Miguel Scott & BluShift - Broken Layers (Viva Recordings)

8DPromo · Miguel Scott & BluShift - Broken Layers (Viva Recordings)

Over the last year or so, the Viva Recordings team has been getting to know Miguel Scott, a talented producer from Johannesburg, South Africa. After many conversations and a few listening sessions, it was apparent that "Broken Layers" was just what the label needed. This release is packed with jazz & broken beat vibes, and is co written by BluShift, also from Johannesburg. You can also catch Miguel on labels like Nervous, Moiss Music Black, and his own Afrinative Soul imprint. Don’t sleep on this one.

Jason Merle (4E&A Records) – “Those drums are clutch. Beautiful, organic sounds all around. In the bag.”
Juan Moreno (1 Life Records) – “Nice broken beat track. So classy.”
Deli-G (The Touch) – “Pure fire on this release.”
Michael Fossati (Spirit of House web zine) – “A truly glamorous slice of jazz house bliss.”
Simon Kirk (Stag Beetle Radio Show) – “5 Stars for this amazing record. Absolutely love it.”
Clive Craske (RadioReverb) – “Loving the dexterous jazz piano, funky and driving broken beats and Thereminny synth wibbling. Ace.”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Traxsource, Apple Music, And Spotify.

Jazz Echo: LTF Talks Russian Hip-Hop and His New Album

Russia’s stand-up-bass-playing, DJ’ing, crate-digging, music-producing b-boy LTF (‘Light The Fuse’) has just released his fantastic Jazz Echo album through The Content Label. Jazz Echo simmers with the bebop attitude of its namesake, brimming with heavy bass riffs, crucial breakbeats, truncated vinyl exclamations, and an adept ear for melody. The ‘echo’ could be the time travel partaken with the album’s disparate sound sources. With fastidious regional crate-digging, LTF discovered many obscurities for his samples and constructions. “You search for the records and listen to them all day,” LTF explains. “And then you find yourself not listening to the music, but you’re listening to the musicians separated from one another. The more you listen, the more greedy you become for the sound that was born to be found and reimagined. That’s the trip. And this trip flows through the jazz records of Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe.”

We caught up with LTF to ask a few questions about the hip hop scene in Russia, the roots of Soviet jazz, and mixing live contrabass with his productions.

How did you first hear the sounds of hip-hop and learn about b-boy culture?

LTF: I first heard the sounds of hip-hop in the mid-‘90s on the Beastie Boys cassette Ill Communication. Later that decade we had huge breakdance hype in Russia because of the b-boys from Da Boogie Crew. All of the hip-hop artists and events that I saw at that time were so soaked with a spirit of revolution, freedom, progress, and the future. It fit perfectly with my mind.

What is the hip-hop scene like in Omsk and southwestern Siberia? Do you feel that it is different than other Russian hip-hop scenes and sounds?

LTF: Omsk’s scene is very small scene but has all the elements of hip-hop culture. It’s run by true enthusiasts. Because of the internet, physical borders don’t really matter. All the scenes are combining from different people in Russia and from whole world.

Did you enjoy jazz before discovering hip-hop, or did you discover jazz through samples used in hip-hop? And what is different about jazz from Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe, and how does it make your sound unique?

LTF: I had a reverse music evolution experience. I started with hip-hop and then went deep into its roots. Back in the day, Soviet musicians had little access to information and recordings from abroad. The words like "bebop,” "cool,” and "free jazz" were unknown here, so artists had to create everything by themselves. Lack of information, a socialist regime, and huge classical and folk roots lead to a unique approach to playing jazz music.

Can you recommend any Eastern European jazz artists that people should check out?

LTF: Start you day with the jazz-funk maestro Jaan Kuman from Estonia!

How has your experience as a contrabass player influenced your hip-hop production? Do you ever play the bass live with the beats in a club performance?

LTF: When a contrabass appeared in my studio in 2013, I decided to make instrumental hip-hop music closely related to that instrument. That's the heart of the Light The Fuse project. As far as using the bass live, I might in the future. Now I just use turntables and a sampler in my performances.

What are your other passions besides making beats and DJ’ing?

LTF: Besides lovin' my wife I'm running turntable/record shop in Moscow. So for me it's 24/7 spinning records.

What are your future plans? Will you tour for the Jazz Echo project?

LTF: A tour would be nice! Any interested promoters out there? Hit me up!

Listen to LTF’s Jazz Echo on Bandcamp:

Boogie Belgique - Volta (Cold Busted)

"Nostalgic, soulful and, of course, boogie-woogie." That's how Belgian DJ producer Boogie Belgique (AKA Oswald Cromheecke) describes the enticing combination of styles and sources from different decades that make up his music. Taking vintage inspirations, most notably from swing and jazz eras, and merging them with contemporary beats and textures is the young producer's forte. This is pleasingly evident on Volta, the latest Boogie Belgique album for the Cold Busted label.

"Jungle Law" gives a glimpse into Boogie Belgique's sonic palette. Tough hip hop beats and funky live guitar follow an intro of jungle ambience as a trumpet presents the melody. Soon some swingy big band jazz enters the song in an almost ghostly manner, while the insistent beat keeps the dance floor moving. Album opener "Go Slow" shows a different side to the coin giving the listener an uptempo broken beat rhythm, some bouncy bass guitar, snippets of string loops, and a lovely, forlorn vocal line that echoes the past. It's a beautiful concoction, and Boogie Belgique delivers on many aspects of this style throughout his eleven track album. Volta is a satisfying trip in an aural time machine.

Kid Loco - “Really great tracks and moody vibes.”
Tim ‘Love’ Lee (Tummy Touch) – “I love it!”
Ohmega Watts (Ubiquity Records) - "This album captures the essence of boogie and breakbeat funk with atmospherics that definitely take you on an auditory journey.”
Dr Rubberfunk (Jalapeno Records) - "Good solid collection of grooves and dance floor movers! 'Need Somebody' is probably the stand out for me … nice St. Germain vibes.”
Dogu (Ancient Astronauts / Switchstance) - "Some nice grooves here."
Gavin Hardkiss (Hawke) – “I likee!”
Stereo 77 (Plimsoll Records) – “Perhaps my favorite Cold Busted release.”
Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s) – “’Jungle Law’ is a banger.”
Jeannie Hopper (WBAI FM (New York) - “Beautiful!”
Enne (Electunes / Karmaloft Music) – “’Enigma’ is really nice.”
DJ Kid Stretch (Warriorz Records / Goodgroove) – “This is seriously dope.”
Mr. Bristow (Subtek / Detox) – “Really feeling this, it’s lovely!”
Bruno From Ibiza (Ibiza Global Radio) – “Cool stuff!”
Richie Hartness (untitledmusic) – “Stunning and superb! One for the Deep Beats shows for sure.”
Igor Marijuan (Ibiza Sonica FM) – “Great release to be supported at Ibiza Sonica.”
SimonG (Deep South Audio, New Zealand) - "More eccentric antics for the floors and turntables … reminds me of a cross between DJ Food and Coldcut. Very nice."
DJ Nartak (Klassik Lounge Radio Show) - "Belgians can boogie! Fun listening … intelligently made with style and charm."

Available now from: Beatport, Junodownload, iTunes, and Bandcamp

Jaymz Nylon - Inner Flight (Innerflight Music)

Jaymz Nylon is regarded as the progenitor of afro-tech, a spiritual fusion of African, Latin, and jazz rhythms within a modern club context. In 2012, this veteran producer and DJ — who has been releasing records for over two decades — moved from New York to Seattle and quickly established himself as a tireless champion of sophisticated house music in the Northwest with his Passage nights at the Seattle clubs Electric Tea Garden (RIP) and Kremwerk.

For Nylon's Innerflight Music debut, the label and artist have augmented the similarly titled “Inner Flight” with four varied remixes. The original features The Mystic Vibes (a local vibraphone virtuoso) and finds Nylon combining the spiritual with the physical in a work that's a paragon of earthy, celestial house music. It features Nylon's deadpan baritone intonation, recited as if in a hypnotic state: “This is a journey / of loving and learning / This is an inner flight / come on and take a ride / to a place where you can fly.” The transcendent nature of the lyrics is mirrored by the plush keyboard and vibraphone penumbras hovering over the casually bustling rhythmic foundation, all of which are more interesting and organic in essence than your usual house productions. Nylon's own Afrotech Reshape adds shakers, emphasizes hand percussion, and brings to the fore the serpentine melody, which elevates the track to even more sublime heights than his initial template.

As the first remix offered, Montana DJ / producer Kris Moon beefs up the bass and revamps the no-nonsense, hip-smacking four-on-the-floor rhythm into something you might have heard in an early-'90s Detroit techno classic. As is typical with anything Moon touches, the aura is deep, trippy, and cerebral. Joe Bellingham's Reimagined Mix muscles up the kick and reduces the vocal to a few percussive tics, ramping up “Inner Flight” to a smoothly propulsive floor-filler in the process. Veteran Seattle producer Bob Hanssen (of duo Jacob London) offers the most radical transformation here, bringing in church bell tones and upward-spiraling synth arpeggios while making Nylon's voice sound omnipresent. Hanssen has almost totally eradicated the rhythm, repurposing the track for a swirling, eventful house-of-worship experience.

Jaymz Nylon, The Mystic Vibes, and company combine to create an inimitable sound listeners will be hard pressed to find anything else like -- something for more daring and creative souls.

Pezzner - "This has to be one of my favorite Innerflight Releases yet. Jaymz is a visionary, Hanssen flipped the script blissfully as expected, and I'll definitely be supporting Joe Bellingham's version in the clubs. Quality."
Terry Francis - "Joe Bellingham's mix for me."
Daniel Bortz (Suol / Pastamusik) - "Cool one."
Satoshi Fumi - "Love the percussion in this."
Justin Harris (Music For Freaks) - "Joe Bellingham's mix is great."
Alvaro Hylander (DeepWit Recordings) - "The Kris Moon version does it for me … lovely release."
Bill Brewster (DJHistory) - "I really like the original and the other Jaymz Nylon mix. Both are good and very useable."
Hippie Torrales - "Nice!"
Alkalino (Estimativa / Audaz Recordings) - "I love the original, and will try out the remixes."
Al Bradley (3am Recordings) - "Some serious percussive vibes right here … I'm digging the original, Joe Bellingham's mix, and -- in particular -- Jaymz's Afrotech version."
Jeff Berger (Dope Den / Fr33dom People) - "I'm digging the dreamscape of Kris Moon's remix … some chunky ankles dancing around in there!"
Distant People (Foliage / Seamless) - "Great drum work on this … quality summer feel."
Simon Kirk (Stag Beetle Radio Show) - "Simply outstanding … this one's straight into my top ten and I will be hammering it. Well done on a beautiful release."

Available now from Beatport, Juno Download, and iTunes.