Ebo Taylor Explores Highlife Roots On New Album Appia Kwa Bridge
Ebo Taylor is a towering figure in the field of African music. The fact that, well into his 70s, he continues to tour and record speaks loudly to his dedication to his craft, and to the worldwide excitement over his music. Appia Kwa Bridge will be the second new studio album of his since 2010, recorded again with Berlin's Afrobeat Academy.
On the new record, Ebo takes a personal approach, both in the subject matter, and the musical inspiration. “I wanted to go back to a highlife feeling with this album,” he explains. “The songs are very personal and it is an important part of my music to keep alive many traditional Fante songs, war chants and children’s rhymes.”
We're honored to be able to share new music with you from a man and musician of Ebo's stature. Appia Kwa Bridge will be released in April, and Mr. Taylor will be performing internationally this Spring.
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Rare Video From A Certain Ratio- "Back To The Start"
For all its inventiveness and artful genre-bending, it's easy to forget that the convergence of post-punk, dance music and funk typified pioneered by many of the Factory groups and others in the early 80's was motivated as much by the desire to have fun as by anything else. The spontaneity and sometimes outright goofiness really comes across watching the vintage footage of A Certain Ratio in their video for "Back To The Start," an excellent slice of disco-fied noise (complete with spontaneous percussion breakdown) from 1981.
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Strut Boat Party In London
It's been some time, more than eight years, since we got the Strut crew together in London for an evening of fine music and revelry. The time has come once again, and we're going to do it up in proper style! We'll be taking to the decks on the deck of the Tamesis Dock, moored at Albert Embankment, with a crew of label friends and family, and some special guests. This will our grand re-entrance into the London nightlife, so look for more events on the horizon. Come raise a glass and give summer a final hurrah to the finest sounds in disco, soul, afro-funk, and everything in between!
STRUT RECORDS BOAT PARTY
The Tamesis Boat Dock, Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP
(between Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge)
Sunday 25th September 2011
DJs Duncan Brooker, Toni Rossano, Christine Indigo, & special guest Bill Brewster
4.00pm to 12.00am
Tickets: £5 all night – on the door. Book online at www.ticketweb.co.uk
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Norman Jay MBE & the History of Good Times
As we celebrate the anniversary of one of our favorite, and certainly one of the most influential sound systems, it's nice to be able to take a look back at the development of Norman Jay's Good Times, and his shaping of popular tastes. Through conversations with Norman himself, and those close to him, we get to see some of the many things that made (and make) Good Times so special. Hats off to Norman, and to the parties which have brought so many people together.
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'Fac. Dance' Collects Gems From Factory Records Catalog
Here at Strut, we're pretty huge fans of Factory Records, which should come as no surprise. Factory staples such as Quando Quango's "Love Tempo" have been compiled on our 'Disco Not Disco' series, and music from Factory's vast catalog has long been heavily featured in our DJ sets and general listening. For 'Fac. Dance' we decided to focus on some of the label's early output, narrowing in on some key dance floor cuts that comprise some of our favorite 12 inches and late night classics. We were lucky enough to have involvement from some of the label's key participants, including iconic designer and cover artist Peter Saville. Our friend Bill Brewster of DJHistory.com assembled the compilation and contributes the liner notes. Check the track list below, & look for the album at the end of October.
CD 1
1. SECTION 25 – LOOKING FROM A HILLTOP (Megamix)
2. A CERTAIN RATIO – WILD PARTY
3. QUANDO QUANGO – LOVE TEMPO
4. 52nd STREET – EXPRESS
5. SWAMP CHILDREN – LITTLE VOICES
6. BITING TONGUES – BOSS TOYOTA TROUBLE
7. THE DURUTTI COLUMN – FOR BELGIAN FRIENDS
8. ROYAL FAMILY AND THE POOR – ART ON 45
9. A CERTAIN RATIO – KNIFE SLITS WATER (12” mix)
10. SECTION 25 – DIRTY DISCO
11. BLURT – PUPPETEER
12. X-O-DUS – SEE THEM A’COME
CD 2
01. SHARK VEGAS – PRETENDERS OF LOVE
02. 52nd STREET – COOL AS ICE (Restructured by John “Jellybean” Benitez)
03. STREETLIFE – ACT ON INSTINCT (Hot Swedish mix)
04. THE HOOD – SALVATION! (Nitromix)
05. ABECEDARIANS – SMILING MONARCHS
06. MINNY POPS – TIME
07. QUANDO QUANGO – ATOM ROCK (New York remix)
08. MARCEL KING – REACH FOR LOVE (New York remix)
09. 52nd STREET – LOOK INTO MY EYES
10. QUANDO QUANGO – GENIUS
11. SWAMP CHILDREN – YOU’VE GOT ME BEAT
12. THE DURUTTI COLUMN – MADELEINE
Vinyl
A1: SECTION 25 – LOOKING FROM A HILLTOP (Megamix)
A2: A CERTAIN RATIO – WILD PARTY
A3: ROYAL FAMILY AND THE POOR – ART ON 45
B1: QUANDO QUANGO – ATOM ROCK (New York remix)
B2: 52nd STREET – COOL AS ICE (Restructured by John “Jellybean” Benitez)
B3: BLURT – PUPPETEER
C1: SWAMP CHILDREN – YOU’VE GOT ME BEAT
C2: X-O-DUS – SEE THEM A’COME
C3: THE DURUTTI COLUMN – FOR BELGIAN FRIENDS
D1: SHARK VEGAS – PRETENDERS OF LOVE
D2: MARCEL KING – REACH FOR LOVE (New York remix)
D3: ABECEDARIANS – SMILING MONARCHS
Digital only
Minny Pops – Time
Kalima – Black Water
Royal Family & The Poor – Motherland
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Dennis Coffey Remix EP: Free D/L!
A couple of weeks ago we posted Shigeto's fantastic remix of Dennis Coffey & Mayer Hawthorne's "All Your Goodies Are Gone" to get you psyched for the upcoming remix EP. We hope it worked too, because the EP is here, and it's amazing! We assembled some of the most talented artists from the Detroit area, all influenced by Coffey's work, for a collection of re-interpretations and remixes of his new tracks. With mixes from Dabrye, 14KT, Recloose, Nick Speed & more, you know it's going to be something special. And what's more, it's totally FREE. Grab the EP in its entirety below, and if you haven't checked out Dennis' full solo album yet, get on that!
http://www.denniscoffey-thealbum.com/Re-Worked/
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Dennis Coffey Remixes On The Way: Hear Shigeto's Mix Now
One thing about working with Dennis Coffey: the man likes to keep things Detroit-centric as much as possible. Which is great. The sheer amount of talent coming out of the D is incredible, and his latest album was heavily enriched by contributions from some of the city's finest performers, including Mayer Hawthorne, Mick Collins of The Dirtbombs, Rachel Nagy of The Detroit Cobras and more. So it came as no surprise that when we started the discussions about putting together a remix compilation, the plan was to pull from Detroit's extremely rich electronic community.
We're partnering up with Fat Beats to give away the whole collection soon, which includes contributions from Dabrye, 14KT, Recloose, Nick Speed & more, but to kick things off we wanted to share with you this excellent remix from Ghostly's Shigeto. The Michigan beat maker puts a distinctive bounce underneath "All Your Goodies Are Gone," somewhere in between garage house and the signature Motor City hip-hop sound characterized by innovators like Jay Dilla. The remix collection, titled Outer Galaxies: Dennis Coffey Reinterpreted will be out soon. Dennis Coffey's Dennis Coffey album and Shigeto's Full Circle are out now.
All Your Goodies Are Gone feat. Mayer Hawthorne (Shigeto remix) by Strut
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Kid Creole Returns Wtih A New Album
The Tropical Gangster is back! August Darnell a.k.a. Kid Creole returns with I Wake Up Screaming, his first studio album in over 10 years. The album finds Creole in top form, delivering the sort of clever commentary and intricately constructed grooves we've come to rely on him for. Mixed by Brennan Green (Chinatown Records, New York) and Lars Nissen (Denmark), the album features co-compositions and co-productions with Andy Butler of Hercules & Love Affair, which is a pretty amazing talent pool if we do say so ourselves! The first single, "I Do Believe," is due in July, with mixes by Brennan Green, Faze Action, 40 Thieves and Emperor Machine. Make sure to have a dance floor handy...
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Norman Jay MBE Celebrates 30 Years Of Good Times With A New Compilation
Norman Jay walks his own path as a DJ, a regrettably rare trait these days. His Good Times sound system is a festival mainstay, and an institution at Notting Hill Carnival, where Jay was instrumental in introducing a range of gritty, soulful styles to complement the predominantly reggae-based sound systems. Jay helped spread an appreciation for deep crates and eclectic selections during the rise of Acid Jazz, and was a force behind Shake ‘N’ Fingerpop, High On Hope and the seminal Talkin’ Loud label alongside Gilles Peterson, all of which built his reputation for open-minded soulful selections spanning soul, funk, disco, early house, reggae and hip hop. He is also the first DJ to be presented with the MBE honor. For you non-Brits, that's Member of the Order of the British Empire. Other honorees include, say, The Beatles.
Now, the maestro returns with a special 30th Anniversary collection for Strut, another bumper set of genre-hopping classics and rare Good Times favourites. Tracks include boogie rarity ‘Dreamin’ by short-lived band Zalmac and Fries & Bridges’ ‘Forever This’, a 4x4 belter featuring an early vocal by chart superstar Cee-Lo Green. Jay touches on independent hip hop with Basement Chemist, jazz grooves courtesy of Kira Neris and Attic Tree, skanking reggae from Jacob Miller and doo-wop soul courtesy of Little Anthony & The Imperials. The album is an incredible collection of music from a man whose one-of-a-kind selections have pleased crowds the world over. Look for it in July on CD, LP + digital download, featuring a new interview between Jay and journalist Lloyd Bradley, as well as career-spanning photos.
Tracklist:
1. MARK CAPANNI – I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES
2. AVERY SUNSHINE – I GOT SUNSHINE
3. TED TAYLOR – GHETTO DISCO (Edit)
4. ZALMAC – DREAMIN’
5. TERRI WELLS – WHO’S THAT STRANGER
6. LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS – I DON’T HAVE TIME TO WORRY
7. MARIO BIONDI – MY GIRL
8. JACOB MILLER & INNER CIRCLE – TIRED FE LICK WEED IN A BUSH
9. THE BASEMENT KHEMIST – EVERYBODY (L I F E)
10. J BOOGIE’S DUBTRONIC SCIENCE feat. GOAPELE and CAPITOL A – TRY ME (People Under The Stairs Remix)
11. ATTIC TREE – VOAR
12. CURTIS MAYFIELD – VICTORY
13. DANTE – FREAK IN ME
14. FRIES & BRIDGES – FOREVER THIS
15. THE DETROIT EXPERIMENT – THINK TWICE (Henrik Schwarz Remix)
16. ASHLEY SLATER – PRIVATE SUNSHINE
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Video: Dennis Coffey Joins Mayer Hawthorne On Stage For "All Your Goodies Are Gone"
The Detroit Music Awards won't be the first time Dennis Coffey and Mayer Hawthorne share a stage together. In fact, the two performed their cover of Parliament's "All Your Goodies Are Gone" when Mayer was in town this past February, and we were lucky enough to get some great video footage. It's a nice preview of the kind of guitar wizardry to expect from Dennis when he hits the road in June and July. Having seen him in Austin this month, we can attest to the fact that Dennis takes no prisoners on stage.
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Dennis Coffey To Be Honored At Detroit Music Awards, Performance With Mayer Hawthorne
It feels really great to see deserving people get their due, and it's difficult to think of many people more deserving of recognition when it comes to Detroit music than Dennis Coffey. On April 15th, the day before Record Store Day, The Detroit Music Awards will be honoring Dennis with a Distinguished Achievement Award. He'll be joined on stage by Mayer Hawthorne, to perform the track "All Your Goodies Are Gone," which appears on the new album. Dennis is also nominated for the video for his cover of Cee-Lo's "F**k You," which features a host of notable Detroit folks. If you're in the area, you can catch the show at The Fillmore Theater.
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House Shoes Mixes Dennis Coffey's History of Funk
When we discussed the idea of putting together a mix focusing on Dennis Coffey's immense history in the world of soul, funk, and hip-hop, House Shoes was our clear first choice. Often referred to as "Detroit's musical ambassador," Shoes is intimately acquainted with Dennis' history, and a first rate DJ to boot. On Constellations - The A to Z of Dennis Coffey, he delivered beyond our expectations. Touching on everything from the psychedelic b-boy soul of Coffey's 70's solo material, to classic recordings on which he recorded as a sessions musician, to hip-hop cuts which have sampled his material, and even a couple of sneak peaks at the new album's music, he offers as clear a portrait as any of way Dennis Coffey is beloved by so many music fans of all varieties. His drop game is tough too! We were also happy to hear how comfortably the new material sits next to Coffey's many classics. If that's not the mark of timelessness, I don't know what is! As everyone from Q-Tip to JakeOne to DJ Jazzy Jeff are happy to remind you: Dennis Coffey will be out April 26th.
Constellations - The A to Z of Dennis Coffey:A Mix By House Shoes (mediafire download)
Constellations - The A to Z of Dennis Coffey: A Mix By House Shoes by Strut
Constellations - The A to Z of Dennis Coffey: A Mix By House Shoes
RECORDED AT SOUNDMATIC BY RHETTMATIC
1. Scorpio Intro- (feat Dennis Coffey, Jazzy Jeff, Jake One, and Q-Tip)
2. LL Cool J- Jinglin' Baby
3. Dennis Coffey- Main Theme (Black Belt Jones OST)
4. Dennis Coffey- 7th Galaxy*
5. Dennis Coffey- Ride Sally Ride
6. The Temptations- Cloud Nine
7. Rodriguez- Sugar Man
8. Marvin Gaye- I Want You
9. Dennis Coffey- Garden Of The Moon
10. The Spinners- It's A Shame
11. Dennis Coffey- Never Can Say Goodbye
12. Dennis Coffey- Whole Lotta Love
13. Diamond D- No Wonduh
14. Isley Brothers / Dennis Coffey & Lyman Woodward- It's Your Thing
15. The Floaters- Float On
16. The Dramatics- In The Rain
17. The Dramatics- Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get
18. Dennis Coffey feat. Mick Collins (Dirtbombs) & Rachel Nagy (Detroit Cobras)- I Bet You*
19. Edwin Starr- Easin' In (Hell Up In Harlem) / Digable Planets (Nickle Bags)
20. The Temptations- I Can't Get Next To You
21. The Undisputed Truth- Smiling Faces Sometimes
22. Dennis Coffey feat. Mayer Hawthorne- All Your Goodies Are Gone*
23. Outro
* denotes material from the upcoming Dennis Coffey album
Dennis Coffey At SXSW 2011
Weds. 3/16: (Guest Appearance w/ Adrian Younge) – Wax Poetics Showcase @ Scoot Inn 1308 East 4th Street - 1:00 AM
(w/ Chico Mann, Kendra Morris, Echocentrics)
Sat. 3/19: Hotel San Jose 1316 South Congress Avenue - 6:30 PM
(w/ Black Angels, Black Joe Lewis (Dennis guesting), The Relatives (Dennis guesting))
Sat. 3/19: Beauty Bar: Palm Door 401 Sabine St. 12:00 AM
(w/ Brownout, T. Bird & The Breaks, Diplomats of Solid Sound)
Dennis Coffey will be touring internationally throughout 2011.
Booking agents: Dave Kaplan (dave.kaplan@theagencygroup.com) and Bruce Solar for The Agency Group (N.America), Clementine Bunel at 2 For The Road Productions (clementine@2fortheroadproductions.com) (Europe)
Management: Christian Fuller and Chris Peters (cwap71@yahoo.com) for Bad Data Management
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Dennis Coffey To Release Record Store Day 7" w/ Steinski Remix
We love Record Store Day. Any excuse to go get our hands dirty is a welcome one, and when you add a bunch of limited edition vinyl from quality artists, plus in-store performances and all sorts of other fun, we're all about it. But until now, we've been missing out on one key part of the action, which is putting together a limited release of our own, and we thought the Dennis Coffey release would be perfect. So for this year's celebration, we're putting together a super limited 7" featuring a digital-only instrumental bonus track from the album, plus an exclusive mix by legendary cut-n-paste producer and serious vinyl head Steinski (if you're not up on the Lesson series get familiar). Dennis will even by stopping by UHF in Detroit for a special home town in-store performance. It all goes down April 12th, so get excited! Dennis' self titled album will be out two weeks later on April 26th.
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Detroit Guitar Legend Dennis Coffey Joins Strut For A New Album
It is with great pleasure that we have the opportunity to announce that legendary guitarist Dennis Coffey will be releasing his new album on Strut. We've been working really closely with Dennis on the project, and can safely say that fans of his wah-wah and breakbeat laden solo material, as well as his pioneering work backing folks like The Temptations, Parliament, Edwin Starr & more will be delighted with what they hear.
One of the really fun things about the project from a record collector's standpoint is that about half of the material reaches back to classic soul songs on which Dennis first appeared, with guest vocal duties handled by a truly amazing array of musicians. Mayer Hawthorne croons over Parliament's "All Your Goodies Are Gone" from their Up For The Down Stroke LP. Two more Detroit belters, The Dirtbombs' Mick Collins and Rachel Nagy of The Detroit Cobras, join the party with another George Clinton related tune, Funkadelic's "I'll Bet You." Paolo Nutini delivers a great adaption of "Only Good For Conversation," from Rodriguez's much loved Cold Fact album. Fanny Franklin from killer Hollywood funk combo Orgone voices a new version of Wilson Pickett’s psych-soul jam "Don’t Knock My Love" and Lisa Kekaula from California garage-soul band The Bellrays takes on the 100 Proof Aged In Soul stomper "Somebody’s Been Sleeping."
For his new compositions on the album, Coffey revisits the uncompromising instrumental style he is renowned for. Milwaukee funk sensations Kings Go Forth (Luaka Bop) mould an intense funk jam around some heavy Coffey licks on ’Miss Millie.’ Album opener ’7th Galaxy’ echoes the hard guitar ’n’ breaks of his Detroit Guitar Band recordings for Sussex, ’Knockabout’ whips up an epic funky soundtrack groove and ’Space Traveller’ simmers on a sleazy, guitar-drenched, slo mo workout.
Dennis will be touring internationally to support the record, kicking things off with several appearances at SXSW (including some special guest sets that we'll tell you about soon). We're also planning an exclusive 7" for Record Store Day, and some other fun celebrations for that event, so keep your eyes open for details.
"Dennis Coffey" will be out April 25th.
Keep up with Dennis at http://www.twitter.com/DennisCoffeyDET and http://www.denniscoffeysite.com/. Tracklist:
1. 7th Galaxy
2. Don't Knock My Love feat. Fanny Franklin
3. All Your Goodies Are Gone feat. Mayer Hawthorne
4. I Bet You feat. Mick Collins (Dirtbombs) and Rachel Nagy (Detroit Cobras)
5. Miss Millie feat. Kings Go Forth
6. Somebody's Been Sleeping feat. Lisa Kekaula
7. Plutonius
8. Knockabout
9. Only Good For Conversation feat. Paolo Nutini
10. Space Traveller
11. Don't Knock My Love (Part 2)
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Dennis Coffey Links With Strut, Says "F*ck You!"
Dennis Coffey is a true legend. One of the all-time great Detroit guitarists, a member of the original Motown house band The Funk Brothers, and the man behind classic breakbeats "Scorpio" and "Theme From Black Belt Jones," he's back in the studio recording a brand new album, which we'll be releasing in 2011. We'll have more info for you on that really soon, but for now enjoy this teaser video in which Coffey is joined by a host of Detroit friends, incuding Mayer Hawthorne, drummer Melvin Davis, and some other folks you might recognize for cheeky take on Cee-Lo’s ‘F*@k You,’ a track influenced by the Motown sound he helped create.
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