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viewing 1 To 11 of 11 items
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2LP
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AR 113LP
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$30.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 2/1/2019
Double LP version. Gatefold sleeve. "European music culture has never been closed, on the contrary -- it has always integrated influences from all other parts of the world. Two Tribes makes an effort to give insight in how musicians living in Europe today incorporate and transfer musical traditions particularly from the African continent into their own oeuvre. Featured on Two Tribes are a broad range of constellations, ranging from musicians with roots in African countries who reside in Europe to collaborations between European and African artists. Musically our compilation tries to capture at least a part of the enormous diversity that contemporary music from Europe of this kind has to offer. The spectrum ranges from classical 'songs' using traditional instruments from both continents to electronic productions that combine musical heritage with current club culture. Our selection can only be a musical snapshot since there is so much movement in this genre at the moment. As you can hopefully see and hear, the leitmotif while compiling Two Tribes was to keep an eye on the ease of handling different cultural influences amongst the featured artists. It was important to us that the included music doesn´t just copy African music styles one to one but has an own handwriting and builds a bridge between the musical legacy of both continents. With all the track included, we have found a number of great examples and decided to showcase twelve of them on this first volume. The music included refers to the musical traditions of Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Morocco, Zimbabwe and South Africa amongst others. The involved musicians are spread all over Europe, from Finland to Great Britain, Italy, England, France and Portugal to Germany. Be it organic or electronic music, we think that all of the tracks really deserve your ear!" --Tobi Kirsch and Ubbo Gronewold, June 2018
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CD
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AR 113CD
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$16.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 2/1/2019
"European music culture has never been closed, on the contrary -- it has always integrated influences from all other parts of the world. Two Tribes makes an effort to give insight in how musicians living in Europe today incorporate and transfer musical traditions particularly from the African continent into their own oeuvre. Featured on Two Tribes are a broad range of constellations, ranging from musicians with roots in African countries who reside in Europe to collaborations between European and African artists. Musically our compilation tries to capture at least a part of the enormous diversity that contemporary music from Europe of this kind has to offer. The spectrum ranges from classical 'songs' using traditional instruments from both continents to electronic productions that combine musical heritage with current club culture. Our selection can only be a musical snapshot since there is so much movement in this genre at the moment. As you can hopefully see and hear, the leitmotif while compiling Two Tribes was to keep an eye on the ease of handling different cultural influences amongst the featured artists. It was important to us that the included music doesn´t just copy African music styles one to one but has an own handwriting and builds a bridge between the musical legacy of both continents. With all the track included, we have found a number of great examples and decided to showcase twelve of them on this first volume. The music included refers to the musical traditions of Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Morocco, Zimbabwe and South Africa amongst others. The involved musicians are spread all over Europe, from Finland to Great Britain, Italy, England, France and Portugal to Germany. Be it organic or electronic music, we think that all of the tracks really deserve your ear!" --Tobi Kirsch and Ubbo Gronewold, June 2018
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CD
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AR 115CD
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Ever since Onom Agemo & The Disco Jumpers broke the dreaded curse of the difficult second album by releasing Liquid Love (2017), a cocktail so spicy and delectable that it could warm the cockles of the grumpiest man alive's heart, even in the most Arctic conditions, everybody wondered how the Onom crew could top that one. But now you have an opportunity to whip out your Magic Polaroid as proof that this wasn't an impossible project. Never before has the band so successfully captured their full-on live sound as they do here, thanks to three days of recording frenzy at Daniel Nentwig and Sebastian Maschat's Butterama studio, a haven of analog hardware hidden in a remote part of Berlin's Neukölln district. The exploding kaleidoscope of styles that make up this album, perfectly reflected by the stunning cover artwork from Nick Henderson and photography by Christoph Rothmeier, means that they can no longer be confined to their early description as an Afro-funk quintet or merely described as a lively tribute to the artists which have influenced them; their sound is 100 per cent pure uncut Onom Agemo, even though every track feels like a new beginning. The presence of a charismatic in-house vocalist who brought her own lyrics along has also boosted their confidence considerably and provided a further knock-out punch to their onstage performances. No one will be disappointed as soon as the first bars of "The Trumpets Of Denmark" stomp on stage like a boisterous fanfare, with Johannes Schleiermacher's impressive wall of sound production making the musicians sound like a much bigger band than what their line-up suggests (with Maria Schneider from Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra adding some extra percussive clout) and just the right amount of dizzying cross-rhythms to steer it away from potential bombast. When Onom Agemo's powerhouse vocalist Natalie Greffel starts chanting what at first sounds like a string of onomatopoeia, it soon becomes clear that she's laying down her manifesto for a nostalgic space-age yet to come, with a few key words serving as mantras (focus, patience, tears, and creation). This is an invitation to drive off the information superhighway and its endless litany of polite noises, to redirect our gaze inside ourselves and learn to understand and sometimes question how others perceive us.
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LP
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AR 115LP
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LP version. Ever since Onom Agemo & The Disco Jumpers broke the dreaded curse of the difficult second album by releasing Liquid Love (2017), a cocktail so spicy and delectable that it could warm the cockles of the grumpiest man alive's heart, even in the most Arctic conditions, everybody wondered how the Onom crew could top that one. But now you have an opportunity to whip out your Magic Polaroid as proof that this wasn't an impossible project. Never before has the band so successfully captured their full-on live sound as they do here, thanks to three days of recording frenzy at Daniel Nentwig and Sebastian Maschat's Butterama studio, a haven of analog hardware hidden in a remote part of Berlin's Neukölln district. The exploding kaleidoscope of styles that make up this album, perfectly reflected by the stunning cover artwork from Nick Henderson and photography by Christoph Rothmeier, means that they can no longer be confined to their early description as an Afro-funk quintet or merely described as a lively tribute to the artists which have influenced them; their sound is 100 per cent pure uncut Onom Agemo, even though every track feels like a new beginning. The presence of a charismatic in-house vocalist who brought her own lyrics along has also boosted their confidence considerably and provided a further knock-out punch to their onstage performances. No one will be disappointed as soon as the first bars of "The Trumpets Of Denmark" stomp on stage like a boisterous fanfare, with Johannes Schleiermacher's impressive wall of sound production making the musicians sound like a much bigger band than what their line-up suggests (with Maria Schneider from Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra adding some extra percussive clout) and just the right amount of dizzying cross-rhythms to steer it away from potential bombast. When Onom Agemo's powerhouse vocalist Natalie Greffel starts chanting what at first sounds like a string of onomatopoeia, it soon becomes clear that she's laying down her manifesto for a nostalgic space-age yet to come, with a few key words serving as mantras (focus, patience, tears, and creation). This is an invitation to drive off the information superhighway and its endless litany of polite noises, to redirect our gaze inside ourselves and learn to understand and sometimes question how others perceive us.
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CD
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AR 085CD
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After the release of their debut album Worldstyle (2012) the Budapest duo Savages Y Suefo are now returning with their second album Brotherhood; this time their message is more serious. The music summons blues elements but is also influenced by dub, funk and a little hip-hop while the lyrics are mainly about the social and personal problems of our time interpreted by talented guest vocalists from all over the world. The guest performance of KRSA puts the point on the letter "i" in "Brotherhood" and in the other reggae-inspired song "Pass It On". Being one of the dominant figures of the Hungarian ska movement he is an important guest on the album. As the main driving force behind Freak Power, Ashley Slater needs no introduction. He has worked with Dub Pistols, Dublex Inc, and Fort Knox Five, and his talents and professional performances turbocharged three songs. Denise M'Baye, the MC/singer of Mo'Horizons is featured in two down-tempo tracks. "Wings" is a laidback song about love while and "All My Life Is In This Bag" smuggles back a little bit of the mood of Worldstyle. Fedora is the best-known female MC/singer of the Hungarian bass music life. With "Come Away With Me" she proves that she's not only an bass music MC, but a great singer with deep emotions. Another guest from Hungary is the lead singer of the down-tempo funk band Mystical Plants. Bryant Goodman contributes to the album in two different tracks with his gravelly voice. "Bad Man's Ballad" is a bittersweet song about the average politician of our age while "Keep Going On" on the other hand is full of playfulness and delivers a short but positive message. Last but not least is the Ghanaian M3NSA on the board from Fokn Bois and RedRed. His lyrics in "It Works" are very motivating for everyone and spread the message of not giving up even if the world is seemingly against you. Savages Y Suefo's new album Brotherhood is a lot different from their previous one in many ways but it remained just as eclectic as its predecessor Worldstyle and still proves Savages Y Suefo's wide interest and openness in music that is needed today.
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LP
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AR 085LP
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LP version. After the release of their debut album Worldstyle (2012) the Budapest duo Savages Y Suefo are now returning with their second album Brotherhood; this time their message is more serious. The music summons blues elements but is also influenced by dub, funk and a little hip-hop while the lyrics are mainly about the social and personal problems of our time interpreted by talented guest vocalists from all over the world. The guest performance of KRSA puts the point on the letter "i" in "Brotherhood" and in the other reggae-inspired song "Pass It On". Being one of the dominant figures of the Hungarian ska movement he is an important guest on the album. As the main driving force behind Freak Power, Ashley Slater needs no introduction. He has worked with Dub Pistols, Dublex Inc, and Fort Knox Five, and his talents and professional performances turbocharged three songs. Denise M'Baye, the MC/singer of Mo'Horizons is featured in two down-tempo tracks. "Wings" is a laidback song about love while and "All My Life Is In This Bag" smuggles back a little bit of the mood of Worldstyle. Fedora is the best-known female MC/singer of the Hungarian bass music life. With "Come Away With Me" she proves that she's not only an bass music MC, but a great singer with deep emotions. Another guest from Hungary is the lead singer of the down-tempo funk band Mystical Plants. Bryant Goodman contributes to the album in two different tracks with his gravelly voice. "Bad Man's Ballad" is a bittersweet song about the average politician of our age while "Keep Going On" on the other hand is full of playfulness and delivers a short but positive message. Last but not least is the Ghanaian M3NSA on the board from Fokn Bois and RedRed. His lyrics in "It Works" are very motivating for everyone and spread the message of not giving up even if the world is seemingly against you. Savages Y Suefo's new album Brotherhood is a lot different from their previous one in many ways but it remained just as eclectic as its predecessor Worldstyle and still proves Savages Y Suefo's wide interest and openness in music that is needed today.
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CD
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AR 109CD
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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.
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LP
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AR 109LP
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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.
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CD
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AR 111CD
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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.
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LP
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AR 111LP
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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.
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CD
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AR 093CD
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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.
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