The last few months have seen me slow down on the new records front, more for lack of trying than lack of good music (I think). Tom’s last couple of posts also covered some of my recent favs so I’ll not bother repeating ourselves and instead look at some other bizness.
Various – Madre Lingua (Mother Tongue)
Without a doubt my discovery of lockdown has been the Mother Tongue crew out of Verona in Italy. In operation since 2019, MT is a true independent operation, covering labels, distribution and record pressing. Wrapping all this up is a great visual aesthetic too, and all of this comes to full fruition brilliantly on their new VA album, released to mark their 2nd anniversary in operation.
The album gathers together a selection of artists they’ve been working with during those 2 years, which also happens to include some of the best players currently in operation in the jazz, broken beat & soulful house realm; the likes of Kaidi Thatham, Dego (well who we reckon is Dego) & Mark De Clive-Lowe while also bringing up new crew like EDB and Gary Superfly.
All feature on the 6-tracker, many in collaboration with one another, too. It’s pretty much split directly in 2-halves stylistically. The A-side focuses on jazzier rnb and funk, kicking off with a pretty faithful cover of Flight’s Face To Face, though I’m inclined to prefer the female vocals provided here by Tiombé Lockhart than on the original. She’s backed up by Kaidi Tatham, Tommaso Cappelleto & Patrick Gibin, and the same team re-group on the 3rd cut, Blue Bird, a killer slab of disco-funk. Bridging these two is K15’s funky little beats interlude, White Sage.
The 2nd side ups the tempo and brings with it my personal favourite cut on the album, the thrilling hi-tech funk of Apollo 3000, another collaboration, this time from Gibin, Cappellato and Mark De Clive-Lowe bringing on a Detroit inflection on to the record. The live drums sitting over the raucous bass riff adds a real energy to proceedings. Upon hearing the first couple of Black Tongue records last year, myself and Tom decided ?? was the work of Four Hero’s Dego, and, well, nobody has disproven us yet. Of the 9 tracks thus far released by whoever it is, no.9 which features here may be my favourite so far, focusing on restraint in all elements of the song it also ads an air of tension to proceedings; for a song with such seemingly light touches, its got a deep heaviness going on.
The album closes out with one last colab, this time from newer heads Gary Superfly & EDB. With a nod to classic Chicago house they also bring in some jazz inspired inflections which have become the cornerstone of much of the output on Mother Tongue.
Returning back to the MT aesthetic the packaging of Madre Lingua really is something to behold, most notably in the beautiful booklet that comes with the first run. Featuring testaments from those involved in the label alongside pictures of the record plant operation, its a touching tribute to the art of making records and independence in an increasingly compromised musical landscape.
Terrence Dixon – Reporting From Detroit (Rush Hour)
Ol Terry is back again to send our brains down some sort of drainpipe stuck inside a wormhole somewhere in the middle of Detroit. Dixon is such a singular artist, with his very specific brand of metallic, paranoid techno, that when you see a new release announced one can be forgiven for thinking “ah more of the same, do I really need it?” and yet the majority of the time the answer is a resounding YES. Now, having said that, I did pass on last year’s Far From The Future P.3, as it seemed a little bit unfocused and meandering but on Reporting From Detroit I’ve no such issues. Sure, it’s all based off the same sound palettes Dixon has been working off for some time, but his genius is in how me manages to mine such intoxicating madness over and over again.
He goes straight in, head first, here with the opening 1,2 salvo of On 7 Mile All Night and the vaguely terrifying Beautiful Jerusalem, only easing up slightly for us on the funky weirdness of 8th Chance before it’s time to duck behind the covers again with Dexter And Joy At Night before he gets loose and nasty on the title track.
As Dixon continues to bring us on his own specific guided tour of Detroit we finally feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel on Music Box and Star Garden, even if that light is still down the bottom of another sewer running underneath the city. Star Garden is possibly my favourite song on the album; its as meditative as Dixon gets here, even though you still feel like you’re facing Detroit down along one of its many lengthy, straight stretches of road.
The first edition features a bonus disc too, with some acid getting brought into the world on Electronic Travellers before he returns to the subtle intensity of Star Garden with the beautiful Growth and Development.
Terrence Dixon’s Detroit is one to keep the fear in you, be wary as you enter, things are gonna get heavy.
Dj Overdose – Emulator Armour (L.I.E.S)
DJ Overdose and Terrence Dixon operate in not dissimilar worlds. You pretty much know exactly what you are going to get and the real fun is to be found in how they manage to keep their sounds feel fresh and invigorating. In recent years Overdose’s output has shot up, putting out more records in the last 5 years than in the prior 15, which has meant plenty of it has passed me by but I’m very happy I didn’t pass over his latest album on L.I.E.S as its possibly the strongest collection of his music I’ve heard since his The Future of the Planet 12″ on Lunar Disko back in 2013.
Metallic funk is again the order of the day throughout the 13 cuts here, with his penchant for dark, sci-fi tinged riffing in full flow on This World and Dinges Danges while also sucking you into an alternate world of 80s cop movies on Time I Get Nasty and Bow to the Devourer. His electro-funk roots also shine heavily on 3000 and Turns Out Eddie Has No Friends – There’s a brilliant variance throughout the album, where even the 2 min trap-influenced snippets don’t feel like filler.
Finally, the album closes out on Overdose at his most reflective and unabrasive. The closing pairing of Kotero and What Do I know are a side not often seen of the Dutch maestro and after the proceeding intensity they feel extra rewarding, with What Do I Know rinsing the emotion on a simple scale. The metallic sheen is still there, but the edges are just that bit softer.
Anthony Nicholson – DirtyDiscoJazzFunk EP (The Jazz Diaries)
Chicago producer and sometime Ron Trent cohort Anthony Nicholson is endlessly productive, with a steady flow of organic, free-flowing house music dating back to the 90s. Indeed the b-side on this latest 12″ Future Black Fusion originally dates back to 2003 but to its credit it still sounds incredibly fresh with Nicholson utilising a full band for some properly wigged out jazz funk. One to let it all hang out for the floor to get sucked in (if this fucking things currently existed, oh well. Patience, patience). The A1 title track is more house-focused and more restrained but that’s all relative as Nicholson still lets go here with a wonderful rising strings riff backed up by skitting key play; throughtout the 8+ minutes it dips and dives between the jazz funk before letting the house elements take over and much like Future Black Fusion its time to let the djing take the back seat and the let the music do all the work.