Soulbeats Vinyl, CD & Tape 12 Items

It's rare to see Nassau, Covid and Grace Jones in the same sentence, but they were indeed part of the creative basis for DJ Vadim's brand new album, Feel UP.

As a busy international DJ, this was nothing short of armageddon for Vadim. The skies were darkened, but rather than sink into inactivity and hibernation, DJ Vadim created within himself his own tropical music festival, an alternative universe that would share some kind of kinship with the recordings made at Compass Point Studios, orchestrated by Chris Blackwell for Grace Jones (1980-1982), James Brown, Ac/dc, and many others...

It was a melting pot of world-class musicians, blending reggae, pop, soul and African rhythms and sounds... together creating one of the most influential albums of the period, and it was in this spirit that the inspiration and title of DJ Vadim's new album, Feel UP (literally 'Feel good' / 'Have the strength, the courage'), was born.

Forty years after those sessions at Compass Point Studios, the same quest for discovery took place in Vadim's Barcelona studio. The desire for growth, self-discovery and the creation of new sounds took hold. The dubcatcher with its 80s digital sounds went out and came back with a wide variety of musical tapas.

Inhale, exhale, Feel UP is the soundtrack you've been missing without even knowing it!

Say no more Comorian blues or Indian Ocean rock: Eliasse is Zangoma!

This musical concept, created by Baco, the famous Comorian musician, brings together Western music and Comorian and Indo-Oceanic music. Eliasse creates his zangoma rock by mixing rock, blues and folk with typical Comorian and African rhythms. From twarab to mgodro, maloya to afrobeat, zangoma rock reveals its plural face. Its foundation is the drum (ngoma), and Eliasse's percussive rock lays claim to this common, hybrid banner!

With his third album, eponymously entitled Zangoma, due out in early 2024 (Soulbeats Music), Eliasse and his power trio once again promise to deliver groove: Fred Girard's powerful drums, Eliasse's roaring guitar, Jérémy Ortal's swaying bass and a thousand nuances of voice... In short: the Indian Ocean is dancing Zangoma Rock!

Family is important. Feeling good, relaxed, loved, listened to, within a community of close friends who share the same vibe, the same interests, the same sensations. Franck & Damien love and share the amber sound of the lapsteel, the intoxicating slide, the roundness of the six-string and the freshness of the banjo. Blues, country music and folk-rock born in the barns of Laurel Canyon... Harmonies, warm voices, fortunate encounters… Simplicity, humility, sharing... Surfing, deserted beaches, California, wild Australia.

You would know the members of this merry band: Xavier Rudd, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Donavon Frankenreiter, John Butler Trio, Tash Sultana, John Mayer, Mason Jennings... Yes: family is essential. Between cousins or adopted children, we understand each other so well! What's more, we speak the same language: in this case, English, carried by melodious, laid-back, never-pressed voices on songs that are often gentle, often punchy, always powerful, always hard-hitting. Franck and Damien don't see their tribe that often: they're in Bordeaux, in their beloved Médoc, a land of vineyards, sandy strips, pristine waves and good vibes; the others are in Hawaii, Los Angeles or the Australian bush. But that's all right. The signs, the codes, the vibes are the same. So we decide to get together when we have to, when we feel like it. Why not in Los Angeles, where the duo love to recharge their batteries, between strolls down Sunset Boulevard and ballads recorded at sunset?

Here, for their second album after the warm You Can Find Your Way, it's Donavon Frankenreiter, surf prodigy and international icon of American folk, who has come along to enchant the nervous and captivating California, of which he himself is the embodiment. Feel alright with the high tide! Earlier, it was on the subtle, nonchalant acoustic live version of Home that Donavon’s bassist Matt Grundy slipped in with his sweet harmonica. And with good reason: the Piñon Hills local from San Bernardino is also the producer of this album! Not forgetting, on Spread Love, a visit from Joaco Terán, their freesurfer brother and Argentinian musician. For Juniper Road, the album of maturity, is also one of plenitude and serenity. Franck's voice is full and vibrant, the harmonies chiseled, the atmosphere warm and inviting.

Family is fundamental. So is luck. When they hear the story of Damien picking-up Franck hitchhiking on the side of the road, a meeting so fortuitous it seemed fated, their buddies are still laughing.

The duo complement each other so well, the osmosis and connivance so blatant, Franck's voice and guitar, Damien's string picking and percussion, that this anecdote, so real, sounds fabricated. Okay, it didn't take place on the Pacific Coast Highway in a Cadillac, but more likely in a Renault Clio on the road to Lacanau (a beach town in the South-West of France).

Just like the video for Home, which, like some of their other clips, was not shot in the USA, but in the Spanish desert of the Bardenas Reales.

Franck & Damien have never needed to prove their identity and legitimacy, especially through clichés. From now on, with this second twelve-track album polished in Matt's Super Bloom studio, Franck & Damien know exactly where they're going: back to their Anglo-Saxon and South American cousins who have long since adopted them, to continue touring and performing, distilling their road songs with messages as simple as they are rich and direct, like a true philosophy of life: love, friendship, sharing, fulfillment, such as on the energetic, raging Fire And Soul (much juicier than the Cranberries'), but also hope and melancholy, as on Another Way: an emotional tale of a sailor in perdition, supported by a round bass sound, acoustic drums and an electronic organ.

Not forgetting, of course, their sense of humor. Because behind their music, practiced with the seriousness and meticulousness that characterize them, Franck and Damien like (love) to have a laugh and make those around them and their audience laugh with (and at) them. In the video for California, the third in their mini-series of music videos developed in reverse chronology around four singles and following on from Home and Another Way, they appear as two-bit metalheads. Then, in Blind, dressed-up as priests. Never afraid of the right joke, the right disguise, the witty comeback that sticks out like a sore thumb, on and off stage.

Love, balance, fulfillment, good humor and family, of course. Family is fundamental. Franck and Damien's family continues to grow: Matt and Donavon, other artists with whom were shared songs and experiences on tour… Their audience too, getting bigger by the minute, drawn in by their groove but also by their personalities. Raise Your Voice for Franck and Damien!

Alain Gardinier