Baloji - Kinshasa Succursale
(CD/Digital) Crammed Discs CRAM183, 2011-11-21

Baloji, whose name means "sorcerer" in Swahili, was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1978. At the age of 4, he arrived in Belgium with his father and grew up in Liège. As a young adolescent, he discovered hip-hop, a passion for tagging, rap & dance. At 15 he joined the collective Starflam, a figurehead of Belgian hip-hop, who released a platinum selling disc Survivant (2001). Baloji quit the group in 2004 after a number of interpersonal disagreements and turned his back on music. It was a letter from his mother, whom he had not seen since 1981, and winning a poetry competition in Paris, that pushed him back to persue the muse of music. His first solo recording, Hotel Impala (2008), as much of a responce to the letter of his mother as it a quest to find his identity, is coloured with influences of soul, afrobeat, and hip-hop. A certified Gold Record, the album won two Octaves de la music (a Belgian equivalant to the Grammys) as well as the Rapsat-Lelièvre Prize and the Brassens prize for lyric writing. Baloji comes to Crammed Discs with his latest opus Kinshasa Succursale to be released November 2011. The album features contributions from some of the finest musicians from the capital of the DRC, including Konono N°1 & Zaïko Langa-Langa, as well as three brand-new remixes.

Trus'me - In The Red
(CD/2xLP/Digital) Fat City Recordings FCCD030/FCLP017, 2009-12-07

Fat City Recordings and Prime Numbers present the much-anticipated album In The Red by Trus’me. Since the release of his debut Working Nights in 2007, Trus’me has been doing just that, both DJ'ing in the best clubs around the world and putting in plenty of late night studio sessions alongside some heavyweight talent. The result has been a rapturous dancefloor response to his eclectic dj sets, an impressive roll call of quality remixes (inc. LCD Soundsystem, Amp Fiddler & Dabrye) and not least the production of his long-awaited second album In The Red. Working Nights is regularly held up as "one of the finest deep house and disco albums to come out of the U.K in years", but this was just the beginning of the Trus'me sound. Since then he has become increasingly adept and inventive at taking on the sound system roots of reggae, soul, and disco, blending them with house and techno,to create a hypnotically radical sound.

One Self - Be Your Own
(12"/12"/CDS) Ninja Tune ZEN12162/ZEN12162B/ZENCDS162, 2005-05

DJ Vadim returns with a whole new project and, yes, it could be his best work yet. One Self is a group comprised of DJ Vadim, and MCs Blu Rum 13 (based in the U.S) and up-and-coming female MC Yarah Bravo. Together, unexpectedly, they make a kind of sparse, utterly contemporary soul music. 'Be Your Own' is the first single from forthcoming debut album 'Children Of Possibility' (out June 6th). Vadim hooks up a haunting, spare and rhythmically driving indo-arabic beat whilst Blu Rum and Yarah trade lines and twist their voices round one another's, creating something between a love song and a battle of the sexes - just about as subtle as hip-hop lyrics can get. Then there are the mixes...