The Parker Brothers
The Parker Brothers

Mr Day is also known as the singer of French combo Metropolitan Jazz Affair, the main singer in The Dynamics, for his House-Soul records released on indie label Rotax, as well as his superb guest vocals on productions by Boozoo Bajou, Patchworks and Mr President! "Small Fry" evokes classic soul music, from Curtis Mayfield to Motown, and from northern soul to west coast, without being a specific genre album. The musical style is vast and replete, but the composition and production manage to never fall prey to shortcuts or repetitiveness.

Lava Love is the new album by Zoe’s Shanghai. Led by singer Zoé Renié Harris, the band has made a splash into the crowded neo-soul scene with their debut EP A Mirage (Meant To Last Forever) released in 2019 - a deeply evocative sound and Zoe’s extraordinary voice gained them immediately the spotlight as ones to watch (“a worthy torchbearer for heady and hearty soul music”- Earmilk).Following a successful string of EPs and singles, the Barcelona & Paris-based four-piece band is now ready to share with the world their first full-length album.Lava Love was recorded in an old stable in the French region of Auvergne - known for its mountain ranges and dormant volcanoes, this region could not have been a more apt setting.Lava and love portray in fact a dynamic flow of memory and meaning pouring out of Zoe’s Shanghai’s heart. In and out of the metaphor, Lava and love can be powerful, frightening, beautiful, dangerous and at the same time are essential elements that create fertile change and growth.Through the 11 songs, the band evoke memories and pose questions - inner dialogues, life stories, encounters and relationships – the album depicts a kaleidoscope of moods and feelings, prompting the listener to open to the conversation: while each song presents a microcosm on its own, the album manifests itself in the shared musical experience - immersive music to listen to and enjoy with your loved ones.Produced with Oli Barton-Wood (Nubiyan Twist, Joe Armon-Jones, Nilufer Yanya), the sound of Lava Love brings together hypnotic melodies, groovy rhythms and thoughtful lyrics - fusing the essence of multiple music styles and forging Zoe’s Shanghai unique contemporary soul.The album follows the critically acclaimed EP ‘A Mirage’, which garnered the support of Gilles Peterson & Huey Morgan (BBC 6 Music), Jamz Supernova (BBC Radio 1Xtra), Worldwide FM and Earmilk to name a few.

The motor hasn’t had time to cool down and the belt drive is feeling the fatigue. But Charles Maurice is the kind of DJ who just can’t let a turntable rest. After steaming up the slipmat with three sexy compilations of French Boogie, Charles Maurice is back with Volume 4.In the late 70s and early 80s, while France was still firmly tuned into variety-show pop, a few enlightened ears and souls picked up the hypnotic beat of funk from across the Atlantic. These first warrior monks spread the good word in discotheques, jumped on newly available frequencies to fill the airwaves and, in some cases, took up instruments themselves to unabashedly build on the U.S. model.In a short decade stretching from the late 70s to the late 80s – just a blip on the scale of music history – they turned out material in abundance. Lush productions with colorful covers, groovy typeface and creative photo shoots…But first and foremost, they made music weaned on, spoon-fed and imbued with funk. Music defined by a groove with a robotic beat (Djeneba) that clearly hears hip-hop banging on the door, where layers of synthesizers, handclaps (Eric Chotteau), horns and African percussion line up and follow the all-powerful lead of the swelling slap bass (Cyrill). Music that tells everyday stories, both humorous and lovelorn (Serge Delisle), and often packed with pheromones just waiting to be released on the dance floor or sofa (Chris O’Hara). Shaped by synthetic textures, these productions are also spiced with Caribbean and Creole arrangements that reflect the West Indies’ critical contribution to French Boogie (Wai Kop, Acayouman).With his immaculate tailoring, slicked back hair and clipped moustache, Charles Maurice has once again transformed himself into a HiFi stylus to explore the groove traced by this specifically French musical style. From 45 to 33 rpm, he has traveled the black spiral to bring us a new selection that proudly features a number of rarely heard pieces and even an unreleased track by Marco Attali. True to form, Monsieur Charles carefully crafted this fourth volume from his personal collection of impeccably restored and mastered vinyl recordings.Charles Maurice, where French elegance meets uncompromising musical taste.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents Jongler, first LP by Pat Kalla produced by Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart.PAT KALLA is a musician, singer and storyteller. Patrice of his birth name, in tribute to the great Lumumba! Lover of words, French language, and music of course. Born in Lyon, from a Cameroonian father, musician and political activist, and a French and literary mother, he explores from his childhood the Soul, the Slam, the Funk ... and the art of telling stories, life being a great one…After years of touring alongside many bands (Conte & Soul, Legend of Eboa King, Mento Cloub, Voilaaa Sound System), several acclaimed titles on the two albums by Voilaaa, and recently a first acclaimed EP revealing some hot singles such as “Lady Angola” or “Ancien Combattant”, he comes back with this project to put a bit of primordial lightness in a rainy world: A tribute to the African culture in honor of a father with "Sawa" origins, the tribe from the people of Makossa. Jojo Ngallé, Moni Bilé, Pain, Manu Dibango, Franco, Rochereau, Kabaselé, Fela, François Nkotti & The Black Style, all these legends’ vinyls have turned on the family turntable and the collection has whetted the child's appetite. Through this new trip, he revisits styles that are sometimes little known to Western audiences, such as High-Life, Makossa, Angolan Music, Afrobeat, Afro-Disco and others. We could talk about “Franc CFA”, we could talk about Jacques Foccart, but we will rather dance, because "the dancer seems naive, but his feet must be connected with earth to understand history…"Backed by the "Super Mojo Disco", a hyperactive band from Lyon with deep groove and positive energy, Pat Kalla offers us an anti-crisis project, where swaying and feel-good humor is mandatory! An album soon in the crates, beware « c’est médicament » (it’s medicine)!!

** Not available for UK & Italy **In 1972 Piero Umiliani was above all the man of a thousand soundtracks and the first Italian jazz experiments; from his later career we’ll soon learn that wasn’t enough for him, showing just a tiny part of a more complex picture. Closed within the walls of his Sound Work Shop Studio, the Maestro was weaving much more complicated and satisfying plots, incorporating dozens of influences from a life spent experimenting and discovering new sounds. Among the most fascinating ones, those who came from a continent like Africa, as much fabled as actually little known, but enchanting to the point that Umiliani dedicated to it the entire Africa - which is paired with its twin-record Continente Nero - and released it as M. Zalla, pseudonym used when it came to tidying up uncompromising and avant-garde music textures, as will later happen with masterpieces such as Suspense, Problemi D’Oggi or Mondo Inquieto.Always keep in mind when this album had been released, in January 1972, before approaching its content: here the prog-tinged black rhythm of Africa To-Day, the ‘fourth world’ inspiration coming from Jon Hassell’s Green Dawn, the ‘exotic’ references in Martin Denny’s style (Lonely Village, Echos), the electronic new wave (hearing is believing!) of Sortilège, the folk music (Rite, Folk-Tune). Many years in advance, in Africa Piero Umiliani summarizes sounds and styles that will make the fortune of much more celebrated and popular musicians and artists.