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Nickodemus

Moon People

Brooklyn based DJ/producer Nickodemus started spinning sounds at the
legendary Giant Step parties that rocked New York’s underground club
scene. When he founded Turntables On The Hudson with his friends
Mariano, Happy G and Christian Rogers, they continued mixing live
music with DJ tracks and soon rules the waterfront. The world music
group Turntables On The Hudson got Nickodemus interested in the roots
of reggae, soul, jazz and hip hop, which led him to the sounds of
Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, the Middle East and eventually, India.
All those interests came together on Sun People, an album that mashed
up Balkan, Puerto Rican, Indian, African, Brazilian, and Jamaican
sounds with electronic club beats.
Moon People, the new Nickodemus project, is a natural extension of
that work, an album for night people, with a global groove perfect for
dancing or meditation. “Sun People had a live organic daytime party
sound,” he explains. “Moon People is the deeper electronic side of my
music. It’s dedicated to the nocturnal animals who work, create, party
and operate while the rest of the world is asleep, with hints of
playfulness and sunshine.”

Ancient Astronauts

The Orion Nebula Remixes

Kabanjak and Dogu, aka Ancient Astronauts, hailing from Cologne/Germany are back with a heavy load of remixes on The Orion Nebula Remixes, out on April 10, 2012. After the release of internationally critically acclaimed album Into Bass And Time (their second album for ESL Music) they joined forces with some of their favorite producers and remixers, which resulted in a roster full of quality remixes.

The selection of fine reinterpretations starts with a funked up boom bap remix of Oblivion feat. Azeem & DJ Zeph by Chicago based producer Maker (from the group Qwel & Maker), which is full of Indian influences and features fat rocking drums.

This is followed up by Kabanjak himself doing an epic drum heavy version of Peace In The East, which leaves a lot of room for beautiful strings performed by UK string duo, Entropik.

Then comes a remix by Emch from Subatomic Sound System in New York City who will blow your speakers with its big bass. This remix is an up-tempo version of Give It To You feat. Monsoon.

And while speaking of bass we present you DC residents Second Sky & Thomas Blondet who give Calvert Street Rock a fresh new Dub outfit that puts the Melodica in the spotlight of this song. The original version is a homage to ESL Music & Thievery Corporation headquarters (located on Calvert Street in Washington DC) and to Augustus Pablo (who brought the Melodica to the attention of Reggae lovers worldwide).

Kabanjak´s more Afro and Latin dedicated project Deela (on Switchstance Recordings) comes up next with a more up-tempo broken beat remix of Anti Pop Song, bringing you a contagious bass-heavy groove for the dancefloor.

Next up is longtime friend and collaborator DJ Brace, who is one of Canada´s finest scratchers and producers who did all the cuts on the Ancient Astronauts album Into Bass And Time, on Kabanjak´s solo album Tree Of Mystery and he remixed Classic feat. The Pharcyde from AA´s debut album We Are To Answer. His remix of Still A Soldier shows of his fine skills as a producer and DJ with his trademark style of warm and tight beats combined with killer scratches. To round up this remix and give it a real organic feel Brace invited some friends to his studio to add Kora (Zal Sissokho) and Darbuka (Guillaume Fouquet). The result is full of beautiful harmonies with forward rocking beats and scratches.

Bay Area resident and eclectic beats & grooves maestro J-Boogie is the next in line. J chose to remix the song Last Night feat. Akua Naru and added some lush Latin flavor and deep bass, which give room for Akua´s lyrics to flower out through this beautiful song.

To round up this release and pay dues to all the beat-addicted Hip Hop and Funk heads in the world we added the instrumental version of the Maker Remix for Oblivion.

Congo Sanchez

Vol. 1 EP

Introducing Congo Sanchez, the backbeat of the Washington DC party scene.  As one of the city’s most adept instrumentalists, he is the favored sideman and producer for dance bands and world music ensembles alike. His contributions to The Empresarios Bestia EP, Funk Ark’s From the Rooftops and Thievery Corporation’s Culture of Fear stand out with distinct character. He finally steps out on his own with his solo debut, Congo Sanchez, Vol. 1, is available now on ESL Music.

Musician and Selecta extraordinaire, Congo can generally be found in one of two places. If he’s not on the road drumming with DC’s own, Thievery Corporation or See-I: he’s  jamming out to fresh vibes at the mysterious Lillypad studios.   He is developing a unique blend of Afro-Latin Dub, as he evolves in to his own on the DC music scene. This EP-his first solo outing-proves that the sound is here, and Congo Sanchez is the ambassador.  His over-all taste, and musical personality are a delight, with a superlative sense of rhythm and a musicianly approach to arrangements and melody.

“I embodied Afro-Cuban and Haitian rhythms while accompanying for world dance classes, and began composing pieces for Solo Percussion and Chamber Jazz Ensembles….built a DIY home studio and started to produce my own beats with these ideals in mind.”

Congo produces and performs everything on the EP, with two notable exceptions. Karen Joy McCoy plays shimmering violin on “Democrazy,” the opening track, while the horn section from Ikebe Shakedown – Morgan Price, sax; Jason Colby, trumpet; Nadav Nirenberg, trombone – add their blazing ensemble work to “T.E.T.O. (strut)” . Congo lays down subtle keyboard textures and multi-layered percussion tracks throughout, giving the music an otherworldly vibe rooted by his earthy backbeat.

“During college, I took interest world music. I learned of the Yoruba and Fon traditions of West Africa and how they remained vital throughout colonialization in the Western Hemisphere. All the time re-discovering these rhythms and melodies in music that I listened to growing up in suburban America.”

Congo Sanchez knows his roots and leads the listener on a fascinating journey along the vibrations of DC’s outernational sound.

The Funk Ark

High Noon

After a highly praised debut, Washington DC’s The Funk Ark is back with an even tighter follow up album. Less than a year has passed since the release of From The Rooftops on ESL Music and the world funk ensemble has established itself as one of the strongest players in the scene both in the studio and with their high-octane live performances.  High Noon is the title of The Funk Ark’s sophomore release and was recorded and produced by Adrián Quesada of the Grammy award winning group, Grupo Fantasma.

Afrolicious

Pleasuretime EP

Following on the heels of the first EP this takes the Afrolicious sound to another level of songwriting, production, and dance heavy beats. Focusing on more uptempo tracks like title track Pleasuretime, and Never Let No One each featuring vocalist Fresh is Life from Trinidad, the hybrid of Afro-Beat and Disco-House is emphasized on these tracks and reflect a hybrid that has been explored since the first days of the Afrolicious party. Revolution is a hard hitting breakbeat with Afro-Beat, Funk, and electronica all meeting on a sure fire dance floor banger. Written as a news broadcast set to a funk beat and reflecting the various global movements over the last year. Featuring Pleasuremaker on lead vocals, other strong vocals were cut by Rhonda, aka Red the Black Blond, Ziek McCarter, and Diamond all from the Afrolicious organization. Finally Yacouba Diarra makes a return appearance on Bade Malou, a more uptempo follow up to the ‘Dub For Mali’ title track on the debut Afrolicious release. The deep and meditative vibes meet a danceable beat and baseline, and psychedelic effects are juxtaposed against the Ngoni, an acoustic stringed instrument from Africa. Here we have West Africa meeting breakbeats, electronica, dub effects, and psychedelia.  Pleasuretime was produced by Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation, and co-produced by Pleasuremaker. The two bounce ideas off of each other betweeb their busy touring schedules and are also on track to finish the remainder of the full length album to be released later in the year! The connection of Rob Garza w- Afrolicious makes for some tasty productions that combine the best of organic and electronic elements, seamlessly brought together here in the mix by engineer Gianmaria Conti (Italy,Thievery Corporation live sound engineer)

Ursula 1000

The Fly & Disko-Tech Remixes EP

Mondo Beyondo, the new album by Ursula 1000 is finally here! This is the 5th album of original retro/futuro rockers released on ESL Music.

The fourth single culled from the Mondo Beyondo album is “The Fly” and “Disko-Tech” Remix EP.  These 2 floor rockers comes with 4 wicked remixes from the likes Too Fresh/Klub Kids’ Hugga Thugg, Homebreakin Records’ Neighbour, Boogie Boutique’s Hayz and Chris Awesome and the groovy Fuzzbox Inc!

These have all been road tested and they all tear it up something fierce!

AM & Shawn Lee

Somebody Like You Remixes EP

Four new takes on the track “Somebody Like You” featuring remixes by Fort Knox Five, The Kramford Look, Thomas Blondet and Superimposers.

Novalima

Karimba

Karimba takes Novalima’s music to new heights, introducing both new sounds and traditional rhythms like the Panalivio, Zamacueca, Ingá and Tondero, while maintaining their distinctive Afro and dub sound. Their reputation at home in Lima has allowed them to work with the top traditional musicians in the city, inviting vocalists Pepe Vasquez, Rosita Guzman, and Sofia Buitron as well as guitarists Roberto Arguedas and Felix Casaverde (former guitarist for Chabuca Granda), in addition to members of the live band.

From the driving rhythms and furious percussion of tracks like “Mamaye” and “Luna Ciega” to more pensive tangents like “Revolucion” and “Malivio Son” Novalima’s Karimba is a joyous whirlwind of sound and song not to be missed!