 

Tracklist:
1. Reason We're Here
2. The Most Wanted Puffin (Lukey Dukey)
3. Interlude Criss Ting
4. The Only Way (feat. Uhmeer)
5. Windus Mc'Guntus
6. Confidence With Attitude
7. Feels Like I'm On My Own
8. Fricassee
9. Alien @$^% (feat. Trian Kayhatu)
10. It's On
11. Not Suffering (feat. Matt Lord)