Afrobeat Trainspotter

A new home for Afrobeat: Audioblend.net

2009-03-08T00:13:00.004Z

Hello all,

Its been some time since I have posted on the blog. From now on you will find the next recincarnation of this blog at its new home: http://www.audioblend.net . Audioblend will have a wider electronice music scope than this blog but I am sure you will all enjoy it nonetheless.

Thank to everyone who followed and contributed to this blog and I hope you enjoy Audioblend!

Dj Mujava : the one to take the South African house sound global??

2008-08-25T17:21:00.003+01:00

We keep hearing about THAT South African artist who is going to take the local Kwaito/Pretoria/SA house sound global and it just falls short each time. Is Dj Mujava's "Township Funk" track the one to do this? It certainly has ticks all the boxes and seems more relevant than ever in light of all attention on the bmore sound, baile funk and african electronica is getting.

Dj Mujava has recently been signed to Warp and this is what they have to say about it:

"‘Township Funk’ is tough, dark, African dance music from the industrial city of Pretoria, South Africa.
It’s perhaps the most infectious dance record you’ll hear this year, echoing the early Warp sound of LFO or the Forgemasters in an uncanny way, almost 20 years on, across continents.

Is South Africa the new hip place for electronic music ?
Maybe….but we certainly hope that South African house will go worldwide with this track.

‘Township Funk’ will be released on Warp Records on 12″ on september 15th worldwide (excl UK) and available on all good digital outlets early, from august 11th.
In the UK, it will be released by the good people of This Is Music LTD."

This is already getting some coverage in the blogosphere and more recently in the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom. With a mid-September release lets see what happens...

DJ Mbuso features on Secret Weapons EP

2008-05-23T11:26:00.003+01:00

South Africa's favorite house producer, DJ Mbuso features on German label Innervision's Secret Weapons EP. The EP which features tracks from Alix Alvarez and Francois K finishes off with Ukukholwa Kuwe (I Believe In You)" (feat Shembe)by Mbuso which was orignally released on Phezulu Records last year. Secret Weapons EP was released in April 08 and can be bought at your local store or on Juno

DJ Mbuso - "Ukukholwa Kuwe (I Believe In You)" (feat Shembe)

Artist Check: Suzana Rozkosny

2008-05-23T11:01:00.002+01:00

Suzana Rozkosny ties up a great relationship between Jazz and Electronic music. Her broad musical upbringing reflects in her productions and collaborations. From nu-soul Erica Badhu-type tracks through to collabo's with German house master Jackmate she covers a broad spectrum of music and with consistency in quality.

For some listening check out:

Apelle Moi (Label: Philpot)

Used Label: Philpot)

Also , for those in Berlin check her out tonight (23.05.08) at the Watergate.

Soulphiction new album for 2008 out now

2008-05-16T19:12:00.003+01:00

Germans make some of the best house out there right now. Soulful and deep without the cliche sounds of so much house that gets stuck on "now-thats-jazzy-house-44" type compilations. Its fresh and interesting and packs a punch. Soulphiction encapsulates whats great about German house music with his new offering "Do you overstand?!" (Sonar Kollektiv) which came out last month.

The way he puts his material together has got some people saying he is stripping house down to something else. Well yes he stripping house down to what it should be a feeling, not a formula. This album pulls me back to Ron Trent / Chez Damier tracks on Prescription in its simplicity and intensity. And yes...also to Detroit...so many parralels to Moodymann and Theo Parrish.

Check some of this album out...

http://www.myspace.com/soulphiction

Gilles Peterson's World Wide Youtube Channel

2008-05-10T18:08:00.002+01:00

For those of you who love a bit of the GP man's legendary Radio 1 sets and all things Gilles-like, check out his YouTube Channel page. Its filled with video footage from the World Wide Festival, World Wide Awards, Brownswood Recordings and other favorites from Gilles Peterson. I will add it to my link list as a permanent link as its quite a cool site to keep visiting.

http://youtube.com/gillespetersonww

Pepe Bradock - Intriguing Feathered Creature

2008-05-03T15:28:00.004+01:00

The French deep house maestro can always be turned to for fresh sounding and exciting deep house. The artist who brought us rocking tracks like "Deep Burnt" has put out some more great music in 2008. "Intriguing Feathered Creature" released mid Feb 08 is the kind of house that plays well on a dance floor or chilling at home. Nice complex chords and a rather strange bird call sample throughout the track.

Intriguing Feathered Creature

Intriguing Feathered Creature (dub)

Gilles Peterson Worldwide Festival 2008 line up

2008-04-30T18:17:00.002+01:00

The Worldwide Festival is back in style for its third French edition in the idyllic small fishing town of Sete (South of France). The Festival is taking place on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of July 2008 in some truly spectacular outdoor venues.

Look at the line up of confirmed dj's/acts:

Cinematic Orchestra, Laurent Garnier, Madlib, Sebastien Tellier, Pascal Comelade, Breakestra, Henrik Schwarz, Benga, Gilles Peterson, zero dB, Pilooski, Little Dragon, Dynamax, Marathon Men, Toshio Matsuura, DJ Lefto, James Stewart, L'Aroye and Ky… to name a few!

For more info and to book your ticket (tickets are currently 59 pounds / 81 euros) : http://www.worldwidefestival.com/

Artist Check: Five Men Three Missing

2008-04-26T08:12:00.002+01:00

With a name chosen from a competition at their first gig, these guys have definitely got a unique approach to their music and performances. Five Men Three Missing is a Johannesburg based band consisting of two guys (clever name huh?) Emile Hoogenhout and João Orecchia. Their sound is a mix of genres from dub influence to electronica with a beautiful fusion of live instrumentation and sample based work. They also have a rather unique live performance:

"For this band, performing a track is unlike any other. The song begins with the live performance of a short instrumental piece. This segment is recorded live, and looped in real time, so that it is continues to be heard by the audience in recorded format. As more parts are recorded live, they are laid over one another in sequence. This creates ‘layers' of loops which are synchronized in a time pattern. " Five Men Three Missing Myspace

Lets hope these guys get to do some touring outside of South Africa as their gigs have an amazing interactive vibe (see video and pictures on their profile ) and I'm sure their sound would go down really well in Europe.

Win a one off Charles Webster canvas from Defected

2008-04-21T20:49:00.002+01:00

Defected are giving a way a one-off canvas of the new Charles Webster compilation's art work in the run up to the release of "Defected presents Charles Webster". Check out the competition here:

http://www.defected.com/competitions/competition-details/47#

Video: A short interview with Theo Parrish

2008-04-19T09:57:00.001+01:00

Recently added on youtube, this video follows Theo Parrish as he records sounds in and around Detroit and explains a little bit about how Detroit and the city influences his music.

Need2Soul : Killer line up for next Cargo gig in London

2008-04-18T11:51:00.004+01:00

This is one top notch line up for Tortured Soul's latest gig in London. If you are not familiar with Tortured Soul, they are a live house band that do an amazing gig, so if they play in your town...check them out. Its been some time that we have heard anything new from them but they finally have some new material coming out , "In Transit - Advance EP"(check their myspace for a peak on some the new material) , which will be avilabel for sale soon. For now you can buy it at their gigs.

The guys over at Need2Soul host them for their london gig, check the line up!

Tortured Soul (NYC)
Charles Webster (Miso Records)
Rap Saunders

9pm - 3am at Cargo
83 Rivington Street
Shoreditch
London EC2A 3AY

If you are in London, check them out I have been in 2 Tortured Soul nights and they are always worth the money.

Artist Check: Black Coffee (Nkosinathi (Nathi) Maphumulo)

2008-04-12T17:10:00.007+01:00

I was looking through some playlists for some new music and came across a Kevin "Master" Saunderson playlist on theVinyl Junkies website. As I was moving down the list I came across Black Coffee "Turn Me On / Come To Me" and wondered if it was the same Black Coffee from South Africa that a friend of mine had told me about a few years back who was starting to produce some good quality deep house in Gauteng. To my surprise it was! Great to see SA producers making waves internationally.

Have a listen to "Turn me on", its a solid house track with that rather distinctive latin precussion that SA producers love. He put out three 12" last year so keep your ears open in 08 for more.

For more info on Black Coffee check out his Discog's profile or his myspace page.

George Levin gets the Sonar Kollektiv Orchester treatment

2008-04-10T17:50:00.004+01:00

George Levin's "(I Got) Somebody New" has be given the re-rub treatment by the Sonar Kollektiv Orchester, a collaboration from some of Sonar Kollektiv's finest. The track gets a makeover but retains all the good stuff from the original which was released in 2002. This will be coming out as part of the album (SK170CD)due for release in April 08.

Click here to listen to the original

Click here to have a listen to the remix

Both are great summer smiling songs!

Theo Parrish: Gig List

2008-04-02T12:24:00.005+01:00

If you havent seen Theo Parrish dj yet, then go on one of the dates below if you can! He is one of the most energetic and passionate DJ's to watch and his track selection will range from 70's funk to disco dubs and his own productions. I had the opportunity to see him play @ Plastic People and it will go down as one of my best nights out. Really worth the effort. Comment if you have seen him play and let me know what you thought....

02 apr 2008 10:00 RBMA - Info Session Sydney
03 apr 2008 8:00 RBMA - Info Session Perth
03 apr 2008 20:00 SHAPE Perth
04 apr 2008 20:00 MANDARIN CLUB Sydney
05 apr 2008 8:00 RBMA - Info Session Melbourne
05 apr 2008 20:00 MISS LIBERTINE Melbourne
11 apr 2008 20:00 COKE CULTURE TOUR BERLIN
12 apr 2008 20:00 COKE CULTURE TOUR HAMBURG
17 apr 2008 20:00 COKE CULTURE TOUR MUNICH
18 apr 2008 20:00 COKE CULTURE TOUR COLOGNE
19 apr 2008 20:00 COKE CULTURE TOUR ERFURT
25 apr 2008 20:00 TRAMWAY GLASGOW
26 apr 2008 20:00 SNAFU ABERDEEN
27 apr 2008 20:00 CABARET VOLTAIRE EDINBURGH
10 maj 2008 20:00 SOUTHPORT WEEKENDER SOUTHPORT PONTINS
31 maj 2008 20:00 YELLOW TOKYO
20 jun 2008 20:00 SONAR FESTIVAL BARCELONA
05 jul 2008 20:00 PLASTIC PEOPLE LONDON
02 aug 2008 20:00 PLASTIC PEOPLE LONDON
06 sep 2008 20:00 PLASTIC PEOPLE LONDON
04 okt 2008 20:00 PLASTIC PEOPLE LONDON

Sound Signature:
http://www.discogs.com/label/Sound+Signature

Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/soundsignature

Label Highlight: Freude-am-tanzen

2008-03-29T08:40:00.000Z

I picked up some of the releases on this label quite late but what I have heard so far has been awesome. Artists like Soulphiction/Jackmate have put out tracks that would make Moodymann nod his head and other quality productions come under Gamat 3000 ("feeling love" is a brilliant track) and Wighnomy Bros. With over 30+ releases under their belt this label has consistently put out good music, however on recent releases the track selections have definitely started pointing heavily to minimal house, which is a shame given the quality deep house releases they were putting out in 2004-2005. Nonetheless if you are not familiar with this label check them out: http://www.freude-am-tanzen.com/

Premier rocks it

2007-12-04T14:56:00.000Z

I had the privilege of seeing DJ Premier and Marly Marl play@ Canvas in London over the weekend. I have been listening to Premier both within Gangstarr and his solo production for years and watching him play on Saturday reminded me of all the great tracks he has been involved in. So...I decided to list out a few of my favorites:

- KRS-One - MC's Act Like They Don`t Know
- Big L - The Big Picture Intro
- Afu-Ra - Defeat
- Common - The 6th Sense
- Gangstarr - You Know My Steez
- Jay-Z - Intro A Million And One Questions
- Nas - Nas is like

Found these two mixes of Premier beats on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=youm845zkS0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsnCD1GeA2A&feature=related

SA label Soul Candi rolls out mobile on demand music

2007-08-11T13:17:00.000+01:00

In conjunction with Rok Radio , Soul Candi is due to release an on-demand music service for mobile phones. The subscription based service will roll out across all three major South African mobile operators and will allow listeners to choose and listen in real time what they would like to hear rather than what is being broadcast. Furthermore, subscribers will be able to purchase tracks via their phone and have these sent to their phones memory cards rather than on the phones on board memory.

Soul Candi will be charging R10 (approx £0.70) a week for 5 hours of selected music hosted and mixed by leading SA DJ's. Cost of individual tracks is yet to be announced.

The move is certainly a pioneering one but it will be interesting to see how widely adopted this platform is.

http://www.soulcandi.co.za/

http://www.rok.tv/

Soul Control!

2007-08-02T13:33:00.000+01:00

If you haven't heard this yet...go listen! Following on from the massive track "Falling Up", Sound Scupltures Vol 1 is sure to impress. Tracks like "Soul Control" and "Synthetic Flemm" really do make me think there is still hope for the house scene!

Im not going to say anymore on this, check it out: http://www.rushhour.nl/store_detailed.php?item=38806

Before the music dies...

2007-07-29T20:15:00.000+01:00

Being hailed as the most important music documentary for fans of our generation, the documentary Before the Music Dies is getting a lot of attention at the mo.

"Narrated by Academy Award® Winner Forest Whitaker, BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES is an unsettling and inspiring look at today’s popular music industry featuring interviews and performances by Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Branford Marsalis, ?uestlove and a wide variety of others. "

Check Roots man ?uestlove's words on this and the state of hip hop on Gilles Peterson's show from 26 July http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson/

For more on Before the Music Dies check:

Beforethemusicdies.com

James Brown RIP 25.12.06

2006-12-28T11:23:00.000Z

The God Father of Soul passes on....

http://www.myspace.com/thelegendjamesbrown

Hit Alert! Slope- Aint Nothing Like this Feeling (Charles Webster remix)

2006-12-28T11:06:00.000Z

Oh man

If you havent heard Slope-Aint nothing like this feeling (Sonar Kollektiv) yet... then listen! (listen) Out in May 2006 this is getting a re-release on the Slope-Slope is Dope EP in Early 2007.

Charles Webster continues to show us that dance music can still be soulful, meaningful and exciting. He is always producing tracks that can sit on both side of the commercial/undergound line and this is no different. More Charles more!

Aint nothing like this...

www.sonarkollektiv.com
www.slopemusic.de
www.lovefromsanfrancisco.com

Been a while so....

2006-12-15T16:18:00.000Z

Yes yes, so long since I have posted ANYTHING here... man just been so busy and this has unfortunaltey been one of the things that has fallen to the wayside! So....

It a short but sweet post with a few tunes I think are hot at the moment, let me know what you think:

-Iz and Diz - Love Vibe Vol 2 (Aesoteric) [sample]
- Beat Pharmacy / Mutabaruka - Wate ( Water ) ( Deep Dub ) [sample]
- Ghostface - Ghost is back (Airplay) [sample]
-Deepchord / Rod Model / Mike Huckaby - Electromagnbetic Dowswing The FInal Step ( Mike Huckaby Remix ) (Synth) [sample]
-KANO / VYBZ KARTEL : Buss It Up (679 Recordings) [sample]
-Theo Parrish - Falling UP (Carl Craig Mix) (Third Ear) [sample]
- Mobb Deep - Shook ones re-release (instrumental) [sample]
-Nick Holder - Player (Magik J edit) (NRK) [sample]

Quite a mish mash of stuff....but have a listen...

Scandies rock the party!

2006-07-05T15:16:00.000+01:00

After recently coming back from a trip to Norway, I decided to look a bit deeper into the music scene in the Scandinavian countries. What I discovered was a groundswell of electronic music coming out from this area!

With big stars like Eric Prydz and Rasmus Faber putting Sweden on the map, more media attention has moved to the Scandinavian areas.

i-DJ recently ran an article on Sweden's growing electronic scene ("Swede Sensation") talking about the growth of Swedish artists and labels in all electronic music genres.

Rasmus Faber, deep house big league player, had this to say about Sweden:

Â?The club scene is quite small compared to many other countries, but the environment for making music is great. There are lots of talented and skilled musicians, vocalists, songwriters, and producers, many with a great level of technical skill.Â?

It will certainly be worth keeping an eye/ear on what goes on in Sweden musically. We already know that hip hop, deep house, breaks and jazz noodly stuff is well established here so Im sure we can expect lots more from this area!

PS. check out SUMO if you dont know them already, Swedishsh house duo with an album cover to rival any Abba shots!

http://www.myspace.com/sumothedanceband
http://www.heyahifi.com

Paz E Futbol - Jazzanova give their 2 cents worth on football

2006-06-30T17:07:00.000+01:00

Given that the world cup is being hosted in their home country the boys of jazzanova have decided to put togther a release to celebrate this:

Paz e Futebol compilation celebrates what is undoubtedly the Brazilian nations greatest passion next to soccer: music. What better time to showcase Brazilian music than coinciding with a World Cup? Featuring greats of the Brazilian music scene such as MARCOS VALLE and EDU LOBO, this record is sure to please those already in the know about the musical treats the country has to offer as well as winning over new listeners to the sound of Brazil.

sonarkollektiv.com

A shout to the brazillian massive!

2006-06-20T14:12:00.000+01:00

My friend, Edround, in Brazil has launched his label and first tracks (excuse the Brazinglish!!):

In front of the difficulties, the Grooveland’s project was born to divulge the good music in Brazil. Grooveland is a project idealized by dj Edground and has the contribution of dj e.deep.

The main objective of this project is of spreading the good music and its references with grooves and harmony of vanguard or contemporary. Nu jazz, broken beats, rare grooves, latin and afro beats, deep, jazzy and soulful house are compose its hall of references.

Grooveland Music was idealized and established by the DJ and producer Eduardo Cury, aka e.deep and by the Dj Edground, whom saw in the national market the necessity to open a specialized house label to be a better assistant for the Brazilian house scene.

Check the promo release

Amp Fiddler's new album is out!

2006-06-15T12:41:00.000+01:00

Ex-parliament member, detroit soul crooner and Moodymann collaborator, Amp Fiddler, has come out with his second album, "Afro-Strut". The follow-on album from "Waltz of a Ghetto Fly" has been creeping up on us since April when the inital limited 1000 albums hit the UK shelves.

With the likes of Only Child and Paul Randolph featuring on this its sure to get some serious playtime!! Soul, funk and house all blended in a fiddler way.

Check "Dope" and "Right where you are". Expect massive remix treatment on this album.

http://www.myspace.com/ampfiddler

Label Profile: Philpot Germany

2006-05-31T20:43:00.000+01:00

In the vein of a wave of german labels and artists that are mxing up the well known electonic-tech german sound and deeper grooves, Philpot is leaving its mark on the scene. There is a clear homage to the the sounds of detroit in their releases.

In 2000 Michel Baumann and Tobi Ettle founded Philpot-Records. Heavily influenced by the hey day of house music these two went on to release “The Media Pt.1” and the second one “Midnight Funk Infinity” came from Soulphiction aka Jackmate in 2000 and 2001 respectively.

Things went quiet for a while but 2005 and 2006 have seen them release a range of acclaimed tracks including Manmade Science-Turn Down the Lights. Also getting plenty of air play has been material from The Mole.

Keep your eyes ans ears glued to releases form these guys and this label!!

Links:

http://www.philpot-records.net
http://www.juno.co.uk/labels/Philpot+Germany

Version Sounds - Charles Webster and Atjazz

2006-05-18T21:16:00.000+01:00

Not sure if you heard the Clara Hill- Nowhere (Version Remix) im hoping we gonna hear alot more exciting stuff from Version this year....

This is a project worth watching!! With 2 remixes already under their belt this year this a-team collabo is gonna whip up a storm:

"Version" is a new project from Charles Webster and Martin Iveson.
Both of them (of course !) are already releasing their own music (and have been for some time now), running a label...etc,
Martin and Charles have been really good friends for a long time now, they found by working together they bring out different ideas and styles in each other, both in the studio, behind the decks and in a live situation ....so...why not work together !!!

cited: version sounds site

http://www.versionsounds.com/

Mixes Mixes Mixes!!

2006-05-16T13:02:00.000+01:00

http://fullbozman.free.fr/mixes.php?function=show&guest=1

Theo, Moody, Larry Levan, Morales, Vega....nuff said!!

For those partying in the city of Jozi on Friday

2006-05-12T12:47:00.000+01:00

Friday Nights (9-2am)
Fuel Cafe, Newtown JHB
DJ's: Nick C, Static Plastic and Guests

DJ Synflood podcast

2006-05-12T12:38:00.000+01:00

I came across this podcast recently. The mixes are ok but the track selection on these mixes is awesome! Everything from Theo Parish to MF Doom and Spacek. Nice music food for your IPOD!

Subscribe here:

Or visit the site:

http://www.djsynflood.org

BeyondJazz.net looking for demos

2006-05-10T13:34:00.000+01:00

To all those aspiring producers outthere, the coveted community site BeyondJazz.net has put out a call for demos for their upcoming compilation:

Ok, so this is the official word we are working on a new compilation. Once again, on Beyondjazz vol. 3 we compile a bunch of great exclusive tracks from both known and unknown talents. Yes, we dropped the 'sampler' part of the title. More news about the details later, because right now we are looking for demo's.

So you bedroom producers out there, time to show us (and later the rest of the world) what you've been working on! Doesn't matter what style it is, as long as it fits in the Beyondjazz picture. We'd like to get your tunes before June please.

There's several ways to get your music to us: Yousendit and the alternatives, host it somewhere, MSN, or snail mail to Lensco:
Lennart Schoors
St.-Pietersnieuwstraat 184
9000 Gent
Belgium

http://www.beyondjazz.net/viewtopic.php?t=10668

Felix Laband and Moodymann give Alif Tree the remix treatment

2006-05-06T12:50:00.000+01:00

South African wunderkind Felix Laband and Detroits deepest, Moodymann give Alif Tree some remix knowledge on his track 'Forgotten Places'.

''Forgotten Places'' is making use of a Shirly Horn vocal sample. You can hear the respect Alif Tree has for the music he works with. Moodymann's remix stays true to the original, but you'll still know: this is the work of Moodymann. The B-side features a new remix by Alif Tree himself, which shifts ''Forgotten Places'' to a new direction: straight on the floor! Felix Laband approaches ''Forgotten Places'' from a different perspective. Addding a new subtle bassline and the way he works and twists samples, results in a playful but quirky sound.

cited: http://www.clone.nl/item6740.html

Felic Laband seems to have really come under the interntional spotlight as a producer/remixer and his 2005 album 'Dark Days Exit' on Compost Records has been well recieved.

Check out:

Alif Tree-Forgotten Places (remixes: Moodymann//Fleix Laband//Alif Tree)
Felix Laband- Dark Days Exit

New mix @ Deeper.co.za

2006-05-05T23:50:00.000+01:00

Fellow South African deep fanatic Dan Cuthbert has a new mix on his Site. DJ Mitch puts together an awesome mix featuring some wicked tracks from Metro Area and Losoul for April 06. Check it!

http://deeper.co.za

Jay Dilla on house music?

2006-04-19T18:05:00.000+01:00

As I'm sure you know, Jay Dilla, sadly passed away recently and made all of us realize what an important producer he was and what a legacy he has left. With that in mind, my good friend Ben was trawling through the Dilla beats collections and came across a track (I think collections 3, track 8) that is just and absolute thumper. Its a straight down 4/4 beat track with a nasty bassline and drums. If this could be lengthened and maybe tweaked for the dancefloor we would have an underground house classic in our midst.

I wonder if he laid down anything else like this? I'm pretty sure this wasn't intended to be a house track.

For those wanting some background on Jay Dilla check it: http://www.myspace.com/jdilla

Deeper Soul Radio Show doing their thing again on SamuraiFM

2006-03-16T13:55:00.000Z

Deeper Soul is proud to announce its addition to the Samurai FM family. Label head Josh Deep along side Deeper Soul’s newest member Mr. Joshua aka Dom Ritmo. Long at his duties as head of sales of the one and only Groove Distribution, the man comes gripped with the newest sounds and deepest whites for the set.

The show launches with a visit in the Deeper Soul headquarters by Just One, droppin’ a set of mad broken riddims live in the spot for an exclusive mix.

The sets will feature Josh Deep and Mr. Joshua rockin’ it back and forth, plus exclusive mixes by those involved and visiting for the Deeper Soul monthly party in Chicago, the “Get Down”. The sets are archived so, dig in.. [http://www.deepersoulrecs.com]

How about making a music video for Osunlade?

2006-03-10T13:58:00.001Z

Osunlade has new full length release due out in June 2006. 'Aquarian Moon' will be a joint release with Yoruba reocrds and BBE. From initial buzz, this album is going to be a real journey into Osunlade's recording skills with a sound that takes departure from his house productions.

The real twist in this release is that Osunalde is giving an up-and-coming film maker the chance to make a short-film for a song off the album 'Sokinsikartep'. If you feel you have what it takes click on the link below, visit the myspace site for Osunalde, listen to the track and submiot something for consoderation.

I think this a great use of the internet to connect creatives together and gain exposure for new talent around the world!

http://www.myspace.com/yorubarecords

Your Mathew Herbert needs you!!

2006-02-21T21:46:00.000Z

So the man who made an album from sounds around his house has taken the whole thing to the next level and has asked you to be on his album! Matthew Herbert's newest release will consist of sounds made up, well, of you!! The album, due out this year, has sounds from an answering machine ('herbert hotline') which was set up at the iK7 offices. Contributors from around the world phoned in and left various sounds in the hope that their oral delights will be featured on Herberts tracks.

For more info on the concept click here

THE LAKE OF STARS FESTIVAL 1ST - 3RD SEPTEMBER 2006 @ CHINTHECHE INN, NORTHERN MALAWI, AFRICA

2006-02-19T21:01:00.000Z

THE LAKE OF STARS FESTIVAL 1ST - 3RD SEPTEMBER 2006 @ CHINTHECHE INN, NORTHERN MALAWI, AFRICA

The Malawi music festival is back. Set in southern Africa on the shimmering, palm-fringed shores of Lake Malawi, the Lake of Stars Festival has become one of the fastest growing events in sub-saharan Africa. The last two years have seen Groove Armada's Andy Cato, DJ Yoda and Felix B from Basement Jaxx all fly out along with around 200 people from all over the UK. This year the word has spread throughout Africa with artists and festiver-goers alike coming from Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia. Headlining and hosting the event will be BBC 1Xtra's Ras Kwame http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/ras/ , Chibuku residents the Beat Monkeys, Phat Phil Cooper, Maverick Mitchell and Malawi stars Tikhu Vibrations, the Black Missionaries and Wambali.

For information and ideas on what to do whilst in Malawi please check out the festival website: www.lakeofstarsfestival.co.uk The 2006 flyer be out on the streets next week. For more information please email info@lakeofstarsfestival.co.uk or call 0151 708 5051.

Posted by Phat Phil Cooper on beyondjazz.net

Theo Parrish - 'Falling up' music the way we like it!!

2006-02-18T21:01:00.000Z

This track is just killing it!!

Coming out late last year and really kicking down now, the remixes of 'falling up' by Carl Craig are sublime. This has been a anticipated release and truly lives up to the hype. Its available on 10"and will fly from stores around the world. For those of you in London check it out at Vinyl Junkies.

Theo Parrish-Falling Up - Carl Craig Remix ( Detroit Beadown Remixes ) ::Third Ear

Moodymann Archive!

2006-02-10T14:10:00.000Z

To all the Moodyphiles out there I found a really cool archive of many of the tempremental one's tracks.

Kenny Dixon Jnr aka Moodymann has certainly left his mark on house music in the last few years. If anybody is still producing innovative and exicting house music it is him. The list contains well known releases like the Black Mahogani album and some rare ones you will never hear or own !!

Check it out:

http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/ver2/genreFeature.php?&ftcode=124&genre=6

Mpho Skeef interview

2006-02-06T21:49:00.000Z

South African born Mpho Skeef seems to be cutting a path through the music inustry. Heard 'booty la la' track by Bugz in the Attic? Thats Mpho on vocals. She has done backing vocals on Terri Walker and Natasha Bedingfield and worked with Martin and Steve Spacek on material. Now she is on the verge of releasing her debut album. Check out this interview with her on beyondjazz.net .

Afrobeat Blog is back!!

2006-02-04T13:28:00.000Z

After a serious break from all that has been afrobeat Im back and blogging!

First off for all that are in London on 2.11.06 Saturday you gotta check out this gig!

Terry Francis, Iz & Diz and Tortured Soul (live) @ Fabric

If you have ever seen Tortured Soul live then you will know they are probably the most exciting live souful house act at the moment with great stage presence. Take a look at their site and have a listen to their material, rumour has it they are currently working on their second album.

Stuart Patterson will be heading up his Lodge sessions in the back room with Maurice Fulton and Chris Jay. Check out his regular evenings at the Lodge Bar in Harlesden.

Afrobeat Forum Hacked Cracked and Ripped apart

2005-11-17T18:42:00.000Z

To all the afrobeat forum collaborators, my appologies for the downtime on the afrobeat.co.za forum. For the second time we have been hacked by some childish idiots who take great pleasure in spoilingit for a small community of deep heads. The forum will go up again once we have improved the security and improved the funcitonality.

Peace Ray

Tonwship Mothers Sessions

2005-11-17T18:40:00.000Z

Interesting! Why do Soutbh Africans never hear about these projects!

http://somevelvetblog.blogspot.com:

"The Mothers Township Sessions is a collaboration between The Philani Mothers South African choir with London-based producer Peter Raeburn of Soundtree Music, who in turn, enlisted the talents of a particular selection of musicians and producers; Nitin Sawhney, Kid Loco, Tom Kenyatta, Faze Action, Layo & Bushwacka, Soulsavers, Manasseh, Charlie May, and Zero 7. The collection is available on Mr. Bongo Records in London."

From Mzanzi to Brazil

2005-10-30T20:03:00.000Z

In keeping a bit of a cross over going with our friends from Brazil I have put links in for two sets:

From South Africa:

DJ Kanunu (House Afrika)- 23rd OCTOBER 2005

And from my friend down south on the pacific side:

DJ Ed Ground (Grooveland-Brazil)-30th October 2005

Hope you all enjoy these little treats!

PS keep eyes open for the Jazzanova compilation out now- 'Secret Love 2'. I got a taste of some of material on the album on my birthday this weekend! Jazzanova did a nice afternoon set on Brick Lane, London and it was the perfect addition to a great birthday!

Peace
Ray

Brett Jackson starts radio show again

2005-09-16T17:50:00.000+01:00

Friday 16.09.05: South Africa’s top Deep House DJ Brett Jackson returns with his new “Lost and Found” mix, at 1PM US Eastern / 6PM UK / 19:00 Central European Time. (Brett is on tour in Europe right now. See the Springbok Agency for info on his eupoean tour.

Click here for the show

Audio Affair brings Dave Togher home

2005-09-15T13:18:00.000+01:00

So the prodigal son of South African deep house returns home. Well, at least for a few days! Somewhat of a deep house legend (well a bit of a unsung hero actually) in South Africa, Dave Togher(aka Murmur) will be back in South Africa with production partner Graeme White to play at the songwriters club on Oct 1 2005. The UK based duo have been at the heart of a quite storm that has seen the rise of minimal house,tech, glitch(what ever the hell yopu wanna call it).

Support will come from local DJ's Amit, Dror, Jay Jay and Phat Jack. Furthermore world renknowned VJ Code FC will be splashing the walls with crazy visuals for the masses.

80 of those ronds will get you in , 60 if you get there before 22h00.

PS If your'e into some minmal deep house/tech check out Murmur-Boundaries

Deep House Store launch new site

2005-09-07T22:39:00.000+01:00

As of this week deep house store, label and dj collective Soul Candi have launched a new site. My mate and afrobeat partner David has been driving the design for the site and its paid off. The site provides access to the Soul Candi Insitute of Music, news on releases of albums, compilations and singles and access to their online catalog and label information. Check it out, they got some good stuff and you should have access, internationally, to the locally produced stuff. http://www.soulcandi.co.za

Reboot: Notes from a new generation

2005-08-04T12:14:00.000+01:00

I really dont know how I only found out about this excting project now! Reboot: Notes from a new generation is a coop project between a LA based humanitarian organisation and OM Records. The project will see proceeds of the CD sales going to African children orphaned by Aids.

This is an exiciting project as artists like Mark Farina, Marquess Wyatt, J boogie, Ron Trent and Louie Vega have donated , mostly unreleased material, to the compilation. But what makes this really exciting for South African deep house heads, aside from the charitable benefit of the CD, is the presence of our own deep house produvers, Vinny da Vinci, Troye and Troydon on the compilation alongside these major international artists. This is surely signals the coming of age of South African deep house!!

Buy here : Musicstack : Search: 'Reboot: Notes from a new generation'
or here: Gemm: Search: 'Reboot: Notes from a new generation'

UK and SA music mash up!!

2005-07-27T17:11:00.000+01:00

Well if you listen to radio1 xtra at all you would know that Rodney P and Skitz are in Africa (more specifically dirty south at the mo). They have covered a really interesting piece on South African youth culture in their documentaries section that is definitely worth checking out to get a feel for what’s happening in the scene.

Well, the ever-inventive movement crew, known for their huge events at carfax, have decided to get the UK boys to mash it up with some top SA talent at the Spark gallery in Johannesburg. Alongside Rodney P and Skitz will be SA beatbox-dj Redwood, C-live and Tumi and the Volume. On the house floor will be 2-lani of Retro Music and the Pimp Squad whipping the commercial house tunes for the masses(ahem..).

Spark Gallery – 10 Louis Road, Norwood Entrance: R40 before 14h00, R70 after

Roxanne gives us an autumn waarmer from South Africa

2005-07-22T17:06:00.000+01:00

Deep house vocal vixen Roxanne puts out some smooth souful stuff.

Click here to have a listen to 'Autumn Love' and then give us a shoput on the afrobeat forum and give us your comments, Im sure Roxanne will appreciate your views.

A big shout to the deep house bloggers!!

2005-07-20T23:03:00.000+01:00

Was surfing for some sites and came across these guys : http://deepersoul.blogspot.com/
Its a really cool blog filled with mixes, reviews on tracks and interviews.

Check it !!!

House Music Awards- Last Call!

2005-07-19T22:01:00.000+01:00

To all who dont know the voting for the House Music Awards closes in the nextr few days so get your votes in!!

Here's what HMA has to say:

"House Music Awards were created for music lovers and clubbers the world over. Launching at the 2004 Miami Winter Music Conference, House Music Awards very quickly captured the imagination of a huge underground collective. From March to September 04, over 14,500 music lovers from all over the globe registered and voted online - shouting their support of the Awards and the Music. Progress was followed and news items featured on websites the world over, and international standing was demonstrated by the world's press from Washington to Johannesburg: including CNN, MTV, Time Out, Metro, the Sunday Times, Arena and Reuters.

House Music Awards are decided entirely by the people that live & love the music - unlike other awards, everyone has the chance to nominate and vote for their favourite DJ, Producer or club night.

http://www.housemusicawards.com/

South African vocalist KB on Osunlade's label Yoruba

2005-07-16T11:16:00.000+01:00

Top SA vocalist and SAMA(South African Music Award) winner KB is doing her thang with Osunlade on his label Yoruba. After the last two albums "Beautiful Vibrations" and "Rock Lefatshe", this is a reminder that South africa has some excellent talent that is being under valued.

Check these clips out from Deep House Mafia:

KB- Feelin U
KB- Feelin U(Yoruba Soul Mix)

Troydons full play list of tracks

2005-07-15T21:32:00.000+01:00

Seeming we keep saying how Troydon is the biggest South African deep house export, I decided that is was a good idea to put a list of his tracks on the blog, so here we go:

Troydon-Live & Learn (Aroma)
Troydon-Da Jazz Joint(Aroma)
Troydon-Everything Smooth (Aroma)
Kaskade-I Like The Way (Troydon) (OM)
Troydon-Tic Tac Tec(Grab)
JT Donalson-It's Simple (Troydon's Simple South Dub)(Grab)
Troydon-Wanted(Grab)
Troydon-Some Of This

Troydon-Live & Learn (Aroma)
Troydon-Da Jazz Joint(Aroma)
Troydon-Everything Smooth (Aroma)
Kaskade-I Like The Way (Troydon) (OM)
Troydon-Tic Tac Tec(Grab)
JT Donalson-It's Simple (Troydon's Simple South Dub)(Grab)
Troydon-Wanted(Grab)
Troydon-Some Of This(Grab)
Troydon-Keep Bustin'(Grab)
Troydon-Fire Escape(Gallery Music)
Troydon-Waxed(Gallery Music)
Troydon-Waxed (Mark Farina)(Gallery Music)

Troydon-Waxed (Mark Farina Beats)(Gallery Music)

You can find Troydon's tracks at Music Stack (try the adanced search got a pile of his tracks)

Also try Gemm Music and Stompy for the MP3's

Red Bull Music Academy : better late than never!

2005-07-13T13:08:00.000+01:00

Red Bull Music Academy :: LINKS Check this out for info on the remaining days of the Red Bull get together..2003 was hosted in Cape Town !!

Check it! Hopefully we can get some more feedback on it from the afrobeat.co.za forum so I'll let you know when we do.

RAGE: South African Street Culture Online

2005-07-13T12:55:00.000+01:00

Check out the artiicle on The Moshito conference in Johanesburg at :RAGE: South African Street Culture Online. Moshito is trying to establish itself as a core feature in up and coming music producers calendars. The conference provides musicians and producers with an opportunity to network, exhachange music and ideas and catch up on SA music news.

This year the conference will dedicate the last day to unsinged artists:

'This is an opportunity for unsigned and emerging artists to showcase their music to industry professionals. Artists who register and submit their demo CD's will have their track played at dedicated sessions covering various music genres. Participants should come prepared to engage with the panel of industry experts about their creative work.'

Get yo music in if you in SA and produce..lets get some SA deep house in there!!

Troydon on Drop Music

2005-07-06T13:26:00.000+01:00

South African export Troydon has an EP out on sampler-king label Drop Music. Troydon seems to be going from strength to strength after a set of releases on NY based labels and some remix treatment from Mark Farina.

Find Troydons Growing Pains EP on http://www.dropmusic.co.uk/dropmain.htm#latest

Not my cup of tea but worth a listen

Beautiful deep music

2005-07-02T15:40:00.000+01:00

Got this post on the afrobeat.co.za forum from Urban Elektrik about the new release of Aybee on Deepblak

Deepblak Recordings
Aybee - " Revolution of 1 " EP (DBR003)

Download now at www.deepblak.com in stores mid-july
View Trailer (2.9mb) - Trailer

Listen
1] Revolution of 1 - Audio
2] Santa Monica In 6 - Audio
3] Movement - Audio
4] Broken Dreamz - Audio

Such awesome deep music !! Reminds of me of the era of prescription recordings. Deep, thoughtful music that doesnt follow a winning dancefloor formula...nice

Another track by ben

2005-06-30T13:22:00.000+01:00

So my mate ben just seems to be churning them out !!

Ben has got his groove! Benv-Smootherilla

http://www.bijouonline.biz/files/smootherilla.mp3

Give us a shout on the blog and forum and let us know what you think

Ray

DJ Mbuso's new album is now out

2005-06-29T22:42:00.000+01:00

An interesting name for the album sounding a bit moodymanish !!! "shades of Maf and So" ha ha. Anyways, Mbuso's album has been a highly anticipated release within South Africa and now is finally out on Sheer House. This acclaimed SA DJ and Producer has put together a selection of different styles that reflect his and SA's own eclectic taste including the miami 2005 smash "soweto funk". Check it out here: http://www.sheerhouse.co.za

1. Mbuso's Revenge 2005 feat. Antonio Lynos
2. Soweto Funk
3. Ukuhlowa kuwe (To believe in you) feat. Shembe
4. Summer Breeze
5. Never Alone feat. Melusi and Nobuntu
6. Golden Life feat. Gina
7. ePiano
8. Mad Cobra(useless) feat. Tumi
9. Swazi's Dance
10. Ndalo's Cry
11. Thank U feat. Melusi
12. Breathe feat. Gina and Kyla
13. Black People feat. Dave

New track by Ben and some african house mixes

2005-06-21T22:41:00.000+01:00

Hey happy ppl

Thought you might like a listen to a really nice track from me mate Ben from jozi , south africa, i like it it alot!!!

http://www.bijouonline.biz/files/butterflyben-Thursday.mp3

Nice one ben...give us some feedback on the afrobeat forums http://www.afrobeat.co.za

Also picked up this afro-house mix on our forums:

http://s18.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=30XKO0XNSGEAO15A4LJ421XMHW

Playlist:

Chicola - Walela Africa Royal Drums -AfroDynamic V (Afro Dynamic Records) Clubworx,jerry Ropero & Denis the menace - Mombassa (Thrill Records) Jesse Garcia - Ibiza(Out of Africa mix) (Vendetta records) Danny Marques & Ferry B - Afrocatalans (Defected Records) DJ Dig - The Drums(Antoine Clamaran mix) (White Label) Antoine Clamaran - Sound of Afrika (Basic Traxx ) Funky Dream Men - Night of the Living Djembe (Fragile records) Jesse Garcia Presents Carlsberg - Kulu Ngile (White Label) Darren Afrika - Drummapella

And finally a b-sides mix from afrobeat friend and host to our mp3's Dan from deeper.co.za:

http://deeper.co.za/mixes/the_b_sides.html

laters !!!

London massive weekend

2005-06-03T13:15:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last few weeks. Just trying to get my ducks in a row in the UK in terms of work and home !! This weekend looks like it is gonna be a good one. Gonna head through to Cargo tonight to catch Need2Soul, a deep and soulful house night in london central. Tonight US deep house band Tortured Soul will be headlining. I have mentioned them before and if you still havent heard them, head out and get the album 'Introducing'. Good Stuff. This is their second visit to the UK and there are rumours that they may play some new material from there forthcoming album due out year end. Also on the decks will be Collin Paterson so this should be a good gig.

Tomorrow I will be heading through to Wahalla party at Fluid Bar in farringdon, where Dan from Deeper.co.za will be on rotation with a few friends playing deep and tech house. Will get some pictures and words from both these gigs for y'all on Sunday !!

London calling

2005-05-14T22:42:00.000+01:00

So im finally here and alive !! Went to the home of all things deep and jazzy, Vinyl Junkies in SOHO. Heard some great stuff there, new material from Osunlade, Tread (Detroit deep housers), Jazztronik and Detroit Experiment. Also saw a flyer for a great party on the 29 May in a mansion between brighton and london. Check this line up derrick carter, terry farley, stuart patterson, gilles peterson, electrik souls people (unabombers etc). Let you peeps know how it is, pics and all !!

Also seeing alot of um.. the Glen Lewis track that got remix treatment from Dennis Ferrer.. ahem ahem...hope this his own. Apparently this has been reviewed in DJ mag with pretty positive reviews...

Apparently the Oskido and Fresh gig in Camden went down well with an almost exculsivley SA crowd. Hope to see more SA boys out here soon !!

From London with Love

2005-05-12T15:01:00.000+01:00

Hey all

Out in London for a while so will be contributing to the blog from the north!! Been some really interesting stuff coming out on the blog and forum so will be talking about some of that this weekend...esp the issues around SA labels and the issue of SA producers ripping other guys stuff and penning their names to it. Dave (afrobeat partner) will be heading up content and party news from SA and I will be covering what is going on here in the UK and how it ties in with SA. So peeps, thanks for the great support so far.. we gonna keep bringin you the news and views on all things deep in a bigger way than before.

Peace
Ray

Major SA music label attacks Deeper.co.za

2005-05-07T16:27:00.000+01:00

It was due to start in South Africa sooner than later. The labels are following the paranoid ramblings of their overseas counterparts stating that sites like deeper.co.za and afrobeat.co.za are detrimental to the growth of the industry. Read dan's post from www.afrobeat.co.za/forums/index.php :

Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 3:35 pm Post subject: attack on the deeper.co.za website

hey all, Obviously i cannot go into detail, but a major label in SA has just sent me a cease and desist letter, stating that "you are killing our "legit" business and you have no rights to have those mixes available for download." Deeper.co.za's aim is not to kill any part of the local music business, but rather to highlight the talent the country has. Yes, we do offer mixes, yes we do go through around 2 terabyts of bandwidth a month BUT we do not go out of our way to annoy any labels or artists (the majority of the time, we are on a first name basis with the artists and labels) I'll keep everyone updated on how this works out Daniel Supporter of SA house and SA music http://deeper.co.za

Well Dan we hope this nonsense blows over soon. The industry and how people approach it is changing , how people make money in this business is changing. What we do, I believe, does not hurt, but in fact enhances the house music industry . We are spreading and promoting SA music further than ever before. Dan can attest to this, I receive emails from the US, UK, Japan etc all commenting on music they have heard from SA online and their excitement about it. How can this be bad? Reaching a bigger market than before? When the channels of distribution improve, SA house music will be sold to a bigger market than ever before!!! Isn't this exciting channel we call the net something record labels in SA should embrace not reject. They should try to view opportunties in the new market, not limitations.

How about approaching guys like dan, not with cease and desist letters, but with new mp3 content for his mixes and links on how to purchase the material online after they have heard it in a mix on deeper.co.za? Many a time I have heard tracks in a mp3 mix and I shoot off to a store to buy the album or single. I may have never heard these tracks before if it wasnt for these mixes. If I have bought three albums in the last month from hearing tracks by an artist or group on an online mix how is this bad for the label ?

More to think about on my side on this issue...any comments feel free.

Peace

SAMA nominees Revolution go triple platinum

2005-04-29T12:38:00.000+01:00

South African House DJ/producer duo Revolution's latest album 'Another Level' not only scooped a Best Group at the South African Music Award's [SAMA's] - but it has also gone triple platinum (over 150 000 copies sold) - and are having a celebration party on the 1st of May.
The celebration takes place at Innesfree Park in Sandton, Jozi a day before the (Workers Day) at 10am. Also on the decks DJ Choice (Stuyvesant), DJ Thuthuka (aka DJ Thugs), DJ Monde (YFM), DJ Cleo, DJ T-Bose, DJ Tira & DJ Sox (Durban's Finest), DJ Aubrey (Lesidi FM)

R30 gets you in

[source:rage.co.za]

Tune ! Nice track Ben

2005-04-25T07:49:00.000+01:00

Afrobeat member Ben just sent me a link to his new track. What a track it is. If you into the deeper side of house music and appreciate the likes of Moodymann, Charles Webster, Theo Parish and co. you will dig this. Well here is the link:

http://www.bijouonline.biz/files/audio.mp3

Take a listen, comment on this blog post or on the afrobeat forums. Ill be sure to get you comments, critiques and views to Ben asap.

Upcoming parties and club nights in and around jozi

2005-04-23T09:56:00.000+01:00

DATE: Fri-22-Apr
EVENT: One One Five
DJ’s: Kid Fonque & Octave
VENUE: 115, Anderson Street, Downtown
MUSIC STYLE: Deep Eclectic House Beats
Cost: R50 Non Members, R40 Members

DATE: Sat-23-Apr
EVENT: Best Kept Secret Present B-Sides Launch
DJ’s: Glynn, Kid Fonque & Milkbar Kid
VENUE: Color Bar, 44 Stanley Ave. Milpark
MUSIC STYLE: Deep House

DATE: Sat-30-Apr
EVENT: XC-Live present Home Cooking Exclusive
VENUE: 115, Anderson Street, Downtown
MUSIC STYLE: Deep Eclectic House Beats
DJ’s: Terence, Nick Lumb, Bret Jackson, Clive
R50 Non Members, R40 Members.

DATE: Sun-1-May
EVENT: The Block Party
VENUE: Natural Groove, 163 Hendrik Verwoerd Drive, Metro Centre, Randburg
MUSIC STYLE: Deep Tech Funky House
DJ’s: SUNSHINE FLOOR: A.B, Erica, Lady Lea, Ryan Dent, Roger D’Lux, Manuel Oetll
ROOF TOP 2: 2Lani, Craig Massive, Pimp Squad, Craig De Sousa, Nick Mathews, Dececptors (Jason Lee & C-Smooth)
MAIN FLOOR: Kevin Grenfield, Les Afrique, Harael, Coco Loco, Brandon Block ( UK), Ricardo, Jay G ( UK), Jules
BASEMENT FUNK: Nic Lumb, Mark Hedtrich, Marco, Missred
Pre-Sale: R70, R90 Before 5pm, R100 After, VIP R120

Rergular Nights

DATE: Tuesdays
EVENT: Saladomundo Sessions
VENUE: 88’s, Williams Road, Norwood
DJ’s: Kid Fonque, Dror, Glynn and Guests
MUSIC STYLE: Broken beats, Bossa, Deep house and all things lazy
COST: Free

DATE: Thursdays
EVENT: Thursdays Night
VENUE: The Jewel Bar, 130 11 th, Parkmore, Sandton
DJ’s: Various DJ’s
MUSIC STYLE: Funky Deep House
COST: R30, ladies free before 10pm

Delicious snacks and Deep House

2005-04-23T09:47:00.000+01:00

Soul Candi member and Afrobeat favorite, DJ Clive has started a unique deep house night at downtown club 115. Together with partner Xolani they have organised to have chefs prepin' food while DJ's spin tracks. Here is what he had to say in a recent interview with Bob from Rage.co.za :

It’s CX-LIVE entertainment, that’s me and my partner Xolani (AKA X). Marco from One One Five approached Mbuso and I to have a night on Saturdays, we agreed on it and we thought of calling it Soulcandi Sessions. The thing is no one put effort in it so I took it upon myself to do it, I called it “Home Cooking Exclusive”, basically the concept is DJ’s and Cooking Chef’s back to back!

Home Cooking is certainly one of the more original nights to come out of the city and we will be sure to cover it in coming weeks. Its on the last Saturday of each month at 115 (that 115 anderson street , jozi )

Check it

Deep house and dub at the top of africa!

2005-04-23T09:32:00.000+01:00

Went to an architectural conference after party (yeah I know go figure!) on the 55th floor of the Carlton center, smack bang in the heart of Jozi. The view from up there is incredible and to see the entire city of Johannesburg around you while you listen to some deep tracks like tortured soul's "fall in love" is breathtaking. While the mixing from the DJ's was poor , the track selection was top notch and suited the inner city urban vibe. Top dub band 340ml played a set that had the whole crowd on their feet, jumping around and wailing "inna dub" at fever pitch.

Man , that place is a great venue for parties. I will have some pictures up in the main afrobeat.co.za site this weekend for you to check out. Hope more guys do parties there in the future, it really will knock the socks off the punters and the dj's who play there.

SAMA dance music winners

2005-04-20T18:49:00.000+01:00

Well ahem...hmmmm, for those of you who missed the SAMA's congrats. The show was badly planned, poorly executed and the bulk of the performances could be executed with more zest than a group of accountants drunk on Karaoke evening!

This year Best Duo or Group went to house producers and dj's Revolution while Best Dance Album went, rather questionalbly, to Lebo. For those of breaks persuasion, Best Rap Album went to Selwyn.

I think its time these catergories were judged by people who actually involve them selves in these genres and furthermore I think we need to diversify these categories as Dance and Rap are hardly befitting for the wide variety of electronica that South Africa is able to showcase. Prehaps we will see the rise of more genre specific award ceremonies in SA, who knows...

'Stealing' the party and more

2005-04-17T09:31:00.000+01:00

As you may or may not know the last Rustlers "Being Human" festival held recently was cleared out of its cash by some dodgy peeps at the festival on the last day. The Rustlers valley, which is a foundation of the South African festival scene, is heavily reliant on these annual parties for its upkeep.

In an attempt to recoup some of its losses, the Rustlers valley team will be holding another party in the valley over Saturday 23 April. Many of the DJ's from the Being Human event will be in attendance and R100 gets you in, camped and partied up.

Kaskade

Deep house super star Kaskade will be touring SA again after the enormous success of his last tour in'03. The "its you its me" producer and dj will be covering Joburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth in the national tour. The Jozi event will be held on Friday 29 April at Carfax (http://www.carfax.com) . There will be 3 dancefloors and Harael, Phat Jack and Brett Jackson will be a few of the DJ's on rotation that eve. R100 gets you in (eish i know)

2005-04-14T20:35:00.000+01:00

Fellow SA deep house head Otto from the Jam Jar Crew has started a column for the traditionally 'rave' based SA website Mr Spencer. The column will cover a variety of issues within deep house including the international and local histories of the deep house scene, artists, major players within South Africa and debates and discussions around its future.

Check it out : http://www.mrspencer.co.za/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=865&mode=&order=0&thold=0

South African Music Awards (SAMA) dance music nominees

2005-04-13T16:36:00.000+01:00

SAMA nominees for dance music. Check it out:

-Brothers of Peace: The D project: Life 'iskorokoro
-DJ's at Work: DJ's at Work 4
-DJ Cleo: Es'Khaleni
-Lebo Mathosa: Drama queen
-Revolution: Another level

Will let you all know who the winner was next week

Ray

Troydon continues to make SA deep house heads proud

2005-04-10T08:20:00.000+01:00

Every time I look through international deep house sites, I pick up Troydon's name in posts, track selections and more. The boy from Jozi has set himself up in NYC and is pumping out tracks on top international labels such as Grab recordings, Nightshift and Gallery. Keep on checking out for stuff by Troydon, he has already had some remix treatment from Mark Farina and this always has to be a sign of strength.

Listen to this track on the "out and about ep" on nightshift. Here

Click here if you want to purchase Troydon's tracks

DJ Claude's Stereo Candi : Essential Tunes 2 finally out !

2005-04-10T07:38:00.000+01:00

So after bypassing the release date by almost a month the next installement in South african house DJs, DJ Claude's, compilations is finally out in stores (wow shitty english rules supreme!). Stereo Candi: Essential Tunes 2 apprently follows along the same lines as its predeccesor, smooth rolling deep house with that fine vocal touch that Claude loves to add. Expect tracks from the likes of Magic Number, Phonique, Aya, Quentin Harris, Franck Roger and Morgan Page. Joburg based radio station YFM has been punting this album to the point of exhaustion so here's hoping it lives up to the hype. Im off to the store now to have a listen let you guys know what I think soon.

In stores now in SA.

Ill try to find out international friends a good online supplier.

Peace

Glen Lewis allegedly pulls a fast one !

2005-04-07T08:17:00.000+01:00

Seems like the Glen Lewis track "Life Everlasting" is getting some decent coverage in the US and UK. The South African DJ/"Producer" has released the track on funk la planet/f with remixes from Dennis Ferrer and Osunlade. While this is great that South African deep house is finally getting some hard earned exposure, I need to lay down my views on this specfic track...

A little bird perched itself on my shoulder recently to let me know that this track is in fact NOT Glen Lewis produced but Glen Lewis purchsed!!! Yes, the rumour mill is turning that Glen Lewis in fact bought the track from another South african producer, laid down some vocals on top and voila...Glen Lewis releases a hit ! Dodgy man, very dodgy.

Here are some SA artists who have got some international exposure( hopefully producing their own material):

-Troydon
-Craig Massiv
-Jazzworx
-Troye Lilly
-Brothers of Peace (BOP)

Sad end to the South African Music Convention SAMC

2005-04-04T19:16:00.000+01:00

The SAMC ended with some sour grapes at the final party at Carfax. The final party for the SAMC had a killer line up with many of the major top SA DJ's and international masters like Jef K, Charles Webster and Franck Roger gracing the decks on the night. Top spinner, Chalres Webster was placed late in the eve in a town known for its late partying (see club 115 !!).

To the shock of the punters, the club closed its doors at 4am from both clubbers walking in late and those who had paid already but had left and come back. Even those who had paid the hefty fee for the VIP tickets were not allowed back in. Furthermore, those inside were cleared from the dancefloor shortly after the doors were closed. For an event that was meant to see out the first of this kind of conference in SA this seemed to be somewhat of a dissapointing end given the enourmous turnout for the closing party and the excellent lineup that could of taken the party into the eartly morning hours.

Lets hope the next SAMC conference will be a little better planned and with executed with more foresight.

South African Music Convention Closing Party

2005-04-02T09:56:00.000+01:00

So the South African Music Convention has come and gone with little fanfare ...However take a look at this line up for the closing party for tonight. Fans of deep house read 'em and weep:

Charles Webster, Jef K, Franck Roger and for fans of South African talent:

Oskido, Glen Lewis, Christos, Vinny Da Vinci, Ready D, Revolution, Fistas, Kanunu, Mimi Kesaris, Black Coffee, Roger Goode & many more

It should be a thumper, so if you are in Jozi come down to Carfax on the 02 April, R100 gets you in.

Derrick May to play 3hr set in London

2005-03-31T10:26:00.000+01:00

This, I'm sure, will be an awesome party. UK label Nuphonic will be hosting a one off party with Detroit legend, Derrick May, who will be dropping a 3 hour set followed by Richard Fearless of Death in Vegas fame and a live act by Aril Brikha.

Date: 02-04-05 at KOKO, Camden, London

Itstillmusic: top tracks from this label

2005-03-29T14:07:00.000+01:00

Itstillmusic... You guys know this label? I didn't until roughly a week ago when someone posted a piece on the label on the afrobeat forum. I decided, out of curiosity, to have a look and man was i impressed ! The first thing that caught my eye was a remix by Amp fiddler that I recognised. The rest of the material on this label was sterling...classy and sophisticated deep house with a slightly techy edge. Check out these tracks:

-the godson : soul edge part 2 e.p.
-patchworks : sugar e.p. (this is the one with the Amp Fiddler remix)

http://www.itstillmusic.com check it

Also for those who prefer their deep house with a techy edge check out Farbin (hope i got that right!). Very nice minimal stripped down techy bizness.

Peace
Ray

South African Deep House: Roxanne

2005-02-25T15:00:00.000Z

Was just listening to this track on the afrobeat forum (http://www.afrobeat.co.za/forums/index.php by roxanne (local gal done good!) . Wow SA stuff is really getting good. International quality stuff, smooth , great vocals , solid beats. If more stuff like this keeps coming out we sure to make an impact on the deep house world.

Soul Candi release Stereo Candi 2

2005-02-06T17:25:00.000Z

Soul Candi DJ , DJ Claude is about to drop his follow up mix-album to his succesful "StereoCandi" compo. The compo is due out in Feb 1st week. While I enjoyed the first, I thought that more effort could of gone into the track selection and mixing quality. There were actually a few mixes on the cd that were a bit shady, which is unacceptable if the mix is not live. I hope they come right on this one. We have enjoyed having claude playing at our afrobeat parties and rate him as one of the leading lights in terms of house dj's.

2005-01-19T17:09:00.000Z

Jozana Sithole had this to say about the westend records talent search:

"Go to westendrecords.com and pick your favorite song out of the top ten finalists. There are 3 South African finalists in the top ten and trust me, people over here in chicago are shocked. i've been telling them for years that the SA house music scene was on the come up but they wouldn't listen. I know a lot of producers here in chicago that entered the contest and a lot of them didn't even know house music was popular in SA. Make sure you get your vote in before Feb 4th"

Damn thats great that SA is showing them whats what on the global scene. Three tracks, Da Localizer-I found love, a big Yfm favorite. I thought this track was signed?

Peace
Ray
afrobeat.co.za

2005-01-17T14:22:00.000Z

South African house/kwaito duo revolution are busy in the studio working on their new album and a new single. The award winning team will work alongside african legendd Salif Keita and SA jazz guitarist Jimmy Dludlu on the new single and finishing off their latest Twistyle album.

2005-01-13T23:15:00.000Z

Source: Resident Advisor

On January 15th London club Pacha will begin their ‘Fathers of House’ events, a series of events celebrating House music’s hero’s from past and present from around the world. This month sees Chicago’s Marshall Jefferson takes to the decks to deliver a slice of uplifting house. Now a UK resident, he is the production work behind seminal house record ‘Move your body’ and with over a decade on the scene he has garnished a great reputation amongst house followers. The evenings full line-up sees a good blend of old and new talent:

2005-01-11T13:00:00.000Z

Heard of a guy called Jozana Sithole? Until recently neither had I. I was recently made aware of this South African-American who won the Westend Recordings Talent Search. The contest had entries from around the world and the track "If things dont get better" by Jozana won top position. The result is three tracks signed to Westend Recordings and a track due out on Smooth Agent.

Check http://www.afrobeat.co.za for a profile and more info on this atrist by weekend

2005-01-11T12:55:00.000Z

South African DJ Fresh has recently released his newest house compilation after ending his famous Freash House Flava compo. The CD will contain a mix of local and international tracks like Soul Avengerz, Jay Sinister and SA deep house duo (Troye and Craig Massiv) Soul Khula. Expect to find this in most SA based record stores.

Peace Ray

2004-11-21T17:33:00.000Z

David Morales releases his first album in 10 years.