Pat Kalla Le Super Mojo
Jongler

After a few other successful projects, Franck Biyong, French-Cameroonian Afrobeat composer, guitar player and singer is back on Hot Casa with a hot futuristic Afro-Brazilian club anthem.The similarities and filiations between traditional West-African drumming and Afro-Brazilian religious musical rites are many: under colonial rule African people and African slaves outwardly practiced Christianity but secretly prayed to their own God, Gods, or Ancestor spirits. So we aimed at keeping the gritty urban menacing sound and poetry of Afrobeat with the percussive mass rumble of Batucada and poignant beauty of Carioca. We then got in touch with Cristina Violle, the first lady of “Samba de Roda” in Paris who graced us with a startling inspired and heartfelt melody. The first completed version of the song then briefly went on alternative radio, we also made plans to release a vinyl version, but for one way or another we shelved the project, without thinking we would get back to it again…until a few months ago.We went back to the studio last summer and started ironing the song again from scratch. That same initial spirit and energy caught hold of us again from the day we started and we worked relentlessly to create a balanced but experimental track, showcasing rootsy sound, pop instrumentation, tight world beat drumming, song structure, jazzy horns, spacey synthesizers, choral-like vocal harmonies with call and response figurative vocals.We now proudly present this brand new record; Like our predecessors years ago, we subconsciously did our best to keep alive a longtime tradition of cultural tradition of African Artistic Renaissance, pushing further musical themes of contemporary African sound. To be continued…

Thomas Blanchot, 40 years old percussionist and drummer, started his production structure Mato Production in 2001, where he collaborated and directed for many projects.Composer, music publisher and producer of music for TV, advertising, films and records, he also began a career as reggae producer since 2006, under the name "MATO". Since then he’s released music through various projects concepts, coming out through labels such as Makasound, EDR Records or Big Singles. In the meantime he developed a real trademark: taking over classics French, Hip-Hop, or Pop song, into roots reggae-dub new versions.Besides since 2010, Mato has built a solid reputation thanks to his hot remixes of Hip-Hop classics on Stix Records. And in 2014, he presented Homework Dub, giving his own vision of the multiplatinum classic album by Daft Punk, quickly acclaimed internationally as a true performance.Today, Mato is back with another target for his special skills as a tailor of reggae music, this time focusing on classic musical themes from original soundtracks. Imagine if Lalo Schiffrin, Nino Rota, Gorgio Moroder, Ennio Morricone or John Williams had been blunted at Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Black Ark studio… there you go, this is Hollywoo Dub!!

Favorite Recordings and Charles Maurice proudly present the 5th edition of the AOR Global Sounds compilations series: 8 rare and hidden tracks, produced between 1977 and 1984 in various parts of the world. Started in 2015, the AOR Global Sounds series was born from the will of Charles Maurice (aka Pascal Rioux) to share his longtime love for the AOR and WestCoast movement and highlight its influence for many artists in the late 70s and early 80s. In this 5th volume, he selected again highly forgotten productions, deeply infused with Disco and Soul flavors. Half of the compilation’s tracklist is naturally coming from the US, homeland of this music style, while the other half is made of productions from all over the globe, from France or United Kingdom to Venezuela. And for most of these beautiful songs, it came from artists and bands rather unknown and often released as private press. Often, these records will have a special story, sometimes they’re just part of the universal quest of finding true love. Nonetheless, they all carry a wide range of emotions magnified by the music. For example, “Don’t Take It Away” by Westside is as a love song about a new relationship, recorded in Minnesota and mastered on Sunset Bld. (Hollywood) by Bernie Grundman, who worked on Thriller – funny thing, the original LP is a picture-disc, which was still quite rare back in the days because the singer saw one from Mickael Jackson when visiting the studio. “Til’ Mornin’ Comes”, the only release by The Ferry Brothers, is also a love song, recorded in NYC with notably Gwen Guthrie, Vivian Cherry & Patti Austin singing as backup vocalists. On “What Its Meant To Me”, Jonathon Hansen remembers with emotion the good times spent with the members of his band including the vocalist he was in love with. On “J’Irai Squatter Ton Cœur”, Didier Makaga better-known as a French Boogie & Pop singer, arranger & composer, sings a charming declaration of love on a heavy and groovy eighties production. “You Never Know” by Rhapsody, recorded in Connecticut, sounds more like an East coast fusion of Soul and Jazz-Funk à la James Mason. “What You Do To Me” by Sugar Cane was highlighted on a Pittsburgh Rock Radio compilation: listening to this smooth ballad with its amazing Moog synth break will lift your soul. “Kailua” by Venezuelan Jazz-Funk band Esperanto, is a song about Hawaii which evocates bucolic dreamy nights facing the ocean, a typical AOR vibe. Finally, “I Need You” from Mark Williamson is a blue-eyed soul UK groover ending on a four-on-the-floor climax!And we could detail stories but our guessing is the best way to learn more about all these gems is to listen to the compilation, fully remastered from originals, and whether your preference is for vinyl or CD formats.

A spectacular Hi-Life album with funky digital touches from the great Ghanaian producer Frimpong Manso.Recorded in 1987 at Ghana Films Studio in Accra, the album Boafo Ne Nyame, that we can translate as “Helper is god”, is led by the great and sweet voice of K. Adusei.Five long tracks filled with hypnotic hi-life grooves and many funk inflections that go way beyond lots of standard riffing of modern Afro Funk. The track “Asem De Ye So” (There's problem on us) is a dancefloor friendly song, already known from connoisseurs and maybe a future anthem when the clubs will reopen!Manso Frimpong was born Feb 21st at Nkawkaw and sadly died Nov 23rd 2016 in Kumasi.Official licensed by his son Kwaku FrimpongRemastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery. Pressed on Replika format.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents this new official album reissue of Dreamer of Life by Greg Yoder: A killer AOR private press LP infused with Folk, Jazz and Soul notes and maybe one of the best albums from the Hawaiian Scene in this style.Originally from San Francisco, Greg Yoder moved to Hawai'i in the early seventies and after achieving some local fame in the Waikiki area, recorded this one-off LP in 1976 at Audissey Sound studios, in Honolulu. The music is smooth and soothing, mixing xylophones, percussions, sweet guitars and brilliant orchestrations. In short, Dreamer of Life is full of hidden hits and faultless from the first note to the last.Following his various projects at Favorite Recordings, DJ and producer Charles Maurice recently unveiled this masterpiece by selecting the song “Things Were So Easy” on the AOR Global Sounds Vol.2 compilation. And after the label contacted Greg Yoder about it, the idea of reissuing this amazing album quickly became obvious.After its various compilations reissues over the past 2 years, Favorite Recordings is more than ever keen to enlighten rare-groove forgotten music and will quickly follow-up with great new full albums and compilations reissue projects in 2016.Fully restored and remastered with great attention to sound quality, Dreamer of Life by Greg Yoder is presented in a deluxe vinyl version, housed in a tip-on jacket, as CD and in Digital versions.