The Echocentrics - Sunshadows
(CD/2xLP/Download) Ubiquity Records URCD286, 2011-04-11

The Echocentrics is a new project of psychedelic, cinematic and dusty soul produced by Adrian Quesada (Brownout/Ocote Soul Sounds/Grupo Fantasma). Loads of spring reverb, psyched out farfisa organs and heavy drums are accented by beautiful vocals sung in English, Spanish and Portuguese by Tita Lima from Brazil and Natalia Clavier from Argentina. Inspired by the music of Serge Gainsbourg, Curtis Mayfield, Tim Maia, The Lijadu Sisters, Los Pasteles Verdes, Terry Callier, John Lennon, Shuggie Otis, Ennio Morricone, etc., the original seeds to this record were planted almost 5 years ago with a gang of instrumentals Adrian began writing in the laid back and psyched out soul/funk vein...
The album will be out on Ubiquity Records April '11, with a limited edition 7" vinyl single coming in the next couple of months. Grant Phabao, without any doubt the greatest reggae producer in the world today, has already two skanking remixes on their way... while Adrian Quesada is preparing on his side some remixes for Grant Phabao's upcoming album with The Jays, Stepping up In Time. Something's happening here!

The Bahama Soul Club - Bossa Nova Just Smells Funky Remixed
(CD/Download) Buyu Records BU008CD, 2011-02-11

13 Top producers, DJs and artists from all around the world worked their magic on a few Bahama Soul Club tracks from the stunning album Bossa Nova Just Smells Funky. Some of the best songs with singers like Pat Appleton, Bella Wagner, Sitzka, John Turrell & Kojato were rebooted into pure rhythmic bliss. A bright collection of Latin, House, Reggae, Funk & Soul with a thoroughly modern take on Dancefloor Jazz. Welcome to 15 tracks from selected artists such as: Club Des Belugas, Suonho, Tape Five, Mop Mop, Valique, Dr Rubberfunk, Mash &Amp; Munkee, Acusmatic Group, Renegades Of Jazz, Minimatic, Quincy Jointz, Dj Kinski, Frohlocker.

The Echocentrics - Esclavo Y Amo
(7"/Digital) Ubiquity Records UR7284, 2011-03-29

Here comes The Echocentrics, the new project from Adrian Quesada (Brownout/Ocote Soul Sounds/Grupo Fantasma) on Ubiquity Records! The debut 7 inch will be coming out this spring. Side A features a cover of a psychedelic bolero (ballad) courtesy of Peru's Los Pasteles Verdes called Esclavo Y Amo, featuring Argentinian born, future Spanish citizen and current Brooklyn resident Natalia Clavier on vocals. The flipside comes with an instrumental knockout, a Morricone meets David Axelrod and some tough drums track called Electric Travels...

Various - Agogo Makes The World Go Round - Music For The Global Hipster
(CD/Digital) Agogo Records AR015CD, 2011-03-18

Loved Bina Ehud 60's vibe. Can't listen to DJ Cleon, very nice chap but working with the infamous bootlegger Pascal Rioux/Favorite who bootleged a track of mine and never paid for the web works I had done for him (don't trust this guy, total rip-off!!!). Mo' Horizons deliver some killer dancefloor bizness, as usual. The Quantic track is just MASSIVE. Calmera from Japan is amazing. Psychedelic freshness from Columbia thanks to La Planta... Well this is 21st Century Latin music at its best!!

Various - Nicola Conte presents Viagem 3
A Collection of 60s Brazilian Bossa Nova And Jazz Samba
(CD/Digital) Far Out Recordings FARO156, 2011-03-28

Travelling back to 1960's Brazil the Viagem series takes its third voyage. Digging further still Brazilophile and Italian jazz don Nicola Conte has re-discovered eighteen choice rarities 1963-1970. As the global centre for all that was musically chic, these bossa nova and samba jazz hybrids blend the passion of South America and Africa with the sophisticated style of Europe and North America. Often written to take bossa back to the people and in protest against the dictatorship that took hold in 1964 these long-neglected classics are expertly conjured together by Blue Note and Schema recording artist Conte. Poetic and wildly evocative the mix perfectly mirrors the creator's laid-back cool and a swinging cosmopolitan Brazil. Nicola Conte's love and dedication to Brazilian music is astounding. Evident in his own soulful approach to his music Conte has brought to the fore a truly legendary era in jazz and Brazilian music that has until the Viagem series been long forgotten. The selection of so many undiscovered tunes is sure to reignite the flames for many who have been digging for these rarities since their initial popularisation. Balancing a mix of instrumentals and sung bossas expertly sequenced Viagem 3 is an almost classical take on Brazilian pop Music.

Fab Samperi - Power Bossa
(CD/Digital) Agogo Records AR017CD, 2011-03-25

Power Bossa is the introduction to Fab Samperi's definition of a boombastic jazz style. Fearlessly and creatively picking up inspiration from the golden decades of classic rhythm & blues, latin, hip-hop and soul Sicily's most prolific producer releases his first full album. Fab Samperi released his first solo tunes on Record Kicks and Afro Art. Using the The Samp Brothers as his alter ego the Alcoholic Drinks 12 inch vinyl still enjoys something like a cult status among the more eclectic DJs around the world. This was a fresh sound transferring the best of Acid Jazz into the new decade while keeping a true soul spirit alive. Think of Dream Warriors and Gang Starr with Young-Holt Unlimited as the backing band. And we do not disclose well-kept secrets in revealing that Fab Samperi is the mastermind behind The Captain's highly productive output of vinyl singles. Now we have Power Bossa and what a powerful statement it really is: Peace, love, unity and having bossa! We had invited The Captain for a Put On Your Dancing Boots mix on Paris DJs, and he'll be back soon with a new mix to present this album!

Fania Records 1964-1980 - The Original Sound Of Latin New York
(2xCD/2xLP/Digital) Strut Records STRUT078CD/LP, 2011-03-21

Strut is pleased to present the first ever definitive 2CD retrospective of Fania Records, the seminal New York latin label, spanning its influential heyday between its formation in 1964 through to 1980. This new 2CD set follows the development of Fania's sound during its key years including early Johny Pacheco and Larry Harlow outings from 1964, classic Fania collaborations between Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe, seminal Latin soul (Joe Bataan, Ray Barretto), boogaloo and epic outings by Fania's in-house super-group, the Fania All-Stars. The 2CD set is packaged in a thick digipak with a 32-page booklet including a full Fania label history, memorabilia, album artwork and many previously unseen photos from the Fania archive. The 2LP set will be released as a gatefold.

Quantic And His Combo Bárbaro - Caliventura Remix EP
(12" + Bonus Downloads) Tru Thoughts TRUEP231, 2011-03-14

The Caliventura EP, out on 14th March, sees Cut Chemist, J-Boogie, Jeremy Sole, Daedelus and DJ Day giving the remix treatment to a handful of tracks from Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro's immensely acclaimed Tradition In Transition' album. The EP also features an alternative, previously unreleased version of the album track, Albela. This essential EP comes in a full colour picture sleeve featuring a photograph taken in Colombia by the celebrated LA-based photographer B+, who has become a key contributor to the Quantic aesthetic in recent years, and whose critically acclaimed body of work includes the famous shot for DJ Shadow's 'Endtroducing'. Inside the beautiful sleeve, you'll also find an exclusive download card with all five vinyl tracks available on mp3, plus five bonus goodies.

Raf Vilar - Studies In Bossa
(CD/Digital) Far Out Recordings FARO 155, 2011-03-07

The debut album from one of Brazil's most exciting young solo-artists. A beautiful bossa inflected record that showcases Vilar's classic songwriting flourish and modern spark. A special talent. The latest addition to Far Out's growing stable of new Brazilian talents Rafael Vilar fits in perfectly with bossa-influenced close friends Sabrina Malheiros and Clara Moreno. On Studies in Bossa Vilar moves between Portuguese and English vocals through tracks that evoke the great bossa nova, folk and samba of 60's and 70's Brazil whilst incorporating global jazz and electronica. With this recording Vilar is unveiled to an international audience. Until now undiscovered, the quality and beauty of these recordings is undoubted: a rare nu-bossa star has arrived.

The Afro Soul-Tet - Afrodesia
(CD/2xLP) Luv'N'Haight / Ubiquity Records LH063, 2011-01-18

Jack Millman, aka Johnny Kitchen, had a hand in many interesting, obscure and highly collectible records from the 1960s and 1970s. Producing, composing, recording, editing, releasing, licensing - you name it, Millman did it. The records he touched had an eclectic range from psychedelic rock to Latin jazz, and several include editing techniques that can only be described as an early incarnation of sampling in music. After seeing them play on Sunset Boulevard, Millman became manager of the Afro Latin Blues Quintet +1, and signed them to Randy Woods in the late 1960s. Having released several albums this band would later become the Afro Soultet. The liner notes to their Afrodesia album state "This is Afrodesia! A Musical collage of many peoples. . .it comes from Africa and from Arabia, from the South Seas and from Asia." Living up to the promise of those notes Afrodesia mixes Latin Jazz, with straight jazz, worldly percussion, surf, rock, funk, oddball sound effects, a touch of lounge, and some hints of tropicalia. Millman produced and released the Afrodesia album on his own Banyon label sometime between 1968-1971 (no release date is listed on the record, and Millman cannot recall a more exact date.). After their short stint as the Afro Soultet, the band morphed one more time into The Afro Latin Soultet< releasing records with pianist Phil Moore III at the helm.