Spaceboys
Sonic Fiction

To celebrate the 10 years of Cracki Records, we decided to offer you a new compilation which is not only a return towards the past, gathering the titles which marked the history of Cracki, but also a glance towards the future with the meeting of artists who always gravitated in our close environment. Our wish is to reunite the constellation of friendly and sincere influences that surrounds us through featurings, remixes and exclusive collaborations. In addition to our usual friends, we will meet on this compilation Juan Wauters, Chassol, David Numwami, Lord Apex, NxxxxxS, Myd, Voiski, Tryphème, Myth Syzer or Black Devil Disco Club. With these new collaborations that cross the borders, Cracki Records projects itself towards unknown territories, always searching innovative projects, against fashion and mercantile imperatives. The artistic effervescence, the sensitivity and the human aspect will always come first.

1979. The suburbs of Paris. Five friends, whose origins stem from the West Indies and North Africa, came together to form Trenchtown Meditation, a “creole-speaking” French reggae band.Heavily inspired by the seminal sound of Bob Marley, Trenchtown Meditation was one of the pioneering bands of the burgeoning French reggae scene. It was also at this time that France saw the explosion of pirate radio stations; like many other bands of the era, Trenchtown Meditation would play live sets on-air in these small radio shacks in between gigs on the various scenes of Paris and its vicinity. The band also got their 15 seconds of fame in 1983 when they appeared on the French TV show “Aujourd’hui La Vie- ‘Spécial Exotisme’”. It was during this busy period that the band recorded an 8 tracks reggae album (which to this day remains unreleased). But in spite of their record and strong desire to make a living from music, the daily grind caught up with the band; in 1984 the guitar player quit the band. Subsequently, the four members decided to rename the band Cap’tain Créole with the aim – while remaining true to its reggae roots – of exploring new musical horizons, driven by the will to go beyond all that they’d done up to that moment.The group had access to a professional recording studio and quickly decided to cut a new project. With the help of 3 new members – among them a sax player and a trumpet player, both coming from the jazz scene, who helped define the new sound of Cap’tain Créole – they recorded their unique outing called Ni Bel Jounin. It’s a single composed of 2 titles Fré Moin / Ni Bel Jounin, both sung in créole, which was clearly unusual for the time. Both tracks are at the crossroads of many universes: Afro, Rock, Funk, Reggae and the result is quite unique! The band also used with great impact some subtle electronic elements. “Fré Moin” catches you instantly while “Ni Bel Jounin” strikes the listener with its beauty. The spiritual vibe that oozes from the record is an obvious marker of their reggae roots.Privately pressed and self-distributed in small quantities at the time, BeauMonde is proud to make the one and only record of Cap’tain Créole available again.

Two years after an acclaimed first album, Al Sunny and Favorite Recordings proudly present Planets, carrying on their collaboration and bringing it to another level.Al Sunny is a young and talented singer/musician/composer emerging from the French soul music scene. During his conservatory studies, he refined his knowledge and confirmed his desire to write and compose. He quickly matured the music that he truly loves, inspired by artists such as Tim Maia, America, Al Green, and Al Jarreau. Giving birth to the majority of his compositions through his guitar, he always seeks to bring his songs’ melody to the forefront. During his studies he kept experiencing live performing on different scenes and confirmed his choice for a musical career, while also meeting many brilliant musicians, including Florian Pellissier, who later introduced him to Pascal Rioux and Favorite Recordings.It resulted in 2017 in Time to Decide release, a dazzling first album establishing Al Sunny’s music and writing style, looking towards the 70s and 80s Westcoast movement, infused with Blue-Eyed-Soul, Pop and Folk flavors. Built on the same influences, Planets is made of 8 new compositions (including a CD and digital bonus), and is clearly a continuation of its cadet, asserting Al Sunny’s talent and singing skills.Fully recorded live and analogic in Paris, this new album also stands out by an impressive level of production, faithful to some classics of the genre. Mixing catchy melodies, soulful vocals, warm and heavy bass, strong beat and beautiful guitars and keyboards harmonies, Planets just perfectly meets the AOR and Modern-Soul golden era standards.

After Sweet Sweet Dreams album, Jamwax is very proud to finally release D'Hardest on its original maxi 12'' format.“D'Hardest” was recorded at K.H. studios in Trinidad in 1980 and another version/mix was released on the Wake Up album. This song is everything, thanks to Winston Bailey aka Shadow and all his team.

After a successful launching a few months back, SOL DISCOS is very happy to introduce its second release. This time, the label goes for the 12" format and decides to reissue a very obscure Island disco / funk hybrid two sider.Originally arranged & released by Jamaican producer Ralston "Stamma" Haughton on his SOMB (Sound Of Montego Bay) imprint, "My Music" is sung by Jamaican artist E.T. Webster and features a dub mix to the vocal on the flip. The music is provided by a high quality band of session musician, including Leslie Butler or Paul Hurlock.SOL DISCOS is delighted to give a second life to this rare & hard to get 12", which is not only very rare & elusive, but has also changed hands for high money recently when it shown up.

Brand new collab between French funk artists, Amadeo 85 releasing his new 7inch starring two French vocalist, Ameega and Lexworxx.Synths used for the A side, MPC 2000xl, Moog slim phatty, ensoniq ESQ1, Yamaha so3, and mikrokorg.For the B side, MPC 2000xl, Juno 106, vocoder synton syntovox 222, and homemade talkbox.