Vinyl - R&B / Modern

Jazz, soul and hip-hop influenced the collection of nine songs takes you on a gorgeous journey with rap, instrumentals and soulful vocals.

The album opens with the immediately immersive Cloudy Day featuring the captivating vocal presence of Minna Forouzandeh. As an opening track, it’s a winner. Minna also features on several tracks such as Battlefield, Dark Smoke and Cut to the Cheese, and carries each into the highly-seductive genre of lo-fi/neo-soul. Elegant, and dreamy and all enthralling.

Between these sumptuous singles, the band produce two modern hip-hop tracks both of highly-listenable quality. UK Rapper Isatta Sheriff spits rhymes, fluid and sassy on Stepney Tale. Her life reflected in engaging verses. And the single – Stay Mellow features fellow Dane Blacc El who delivers a smoother rap, with a Q-Tip, Arrested Development style of flow. There are 5.41 minutes here to savour. And interluded between these tracks are three instrumentals, Danish Design Part 1 & 2 and Club Berlin, demonstrating their jazz-influenced roots, with edgy beats, electronic keys and samples. The groove on these is endlessly-playable. Each track earns its inclusion and announces Athletic Progression as a band with an exceedingly bright future.

Dark Smoke is an album to inhale, absorb and enjoy – Scandinavian Soul

Instead of re-releasing the entirety of ‘All Keyed Up’, Time Capsule and curator Pol Valls opted for a cut-down EP. Made up of ‘Eden Celebration’, ‘Melodic Heaven’ and the title track, which is presented in its original form, and as an extended Time Capsule Seaside Mix, it's a remarkable window into the freshness of creativity and vision that helped launch Tankard into a beautiful, lifelong career in music. And yet, as impressive as his story is, from the first listen, it becomes instantly apparent that the rainforest rhythms of ‘Eden Celebration’, the Linn drum jazz-funk of ‘Melodic Heaven’ and the sunset piano boogie of ‘All Keyed Up’ all stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the larger-than-life tales that swirl around Tankard. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. - Test Pressings

Following their coronation as Best New Band at the 2019 Austin Music Awards, Black Pumas release their second single “Fire,” the follow-up to their Song Of The Year-winning “Black Moon Rising.”

Black Pumas is led by the creative partnership between Grammy Award-winning guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada and 27-year-old songwriter Eric Burton. Burton is a relative newcomer who arrived in Austin in 2015 after busking his way across the country from Los Angeles, while Quesada has a storied reputation for playing in bands like Grupo Fantasma and Brownout while also producing acclaimed projects like 2018’s ‘Look At My Soul: The Latin Shade Of Texas Soul.’

After the two connected via friends in the Austin scene, they began to collaborate on a new sound that transmutes soul into something idiosyncratically modern. Reminiscent of Ghostface Killah and Motown in equal measure, this original sound ensured that Black Pumas’ weekly residency at C-Boys quickly became “the hottest party in town” (Austin-American Statesman). - Bandcamp

This is a thoughtfully considered album of quiet, confident R&B: it doesn't jump out at you, but rather gets in you. Produced by John Carroll Kirby, the like-minded artist and collaborator with Frank Ocean and Solange Knowles, it features restrained percussion from Kanye West’s Sunday Service drummer Lamar Carter. Celestial soul as a break from chaos, these are quietly challenging songs as timeless as they are contemporary.

“What a rare and cool challenge it was for me to help Eddie re-emerge after a long hiatus,” says John Carroll Kirby. “I was excited to produce a record for him that captured the chill, laid-back wisdom and easy vocal mastery he has that you don’t see that much these days.”

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Lead single “My Mind Is Out of Its Mind” finds a deep groove to try and contain spiraling heartbreak, while the sweet and fizzy “Trouble” balances the downcast “Hurt” and more tender “Papa.” But even the project’s lightest moments feel sincere and mature. Altogether: a truly unifying release, coming from a man who's earned the right to share such a regal, romantic sound. - Bandcamp

“The most curious element about the singer, however, the quality that makes her such a uniquely captivating vocalist, is the way she communicates these troubles—with a honeyed, masterfully wielded croon that leaves you with the impression she's comforting you about them.

It's that groovy, gentle-voiced extroversion that drives her debut LP Yellow Memories, a collection of "all soul music" that oscillates from genre to genre in keeping with the traditions of Eglo Records, the eclectic family of artists assembled by electronic producer Floating Points and label head Alexander Nut. Stylistically, Fatima could be compared to forebears Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and even—at her most whimsical—Janelle Monáe, but her delivery exudes a light sweetness, even when confronting heartbreak.” – Pitchfork

“Listen to Yellow Memories from start to finish and you're immersed in a distinct mood. Introspective R&B and soul is the theme. Much of the music is ambitious. Take the Flako-produced "La Neta," which switches times signatures halfway through, or the Theo Parrish-penned opener "Do Better," which has a sense of virtuosity and drama that's uncommon in modern music. Eglo boss Floating Points is a lynchpin to the operation, having produced five of the record's 12 tracks. His partnership with Fatima has created two of the best cuts here: the climactic "Do Better" and the comparatively pared down "Biggest Joke Of All." The latter is simply a boom bap beat, an amazing vocal performance and a keyboard jam, but its simplicity is exactly what makes it work.

Other guest producers here include Scoop De Ville, Oh No and Knxwledge. None of these are huge names, but all have cult followings in the world of leftfield beatmaking, and every one of these collaborations is a winner. Particularly worth singling out is "Circle," produced by Computer Jay and the ever-impressive Shafiq Husayn of Sa-Ra.” – Resident Advisor

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In 2017, we’ve only caught a few glimpses of what Ivan has been working on, namely the soulful Kaytranada x Kiefer produced loosie “Also” and the jazzy MNDSGN produced single “Young Eye”. As it turns out, these two cuts are a good indication as to what the Oslo based artist has in store for us with his next LP release. On November 10h of this year, Ave presents his sophomore LP “Every Eye”.

“Every Eye”, with its symbiosis of different producers, musicians and vocal styles puts Ivan Ave in his own lane. Leaving behind the sample heavy sound he’s gained recognition with, Ivan embarks on his first musical journey free of chopped up jazz, soul and funk records. But it would be an understatement to say that “Every Eye” still has jazz, soul and funk for days. Enlisting musical homies like Fredfades, MNDSGN, DJ Harrison, Kiefer, Kaytranada and Dâm- Funk on the production side, Ivan carves out his path as an ever-growing MC and singer.

All-though “Every Eye” sometimes hovers in a state of weightlessness genre wise, there is no shortage of gravity in Ave’s lyrical universe. Ivan seems to have written this record as his own self help book, dealing with the mechanisms of the mind, the heart, and the world he sees (or doesn’t see).The title “Every Eye” refers to our various angles of view; the ones we choose and the ones we are assigned to. – Ivan Ave | Bandcamp

While jazz and funk are at the core of Michele Manzo’s musical foundation, the Italian artist deftly draws upon his inspirations in hip-hop, dub, and Brazilian music as both an instrumentalist and producer. But above genres, inimitable grooves are the key driver of his work, and in his grooves one can hear the vibe of a moment being captured and perpetuated for eternity. With this combination of musical depth and raw feeling, it is no surprise Michele has crossed paths with Darker Than Wax, and we feel truly blessed to present his LP ‘ALL RISE’ to the world.

‘ALL RISE’ is a genuine reflection of Manzo’s art form, which sees so many different styles and influences coming together in the most natural, organic way. Everything was recorded live using bass, synth bass, guitar, old analogue keyboards, blended together with modern synths, dub delays and ambient fx - giving off the familiar warmth of boom bap and progressive stimulation of neo-soul. The pervasive harmonies and clever use of chords give the album a real musical depth, but grounded with an effortless, natural approach to creation. - Bandcamp

Nick Murphy (fka Chet Faker) fires off in a new direction while trying to bridge a gap with his diverse new EP featuring Afrobeat, R&B, soul, and Kaytranada—sometimes all at once. - Pitchfork

After teasing the project with a stylish Johann Rashad-directed trailer last week, Nick Murphy‘s Missing Link EP has arrived. Billed as “a new collection of tracks that bridge the sonic shift between Chet Faker and Nick Murphy,” Missing Link offers up five tracks in all and even kicks off with a collaboration between Murphy and Kaytranada, “Your Time.” The EP marks Murphy’s first post-Chet Faker project and follows the singles “Fear Less” and “Stop Me (Stop You),” both of which debuted in the latter months of 2016. - Hypebeast

For years, the music of UK vocalist Olivier Daysoul has been burning bright. A deep-voiced songwriter with a penchant for collaboration, the man has worked alongside Onra, Bibio and Hudson Mohawke in the studio and logged many a mile on the road with Oddisee‘s live backing band. If R&B were a kitchen, Olivier could rightly say that he’s worked every single station, from savory to sweet. But now, a change is happening. For his new Black Music project, the “Daysoul” moniker is being shed; Olivier is taking up his proper surname – St. Louis – as his new artistic identity, and from the sound of things the effect has been one of revitalization.

It only takes a few seconds for opener “Ain’t Cool” to find its stride, coasting Curtis Mayfield-like on the breeze. Things time travel to the late 90s on “Dog In Man,” which features a Dilla-level drum chop and more syrupy vocals. “Ship is Going Down” is an all-sneering strut, while EP closer “The Proud” gradually unfolds as a patient, tender ballad. With just one short and sweet record, the new Olivier St. Louis has already proven that there’s no groove he can’t bend to his melodic will. - Okayplayer

Prince and his all-female backing band 3rdEyeGirl present Plectrumelectrum! A must have for the Prince completionist!

'The soul singer’s latest is a multi-perspective, multi-genre examination of addiction and family breakdown.'

'The R&B legend still stays close to the sounds that raised him, as on the straight-up gospel song “Belongs to God.” But even that inclusion belies an artist more willing to embrace loose ends, disorienting interruptions, and the unknown. On Jimmy Lee, Saadiq shout-sings, whispers, and croons with new abandon. It feels like a refutation of his old reserve, and it also represents a welcome stretch from Saadiq before he takes his sound all the way back to his beginnings: He recently announced that a Tony! Toni! Toné! reunion is in the works.' - Pitchfork

"Husayn’s musical vision is fundamentally communal. And while The Loop’s big-name guests will likely draw attention to the project, it feels deeper and more complex than the typical big-budget, feature-heavy release. Much in the same way that classics by Parliament-Funkadelic, Rotary Connection, and Earth, Wind & Fire are group efforts that sprung from the brain of a single founder, The Loop is music born of Husayn’s singular creativity, but forged in the spirit of cooperation and egalitarianism." - Bandcamp Daily