Mr Bongo | Rare Silk - Storm (Arp Duppy Chip Mix) @MrBongoRecords | Uploaded 1 year ago | Updated 9 hours ago
VINYL 2LP / DIGITAL / CD: mrbongo.bandcamp.com/album/luke-una-presents-soul-cultura-vol-2
É Soul Cultura Vol.1 seemed to land at exactly the right moment. Post-lockdown, optimism was back on the rise and the dance floors swelled again. For many listeners, Manchester based DJ Luke Una’s intriguingly woven pattern of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world became the soundtrack to rejuvenated positivity. Piccadilly Records made the release their top compilation of the year, with Rough Trade placing it as their number two. The enthusiasm from the industry was mirrored by record buyers and demonstrated that in the right hands, moving through genres, tempos and decades can make perfect musical sense.
It was clear from the get-go that the concept warranted a series, there are many sides to É Soul Cultura and many musical stories to tell. This second volume gives another opportunity for Luke to share his journey of the past four decades of staying up late and getting transcendental whilst listening to holy grail music as the city slept. It follows on from where Vol.1 left off, at times venturing into the deeper, spiritual, soulful, downtempo, experimental aspects of his tastes. From the conscious, street soul fusion gospel of Veronica Mickie's 'Lost Children', to an excursion into Swiss, psych, progressive rock in the form of Pyranha, then onto the classic Indian music-inspired electronic workout of Andi Otto's 'Bangalore Whispers'. Luke hints at his softer side in Avis; a sweet, obscure cover version of Minnie Riperton’s ‘Baby, This Love I Have’, as well as championing local heroes in the shape of Manchester’s Yargo and their driving, obscure, proto-house belter, ‘Marimba’. There’s also Japanese, electronic, slo-mo heaviness from 1979, courtesy of Bach Revolution. House music is integral to the É Soul sound and is represented by Nav Aktah’s deep remix of Mr Scruff, and then there’s Isis ‘In Essense’; a track of such majestic brilliance that it has never left Luke’s record bag.
The selection is eclectic, global, and plucked from different times and spaces. In theory, perhaps they shouldn't work together, but there is a mysterious link that makes them gel as a whole. That’s what Luke does best. He creates a sort of musical alchemy, unifying the diverse. This isn’t a compilation focussed purely on the rare, even though many tracks featured do fall into that camp. It is best described by Luke himself, “It’s not about showing off, collector rarity, or ego-strutting, it’s all about telling stories, sharing the music, and making life’s journey mean something. In the end, of course, it’s just a compilation of other people’s music, but hopefully it’s more than that, adding something back to the pot.”
LIKE MR BONGO - instagram.com/mrbongoworldwide
FOLLOW MR BONGO - twitter.com/therealmrbongo
VISIT THE WEBSITE - http://www.mrbongo.com
BANDCAMP - mrbongo.bandcamp.com
VINYL 2LP / DIGITAL / CD: mrbongo.bandcamp.com/album/luke-una-presents-soul-cultura-vol-2
É Soul Cultura Vol.1 seemed to land at exactly the right moment. Post-lockdown, optimism was back on the rise and the dance floors swelled again. For many listeners, Manchester based DJ Luke Una’s intriguingly woven pattern of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world became the soundtrack to rejuvenated positivity. Piccadilly Records made the release their top compilation of the year, with Rough Trade placing it as their number two. The enthusiasm from the industry was mirrored by record buyers and demonstrated that in the right hands, moving through genres, tempos and decades can make perfect musical sense.
It was clear from the get-go that the concept warranted a series, there are many sides to É Soul Cultura and many musical stories to tell. This second volume gives another opportunity for Luke to share his journey of the past four decades of staying up late and getting transcendental whilst listening to holy grail music as the city slept. It follows on from where Vol.1 left off, at times venturing into the deeper, spiritual, soulful, downtempo, experimental aspects of his tastes. From the conscious, street soul fusion gospel of Veronica Mickie's 'Lost Children', to an excursion into Swiss, psych, progressive rock in the form of Pyranha, then onto the classic Indian music-inspired electronic workout of Andi Otto's 'Bangalore Whispers'. Luke hints at his softer side in Avis; a sweet, obscure cover version of Minnie Riperton’s ‘Baby, This Love I Have’, as well as championing local heroes in the shape of Manchester’s Yargo and their driving, obscure, proto-house belter, ‘Marimba’. There’s also Japanese, electronic, slo-mo heaviness from 1979, courtesy of Bach Revolution. House music is integral to the É Soul sound and is represented by Nav Aktah’s deep remix of Mr Scruff, and then there’s Isis ‘In Essense’; a track of such majestic brilliance that it has never left Luke’s record bag.
The selection is eclectic, global, and plucked from different times and spaces. In theory, perhaps they shouldn't work together, but there is a mysterious link that makes them gel as a whole. That’s what Luke does best. He creates a sort of musical alchemy, unifying the diverse. This isn’t a compilation focussed purely on the rare, even though many tracks featured do fall into that camp. It is best described by Luke himself, “It’s not about showing off, collector rarity, or ego-strutting, it’s all about telling stories, sharing the music, and making life’s journey mean something. In the end, of course, it’s just a compilation of other people’s music, but hopefully it’s more than that, adding something back to the pot.”
LIKE MR BONGO - instagram.com/mrbongoworldwide
FOLLOW MR BONGO - twitter.com/therealmrbongo
VISIT THE WEBSITE - http://www.mrbongo.com
BANDCAMP - mrbongo.bandcamp.com
![SOYUZ (СОЮЗ) - Lyric (Лирическая) [Remastered]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LTO4RUVQG7g/hqdefault.jpg "SOYUZ (СОЮЗ) - Lyric (Лирическая) [Remastered]
ORDER: https://gruppasoyuz.bandcamp.com/album/ii-remastered
SOYUZ (СОЮЗ) stole our hearts back in 2022 when we released their album Force Of The Wind to critical acclaim. Here we proudly present the predecessor to that LP, the band’s sophomore long player from 2019 that was previously only available digitally. It captures a pivotal evolving period in the bands career, the recordings giving a snapshot of what would become their sound on Force Of The Wind, yet with echoes of avant-psychedelic-pop footprints from yesteryears.
Produced at a time when band leader Alex Chumak had moved from Minsk to Kyiv, torn between the need to try something new and the homesickness it brought about. Travelling back to Minsk almost weekly, Alex joined fellow band members Mikita Arlou and Stanislav Murashko to lay down II at Studio 42. The album captures these transient feelings, contextualised through the broad scope of influences the band were nourished by. From MPB to Ethio-Jazz and the Italian library soundtracks of Piero Piccioni and Piero Umiliani, the album shines with touches of joy from across the globe.
The opening track Verocai is a tribute to the Brazilian maestro and Mirouze, whilst being named after a French favourite of the band, Jean-Pierre Mirouze, pays clear homage to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. A ghostly sample and invisible connection to music made miles away in a different era that has influenced and become part of the band’s lives. This is further reinforced in the albums enchanting closer, the aptly titled Nascimento, another nod to the great Brazilian musician and singer.
The beginnings of the cinematic, soul-laden jazz SOYUZ are now known for, are on display across the likes of ‘Lyric’ and Motive I. The latter an orchestrated jazz instrumental with sensuous string sections, all of which were recorded on the warmth of a Studer reel-to-reel and waltzing Rhodes keys.
SOYUZ’s wide-ranging palate is further demonstrated in tracks like ‘Business Partners’ with its Krauty, kosmische, new wave production featuring Inturist, and the oh-too-short Anatolian-influenced interlude Corrida. Elsewhere, Tezeta and ‘ES-2 Jazz’ hint at the psychedelic haze of soul-funk, with the former featuring verses from Serbian rapper Petar Martic.
For this new physical and digital release, the whole album was mixed from scratch by Ryan Power before Joker worked his magic on the remaster. More excellence is to come from SOYUZ, but in the meantime, we are thrilled to present this essential recording from the band’s foundational years, mixed to a level that does it the justice it deserves.
Follow Mr Bongo: instgram.com/mrbongoworldwide/
Visit The Website - http://www.mrbongo.com/
Bandcamp - https://mrbongo.bandcamp.com/")
![Horace Tapscott Quintet - The Quintet [Full Album]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OlpGxuVX3jQ/hqdefault.jpg "Horace Tapscott Quintet - The Quintet [Full Album]
ORDER Vinyl / CD / Digital: https://mrbongo.bandcamp.com/album/the-quintet
00:00 - World Peace
08:33 - Your Child
20:52 - For Fats
This previously unreleased album by the Horace Tapscott Quintet was unearthed from master tapes in the Flying Dutchman archives. Recorded in 1969 and was intended to be a follow-up album to the classic The Giant Is Awakened which was released that year.
The iconic pianist and composer Horace Tapscott was one of the most unique and important figures in LA’s jazz world. This lost recording was produced by one of the pivotal figures in jazz, Bob Thiele, a leading behind-the-scenes star who worked with many of the greats in jazz, such as Quincy Jones, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Della Reese, Shirley Scott, Gil Scott-Heron, the list goes on. His name can be seen gracing, arguably the best, Impulse! releases and those released on his own Flying Dutchman imprint set up in 1969.
Joining Horace for this three-track, deep, heavy, avant-garde session are the same stellar cast featured on The Giant Is Awakened; Arthur Blythe on Alto Sax, Everett Brown Jr on Drums, with David Bryant and Walter Savage Jr. on Bass. Kicking things off we have World Peace’, which starts with an almost baroque-esque melody, leading to an eruption in sound, it then ends in the same manner it began. The beautiful Your Child is the jewel in the crown, skirting modal, deep jazz and introducing elements of free jazz. For Fats with its bow bass and piano intro takes you on a journey, dropping into, at times dark, stormy melodies and developing a driving energy as the composition progresses.
After recording this album, Horace was said to be wary of the music industry, so he retreated and distanced himself from this world, recording only for the independent labels UGMAA, Interplay Records, and Nimbus West Records. He set up The Pan-Afrikan People’s Arkestra and reintroduced the pan-African-roots sound back into the heart of jazz. He also developed and promoted the art form through performances and recordings.
Thankfully, this session from these wonderful musical pioneers was preserved and finally has its time to shine.
Featuring brand-new artwork by the illustrious artist/designer/musician Raimund Wong (Total Refreshment / Floating World Pictures).
Follow Mr Bongo - https://www.instagram.com/mrbongoworldwide/
Visit The Website - http://www.mrbongo.com/
Bandcamp - https://mrbongo.bandcamp.com/")
![SOYUZ (СОЮЗ) - Tezeta (Тизита) Ft. Petar Martic [Remastered]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PW6yRiVarEk/hqdefault.jpg "SOYUZ (СОЮЗ) - Tezeta (Тизита) Ft. Petar Martic [Remastered]
ORDER: https://gruppasoyuz.bandcamp.com/album/ii-remastered
SOYUZ (СОЮЗ) stole our hearts back in 2022 when we released their album Force Of The Wind to critical acclaim. Here we proudly present the predecessor to that LP, the band’s sophomore long player from 2019 that was previously only available digitally. It captures a pivotal evolving period in the bands career, the recordings giving a snapshot of what would become their sound on Force Of The Wind, yet with echoes of avant-psychedelic-pop footprints from yesteryears.
Produced at a time when band leader Alex Chumak had moved from Minsk to Kyiv, torn between the need to try something new and the homesickness it brought about. Travelling back to Minsk almost weekly, Alex joined fellow band members Mikita Arlou and Stanislav Murashko to lay down II at Studio 42. The album captures these transient feelings, contextualised through the broad scope of influences the band were nourished by. From MPB to Ethio-Jazz and the Italian library soundtracks of Piero Piccioni and Piero Umiliani, the album shines with touches of joy from across the globe.
The opening track Verocai is a tribute to the Brazilian maestro and Mirouze, whilst being named after a French favourite of the band, Jean-Pierre Mirouze, pays clear homage to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. A ghostly sample and invisible connection to music made miles away in a different era that has influenced and become part of the band’s lives. This is further reinforced in the albums enchanting closer, the aptly titled Nascimento, another nod to the great Brazilian musician and singer.
The beginnings of the cinematic, soul-laden jazz SOYUZ are now known for, are on display across the likes of ‘Lyric’ and Motive I. The latter an orchestrated jazz instrumental with sensuous string sections, all of which were recorded on the warmth of a Studer reel-to-reel and waltzing Rhodes keys.
SOYUZ’s wide-ranging palate is further demonstrated in tracks like ‘Business Partners’ with its Krauty, kosmische, new wave production featuring Inturist, and the oh-too-short Anatolian-influenced interlude Corrida. Elsewhere, Tezeta and ‘ES-2 Jazz’ hint at the psychedelic haze of soul-funk, with the former featuring verses from Serbian rapper Petar Martic.
For this new physical and digital release, the whole album was mixed from scratch by Ryan Power before Joker worked his magic on the remaster. More excellence is to come from SOYUZ, but in the meantime, we are thrilled to present this essential recording from the band’s foundational years, mixed to a level that does it the justice it deserves.
Follow Mr Bongo: instgram.com/mrbongoworldwide/
Visit The Website - http://www.mrbongo.com/
Bandcamp - https://mrbongo.bandcamp.com/")
