Artiste: Incubus
Album: Make Youself
Spotlight Track: Battlestar Scralatchtica
Label: Sony

I love this one! It’s my generation’s music and it’s done with a fuck all attitude! The boys from Incubus are from LA, and their second album, Make Yourself, is a fierce one! This album is so diversified, it’s really hard to categorise, there’s thoughtfully written ballads like Stellar and I Miss You to hardcore stuff like Pardon Me and Out From Under. Despite its commercial slant, Make Yourself definitely is a good listen, more to the likes of Faith No More.

With the introduction of a new dj, DJ Chris Kilmore, Battlestar Scralatchtica (my spotlight) is the only instrumental on this album. As if to make his mark, this track is outstanding! In my opinion, it’s definitely crossed genres with its trip-hop funkiness. It’s a great party track which I’ll drop in any Xmas party anybody out there want to book us for ;)

Tangkap This!!!

-Kenny

Artiste: Azymuth
Album: Cascades / Rapid
Spotlight Track: Montreux
Label: Milestone
Catalog: MCD-47088-2

Jose Roberto Bertrami: Keyboards, Organ, Percussion, Vocoder, Vocals and Piano.
Alex Malheiros: Electric Bass, Percussion, Vocal and Acoustic Guitar.
Ivan Conti (Mamao): Drums, Percussion, Vocals.
Jose Carlos: Flute
Sidney Moreira (Cidinho):Anaraug, Miscellaneous Percussion.

It’s been a while folks. The year comes to an end with 2009 floating us by with a blink of an eye. It’s been an eventful year for most and we at HQ still have the flavours to ensure aural satisfaction for all you good folks.

To close our musical reviews for 09, I had a very tough choice choosing between rare groove, Berlin minimal house, stateside house, funk, jazz and alas I had to go for comfort food which lies in the fusion grooves of the Brazilian Trio “AZYMUTH.” These fellas have been rocking round the block for aeons and are still at it with their new found label mate “Far Out Records.” Their music has been played countless times by the maestros of many scenes such as Masters at Work, Patrick Forge, Norman Jay, Gilles P, etc.

Just a simple dose of fused sounds gives me the tingles with their musical composition. These guys have solid ideas when cooking up their production. Style-wise, it’s pure classy and groovy at the same time. Mentally groovy is how I see it and the infectious stabs and intricate samples used in their tunes just brings you to higher ecstasy.

Leader of the group Bertrami coins their music “Crazy Samba” and exposes that their musical approach is an impressionist one, whereby telling a story pervades the group sound and can range from Herbie Hancock’s sly polyrhythmic sounds to the backwoods folk song style of Milton Nascimento. Crazy Samba was established back in the 70’s by folks such as Flora and Airto as well as Eumir Deodato (who also by the way are our musical heroes) who reconstructed the CTI label formulae by incorporating pop soul, samba-funk and represented a new form of musical frontier.

Look no further if you are seeking slick and sick grooves coz these mofo’s got it goin ornnnn! To end of of 2009 and to usher in a positive 2010, “Montreux” the spotlight track recorded back in 1983 most definitely hits the spot and will continue to do so for many moons to come. I groove to it with a smile every single time I hear it coz it really seems to me an inspirational tune worth treasuring in your C Drive.

Tangkap This!!!

-Marcel

Artiste: Swing Out Sister
Album: Beautiful MessI- Special Edition
Spotlight Track: Heaven Only Knows (Live)
Label: Avex Trax
Catalog: AVCD-23785/6

Lead Vocals – Corinne Drewery
Producer, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Andy Connell
Bass Guitar – Juneroy Johnson
Congas, Percussion, Kalimba – Jody Linscott
Drums – Chris Bailey
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tim Cansfield
Vocals [Additional] – Delores Clay

Sup Sup folks!

It’s been along time since we boys at H4U have done any Zao Gng reviews but good news is.. we’re back! It’s been a real hectic few months for us but we’re really happy to be back in da zone ;)

For this Zao Gng installment, I would like to review one of the camp’s all-time fave acts, yes yes yes, you’ve guessed it – Swing Out Sister yo! They’ll be in town this week and we will be there to soak in the jazziness under the coconut tree. No doubt the SOS gig at East Coast is gonna be rockin’ but to whet your appetite before the gig, I thought it might be a good idea to shed some light on their latest release, Beautiful Mess. It’s really damn shiok. It’s not so straight forward and takes a while to fully slap you in the face but it will no doubt be giving you one nice tight slap if you concentrate hard enough.

Tracks to look out for in this LP are “My State of Mind”, “Time Tracks You Down”, “Butterfly”, “Beautiful Mess”, many many lah. Just go get the album, it’s like Guinness man, the more you listen the more you steam kodok. Satisfaction guaranteed from Andy and Corinne!

For the Spotlight Track, I decided to review a track from the bonus CD which comes with the Special Edition version of this album release. This bonus CD is basically a live audio recording of their Tokyo concert, so confirm STEAM TO DA BRIM!! Anyway, back to the Spotlight Track – Heaven Only Knows (which blows my mind everytime I listen to it) – is a super stylo mylo tangkap track with strong songwriting influences from jazzy maestros like Michel Legrand, Cole Porter, etc. Have a listen folks, the melody, the instrumental jazz stylings, the vocal nuances, mad shit all the way! You will really feel like pouring yourself a glass of single malt to savour the full flavours of this song. Serious business.

Also check out YouTube for an ol’ skool performance of this cut at Tower Records Tokyo. Classico Madrid y’all! And last but not least, make sure you go to the concert at East Coast! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity people!

Tangkap This!!!

-Crispian

Artiste: ICE a.k.a. Lafayette Afro Rock Band
Album: The Afro-Instrumental LP
Spotlight Track: Ozan Koukle
Label: Musidisc (1977 France)

Hi all, welcome back and apologies for the long hiatus. We HOT-4-U boys have been hard at work and time flies when you’re having fun. The spotlight track for me this session is Ozan Koukle from little known Afro Funk band ICE, or more widely known as Lafayette Afro Rock Band, or also known as Captain Dax or also known as Krispie And Company.

Despite the cheesy names, Lafayette Afro Rock Band have just about the most serious hardcore funk tracks in the history of funk music. They have been sampled by everyone from Public Enemy to Janet Jackson.

Back to L.A.R.B, I mean, these are guys with a vision. In 1971, they decided that America has too many funk outfits, so they packed their bags and moved to Paris, and have performed regularly live. They disbanded shortly after in 1978, leaving us the legacy of their outstanding vision and pure funk. However, Ozan Koukle is not a hard thumpin’, balls busting funk stomper. It’s actually a sophisticated rare groove groover, just the kind that appeals to my stressed out nature. In all walks of life, gifted folks have put out efforts that continue to inspire generations to come, and personally, nobody does it better than the masters of yesteryear. Since I’m the arty one in the group, let me make my case in point with an example from a master of our century, Picasso and his masterpiece Guernica. Click here to see details. In reaction to a bombing of a defenseless Spainish town, Picasso painted this and boy what a painting, almost 8 metres wide and 4metres tall. Just like Picasso, folks like L.A.R.B and their music will stand the test of time and will continue to inspire future generations of DJs, producers, and hip hoppers, from all corners of the world.

Re-released on Strut: Darkest Light The Best Of LARB. Bag it.

Tangkap This!!!

-Kenny

Artiste: Everything But The Girl
Album: Idlewild
Spotlight Track: Goodbye Sunday
Label: Sire Records/ Blanco Y Negro
Catalog: 925721-2

Recorded and mixed in London at Livingston Studios 1987.
Written by: Watt/Thorn
Vocals: Tracey Thorn
Piano & Synthesisers: Damon Butcher
Bass: Steve Pearce
Alto Saxophone: Peter King
Tenor Saxophone: Ian Fraser
Trumpet: James McMillian

Howdy Howdy folks!
This week, I review something that has been in “my favourites” vaults for a long long time. 1988 is the year when a lot of good music was being churned out, and amongst the massive lot, this full length album by E.B.T.G is an old school goodie that will retain an evergreen status in my books. An extremely well produced album of 12 tracks, worth every single cent. TOP SHIT.

It carries the popular Rod Stewart classic “I don’t want to talk about it” and many other slow but classy grooves such as ” Love Is Here Where I Live”, “Oxford Street”, “Apron Strings” and of course one of me favourites “Goodbye Sunday.” I dare say that E.B.T.G is one of those rare groups that always re-invent themselves and they really have the substance to carry it off, and best part of it all is that they do so with flying colours.

Be it folk/pop, soul, jazz, funk, drum and bass, house, this dynamic duo ( I call them the ugliest folks in show bizz) have covered them all. Other notable albums to check out from their discography would be ‘The Language of Life”, “Acoustic”, “Walking Wounded” and “Temperamental.”

True to their craft, Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt deserve all the accolades and praises as they have been at it for close to 3 decades! These folks are ORNNN Yoalll…!!!

My choice for this spotlight track is due to the fact that it carries with it a melody and flavour that is truly serene and so 80’s at the same time (specially when you check out the drum machine sounds). The cool thing about their element and why they are always so refreshing is the fact that Tracy’s voice is one of a kind, what kind I don’t know, but definitely a kind that I dig! ;)

If you haven’t heard of E.B.T.G, then go kill yourself coz they are going to stay for the long haul. True Iconic Giants of our time.

Tangkap This!!!

-Marcel

Artiste: Thelonious Monk
Album: Criss Cross
Spotlight Track: Rhythm-A-Ning
Label: Columbia, Legacy
Catalog: CK 63537

Piano – Thelonious Monk
Bass – John Ore
Tenor Saxophone – Charlie Rouse
Drums – Frankie Dunlop
Engineer [Assistant] – Seth Foster
Mastered By – Mark Wilder
Producer [Original Recordings] – Teo Macero
Reissue Producer – Orrin Keepnews
Notes: 24-Bit digitally remastered

Yo people, wazz happenin’??

These past few months have been pretty hectic for me and usually in days when I’m up to the ears in activity, I tend to get into the trad-jazz frame of mind. Which brings me to one cat I’ve been wanting to review for a long while.. Thelonious Sphere Monk. Phoooo, whadda name folks! Fella with this kind of a name is bound to be mad.. and when I say mad.. I mean he’s bonkers to da yonkers y’all! No kidding. Musically, he is also MAD!! Along with Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Miles Davis, Monk is considered one of the “greats” in the post bop era and one of the most inventive piano players in any musical genre. He was perfect for modern jazz because his sound pressed the right buttons and his style was totally “avant garde”. Once you hear him bang on the keys my friend.. you will mos def haveta agree, he is a DON, fullstop.

I’ve heard quite a number of his albums and in every one of them, there’s that Monk signature which only he can pull off. It’s off but yet on, kao on the tension but yet heavy on the groove. Fella has got that quirky melody in his vibe and I think it stems from his gila babi behaviour. His speech is also damn hard to pick up.. if you think Miles is hard to understand, wait till you hear Monk man, he is the numero uno in the art of mumbling. Haha, lurve it! Last but not least, being a fan of head gear, I really dig his selection of hats. Some of his hats are totally nonsense vibe but yet they go really well with his tailored suits. His dressing is a bit like his music I guess, off but yet.. ORNNNN. Itz ornn itz ornn itz ornn itz ornn itz ornnnn :)

For this week’s Zao Gng, I wanna introduce a Monk recording other than the famous “Straight No Chaser”. I decided to go Columbia style and it was a hard toss between ‘Criss Cross’ and ‘Underground’. Both albums had a lot of tracks that I liked but in the end, I decided on ‘Criss Cross’ because there are some important cuts here for the jazz listener. Seriously mad shit here folks. Tracks like ‘Tea For Two’, ‘Eronel’, ‘Don’t Blame Me’, ‘Think Of One’, ‘Crepuscule With Nellie’ (intense!!), ‘Pannonica’ and not forgetting the title track, ‘Criss Cross’. All are 10 outta 10 killer cuts and the sound of these new remastered re-issues are damn shiok. Don’t sleep!

On the spotlight track, ‘Rhythm-A-Ning’, the best word to describe this track is SNAPPIN’. It’s dancefloor with a real tangkap feel. You can hear the bassist groovin’ hard, you can hear the drummer just vibin’ to the rhythmn and Monk as usual, doing his thang on the keys. It’s not easy to spar with a genius like Monk so kudos to Charlie Rouse on the tenor as well. If you wanna hear the full track, they’ve got a great live version on YouTube. Jazzin’ y’all, absolutely jazzin’!!

PS: Before I go folks, there’s another song on this LP that you can’t overlook. It’s something this genius wrote for his wife, called ‘Crepuscule With Nellie’. Check out this heavy-ass piano piece on YouTube. Speechless man.. STOOOOM TO DA BOOOOM.

Tangkap This!!!

-Crispian

Artiste: Johnny Hammond
Album: Gambler’s Life
Spotlight Track: Gambler’s Life
Label: Salvation Records (1974)

The genius of the Mizell Brothers is the surefire way to make any song timeless. Compared to the other tracks coming from the 70’s period, the Mizell’s have an undeniable distinct signature to their sound, even the production level on their output is light years ahead of the competition. For example, take any Mizell masterpiece, from Bobbi Humphrey to Donald Byrd, they sound as if they’ve been made yesterday. The Mizells have truly changed the face of jazz funk and that of music in this century, inspiring the future generations of producers and musicians to come.

Johnny “Hammond” Smith, had a great career at Prestige and later at the CTI sister label, Kudu under the masterful eye of Mr Creed Taylor. “Hammond” was used in his name to avoid confusion with other musicians, John Smith or the more famous Jimmy Smith, and dropped his last name Smith on his first album on Kudu.

Johnny’s first venture with the Mizells would be on Gambler’s Life, on the subsidary CTI offshoot label, Salvation. Although Gambler’s Life did not receive as much of a cult status as the later Gears album, it definitely has struck a chord with us here at Hot-4-U. The Mizells have included their trademark layered jazz sound and the unmistakable vocal intros after the mid break, together with Johnny’s electric organ, Gambler’s Life is a journey in jazz dance nation.

I’ve chosen the title track Gambler’s Life because of its innovative introduction and for its dance-your-pants-off melody, the track’s intensity never stops, especially when the female vocals, courtesy of Stephanie Spruill kicks in… oooh damn, Kerna! Overall the entire album is great, Rhodesian Thoroughfare is just as experimental, Virgo Lady is a futuristic vision of jazz, and last track Call On Me slows things down, if not still groovy. The album has been re-released on UK label Soul Brother, with bonus tracks from his earlier Prestige albums featuring the usual suspects on the sessionists rounds, Harvey Mason, Steve Gadd, Billy Cobham, Airto, Grover Washington Jr, George Benson, Eric Gale…etc

I leave you now with the surrealistic notes in the cover sleeve from Emory Holmes:

Gamblers and Parables
so slick says to me:
bring your lady
and shoot down to the sound factory,
it’s a party,
shoot down and feel your roots and party,
and
me and my ol’ lady fly down,
in the space coupe,
before cool breezes, from sky high.
down to the ear-star lady
and her organ man,
in with their arps,
and moogs,
and jazz and things.

Tangkap This!!!

-Kenny

Artiste: Robert Nacken
Album: It Could Be So Easy
Spotlight Track: Won’t Be
Label: Parallax Records BSCIJ-13

I know you must be scratching your heads thinking who the f*%k is Robert Nacken? His name and his music really doesn’t match, but here’s the thing, when you check out his tunes, then you’ll really know why he needs to be called Robert Nacken and not some other fanciful name.

Robert is true to his musical forms and plays the guitar and keyboards. Again, I know you’d be thinking why choose his own name for music that is so club jazz oriented and hip and I found the reason to be that it’s kind of catchy and easy to recall when you say Robert Nacken out loud. (Give it a try “ROBERT NACKEN”).

Anyways back to his craft. This dude hails from Germany and has 11 tracks to his name in his album titled ” It Could Be So Easy.” I would say the full length album can be hailed as quite experimental and covers quite a varied scope of styles ranging from Fusion Jazz, Clubby Jazzy Bossa, House, Latin etc… Yeah you said it, Nacken’s got it all covered…and I must add, his flavors and approach are pretty interesting to say the least.

For this week’s spotlight track and quite a tough one to spot amongst the 11 tracks, it has to be the airy, stringy, sexxy, euphoric reverbish track titled “Won’t Be”. Quite easy to describe this one as the sound is kind of 80’s in some ways at the intro (the pads will most definitely keep you flying high) , yet it has that clean minimal Japanese feel to the production (at the chorus breakdown, the Samba Bossa Nova gets strong) and reminds you of a carnival feel type of vibe.

The club jazz appeal for this 11 tracker is strong and in my opinion, I would give Mr. Nacken a nine outta ten for his efforts. Musically he deserves some credit for his efforts as each track as this album is totally different and has a unique flavor to it.

Call me a sucker for the pads and airy feel to the whole production (kind of like J Magik’s solo album), but when I hear Nacken’s production on this spotlight track, I know it’s a sure route to flyin’ high in the Brooklyn sky. For those keen into the experimental club jazz crossovers, do visit the folks at Parrallax Records Japan.

You are bound to find some new shit and hidden gems to collect. Savvy?

Tangkap This!!!

-Marcel

Artiste: Orchester Erwin Lehn
Album: Color In Jazz
Spotlight Track: Fünf zu Vier
Label: MPS Records

Howdy people! The radio silence from HOT-4-U has beem a while but we’re back!
Today’s Zao Gng brings us back to The Black Forest, home of MPS Records and home too of Mr. Erwin Lehn. Jazzer extraodinaire. Big Band specialist, and now, active pensioner!

From the sleevenotes of this album, I read that with the advent of recorded music, many ballrooms closed and the number of swing orchestras declined, leaving a large group of jazz musicians jobless. However, some bands managed to carry on with concert tours, radio dates and recording sessions. The criterion was quality and only the best made it. Needless to say, Orchester Erwin Lehn was one of these.

Although Orchester Erwin Lehn boasts of some hardcore jazz soloist of it’s time – people like Bernd Rabe, Ack Van Rooyen, Rold Ericson – Erwin Lehn also expanded his musical responsibilities to more commercial dance music. This modus operandi alone makes this album even more meaningful as not too often does the orchestra let it all hang out, jazzzwise. Well folks, with Color In Jazz.. they do!

Like the name of the LP, the whole repertoire here is a showcase of strong jazz colours. Each song diffuses into different shades of the spectrum and really shows the top class standards of a big band led by jazz musicians. Swingin’ yo!

I chose “Fünf zu Vier” as the spotlight track because the arrangements here are pure class. You get a bit of the sleazy swing flavas, a touch of Latino, some spicy retro rhythms and some nice stylin’ beats. The mood is pretty reactive but yet groovy and good for tangkaping. Very tastefully done. Kerna lah folks.

BTW, before I sign off. I noticed that Erwin Lehn looks like Terence Stamp (as General Zod in Superman I & II). Kryptonite jazz yo! Freak out!!

Tangkap This!!!
-Crispian

Artist: Patti Labelle
Spotlight Track: If You Asked Me To
Label: MCA Records

Producer: Stewart Levine
Written: Diane Warren
Arrangments: Aaron Zigman
Engineering, Mixing: Darren Klein

Born Patricia Louise Holte, Patti Labelle is renowned for her wide vocal range and super power high-octave belting. This is one passionate soul diva folks – check out her performances on YouTube and you’ll know what I’m talkin’ about. SOUL YO!!

Before going on a solo career, Ms.Patti fronted two groups, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, which received some success on the pop charts in the 60s, and Labelle, which made a breakthrough to the mainstream in the 70s with the seminal soul-funk claasic, “Lady Marmalade”.

After leaving her girl group, Ms.Patti went solo and scored some serious RnB hits like “New Attitude”, “Stir It Up” (recently re-recorded by Patti and Joss Stone), “On My Own” (with Michael McDonald of Doobie Brothers fame) and the spotlight track “If You Asked Me To”.

“If You Asked Me To” is the lead single for Ms.Patti’s seventh solo album and also the lead single for James Bond – Licence To Kill soundtrack. This is real proper RnB people, beautifully arranged with great instrumentation and topped with the soul power of the Labelle herself. As quality as this cut is, Ms.Patti only made it to Number 79 on the U.S. Billboard but when Celine Dion covered it 3 years later.. it hit Number 1?!?! Damn Parameswara balls. Until today, I still feel that Ms.Patti’s version is leagues better than Celine’s, and the numbers on the Billboard charts should be the other way around.

Anyway, this spotlight track really brings back fond memories cos it was released when I just entered National Service. I really steam the track big time and was so mesmerized that I found myself listening to it everyday in camp. Even the simple drum beats and bassline were kerna. The whole production, arrangement, right down to the sound engineering was pure class. Made me smile everyday even though I was botak and serving the nation :)

Tangkap This!!!

-Crispian