Various - When Shapes Mix Together - Compiled and mixed by Rob Luis
(Mixed CD/Digital) Tru Thoughts Recordings TRUCD244, 2011-11-21

Produced as a giveaway mix for the huge Tru Thoughts night at Koko in London, this mix was so good they had to offer it for general sale. This mix shows the future direction of the label, with new signings alongside the long-standing Tru Thoughts family. It opens with a hip hop influence: Hint goes space-age hip hop with rapper T Fly; Quantic's Cumbia project covers Missy Elliot; and London legend Rodney P drops a track with a positive message (which we released after the UK riots in 2011) featuring Mighty Moe and other big hitters in the scene. Anchorsong takes us into slow disco/boogie territory before Beta Hector roughs it up with his psychedelic bass basher (helped by an Alice Russell classic scream) followed by Nirobi dropping the Bollywood beats. Sleepin' Giantz is a heavyweight project from Zed Bias, Rodney P and Fallacy, and the track you hear in this DJ mix has been a huge anthem in club sets for the DJs who have managed to get hold of an advance copy. The album it is taken from is one of the best hip hop albums you will hear! Zed Bias is then joined by Mark Pritchard (Warp / Harmonic 313 / Global Communications) for a bass anthem before we move into Debruit taking the Brazilian groove of Saravah Soul down a heavy club route. Hint shows his versatile production styles with his remix of Lanu before we hit drum & bass territory with A Sides' remix of Mark de Clive-Lowe. The set finishes off with the more mellow side of Tru Thoughts. Ambassadeurs take Nostalgia 77 through some synths and basslines; Kinny shows her powerful voice to full effect, and then Belleruche unveil their new style. I just had to include a snippet of the title track off the Quantic & Alice Russell album (you need to check the full version to appreciate those strings) and we finish off with a classic from Maddslinky's influential first LP. Please make sure you check out the other releases by any artists whose tracks you are particularly into on this DJ mix, as there is plenty more good music to be heard from them all." (Rob Luis)

Various - Shapes 11:01 - Compiled by Robert Luis
(2CD/LP with 2CD) Tru Thoughts TRUCD/LP239, 2011-10-10

The new bi-annual Shapes compilation from Tru Thoughts Recordings is coming out in october and once again it's full of classic tracks, new signatures and exlusives for a very cheap price tag. The first CD is a nice selection of horizontal grooves, songs & electronica from the vast palette of style from the label's recent output. Among the discoveries : new signings Anchorsong from Japan, and his trippy live downtempo music, Lossy from East London, a duo of jazz-infused electronica, groovy, soulful and uplifting trip hop, a new track from songstress Kinny, the kind of perfect sweetness for the ears to rub yourself into, the glorious reggae interpretation of the Dr Who Theme by the Smerins Anti-Social Club (only available on a strictly limited 45 for record store day before) and of the Dr. Dre hit Nuthin' But A 'G' Thing cover in cumbia mode by Quantic Y Su Conjunto Los Miticos Del Ritmo (only available on a limited Serato 12 inch before). The second disc is a more clubby, uptempo affair, with a tendancy towards crunchy or bassy speed-ambient. Among the notable new stuff are the afro-wobbly remix by Débruit of Saravah Soul is killer bouncy electro deconstructivism, Hint bringing hard to describe, crazy & addictive dance thingies to the table, and label honcho Rob Luis alias Nirobi who's also there with his heavy bass and percussive dancefloor beats to rock the roof off. Djouls - Paris DJs

Zed Bias - Fairplay / Phoneline
(Digital Single) Tru Thoughts Recordings TRUDD029, 2011-08-29

Fairplay / Phoneline is the first single from the eagerly anticipated new Zed Bias album, Biasoinic Hotsauce - Birth Of The Nanocloud, which sees the UK club maestro making his comeback in epic style. Both tracks are not only straight-up dancefloor cuts, but insanely catchy, with the Soul 2 Soul cover, Fairplay channelling a swingy, party-fuelling, school disco inspiration, and Phoneline turning the tables with some grimey badness. The double A-side digital single release - featuring Jenna G and Rosco Trim, respectively, on vocals - is out on 29th August followed by the album in September.
"Fairplay" is a Headhunters meets modern soul dancefloor bouncer! - DJOULS (PARIS DJS)

Gonjasufi - The Caliph's Tea Party
(CD/LP/Digital) Warp Records WARPCD206/WARPLP206, 2010-10-04

It's a tricky thing, re-working a completely unique and peerless piece of music. It is made even trickier when the personality behind the original music is so vivid and otherworldly that it is almost sure to continue to cast it's long shadow over whatever new form is chosen for it. Of course the questions of whether or not to remix Gonjasufi's classic A Sufi and A Killer arose, but with that voice and those songs, it was never going to fail. Of course the fact that Gonja had made fans out of quite a few incredibly talented artists didn't hurt either. So, The Caliph's Tea Party was slowly summoned to life...

Ninja Tune XX - 20 Years Of Beats 'n' Pieces - The twelve inches

Those who bought the incredible Ninja Tune XX boxset and registered their promo code on the Ninja Tune XX site were sent two exclusive Ninja Tune 12 inches. Four more 12 inches have just been released. Here's the lowdown on which tracks are exclusive to those vinyls and which are taken from the boxset CDs...

Harmonic 313 - When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence
(CD/2xLP) Warp, 2009-02-06

Troubleman - "Time Out Of Mind"
(Far Out 2004)

Mark Pritchard, alias Troubleman, se cache derrière de nombreux pseudos depuis le milieu des années 90, en solo ou avec des compères: Global Communication, Jedi Knights, Harmonic 33 ou bien Reload, par exemple. Après quelques maxis remarqués, voici son premier album solo, dense et singulier, vraiment varié, entre hip hop, musique brézilienne, bossa, broken beat, funk, afrobeat, house, techno, breakbeat... qui achève de le placer au panthéon des producteurs de nu-soul électronique, aux côtés des Jazzanova et autres Seiji (Bugz In The Attic).

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• bof... pas grand chose à se mettre sous la dent......