Head over to the Impossible Ark Bandcamp to get a FREE track taken from the new album.
Stream / download from the embed below
And whilst you listen, have a read of this amazing review from The Times (UK), published on 27th March
The Rhythmagic Orchestra began life back in 2006 as an idea for a recording session cooked up by producer Ben Lamdin, of Nostalgia 77 fame, and DJ Hugo Mendez (Sofrito). The two friends, who share a love of jazz, Afro-Cuban, Latin and tropical sounds, wanted to see whether they could capture some of the excitement of their favourite records in 21st century London.
Armed with a clutch of dusty vinyl and a bottle of fine rum, they began to compile the shortlist of tracks for the session. Arranger Jonny Spall (a member of Ben’s Nostalgia 77 Octet) was commissioned to produce charts for the session and the studio was booked for a frenzied clash of musical cultures.
The band comprised a young crop of London’s finest jazz musicians and a team of Cuban percussionists. Comprising members of the Nostalgia 77 Octet, the Alex Wilson Band, Jazz Jamaica, the Heliocentrics and Ska Cubano, together the players combine years of experience with innumerable jazz and Latin greats, and had the chops to lay down a session that would have made the dancers at the Palladium ballroom proud.
Paying tribute to the giants of Afro-Cuban jazz like Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo and Machito, the Orchestra’s first 12″ release (on then nascent Impossible Ark) saw the band work their magic on jazz dance classics and lay down some timeless grooves that caused a stir on dancefloors from Tokyo to Toronto.
Fast forward three more years and Ben and Hugo were approached by a new Japanese label, enthusiastic about funding more recordings and producing a finished Rhythmagic Orchestra LP. The old charts were dusted off and more commissioned, and the musicians and studio were booked. Two more busy days brought great new music but on completion the mysterious Japanese backer was nowhere to be found and the boys were left holding the jazz baby and footing the bill….
So it is that another year has elapsed between the last recording and the project’s release. In the meantime, Lamdin’s Impossible Ark imprint has gone from strength to strength (with highly lauded releases from Sara Mitra, Jeb Loy Nichols and Skeletons) becoming the natural home for The Rhythmagic Orchestra LP. The finished album contains new material from the group, sitting proudly next to covers from the jazz and Latin canon of the ‘50s. Combining traditional arrangements with Cuban bata drums and a fresh outlook on the Latin jazz sound, all cooked up in 21st century London, the album continues a great musical tradition and adds its own flavour to the melting pot of jazz and non-western music.
2011 sees the Rhythmagic Orchestra’s creators riding high on a wave of activity, acclaim and expectation. Ben Lamdin has just released his much-anticipated fourth Nostalgia 77 solo album on Tru Thoughts, after a hiatus from the project during which he racked up various credits as producer, engineer, musician and composer with the likes of Keith and Julie Tippett, Alice Russell, Lizzy Parks, Sara Mitra, Golden Age Of Steam, Jeb Loy Nichols and more. Hugo Mendez has just released the acclaimed ‘Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque’, compilation on Strut records, continuing to build on the reputation of the world-renowned tropical club nights, warehouse parties and sought-after 12” releases for which Sofrito is well known.
Sara Mitra releases her debut album on November 1ST 2010 through indie label Impossible Ark, via Unfold Recordings. The record, April Song is a collection of folk and jazz tales that explore the tensions of living in Britain from a young woman’s perspective. Written across the last decade, the semi-autobiographical songs are her reflection on life and the people she’s encountered along the way. The record carves Sara Mitra out as an important new voice in the musical landscape.
Mitra is joined on the album by some of the most talked about names from the current crop of young jazz musicians. They include her husband and co-arranger for the album Tim Giles (drums), Riaan Vosloo (bass & co-arranger), James Allsopp (sax, bass clarinet), Philip Hochstrate (piano, organ), Fulvio Sigurta (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Ross Stanley (Hammond organ).
Head to the Impossible Ark website for more information
Keeping DJs and dancers on their toes and in their element with a steady flow of coveted funk 7”s, and bringing to light a diverse array of world class talent from Spanky Wilson and The Quantic Soul Orchestra to The Bamboos, Hot 8 Brass Band, Alice Russell and more, in its illustrious ten year history Tru Thoughts has served up some of the most acclaimed, memorable and downright incendiary funk releases of our era.
So - thus surrounded by incredible music - on setting out to compile ‘Tru Thoughts Funk’, A&R Robert Luis was faced with a serious case of kid-in-a-candy-store syndrome; after all, how would you distil the dazzling collective back catalogue of The Quantic Soul Orchestra, The Bamboos, Alice Russell, TM Juke, Natural Self, Nostalgia 77 et al into just one CD’s worth of tunes? It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it, and the end result is this essential, super heavyweight compilation showcasing a consistently sky-high level of quality and, perhaps surprisingly for a genre-based compilation, a fresh, eclectic platter of varied aesthetics and international flavours.
From the soulful powerhouse vocals of the UK’s very own Alice Russell and US legend Spanky Wilson to Kylie Auldist and the horn-led, straight down the line dancefloor punch of The Bamboos, through Saravah Soul channelling ’60s Brazil via Noughties East London; the wry, jaunty, almost indie-pop shuffle of The Limp Twins; fast-rising Brighton producer Lack of Afro’s boisterous wah wah treatment of New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band, and of course, Quantic’s trailblazing fusion of funk and soul with Colombian and Caribbean rhythms - you’ll find all this and more nestling happily under ‘funk’ in the Tru Thoughts lexicon.
To add to the classic cuts, Luis has found room for some fine exclusive material as well, including a first CD release for Nostalgia 77’s “Thing”; and two brand new tracks, hot off the press and signed exclusively for this project, from Beta Hector, the solo side project of Simon Hill from adored UK funk band Baby Charles. “Payback” and “Creepin’”, featuring Baby Charles colleague Dionne Charles on guest vox, see multi-instrumentalist Hill putting his own live recordings through an experimental electronic mill, to create an unusual, rough edged, synth-infused brand of raw funk.
‘Tru Thoughts Funk’ comes out on the Unfold imprint, following the hugely successful ‘Tru Thoughts Hip Hop’ and ‘Tru Thoughts Covers’ CDs into the label’s ongoing series of genre-based and themed compilation releases.
Bag the album from iTunes or the Etch Shop.
In the words of Benedic Lamdin: “Skeletons is a made up band. I kid you not - it doesn’t exist. These musicians never stood in the studio together, they just passed through my house or left some scraps of sound behind after sessions we were working on… “Some of the music here started life as commissions for a library music company, pastiches and forgeries paid for by the current vogue for a certain style of African jazz. Once I’d done a few though I couldn’t stop, it was my default preoccupation, something for me once I’d finished working on other people’s albums. It was relaxation, something that didn’t matter whether it worked or not. The whole LP was made like that, done in the time between recording jobs.
“To me the whole thing has been a self indulgent forgery, an act of mindless fun. If it sounds good then it’s because I just enjoyed the music and enjoyed myself.”
As from today not one, not two but five Fluid Ounce ‘Unmeasured Compilations’ are finally available digitally. Volume One was previously released on CD but all the tracks on the other four compilations were ONLY ever available on 12″. Including classics from zero dB (Come Party), Carmel (Nujazzkiller) and Frank De Jo Jo (Turn Off The Lights) amongst many other fantastic cuts, these compilations are a superb introduction to the Fluid Ounce label. To celebrate there’s also a super exclusive 7″ from Kids In Tracksuits (see below for more info). Head to your nearest quality download store now, we recommend our very own Etch Shop
Following the immense 90 track DVD entitled ‘Fluid Ounce Presents…’ the 7″ is a seriously exclusive release of two tracks by the Steve Lamacq-championed, Rob Da Bank-session-recording Kids In Tracksuits. One, “Zone” feat. Mr. Lif, is exclusive to this 7”; the other, “No Hooks” feat. Non Genetic, taken from the aforementioned DVD.
This 7” also serves as ‘one last roll of the release dice’ before we see the disbanding of the Kids (in Tracksuits), which makes this an outrageous vinyl rarity; one half of the Kids package has now split away and set up stall under the guise of ‘Lone’, yep - that king of wonk, now sharing the playlists and platters worldwide with the likes of the much hyped and respected Martyn and Flying Lotus.
This release also coincides with the first ever digital release of all five Fluid Ounce ‘Unmeasured’ compilations, which have seen support over the years from the likes of Seiji (Bugz In The Attic), Peter Kruder, Masters At Work, Andy Cato (Groove Armada), and Radio 1 DJs including Gilles Peterson, Pete Tong and Mary Anne Hobbs. And to celebrate this veritable treasure trove of music all being made available, there will be a re-push of the ‘Fluid Ounce Presents…’ DVD (Did we mention it has 90 tracks on it??) which first came out last year, showcasing an eeeenormous array of top quality tunes to the delight of DJs and music fans everywhere.
Head to the Etch Shop to bag / DL you copy now, a hole week before they are available anywhere else in the world.
Impossible Ark recognises that music is many things to many people, and believes in celebrating that diversity and delivering World class artists, concepts, performance and production to your turntable, CD player or iPod with every release. The label is the brainchild of producer Ben Lamdin (aka Nostalgia 77) and bassist Riaan Vosloo, whose highly successful collaborative work on Tru Thoughts has produced six popular albums - from the live recordings of the Nostalgia 77 Octet to studio-based explorations on an experimental jazz and funk tip - and most recently saw them joining forces with the legendary Keith and Julie Tippett for the uniquely brilliant and highly acclaimed ‘Sessions’ LP.
Lamdin explains the motivation to found the label, which was borne of the vibrant and eclectic London jazz scene: “When I started the Nostalgia Octet I met so many great musicians but I was surprised that there wasn’t really a recording culture. In that respect Impossible Ark was a response to a need. It’s about focusing musicians’ minds on creative statements, but above all it’s about making some classic modern records.”
And on this stunning compilation you will find the blue-eyed country soul of Jeb Loy Nichols sitting harmoniously alongside Lamdin’s hotly anticipated new Afro-funk project, the Skeleton; the other-worldly sounds of the Rhythmatic Orchestra rubbing shoulders with the highly regarded experimentalism of Examples Of Twelves; and many more treasures besides.
The Guardian - “Makes the Cinematic Orchestra Sound like dabblers”
Gilles Peterson - “When it comes to jazz of a sure blessed quality it doesn’t get much tighter than the work of Impossible Ark”
Bobbito Garcia - “I got the African Mailman 12”, love every single song on both sides [it’s] on my voicemail today”
Andy (Mr) Scruff - “Quality, life affirming up tempo dancefloor jazz, soulful & heavy the way it should be…. blows my mind every time I hear it.”
To celebrate the digital release of the whole Fluid Ounce back catalogue (five compilations!) digitally and a new 7″ Solid Steel’s very own DJ Moneyshot has put together a mix of the previously released Fluid Ounce DVD, compressing 90 tracks into 60 minutes! Mixtapes are Moneyshot’s game, and his award-winning efforts for Solid Steel radio shows, XFM and the BBC have become the stuff of legend.
You can hear 30 minutes of this mix on the Ninja Tunes’ Solid Steel website for a week, as from today. Just click the link.
‘Tru Thoughts Covers’ is a mighty selection of the most pivotal and interesting cover versions to have peppered Tru Thoughts’ ten year history of releases, boasting many crossover hits; from Nostalgia 77 and Alice Russell’s epic take on the White Stripes; to The Quantic Soul Orchestra’s version of 4Hero; via the Bamboos’ mod-soul re-imagining of Kings Of Leon; and Hot 8 Brass Band’s rambunctious, world-renowned version of “Sexual Healing”, taking Marvin Gaye to the Mardi Gras. Between them these songs have gained tremendous acclaim, and radio play on a huge spectrum of stations, including BBC Radio 1 & 2, 6Music, BBC London, XFM and NME Radio. In addition, this 17-track collection also features new exclusive tracks from the likes of Lizzy Parks, Woon, Aldo Vanucci and Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro.
The different twists and turns a song takes when genres collide can spark great and unexpected musical explosions, and for the artists on Tru Thoughts, covering tracks in heavy funk, soul or leftfield styles has always been part of the game. In the early days, The Quantic Soul Orchestra turned label-mate Bonobo’s downtempo anthem “Terrapin” into a dancefloor bomb; Bonobo returned the favour, twisting the QSO’s debut funk track “Super 8” into a deep downtempo excursion (featured on this CD). Then, in 2004 (pre-dating the high profile high-jinks of one Mark Ronson by a country mile) Nostalgia 77 enlisted the vocals of Alice Russell, and unleashed his stunning, double bass-heavy take on the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”, repackaging the song for a whole new audience while bringing two huge talents in the jazz and funk world to the attention of an appreciative wider crowd. And now for a fact you may not know: later on when Ronson, teetering on the brink of world domination, decided to go live and form a top-of-the-range funk band for the purpose, he approached Ben ‘Nostalgia 77’ Lamdin and Will ‘Quantic’ Holland, asking their advice and looking to borrow members of their bands; doubtless coveting Nostalgia’s jazz-inflected vintage cool and the deep, authentic dancefloor-rocking funk sound of The Quantic Soul Orchestra. (Will and Ben, busy with their bands at the time, declined to get involved, but the significant - if unsubtly deployed - point remains!)
Plenty of people habitually pigeonhole music, but this album connects the songs of the White Stripes, Portishead, Marvin Gaye, 4Hero, Max Sedgeley, Mr Scruff, Frank Sinatra, Kings Of Leon, Fedde Le Grand, Michael Jackson, The Strokes, The Kooks, Eminem, Roni Size/Reprazent, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Jeff Buckley, and Olive. And you don’t see those names on the same sleeve-notes every day.
Head to the Etch Shop to buy your copy now.
