Brokenbeat / Nu Jazz Recommendations April 2012

Review: Compared to the freeform styles of the Leave Talking 10", the star spot on Rocket Juice & The Moon's "Manuela" by Erykah Badu drives the free-flowing funk of the supergroup (made up of Damon Albarn, Flea and Tony Allen) into a cheeky and mildly dubby pop nugget with a shuffly rhythm to it. Badu is on fine form as ever, lending her coolly delivered-tones to the stripped down track in that disarmingly natural way of hers. Mark Ernestus gets drafted in for a dub version which may surprise his fans as the original remains thoroughly intact, especially in terms of the drums, instead focusing on the freeform synth warbles to provide the centre-point of the track.

Review: Freestyle Records' Jessica Lauren (Four) drops her long awaited single as a precursor to her full length self titled album slated for a mid April release. Jessica has been a keyboard player on the London scene since the early 1990s and we remember in particular her unleashing a superb single for Soul Jazz ("Serengetti") back in 93! Since then Jess has supported everyone from Jean Carne, United Future Organisation, Dexter Wansel and even James Mason. She is also a core member of space jazz outfit Emanative and a regular feature of the long running weekly live Jazz Meet Sessions. The A Side kicks off with an enormous keyboard riff before soul legend Jocelyn Brown kicks in with a soul-infused bluesy vocal performance. Lashings of smouldering Hammond organ aid Miss Brown with the gospel-driven "I Believe", which eases us towards the run-out groove and the A-Side. On the flip "White Mountain" ventures into atmospheric and tasteful instrumental jazz territory, with distinctive keys and hypnotic double bass playing from Andrew Kremer.

Review: The last two years have seen Shokazulu attach themselves closely with 2000 Black, the sub-label of London's Reinforced Records. And they hav come up with an ingenious formula indeed: this latest 2-tracker features the cosmic boogie delight of "Pie", a track so charming and seductive it will have you humming its tenacious synth chords for hours on end. If we flip over, "OO" takes things down to near Parrish level, where it's unpredictable beat hops back and forth amid gentle flutes and raw guitar riffs. Bloody brilliant, that is.

Review: Chunky grooves from French production outfit Souleance, who released this brand new single ahead of the release of their debut album La Belle Vie. La Gourmandise features three tracks; first up, "Schack" has soundtrack stylised brass stabs, handclap rhythms, female wailing and a killer bassline. Up next, "La Ville Rose" uses heavy breaks underpinning a melancholic female vocal, while "Tryin" is a modern day soul fired love song with sampled vocals and stuttering beats.

Review: Slipping out incongruously on Honest Jon's without any forewarning, you might mistake Rocket Juice & The Moon's loose, jam-fuelled funk for any number of unearthed rarities from around the world. The fact that Damon Albarn, Flea and Tony Allen are in fact responsible pleasingly makes no odds when it comes to enjoying these three tasters from the album. There's a strong focus on keeping the recording raw and live, as Allen's drums sit tangibly close in the mix while while Flea's bass lines are pointedly simplistic compared to the flair for which he's known. For all the bombast the participants may be known for, these are just great unwound grooves of a simple nature.

Review: In its brief history, London label 5 Easy Pieces has shown a faultless commitment to releasing interesting electronic music regardless of genre and packaging it in sumptuous sleeve design. Gracefully, the label's fifth release shows no compromises have been made with Let's Vibrate Together a one off collaborative release between sometime Wichita artist My Panda Shall Fly and drummer turned analogue button basher Benjamin Jackson. Allegedly the results of a spontaneous decision to collaborate on material by relentlessly sharing ideas and sounds via email, the three original tracks here veer between buffed up aqua boogie, spine tingling half step utopia and pause button heavy smudge outs. There are also two fine remixes of lead track "Data Module" from Chairman Kato and Cloud Boat, whilst the design is a delight to behold.