Matthias Vogt
Pianissimo

It’s been now 25 years that Olivier Portal has been Playin’ 4 the City.Very versatile in the beginning, he has nurtured his productions while doing club residencies in Paris and Chicago, making his music all the more dancing and developing a very original touch drawing near to the sounds of Chi -Town and New Jersey. By the end of the 90’s, he collaborated with many DJ’s and producers such as DJ Deep, Julien Jabre and Franck Roger among others, thus gaining a real credibility and much respect from the underground Parisian house scene and the world at large.The Music & The Rhythm 1997-2003 brings back to the forefront some of the most anthemic tracks reflecting a very creative period in which Olivier Portal hooked up with great vocalists and players to produce his own style of deep house rich in soulful vocals, jazzy harmonies, funky bass lines and his trademark keyboard layers. This triple LP brings back to light some of the most emblematic tracks reflecting a very creative period during which Olivier Portal teamed up with excellent vocalists and instrumentalists to produce This compilation, besides offering the best of the Straight Up era with some great classics like the smooth "Music and the Rhythm", the seminal "More Than Ever" and crucial tracks like "The Shore" and "Deep Inside", also entitles us to retrieve very in demand gems like "Atmosfear’s Vibe", "Spirits" and "My City Life" that now fetch hefty prices in the 12” market.Limited edition of 500 copies. More good news: P4TC will put out a new album early next year. Enjoy the Music and the Rhythm!

** Available exclusively at The Pusher **Favorite Recordings and Charles Maurice proudly present a brand new compilation series: Fusion Global Sounds. 9 rare and hidden tracks produced between 1970 and 1983 in various parts of the world. As a fine collector of Jazz-Funk and Fusion for many years, Charles Maurice selected some of his favorite forgotten productions, as he previously did for the AOR Global Sounds, French and Brazilian Disco Boogie Sounds compilations series.This time, recordings come from Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, New Zealand, Uruguay, Spain and France, from artists and bands mostly known in their local scenes. You'll hear here the best elements of the Fusion and Jazz-Funk genre: breezy vocal arrangements reminding Flora Purim in Return To Forever or George Duke's albums, sweet and virtuosic Fender Rhodes (kind of common thread of the comp), melodic spiral-shaped fuzzy synthesizers leads, or irresistible basslines, altogether bringing a unique groove to life."Buster" is taken from the first and only album of the Swedish band, Sundance. The band from Gothenburg was formed around US trumpet player Stephen Frankevich (notably playing with Mahavishnu Orchestra) after he moved to Sweden. Cosmic, with razor-sharp rhythms, it naturally brings you to the second title, "Hello Mr. Ancuvis" by Renato Anselmi. One of the key players of the Swiss Jazz scene during the sixties and the seventies, Renato also had the chance to play with Harvey Mason or Alphonso Johnson. Funky, jazzy but still a bit breezy, here again sweet vocals nicely blend with uptempo Rhodes part. Also included is another title from Renato Anselmi, "Quiet Fire", a mellow Rhodes-driven ballad with funky accents, wide strings and guitar arrangements."Tropical Island" by Zane Cronje, a South-African composer and arranger, was initially a track from a music library catalogue: dreamy, soaked in thorough synthesizers, we're only attached to the earth by the Guiro groove. You'll also hear this cosmic vibe in "Astral Dance" by French-American drummer and Jazz musician/composer Daniel Bechet, taken from Songs To My Father LP, dedicated to his father the famous Sax/Clarinet player Sydney Bechet. In this 4 minutes dope jam, keys, guitar and percussion will elevate your mind to another level of consciousness: deep!The 1860 Band was hailing from Wellington, New Zealand, playing mostly in bars, cafes and pubs - their name is taken from a tavern where they had an extended afternoon residency keeping the clients entertained. Their sole LP, now rare and sought-after, was a nice mix of Jazz-Funk and Disco grooves. Their amazing and groovy cover of "Keep That Same Old Feeling" by The Crusaders, brings the best of their playing.Otroshakers was formed around Hugo and Osvaldo Fattoruso, as a tribute project to their former band Los Shakers, some sort of copycat band of The Beatles with great success in Latin America. Listening to "Siempre Tu", you can almost hear The Beatles' psychedelic vocal of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later joining Ringo Thielmann in the US, they formed the band OPA together, after having recorded for Airto's seminal album Fingers. Blending Jazz, South-American musical elements and Funk, their fusion quickly gained the respect of the NY musical scene. "Despertar" by Spanish drummer, singer and actor Pedro Ruy-Blas, is taken from Luna Llena, his great first Jazz-Funk album. The track is a funky piece with wah-wah expressive Rhodes, ending with a beautiful flute solo. "Prologue" by Dutch-French pianist Majoie Hajary (sometimes called the "Hindu pianist"), can be found on La Passion Selon Judas, a very unique religious album blending her own style with Psych, Funk and Jazz elements.Surely we could continue detailing stories of all these gems, but we guess that the best way to learn more about them, is to listen to Fusion Global Sounds, fully remastered from originals and whether your preference is for vinyl or CD formats.

A revival, a resumption, a revelation… call it as you wish, Ray Stephen Oche is now delivering his musical message: fire, fun, fury, talent and magic. This is music from the African heartland, dense, intense, a genuine fermentation of black African experience in sound, a translation of Ray Stephen’s essence into a soothing, meaningful balm for your eager auditory faculties. Such is this album of “dedications”.

** Only available for France & Italy **An unbelievable post-punk shuffler from 1981, by Tel-Aviv-Brussels band Minimal Compact! But this is no ordinary reissue! The 12'' includes an unreleased instrumental version plus a spaced-out extended dub mix by the living legend, Mad Professor! Killer stuff as ever from the Fortuna Records crew!!!

Deux Filles was not, in fact, two girls despite what the group name and its elaborate hoax of a backstory suggest. No, they were not Gemini Forque and Claudine Coule, French women who met as teenagers under tragic circumstances and became fast friends, recording two albums together before disappearing into the ether. In reality, Deux Filles was Simon Fisher Turner and Colin Lloyd Tucker, a UK duo who first worked together in an early incarnation of The The. Straddling the line between experimental and pop, Turner was an actor and teen singing star who later composed soundtracks for the iconic queer filmmaker Derek Jarman while Tucker’s career began as an engineer for the famed UK library music studio, De Wolfe, before forming experimental wave group The Gadgets. In Deux Filles, the duo found an outlet for their least commercial tendencies, combining lo-fi proto-dream-pop instrumentals with samples, tape experiments, ambient textures, and drum machines. Even in the vibrant, seemingly endless well of UK DIY, Deux Filles stand out.Double Happiness is the duo’s second album, originally released in 1983 on their own imprint, Papier Maché. Full of meandering guitar and with a more ominous tone than the debut, the album is recommended for fans of Durutti Column and Thomas Leer & Robert Rental’s The Bridge.

Following previous ventures with The Funk League and production credits for Large Professor, Diamond D or Gift of Gab, french producer Hugo LX returns with a new collective project under his KenJaNai’ alias.The debut album “Faceless Heroes” (coming out in October 2014) showcases a radical shift for the young beatsmith, as the production style leans towards futuristic beats, 80’s synths and also some downtempo - sometimes ambiant - jams influenced by Japanese electronic and new funk legacy.KenJaNai is not only a producer effort, but a close collaboration with fellow musicians and top shelf vocal artist: the mighty Elzhi (from Detroit very own Slum Village) and indy star Oddisee supply classic verses, while Canadian songstress Amalia (known for her tremendous work with Opolopo) brings her Nu-Funk trademark and soulful vibe in the mix, alongside Kandisky Effect' bassist Gael Petrina and turntablist DJ Suspect.Cruising through atmospheric layers and hard hitting drum patches, “Faceless Heroes” expresses nowadays producers’ ability to navigate from a place to another on the musical spectrum, in order to keep the music vibrant.First 2 tracks single coming out in a limited 300 copies 7inch and including an exclusive remix of “Playin’ (Feat. Amalia)”.