!K7 Organic Grooves 7 Items

Red Axes are very excited to present the first part of their new project called: “Trips", a multi media venture combining music, film and travelling across the globe in pursuit of extra ordinary collaborations. Niv Arzi and Dori Sadovnik are seeking to discover new grounds and sounds, and to record local musicians, indigenous instruments and present workshops for youth music schools. In March of 2017, the Israeli duo touched down in Africa for the first time, and set up camp in both Ethiopia and Ivory Coast, yielding In Africa, a triple header EP which features three slices of contemporary body music, with both East and West African musical motifs. The project will always present a musical release, on vinyl and digital, that was created on the trip, accompanied with a documentary, showing the whole journey.

DaM-FunK is the kind of guy who seems like he’d make great company: laid-back, affable, personable. But to truly get the guy, to really understand him, is to know a deep love of music like no other. Dam’s contribution to the DJ-Kicks series gives you an opportunity to do just that. It’s a snapshot view into the mind of the pioneer of Modern-Funk music… DJ-Kicks invites you to get to know the man behind the shades.

Dam makes a lifetime of digging and absorbing music that feels as laid-back as the Santa Ana breeze. Years ago, he coined the term ‘Modern Funk’ to give context to his music. The elements of the synth-heavy and multi-layered style are gloriously displayed on DJ-Kicks. “Modern-Funk is a combination of all the sounds on the mix,” he explains. “Funk, Boogie, Electro, House, Modern-Soul, Ambient tones… a push and pull of nostalgia and progressiveness…”

At a satisfying 19 songs, DâM-FunK’s DJ-Kicks lets grooves breathe. This is a mix to happily get lost within; a document in vibe. Unexpected contemporary joints mingle with lost gems from unlikely places. The exclusive DâM-FunK production “Believer” makes its debut on DJ-Kicks, an extensive instrumental composition that on it’s own could only be classified as signature Modern-Funk. The mix also includes Dam’s excellent collaboration with Nite Jewel, as ‘Nite-Funk,’ on “Can U Read Me?”

For Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber, the idea of rebirth is a creative driving force - an artistic device which not only informs their work, but anchors it.As the avant-garde electronic group Tosca, the two artists have lived many musical lives, from their early electronic experiments with tape decks to the blissed-out dub compositions with which they have made their name.Their most recent album, OSAM, takes this idea of renewal even further. Now they have reworked the source material from their ninth record and selected some of their friends to help make MIRAGE: The OSAM Remixes.

Special Request continues his impeccable run of form with a typically fervent entry into the DJ-Kicks mix series. His adventurous 25 track mix takes in personal favourites, new school classics and of course a selection of his own brand new and exclusive edits, dubs and reworks next to some overlooked gems. Leeds based Paul Woolford dares to go where few others do. He can do face-melting underground bangers, peak time piano anthems, ambient cinematics or chart climbing crossover hits. What unites his work as Special Request across labels like Houndstooth and R&S, though, is precision engineering, but never at the expense of real, raw emotion and visceral impact. He is an artist who very much pours his heart into everything he does, and has been on such a prolific run in recent years that it has been impossible to keep abreast of all his many projects. Even in this mix, he hints at yet more new sides and sounds. As always with Special Request, this is an emotional, full spirited ride through the musical mind of one of the most accomplished artists of the day.

Game-changing multi-instrumentalist Kamaal Williams has put together the latest DJ-Kicks mix. Due for release on November 8th, it features four of his own brand new and exclusive tracks and hints at the wide world of influences that have made him one of the most prominent artists of the last few years.

Williams has taken his long standing love of seventies jazz fusion and mixed it up with the contemporary sound of the London underground to devastating effect. House, broken beat, grime, soul, funk, hip hop and jazz all permeate his work, which has seen him evolve from one-man producer Henry Wu to acclaimed live band Kamaal Williams, backed by talented drummers and bassists. His pioneering work in the studio and live arena has influenced a whole new generation of like-minded musicians that have helped make the capital one of the most musically exciting and quickly evolving cities in the world, with Williams' own virtuoso drumming and percussion right at the heart of it all.

The exceptional Yussef Kamaal album 'Black Focus' was one of the most talked about records of 2016. Vinyl pressings kept selling out, it received rave reviews, earned the band the Breakthrough Act award at the 2017 Jazz FM awards and led to spellbinding live shows all over Europe. The follow up, The Return, came on Williams' own new Black Focus label and took his band global, all while picking up nominations for best independent album at the AIM Music Awards.

Improvised rhythm and spirituality are at the heart of everything Williams does, as is London life, with its diverse people, cultures and musical customs all feeding into his work. That is also true when making more electronic sounds as Henry Wu, who appears here after standout EPs on labels like Rhythm Section International. Williams' music is so individual it is more than deserving of its own tag: the artist himself calls it Wu Funk, and some of the many sounds that feed into it are all showcased on this adventurous new mix.

Exclusives include a live take of 'Snitches Brew,' new Kamaal Williams tracks 'Shinjuku' and 'Strings ATL' , as well as 'Wivout U' from Henry Wu. Those vital highlights sit next to classic jams from Southern Freeze, a strong contingent of London innovators from K15 to Dego and Tenderlonius to Kaidi Tatham, with funk driven house from Peven Everett, raw stuff from Steve Julien, lush synth grooves from Lone and feel good grooves from Phil Asher all making this is an honest and uplifting collection that, when necessary, is happy to eschew blends, fades and mixing in favour of red hot selections and sequencing.

Kamaal Williams DJ-Kicks is a fascinating insight into the record collection of a true musical alchemist.

It is said that every generation casts its mind back to a previous era in times of crisis; the resources that will allow us to decode the questions of our moment may lie in the myths of another era. Le Renard Bleu, the new musical and cinematic collaboration between Lafawndah and composer Midori Takada, and filmmakers Partel Oliva, takes a cross- generational echo as ground zero for recovering a crucial myth for uncertain times: the blue fox. As transmitted by Takada, the fox appears in both ancient Senegalese and Japanese folktales as the trickster archetype; belonging both to the heavens and to the earth, the fox is the agent of chaotic good, shaking the world up when its energy has become stagnant. Above all else, the fox is famous for its cunning nature. Renard Bleu marks the first new music released by Takada in nearly twenty years; it would be difficult to overstate the importance of her return to the public eye. Her first solo record, 1983's Through the Looking Glass, has been rediscovered and heralded as a lost classic; the influence of her percussion trio, the Mkwaju Ensemble, continues to permeate and inspire a new generation entranced by its lucid beauty, playfulness, and sensual patience. Takada has performed in numerous film score orchestras, including the ensemble for Akira Kurasawa’s Dreams, coincidentally a key influence on Renard Bleu.

Includes a Larry Heard Remix.