Nu-Jazz | Broken Beat 355 Items

Butterflies go through a four-staged life cycle: egg, caterpillar, pupa (chrysalis) and then adult as a butterfly. The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly happens in the chrysalis where the caterpillar body dies to give life to a new, beautifully winged body. This album is an ideal soundtrack to this amazing phenomena, a representation to inner transformation and deep evolution.

"Offworld"is back after 20 years with a new album called "The Guru Walk" on Tasty Treats Records. This release is a real walk into Offworld music experiences where from the first track to the last one, he works to create a collection of electronic jazz tracks with different influences and moods. A side contains three EDM tracks including the title track "The Guru Walk" that is a real midtempo gem with deep chords,light percussion section and warm ambient pads. On the other side there are the longplay "tought vision" and the acid jazz influenced track "Ruzena". C side contains the hypnotic track "Lagos 3000" with afro influences,warm organ and synths and deep pad. The soulful "Siofra's Star" complete this side with broken vibes and melodies. On D side there are the deep and warm "Wahpanio" that is a dancefloor oriented track with latin influences and last but not least "Holy Portal" a jazzdance track with a groovy and powerful bassline,breakdrum and soulful chords.

This winter, Detroit techno pioneers Octave One re-establish their introspective side-project Never On Sunday with a fantastic new double EP, Contemplate. It follows some taster remixes earlier in the year and shows another super side to the brothers’ famous sound. The Burden Brothers have been as busy as ever in 2021 with a third volume in their Locus of Control series, some new reworks and first Never On Sunday tracks since the 90s.

It is a project reserved for more pensive atmospheres and deeper grooves, so naturally came back to the fore during the quiet months spent at home during the pandemic. Although the iconic Octave One live act is back on the road, the pair have also found time to craft this first full Never On Sunday release in 30 years. ‘The Bearer’ (main mix) opens up in beautifully melancholic fashion. A wistful lead synth hangs in the air while a crisp breakbeat powers the groove along, but it’s Karina Mia’s stunning and tender vocal that really tugs at the heat. She again lights up the tumbling breakbeats of ‘Contemplate’ (main mix), her aching voice providing the centre point amongst the cosmic melody all around. Closing out the Side A, ‘Enterstella’ is an intriguing three minute ambient piece with gurgling machines and slithering synths taking you deep into another world. The fantastic ‘Price We Pay’ (main mix) is another celestial excursion with bright, lush cosmic twinkles and Mia’s heartfelt voice soothing your soul. The broad bass adds real weight then ‘A Moment of Truth’ slows things down to an absorbing and atmospheric pace. Majestic string sounds, astral lights and a gentle breakbeat sink you into a pensive headspace, then closer ‘Metal Forest’ leaves your brain feeling cleaned with its watery sound effects, glass tinkles and heavenly atmosphere punctured only occasionally by big, sonorous bell hitsThis cinematic EP proves that Never On Sunday is a perfectly thoughtful yin to the more energetic techno yang of Octave One.

This limited 7" has 'Morning In The Jungle' on The A side. The track is taken from Black Flower's new album 'Magma' and features Belgian singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees on vocals. The B side has an unreleased Black Flower track entitled 'Invisible River'. 'Morning in the Jungle' was born not in a jungle, but in a city near a jungle. Black Flower was on tour in Brasil in 2020 and drank deeply of the cup. There were concerts and there was contact: spiritual, musical, cultural. Late one particular evening in the Lapa neighborhood of Rio De Janeiro there was a hand reaching through a crowd, owned by a dancing woman, reaching for a cell phone or wallet, finding its mark, then handing off the prize to a waiting accomplice. The remarkable aspect was the strange, deranged, toothless smile of this otherwise very beautiful woman, looking for an instant in recognition: of theft, of addiction, of pleasure, of complete loss of hope. What happened after that is a fantasy, of these two characters, the thief and the victim finding each other in a psychedelic moment of epiphany. Alone. In a holy jungle, waking to a growing brightness finding its way through a canopy of leaves and wilderness. This first inclusion of lyrics in the music of Black Flower is a collaboration that has a most auspicious and excellent timing. Meskerem Mees is an up-and-coming talent, having just released her first album entitled 'Julius' (Mayway Records) to critical acclaim. Meskerem Mees won the 2021 Montreux Jazz Talent Award and is nominated for the prestigious Music Moves Europe Awards. Her sweet and melodious voice is a perfect counterpoint to the deep and dark music that is flowing now from the source: Black Flower's most recent release 'Magma' to be released via Sdban Ultra on January 28th.

2LP, black vinyl First time on vinyl!

Inspired by mankind’s greatest adventure -- the Moon landing and, before that, the space race between the US and Ussr -- the LEM Tales project sees beat-maker and bass player Moonbrew join forces with organist and keyboardist Paolo Apollo Negri to create a sonic universe where hip hop meets funk, pop merges with jazz, old school interacts with new possibilities, and urban and space

The Tribe founders’ collaborative debut, remixed from the original mutli-track master tapes under the direction of its creators and lacquered by Bernie Grundman. Phil Ranelin’s side has been pitch-corrected and restored to a suite, as was originally intended. Wendell Harrison’s side contains extended, full versions of two songs. The definitive reissue of this Spiritual Jazz masterpiece. The Tribe label, one of the brightest lights of America’s 1970s jazz underground, receives the Now-Again reissue treatment. This is your chance to indulge in the music and story of one of the most meaningful, local movements of the 20th Century Black American experience, one that expanded outwards towards the cosmos. In the words of the collective themselves, “Music is the healing force of the universe.” Included in an extensive, oversized booklet, Larry Gabriel and Jeff “Chairman” Mao take us through the history of the Tribe, in a compelling story that delves not just into the history of the label and its principals, but into the story of Black American empowerment in the latter half of the 20th Century. The booklet features never-before-seen archival photos and rare ephemera from Tribe’s mid-1970s heyday.

People of Earth shakes things up for #016 with a Limited Edition 12” from Charolastra entitled Karuna. Only 200 copies pressed of this continuous play, crossover jazz release. Brought to the realization with some of ATLANTA’s most talented instrumentalists. It is an amalgamation of genres but the underlying emotions are immediately recognizable. Grief, loss, regret and the transcendental power of the spirit to overcome these hardships. Blending elements of jazz, IDM, broken beat, drone, and dub, while it may be difQicult to put your Qinger on Karuna it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable-

Mad genius and longtime member of Urban Tribe, Kemetrix unleashes eight tracks of pure, raw, anthemic, futuristic techno from the streets of Detroit. A clinic in the sacred and profane, the horror and the beauty, that can only be brought to you by someone that has truly lived it.

Bloodsport is the nine track debut from K-6000. From the first to last thud, Bloodsport is a sample-soaked miasma of sonic mutations that moves the listener from head-shaking bewilderment to head nods of agreement at a moment's notice. Not much is known about K-6000. Based on this initial offering it is evident that the orbit of this group is broad.