Various - Movements 4
(CD/2LP) Tramp Records TR-9015, 2012-03-12

Just like with some the best Paris DJs mixes, some selections take a long time to gather. This 4th volume in the Movements series happens 7 years after the first one and took Tramp records founder Tobias Kirmayer two years to complete, chasing lost treasures and privates pressings of funk, soul and jazz tracks all over the globe. So don't expect familiar names, semi-hits or any kind of already-compiled-over-and-there kind of grooves, this is real diggin' business, each track to be found here has been carefully brought back to life, thoroughly annoted and properly referenced with full-color label scans and band photos. Most intense findings include Carl Westmoreland stunning early 70s political burner Shakers and Movers, Iris Bell's funky piano on the aplty titled Honky Games, the Gershwin classic Summertime covered by Polish Old Metropolitan Band, the irresistible and stamping unedited Discotheque Soul from blind drummer and piano player Ricky Williams, and the amazing heavy funk of I Don't Think We Are Going Back Again by The Soul Brothers Inc. that was already available on The Story of The Soul Brothers Inc. anthology released on Tramp Records in 2010. A real treat for music lovers in search of discoveries to be released march 12th 2012.

JariBu Afrobeat Arkestra - Mediacracy
(CD/LP/Digital) Tramp Records TR-9014, 2012-01-30

After a first album in 2009, Afro Sound System (now sold out), the JariBu Afrobeat Arkestra have released late october 2011 their second opus Mediacracy, on Soul Garden Records in Japan. The album will be released in Europe by one of our favorite German labels, Tramp Records on January 30th 2012. A 7 inch, Legend Of Yoruba, pressed at 200 copies, was released in the UK in 2010. That's it for the official info. The other Afrobeat band from Japan that we've heard of is Kingdom Afrocks, maybe there are some others, since Afrofunk and Afrobeat are now a worldwide movement… But let's get back to this 13-piece outfit, one of the most enjoyable live acts from the Tokyo circuit. On this album they are joined by Temjin from Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro on trumpet, Hirose Takao from Jazz Collective/Masa Sextet on trombone and Takao Watanabe from Pikaia Pandeiro Special also on trumpet, which might explain why the first impression left by this album is one of a supa-heavy, fully-powered horn section, for fans of Afrobeat, of course, but also for fans of Funk and Jazz. A fiercely recommended album!

We've counted at least a hundred very interesting new releases in the 21st century afro scene since our last mix, 21st Century Afro Extravaganza. Here's nearly 20% of all those new cool afro grooves from all over the world, with an exclusive new track from the Grant Phabao Afrobeat Arkestra, friendly vibes from Afrolicious, Karl Hector, Les Frères Smith (mixed by Phabao!), or Kiala, more friendly vibes sent by our label collegues from Record Kicks, Tramp Records, Jazz&Milk, Enlace Funk, Kindred Spirits or Kept Records and a few things we grabbed here and there. 21st Century Afrobeat,...

The Paris DJs German connection runs deep in time. Summer 2007 we were inviting Tobias Kirmayer from funk/jazz/afro new releases and reissues label Tramp Records - his Freestyle party mix is still available and has became one of our classics. When we saw he was releasing a Soul and Funk Chistmas compilation this year we couldn't pass on inviting him for our annual xmas mix. Tobias pointed us towards DJ Jan Kohlmeyer from the wild, hot & sexy funk Disco Fantastique parties in Wuerzburg. During 10 years of Disco Fantastique the legendary Christmas parties have become tradition. Being...

Various - Santa's Funk & Soul Christmas Party
(Gatefold LP/CD/Digital) Tramp Records TR-9013, 2011-11-28

The Christmas album is a concept many artists and labels have tried to achieve, and most of the time those attempts fall flat. With our own Xmas compilation (Noelectro) released in 2004 on T.I.M.E.C. and 7 annual Xmas mixes on Paris DJs in 6 years (yep, there's a catch), we felt we had gained quite some expertise on the subject. This year our friends at Tramp Records in Germany (yes, that cool label run by Tobias Kirmayer who we invited for a superb Freestyle mix more than 4 years ago) have taken the matter in hand and have just released a very funky xmas compilation, Santa's Funk & Soul Christmas Party, with a selection by record collector and DJ Jan Kohlmeyer of 13 raw funk-soul rare and hard-to-find Xmas tracks. An absolute must-have if you're a xmas music collector like us! And an excellent reason for inviting Jan Kohlmeyer and Tramp Records for our annual xmas mix, which we'll publish tomorrow evening (dec. 6). The CD booklet and LP sleeve contain scans of all the 45s featured in this compilaton, as well as liner notes to each song. The vinyl comes with a gatefold cover and is limited to 500 copies. A gatefold vinyl edition of rare funk/soul xmas music released in 2011: happiness is that simple. (Djouls)

Daniel Wanders & Tobias Kirmayer proudly present
Various - Feeling Nice
(CD/LP) Tramp Records TRCD9012/TR9012, 2011-05-30

Funk & Soul record collectors Daniel Wanders & Tobias Kirmayer have started working on this compilation more than a year ago. Compared to the obscurities to be found here this is not a long time though. The efforts, time and entusiasm they put into it has not been documented. It probably would have been a thankless task then. Why? The answer is simple. CD and Vinyl sales are far away from what they used to be. People who pay for MP3s are the minority. There is no reason to do such a project for the money nowdays. Obviously, Daniel and Tobias are not only collectors and DJs but totally into sharing their passion. Each of them chose six songs from their collection to present for the first time to a worldwide audience, focusing on the quality of the music. Nevertheless the tunes on this compilation are top-end rarities, even for the advanced record collector. The 8-page CD booklet contains detailed liner notes as well as unpublished pictures. The Vinyl comes with a gatefold cover. All songs have been officially licensed and properly mastered to provide the highest listening pleasure possible.

DJ KanadaKaosz - Hungarobeat File under Magyar Kislemezek / Beat / Kommy-Garage / Socio-Rock / Rhythm And Blues (MP3 Podcast on ParisDJs.com) 2011-05-19 You might remember Tobias Kirmayer's label Tramp Records, and especially the fantastic Hungarian jazz, funk and afro from The Qualitons, a Budapest collective assembled by DJ/producer Kanadakaosz, inspired by bands such as The Whitefield Brothers... Their 2010 album, Panoramic Tymes, is an incendiary blend of funk, afro, 60's beat and garage rock grooves, mostly intrumental with a couple of vocal tunes, which we cannot advise you enough to...

Lucky Brown - Lucky Brown's Space Dream
(CD/LP ltd. edition 300 copies/Digital) Tramp Records TR-9011, 2011-04-18

Lucky Brown is a concept of American producer and performing artist Joel Ricci. Brown represents an archetype from the past who conducts original raw funk (aka Deep Funk) to musically map the soul's path from underground to outer space - and back. As Lucky Brown, Joel Ricci employs the use of found instruments and objects, outdated and discarded technology, and improvised and alternative recording techniques to tell this ancient story.
"After a whirlwind tour that the police couldn't even stop, I assembled the Funk Revolution in my one-room cabin, called Chez Jojo. I gathered together all my salvaged, scavenged, and repurposed gear and completely improvised recording techniques and introduced them to a band that was hot and true, playing up to the presumptuous name I had just given them." Joel Ricci aka Lucky Brown

Various - Contemporary Afro Beat: A Fine Selection Of Some Of Today's Most Exciting Afro Beat Bands From All Over The World
(CD/LP/Digital) Tramp Records TRLP/CD-9010, 2011-02-14

This, the third volume in the Contemporary... series is indeed very special as it is simultaneously the tenth album released on Tramp Records. Afro Beat, the original hybrid of Jazz, Funk and West African highlife created by Fela Ransome-Kuti and Tony Allen in the late 1960s, is everything else than dead in 2011: Open your mind and ears and enjoy the exciting sounds of Odu, Afromotive, Jojo Quo & his Challengers and all the others. Fela declared his music "the progressive music of the future". Well, the future has come. This is Contemporary Afro Beat.