|
|
|
|
viewing 1 To 5 of 5 items
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CD
|
|
AR 109CD
|
Is this still pop music? The new album by the Finnish multi-instrumentalist Linear John presents popular music in a new light. With Double Parade, Markus Holkko, aka Linear John, seamlessly ties in on his first album. The pop-jazz potpourri is mysteriously undefinable; a characterization of all relaxed moody situations one can only imagine. Is this still pop? Yes, because the album is absolutely suitable for the masses -- or maybe not, because it can't be put in a specific box. Sometimes it sounds just like John Coltrane, sometimes just like Kraftwerk. While one is still feeling the Latin-vibes à la Antônio Carlos Jobim, the next track surprises with a horn solo in the style of Richard Wagner. But despite this diversity, it is not an arbitrary sequence of tributes: the Finn understands how to create his songs harmoniously and melodically so forcefully that you inevitably start to feel the groove. Whenever the listener threatens to lean back into a state of in- attention, they are reactivated by new, surprising harmonic or rhythmic changes. The clever arrangements, all written by Linear John himself, offer a coherent listening experience and yet are unpredictable and somehow refreshingly different. Double Parade can't be squeezed into a corset. Clear stylistic classification, proven musical means, and established structures are skillfully expanded here, while the music is equally fascinating to experts and laymen. This is precisely why the record, a refreshing road trip through the colorful landscape of existing jazz and pop flows, is a welcome contrast to the always equal format music.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
AR 109LP
|
LP version. Is this still pop music? The new album by the Finnish multi-instrumentalist Linear John presents popular music in a new light. With Double Parade, Markus Holkko, aka Linear John, seamlessly ties in on his first album. The pop-jazz potpourri is mysteriously undefinable; a characterization of all relaxed moody situations one can only imagine. Is this still pop? Yes, because the album is absolutely suitable for the masses -- or maybe not, because it can't be put in a specific box. Sometimes it sounds just like John Coltrane, sometimes just like Kraftwerk. While one is still feeling the Latin-vibes à la Antônio Carlos Jobim, the next track surprises with a horn solo in the style of Richard Wagner. But despite this diversity, it is not an arbitrary sequence of tributes: the Finn understands how to create his songs harmoniously and melodically so forcefully that you inevitably start to feel the groove. Whenever the listener threatens to lean back into a state of in- attention, they are reactivated by new, surprising harmonic or rhythmic changes. The clever arrangements, all written by Linear John himself, offer a coherent listening experience and yet are unpredictable and somehow refreshingly different. Double Parade can't be squeezed into a corset. Clear stylistic classification, proven musical means, and established structures are skillfully expanded here, while the music is equally fascinating to experts and laymen. This is precisely why the record, a refreshing road trip through the colorful landscape of existing jazz and pop flows, is a welcome contrast to the always equal format music.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
AR 111CD
|
RSN, producer, DJ, and musician from Athens, Greece, delivers Strange Eyes, his fourth album and his debut on Agogo Records. The album includes 13 songs influenced by electronica and trip-hop sounds. Hip hop beats with fat bass-lines in addition to effected melodic guitar, Hammond, and atmospheric analog synths create an ideal soundtrack for the album Strange Eyes. RSN collaborated with exceptional vocalists and musicians under his executive production. From 2009 until now, he participates as a DJ in the well-known British band Belleruche, a world-class band in the turntable soul scene with many concerts in Greece and abroad (Serbia, Turkey, Russia, Switzerland, France, England, Ukraine, etc.) All these years he has appeared in major festivals all over the world next to great names, such as The Wailers, Charles Bradley, Kid Loco, Zaz, Waldeck, amongst others, while he has opened the live shows of top artists, including Alpha Blondy, Wax Tailor, DJ Krush, Parov Stellar, and others. Features Thaliah, Polina Leshnevskaia, Kid Moxie, Kathrin DeBoer, and MC Yinka.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
AR 111LP
|
LP version. RSN, producer, DJ, and musician from Athens, Greece, delivers Strange Eyes, his fourth album and his debut on Agogo Records. The album includes 13 songs influenced by electronica and trip-hop sounds. Hip hop beats with fat bass-lines in addition to effected melodic guitar, Hammond, and atmospheric analog synths create an ideal soundtrack for the album Strange Eyes. RSN collaborated with exceptional vocalists and musicians under his executive production. From 2009 until now, he participates as a DJ in the well-known British band Belleruche, a world-class band in the turntable soul scene with many concerts in Greece and abroad (Serbia, Turkey, Russia, Switzerland, France, England, Ukraine, etc.) All these years he has appeared in major festivals all over the world next to great names, such as The Wailers, Charles Bradley, Kid Loco, Zaz, Waldeck, amongst others, while he has opened the live shows of top artists, including Alpha Blondy, Wax Tailor, DJ Krush, Parov Stellar, and others. Features Thaliah, Polina Leshnevskaia, Kid Moxie, Kathrin DeBoer, and MC Yinka.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
AR 093CD
|
As Agogo Records celebrated its ten years anniversary in 2017, it's about time for an appraisal. Agogo Records' anniversary release is, similar to their back catalog: multi-faceted and iridescent. It's a body of work created by an exceptionally gifted jazz arranger and talented keyboarder, an analog compendium of digitally-crafted Agogo Records classics and a new and oftentimes radical re-interpretation of groovy, electronic club music that has been released via the imprint throughout the past decade. Agogo-mastermind Ralf Zitzmann commissioned arranger and piano player Lutz Krajenski, who has worked with artists like Roger Cicero, Tom Jones, and Manfred Krug in the past, to re-interpret and revisit ten classic tunes from the labels back catalog for this album. Not knowing to which places this journey would lead to Krajenski started to work on tunes originally written by Mo' Horizons, Mop Mop, Da Lata, or The Juju Orchestra and re-arranged them in a way that they obtained a new feel, a new meaning as well as a radically new sound when they were recorded with the help of various guest musicians stemming from Krajenski's inner circle of friends, as well as the singer Alana Alexander. Hailing from New York City, Alana Alexander was raised on a very distinct diet of music from an early age onwards and especially inspired by the sound of gospel choirs as her father used to be one of the most renowned preachers in the Bronx area. She's performed at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem alongside greats like Eric Benet, Faith Evans, Keiko Lee, and Angie Stone and has worked as a songwriter for the eight-time, Grammy winner, Jay Newland. From Ralf Zitzmann's perspective Krajenski left a very distinct mark on the album's sound and therefore the final outcome is way more than just an anniversary album. For Krajenski it seems like the original tunes sound more like remixes of his own reworks although the albums approach is a contrary one. This vital paradigm shift is what turns Lutz Krajenski Plays Hits Agogo into a future classic, an album that seems to become more exciting, detailed and fascinated with every listening session, weighing in an additional gem named "Us" -- an original song written by Krajenski and Alexander perfectly complementing the cover versions and reworks. Also features originals by The Hi-Fly Orchestra, The Soul Session, Una Mas Trio, and Sola Rosa.
|
|
|
|