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Back in 1997 the Nuremberg based Jazz musician and studio owner Peter Heider started seeing the DJ & nightlife activist Florian Seyberth for regular studio sessions. Within a few weeks they chose the name „Boozoo Bajou“ for their collaboration. With muscial ingredients like Soul, Dub, Country or Brazilian obscurities they created their own trademark sound. With the first two singles „Night over Manaus“ and „Under my Sensi“ they became a much celebrated part of worldwide downbeat scene led by artists like Kruder & Dorfmeister or Nightmares on Wax. In 2001 they created a legendary and much rated masterpiece in that genre by releaseing their debut album „Satta“ on the iconic „Stereo Deluxe“ Label. 20 years later this 60 minute blueprint original of the chill out scene named after the Jamaican word „Relax“ is available again on double vinyl pressed from the original laquers. – Piccadilly Records

At fifty-one years-old, Leeds-born George Evelyn has now been releasing trip-hop and techno records as Nightmares on Wax for thirty whole years. Influenced at first by the b-boy and rap scene of his home city, he was an early signee to Warp Records and soon became a key figure in their glitchy rise to dominance. But while Aphex Twin and Autechre pursued more challenging and propulsive sounds, Evelyn plunged towards far warmer territory. With records like 1999’s Carboot Soul, a nostalgic, crate-digging soundtrack to many a toke, he became a legend in the downtempo scene to follow.

As anyone who’s dabbled in a ten hour Lo-Fi-Beats-To-Study-To mix on YouTube knows, music which is laidback to the point of sedation can feel blissful and utterly inconsequential in equal measure. Even a craftsman like Evelyn began the last decade somewhat drifting, releasing albums which sounded soothing to the point of snoozing. But it’s a joy to announce that Nightmares On Wax is on something of a hot-streak. It began with 2019’s Shape The Future where he adopted the Avalanches-Gorillaz approach of bringing in a gamut of guest-singers and MCs, a formula he returns to with even greater success here.
The press which has surrounded this latest album emphasises that it was made by a rejuvenated creator. For him, the pandemic came at the end of ten years of relentless touring and a cancer scare. Like many people, the 2020 lockdowns brought Evelyn a chance for pause and self-reflection. He began writing with the focus of a man working on his final testament. The album which came from those sessions does indeed sound like one made by an artist deeply engaging and in love with his own music again. Frankly, Shout Out! To Freedom.... is a joy to listen to, packed as it is with warm tones, a boat-load of guest-stars, and an eclectic sound which dips between dub, rap, and house. – The Quietus

Following the creation of his own False Idols imprint and last year’s album of the same name, Tricky returns in the fall of 2014 with a new studio project that shares the name he was given at birth: Adrian Thaws. “Calling it Adrian Thaws is saying you don’t really know me,” says Tricky of his 11th album. “So many times people have tried to put a finger on me and every album I go to a different place.”

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Recorded in Tricky’s home studio in London, Adrian Thaws is a musically adventurous project and collaborators on the album include Francesca Belmonte, Nneka, Mykki Blanco, Bella Gotti, Tirzah, Blue Daisy and Oh Land. Adrian Thaws is out now on False Idols in association with !K7 Records. A 2LP Vinyl Gatefold and Deluxe Hard Case CD edition featuring a two bonus tracks and an exclusive booklet comprising never before seen photos from Tricky’s youth are available to buy now via the !K7 store, hand signed by the artist. – Tricky Website

Yasmin was always meant to be the birth of a new sound for Kumail. After spending his formative years delving into textural lo-fi electronica and textural ambient music, he went searching for a new sound more in-tune with his older, more mature, and more thoughtful self. What began as a study of modern soul music – drawing heavily from R&B, jazz and hip-hop – eventually sprawled to include flavours from across the world and time. 80’s Japanese funk, crackling gospel, shiny disco, cutting-edge LA beat music and the omnipresence of Dilla, all leave their faint but indelible mark.

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But deep within, Yasmin is a gritty world in which not much is going right. That world borders on real-life struggles with sleeplessness and anxiety, and being cooped up in a room in Bombay, India, which is where (and how) most of this album came to life. Countless nights spent making music to distract from a lack of inner calm and rest.

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Despite deliberately steering clear from sampling for his career thus far, a day spent digging in Istanbul ended up inspiring much of the album – not only did that day yield a discovery of Pierre Akendengue’s ‘Olatano, w'intye so du s' Afrika' (a sample of which appears on ‘Obota’) but also a range of 80’s soul records that transformed Kumail into a student for the next two years. With a renewed focus on musicality, practising playing the piano, learning new songs and improving production skills, Yasmin evolved into a 30 minute mood-board of lush voicings and explorations beyond just beat-making. The ensuing recording sessions featured a line-up of both all-star local session musicians as well as invited collaborators - Sid Vashi and Pink Siifu both deliver memorable features. Despite vocal performances eventually making their way onto nearly all songs on the record, Yasmin was never meant to feature Kumail’s singing. With or without vocals, Yasmin’s triumph is that it is nevertheless unmistakably the sound of Kumail finding his voice."  – Bandcamp

Dva is a return to the music of her roots, a triumph of keenly felt and brilliantly expressed reflections of oppression and freedom, be it political, sexual or artistic. Dva is an exploration of self-expression and sound, taking dark dub pop, sound design inspirations and melding them with classical music of her upbringing, taking Emika's production a giant step forward. – Ninja Tune

A TAV Curator's Pick.

Usually, groups wait until they've released at least three or four records before putting out a live album, but PNYC was too good an idea for Portishead to turn down. Recorded with a full orchestra on a cold, rainy day shortly after the release of their second record, Portishead, the project doubled as a live album and the soundtrack for a BBC documentary. In addition to being economical and perhaps lucrative, the disc demonstrates how sampled and sequenced music can be re-created in concert without losing any of the charm or dynamics of the original recordings. All it takes is a 22-piece string section, some horns, and a band whose tightness is exceeded only by its creativity. 

At times the performances on PNYC sound even more breathtaking and cinematic than Portishead's original recordings, as humming theremin, skittery scratching, and gliding strings mingle with stealthy guitar lines and sultry vocals. For Portishead, sour times seem like a distant memory. - Jon Wiederhorn

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