Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band - Rubber Orchestras (Heavenly Sweetness) info | mix 1 | mix 2
Bio Ritmo - La Verdad (Electric Cowbell) info | mix
Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming (Dunham/Daptone) info | video
Garage à Trois - Always Smile but Stay Evil (The Royal Potato Family) info | interview
Lucas Santtana - Sem Nostalgia (Mais Um Discos) info
Mr. Chop - Switched On (Now-Again) info & discography
Ocote Soul Sounds - Taurus (ESL) info | remix
Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - World Of Funk (Ubiquity) info | interview
The Greg Foat Group - Dark is The Sun (Jazzman) info | interview | mix
The Natural Yogurt Band - Tuck In With... (Now-Again) info | mix | interview

Did you pass on La Verdad, the latest Bio Ritmo album released at the end of the summer on Electric Cowbell Records? If that's the case, then you've missed the Salsa album of the year, no less. The only letdown of this fantastic & frantic record is its length - under 40 minutes - definitively too short, but explainable by the fact that it's also available on a (heavily recommended) vinyl. Rei Alvarez, one of the main forces of the group, prepared for Paris DJs a mix of his old vinyls, the only kind of records he's got... and a he's got a lot of it!. It's a selection of music that has...

Bio Ritmo - La Verdad
(CD/LP) Electric Cowbell/Fatbeats, 2011-08-30

La Verdad, the new album from the Salsa for the people band from Richmond, Virginia, Bio Ritmo, will be released September 20th on Electric Cowbell Records on 12" vinyl and CD, marking the band's 20 year anniversary. Unfortunately, they will not be coming to Paris, but only to play in DAX at the Festival Toros y Salsa (Sept 9th thru 11th)… if you're around, we strongly suggest to check them out. This band is one of the most interesting ones in salsa these days. They manage to blend their old school sauce with the creativity of today's indie-rock movement - incorporating sections of samba, cinematic soul, afrobeat breaks or mambo jazz into their slinky salsa dura (hard salsa from the 70's). Definitively one of the latins band to watch!

Greenwood Rhythm Coalition - Sol Vibrations (MP3 Podcast on www.ParisDJs.com) Names You Can Trust, 2011-07-04 Greenwood Rhythm Coalition's hard to find and limited singles released on their label Names You Can Trust have always been heavily recommended in our books. We played their 2007 self-titled 12 inch on 21st Century Latin Vol.3 (in january 2009), their 2008 Guajira 7 inch on Latin Dance Party (in february 2009), and their 2008 Salsa Verde 7 inch on 21st Century Latin Vol.8 (in november 2009)!! GRC is a duo comprised of E's E and Monk One and we first heard from them thru releases on Fat...

Electric Cowbell presents 101 Things To Do In Bongolia
(CD/Digital) Electric Cowbell ECR701, 2011-06-28

Electric Cowbell has been releasing 45rpm vinyl records out of Brooklyn, New York, since the summer of 2010. 101 Things To Do In Bongolia is a compilation CD that documents the label's first batch of singles plus includes remixes and bonus tracks. This release captures the funky and eclectic all inclusive genre-bending that help define the label making 101 Things To Do In Bongolia a kind of mix-tape love letter from Brooklyn. This album is filled with rare gems that are finally getting exposed to the world outside of the vinyl-only realm. The sounds are completely fresh with a lot of odd elements that make for an interesting listen but also yield funky grooves for the dance floor. Stuart Bogie (Antibalas, Iron & Wine) & his group Superhuman Happiness showcases the talents of his cohorts from Antibalas and recordings from Dave Sitek's now defunct Stay Gold studios in Brooklyn where TV On The Radio's sound was forged. Truth & Soul Records (Amy Winehouse, Lee Fields, Aloe Blacc) production team Clay Holley and Jeff Dynamite team up with New York's only active boogaloo band Spanglish Fly for the track Let My People Bugalú. Lovers of the infamous Ethiopiques series from the Buda label of France will rejoice in Boston's Debo Band as they deliver their take on the bass-driven rhythms and exotic funk of 60's & 70's-era Ethiopia. Guitarists of seminal punk legends Black Flag and co-founder of SST Records, Greg Ginn clocks in with his first single in years that gets a mash-up by electronic eccentric ENE. Sierra Leone-born Sahr Ngaujah star and lead of the hit Broadway musical based on the life of Fela Kuti Fela! teams up with Superhuman Happiness and is featured on 2 tracks on this album: String Theory and Gravity.

Bio Ritmo - Dina's Mambo / La Muralla
(7") Electric Cowbell ECR 009, 2010-11-30

Quickly approaching their 20 year anniversary, Bio Ritmo unveil their latest offering and debut release for Electric Cowbell. Bio Ritmo is a one of a kind phenomenon in today's hard-bitten indie salsa world - a band with both a healthy adventurous streak and a solid underpinning of authentic sabor criollo. In a rather hostile environment that makes getting gigs difficult and playing this type of music more a labor of love and endeavor of pure artistic expression than a simply commercial endeavor, Bio Ritmo continue to delight and amaze with both their talent and longevity, consistently pushing the envelope, tearing down walls between categories and defying pigeonholes. The A-side Dina's Mambo is a slab of tropical funk that showcases the band's playful instrumental side but also reveals a muscular cinematic swagger. Consequently there is a pleasingly Persian flavor to the proceedings (in keeping with the band's previous leanings towards minor-key tunings), as well as tasty hints of progressive Afro-Cuban funk of the 70s by the likes of Los Van Van and Chucho Valdes' Irakere. The B-Side, La Muralla, is a seemingly straight up salsa dance track with a dark underpinning that makes for goose-pimple dancing at the same time.

Gato Loco - The Splinter Mix (MP3 Podcast on www.ParisDJs.com) 2011-03-06 Gato Loco is a psycho-mambo 11-piece from Brooklyn, NYC, led by sax player Stefan Zeniuk. Their music is a highly flammable blend of salsa, jazz and circus music. The new Gato Loco record, made in Bordeaux last year, will be released on March 15th by prestigious German label Winter & Winter. It's a 'Grand Cru Classé' and it will be presented live as an opening for Banlieues Bleues festival in St-Ouen on March 11th. Don't miss this explosive show ! But before this, do enjoy a delicious appetizer prepared by Stefan...