Funk
Track: Barley Passable bottle the essence of a Sydney summer with new single Turnaround
Sydney duo, Barley Passable, have released a veritable slice of summer with their new slinky, sensuous single ‘Turnaround’. It is as if they have bottled the essence of Sydney’s northern beaches – the bleach white beaches, the cloudless blue skies and the driving searing heat, hooning around in panel vans and board shorts eating Chiko …
TRACK: El Michels Affair to release new album of funk exotica; hear ‘Murkit Gem’, feat. Piya Malik
EL MICHELS AFFAIR are going all out with the most transporting global groove these days; witness the brilliance of “Dhuaan”, the Hindu funk exotica single drop from last summer, which seems to wizard into being the kind of 7″ you can only crate-dig in some 4am dream. Such a tune can’t really exist, right; can …
Album Review: Garrett – ‘Private Life III’
DāM-FunK has been enchanting listeners for over a decade with his highly filthy but musical synth funk-infused jams. Mostly releasing with Stones Throw, his solo albums Toeachizown and Invite the Light, as well as an anthology of early productions, have joining a number of collaborative projects including with Steve Arrington, Snoop Dogg and Nite Jewel. …
SEE: Jimi Tenor – ‘Small Things’: bright, brassy Afrofunk-pop is a winter tonic
JIMI TENOR, the Finnish producer with roots in the darker, industrial side of dance music way, waay back, has been on a hell of a pilgrim’s progress to where he is today, with his second long player for Philophon, Aulos, out in the racks now. By jiminy it’s a world away from those dark beginnings; …
Rising: We meet Spang Sisters; see the vid for the post-modern soul of ‘Eddie Murphy’
AFTER first being seduced by the name (I mean: isn’t Spang Sisters a thing of beauty?), we were further seduced by the musical chops of the said sisters, in actual fact duo Rachid and Jules. Not just those cool Hall & Oates meets Unknown Mortal Orchestra vibes; but also these keenly observed, skewed views of …
ALBUM REVIEW: Lee Fields & The Expressions – ‘Big Crown Vaults Vol.1 – Lee Fields & The Expressions’
BIG CROWN. Big. Crown. Roll that collocation of words around your mouth; if you’re a real music lover, you know these guys, Leon Michels and Danny Akalepse, are indeed proper royalty for the love, the care and the level of curation they bring to such a fine stable of artists: The Shacks, Lizette & Quevin, …
TRACK: The Still Brothers feat. Marina B – ‘Wake Up’: delightfully sleepy breakz
NEW YORK’S Still Brothers, who announced their signing on the dotted line for Hoxton’s Lewis Recordings back in midsummer with the uplifting jazz breaks of “The Deep” (we took a butcher’s, here) have just dropped their second delicious missive, “Wake Up”, for which they’ve called on the services of Brazilian cantora Marina B. Take a …
SEE: The stunning animation for A Certain Ratio’s ‘YoYoGrip’ – two ‘ACR Loco’ tracks meet in harmony
NOT CONTENT to rest on their laurels following the release of ACR Loco, that rich, irresistible return of an album from September, A Certain Ratio have just dropped the animated video for a new single, “YoYoGrip”: yes, that’s right, two of the highlight tracks from that album blended sweetly in a soundclash orchestrated by UK …
Premiere: Marta Ren releases video for the deep funk of ’22:22′
PORTUGUESE soul sister Marta Ren released her new single, “22:22”, last week; and has followed it with visuals which we’re delighted to premiere right here today on Backseat Mafia. She’s been fashioning tastily deep grooves since the 1990s, when she was a member of The Bombazines, but she burst on the soul scene in her …
TRACK: Jimi Tenor – ‘Afroeuropean’: rousing Afro grooves
FINNISH groovemeister Jimi Tenor, who’s all set to release his second album for Berlin’s Philophon imprint, has been out in Ghana getting deep into the Afro thang for new album Aulos; and commendably excellent his efforts have been. If you caught his 7″ release back in July, “Sugar And Spice”/”Lover’s Bridge (Instrumental)” your mouth will …