Review: Number - Discoid (Ramrock Red Records)

Ramrock Red have finally pollinated the new single from Number with a big 'Discoid' that's template for the dancefloor.

If you're following the curious evolution of Number from 'Le Boucle Nouveau' (see review HERE)  and 'Pollinate' album (see review HERE), this 'A Certain Radio, Talking Heads, P-Funk' hybrid project.  Taking this single from the album, now with vocal and instrumental versions, D-I-S-C-O-I-D dancefloor is aiming high this summer holiday with pollination potential

As we know 'Discoid' has that disco groove and old skool vocoder that seems to be trendy once more but don't turn off as it's knob setting is low so it doesn't disctract as would an AI would - suspect these guys love their analog equipment.

We're told Ali and Rich (aka Number) grew up with "the dirty disco bass lines, noisy drum machines, wonky percussion, leering live drums, jagged guitar melodies and uplifting soulful songs of the 80's" with their original incarnation as Red Snapper that flowered in the 90s sharing stages/studios with The Prodigy, Björk and Massive Attack, ACR, The Sugarhill Gang , Edwyn Collins, The Sabres of Paradise, David Holmes and more.

BBC Radio 6's Lauren Lavern is a big fan of Number and get ready to move your 'Discoid' butt. 

LINK / PRE-ORDER: RRR095 Number - Discoid | Number | Ramrock

Artist: Number

Title: Discoid 
Release date: 5th May, 2026
Label: Ramrock Red Records
Cat. No: RRR095
Format: Bandcamp / Digital

Review: Detroit Rising - Lush Grooves Vol. 1 (DownJazz Records)

Detroit Rising, "A Cosmic Jazz-Funk Adventure", is on the rise again with Vol. 1 of some 'Lush Grooves'.

Nothing to do with the LUSH's fresh handmade cosmetics for "Vegetarian & Cruelty Free" bath bombs but as explosive as the 2023 Remixes release that featured our favourites Jimpster, Sean McCabe and Kaidi Tatham. 

Well Kaidi and Jimpster are back for this 5-track EP along with Kai Alcé (famous for his NDATL remixes), DJ Spinna's Galactic Soul Remix (last seen on Alistair Colling vs. Tortured Soul ft. Sabina ,'When You Find Your Love... Hold On' with new DJ Spinna - see review HERE) and Matica.

But that's only half the story as this project is connected to the label's recent album by Mark Adams & The Ubiquity Band (see review HERE); Mark being Roy Ayers' band's Musical Director for 25 years! 

Opening with Kai Alcé's BBQ remix of 'Talking Walls', well , if they could talk and dance they'd say this is the one that's so LUSH with big strings - no vegetarian BBQ here - or perhaps it is?

So you've got you're value track there but wait!  A cover version of 'You've Got The Feeling' as a Jimpster Dub!  You're kidding?  But so true and talk about bringing "fresh energy" to the project.  Not only that, DJ Spinna does the same with 'Open Letter', taken fromt he album, that's more basic Ayers' as in soulful vocal, horns, synths and of course, vibes.

 

Kaidi Tatham is the "godfather of Broken Beat" and another UK heart touched by Ayers over his many jazz-funk years.  And you'd be surprised his 'Day Dreaming' mix is exactly that, deep soul dreamstate that's make you want to "kiss and hug"- until it flip into a synthy jazz-funk wobble board.  The set ends with Matica doing his 'Funk Dub' Love NSA of 'Talking Walls' which is the most mixed of the lot - brilliant!

Whether you have grown up with Ayers' music or never heard of him - this project (as album and remix) is mor than a fitting tribute to the great man as the great maverick/innovator that he was.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Detroit Rising - Lush Grooves, Vol. 1 on Traxsource 

Artist: Detroit Rising 

Title: Lush Grooves Vol. 1 EP

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label : Downjazz Records

Catalog Number : DJRLUSH001

Format : 12" LP / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Tema Due (Nicola Conte & Nico Lahs) - Universo Astratto (Schema Records)

Tema Due's album, 'Universo Astratto' is 'THE WAY' 

You'll recall EP1 and EP2? There's no EP 3 as they've gof on straight into the double Vinyl LP 'Universo Astratto' for the electronic, spiritual, jazzdance album of the year by Tema Due, the immaculate pairing of Nicola Conte & Nico Lahs! 

The album features an exceptional cast of musicians — including pianists Giovanni Guidi and Pietro Lussu, percussionists Gabriel Prado and Abdissa Assefa, Magnus Lindgren on winds and Hammond, and vocalists Lalin St. Juste, Siya Makuzeni, Nina Miranda, and Toco.

More than a club record, Universo Astratto is a manifesto — treating the dance floor as a space for collective awareness, inviting listeners into an immersive world of ancestral grooves and cosmic jazz designed to transcend as much as it moves.

BUY LINK: Music | Schema Records

Artist: Tema Due (Nicola Conte, Nico Lahs)

Title:  Universo Astratto 

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label : Schema Records

Catalog Number : SC548

Format: 2 x LP Vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Bolbec - Foutu Félin (Batov Records)

Childhood friends and multi-instrumentalists both, Axel Concato and Barth Corbelet are back with another fantastic album crammed with your favourite influences with 'Foutu Félin' and there's more than a bit of musical fun in there too!

Bolbec's' album ;Victime De l'aube' was deep in the OST world of Piero Piccioni, Michel Legrand or Jonny Trunk's favourite, Basil Kirchin with a more than healthy dollop of library (see review HERE).

I can't say 'Foutu Félin' takes us further than 'Feuille D'orage' in that you can can still find a bossa theme next to a 60s gangster jazz noir (in a bathroom!) which in diggers terms is still "worth the price of the album" on its own.

In fact, we're told it's "richly cinematic collection of instrumental music that feels less like a record and more like an imaginary film — one where melody, harmony and rhythm take centre stage in deliberate contrast to the texture-obsessed trends of contemporary scoring."

Like a lost John Barry?   And there's some great flute-gang vibes going on, like 'En Voiture' as a hip-hop beats blues walk; could Dingwalls eventually have a Backroom? This would be where you'd find me totally chilled with 'Le Fou-Rire' along with 'Fanny au Phare''s trumpet!

 

And perhaps it's because these 10 track have a strong sense of française from ya overflowing 'Café Frappé' to 'Terrassée' it still sounds so familiar yet it's new!  And it's no surprise that it's this good as he duo are again supported by Ben Lamdin and Nostalgia 77 (still love 'The Lonliest Flower In The Village; see review HERE).

Batov Records 'traditional' Middle Eastern Grooves (see review HERE) and if you have had enough of dusty Bruton / KPM / Chappell and the like, swing onto this is the must summer album.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Foutu Félin | Bolbec

Artist: Bolbec

Title:  Foutu Félin 

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label: Batov Records 

Cat. No: BTR136

Format:  LP vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Rosa Brunello - We Are Surging Waters (Domanda Music)

This is the third album by bassist/composer Rosa Brunello on Domanda Music and 'We Are Surging Waters' has lubricated our world / jazz / experimental / dance view like a refreshing spring!

This is bonkers!  Can you imagine Batov Records and the Noslagia 77 team taking on Derek Bailey with Eno (in his non-ambient periods) a la Ze Records on Radio 3 with some jazzdance free style percussion?  And then some!

This is no Ellie Wilson 'Listen To The River' (see review HERE) but you've got to be 'Living Upstream' to get this.  Rosa wasn't in this mood when she was gigging with Dee Dee Bridgewater (Ed. perhaps she was?) as this is the best "headlong rush shaped by extensive improvisation and reduced post-production, capturing the album’s raw energy and sense of forward motion" track you're likely to hear anyway.

Supported by a large supergroup featuring Yazz Ahmed and Tamar 'Don't Be Cruel' Osborn (see HERE) the album stretches (more like a rack than yoga) from Middle Eastern traditions to improvisation, disco, jazz and dub.

Wonder if Rosa is up for a remix of 'Listen To The River' or Bolbec (see HERE, new album coming soon) but I think we could do with long versions of some of the tracks, particularly the synth mad 'Witching Hour'.

I'd like to think if Mingus was around today, this is what he'd be doing!

BUY LINK / Pre-Order: We Are Surging Waters | Rosa Brunello

Artist: Rosa Brunello -

Title: We Are Surging Waters

Release date: 6th May, 2026
Label : Domanda Music
Catalog Number : TBC
Format:  Vinyl / Digital / Streaming / Bandcamp

Rosa Brunello: Composition, Electric Bass, Double Bass, and Djembe
Yazz Ahmed: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Tamar Osborn: Baritone Saxophone, Flute
Luca Tapino: Trombone
Enrico Terragnoli: Guitar, Synthesizer
Maurice Louca: Synthesizer (We Are Surging Waters, Witching Hour)
Marco Frattini: Drums, Percussion
Tommaso Cappellato: Drums, Percussion (We Are Surging Water, Fish Without A Bicycle, Living Upstream, Memory In The Making)
Rabih Beaini: Mixing, Sound Design

 

Review: Marina Trench - Watching Back EP (Sweet State)

French producer and DJ Marina Trench releases her 'Watching Back' EP - look into her eyes, tell me this isn't "future soul music, dance driven electronica" house music! 

Making a name for herself with a 3 year residency at Paris' Rex Club plus DJing internationally and having releases on Wolf Music and Razor'n'Tape to name just two labels, we prepared to be taken aback with this 4-tracker EP.

'What I Do' opens to what you might think is euro-pop soul but there's hidden depths to it ison repeat listens as 'Get High (If You're Looking For Love)' which is Chic does odd-ball space synth 'n' piano house that nicely fits in and out (of love).

Like as merger ot the A-side, the flip is big as 'Shake Zone' with vocals by Yaje and the instrumental club mix version keeps us moving alt the way from "versatile pop vocals " to "unwavering commitment to joy". 

I was having a deep conversation with Industry/DJ/producer the other day about the future of house etc (you know, deep stuff with a couple of drinks) and we came to the conclusion that what we all need is more "fun stuff"; and this is exactly what we were talking about - Shake Zone club mix people!

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://marinatrench.bandcamp.com/

Artists: Marina Trench

Release: Watching Back EP

Release Date: 8th May, 2026

Label: Sweet State

Cat. No. TBC

Format:  Digital / Bandcamp 

Review: The Ruffcats ft. Doug Shorts - I Ain't Worried (inc. Erobique Remix)(Sonar Kollektiv)

You'll recall RAH & The Ruffcats on Sonar Kollektiv from a couple of years ago; well they've removed RAH and got Doug Shorts, who luckily ain't worried about a thing at all on this new single, 'I Ain't Worried' that includes an Erobique Remix!

RAH & The Ruffcats' 'Wake Up' got the Yoruba Soul mixes treatment (see review HERE) and the album, 'Orile To Berlin' (see review HERE) really showcased the 'supergroup backing band', The Ruffcats (from Berlin) and now they front the mighty fine soulful voice of Doug Shorts.

In that soulfully downtempo of a Jeb Loy Nichols (on Timmion - see HERE) at one extreme, with the original version in it's 60s/70s vibe, or at the other, a Jono McCleery album 'Reconcile' (see review HERE) where the remix takes it into a Northern Soul Modern Room / downtempo soul. 

You can see why there's already a high demand for the old skool 7" vinyl as it's aimed squarely at soul lovers, DJs, and collectors alike: a record that feels just as at home in a crate next to vintage originals as it does in a contemporary DJ set.

 

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://sonarkollektiv.lnk.to/iaintworried

Title: The Ruffcats ft. Doug Shorts

Title: I Ain't Worried (inc. Erobique Remix)

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label : Sonar Kollektiv

Catalog Number : SK560D

Format: Digital / Bandcamp 

Review: VA - Dam Swindle present 'House Of House' (Heist Recordings)

For Heist Recordings' 100th release, Dam Swindle has put together a fantastic 19 track compilation that's picked on some big names like Kerri Chandler, Louie Vega, Folamour, Cinthie & more!

Seem to be making a bit of a habit of celebrating label's reaching their first class century like The Disco Express 100 (see HERE) which, if you missed it had a Dam Swindle remix of Bustin' Loose's 'Soulbound'; so what has he found for this Heist 100?  Well, the opening track seems to be appropriate in more ways than one and it's Dam Swindle's own 'Back To The Old School' featuring DJ Minx with no phone, underground raves and positive house vibes.

And talking of looking back, anyone remember Faith (Vol. 3, #3, Spring 2021), Sharon Andrews interviewed Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets (aka Dam Swindle) who run Heist Recordings and she asked, what track will they best remembered for?  And it was 'Call Of The Wild', represented on the album as a Makez Remix featuring Jungle By Night and it also finishes the album with a dub version which is a perfect YATM jazz house dub track.

Not content with that, their 'Not Enough' featuring the sweet soul vocals of Haile Supreme' gets a bouncy remix by Two Soul Fusion (aka Louie Vega and Josh Milan Remix).  And taking big name and bouncy, you  don't get much bigger than Kerri Chandler with 'Kerriousity' (Ed. gettit).

Other highlights include our favourite Dutch duo Fouk (check their recent 'Sundays EP' - see review HERE) with a saturated 'Head Spin' that you can't resist. And somebody else that won't let you down in LYMA, as featured on Folamour's 'Wont let U Down'.

So it's a bright idea as the 'Swindle and Heist look to the next ton up of releases to feature old and new skool artists on a comp and did you know, Supershy is the (appropriate named) alias of Tom Misch?  You do now!

BUY LINK / Vinyl Pre-Order: Music | Heist Recordings

Artist: Various Artists (Kerri Chandler, Louie Vega, Folamour, Cinthie & more)

Title: Dam Swindle present 'House Of House' 

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label : Heist Recordings

Catalog Number : TBC

Format:  Vinyl / Digital / Streaming / Bandcamp

Review: Charles Petersohn - Children Of Zu Zu Remixed (Compost Records)

When 'Children of Zu Zu' was released as a 'Short Version' single and everyone in the YATM office was saying, "where's the long version?" And when the long version came out, did we need a 'remix' album; you bet we do and it's here!

Featuring Roberto Di Giola and the People of Tla'aga Samoa, producer/DJ/Singer Charles Petersohn took a massive 18 year break from Compost records (see review HERE) so less than 18 months since 'Children Of Zu Zu', the "Long Version", (see review HERE) is a mere drop in the echoes of and reality before this remix edition emerges..

In fact you get 3 different versions of the track 'Myths versus Reality' and they are all very, so VERY different.  In fact, the Greater Manchester Housing Authority A Spiritual Space Rework is the closest thing I've heard as a combination of Charity Shop Classics' Jason Cooke and Jerry Dammer's Spacial Arkestra in a space fuel reggae combo - surely such a future classic needs a dub version?  I'm onto Compost now for RSD2027 12" disco version.

Stunning and you also get the percussive also dancefloor mix and a Sun Ra dubby Vicktor Malik remix of 'Myths versus Reality' which make this album essential in itself.  But dof on't worry if 'Schmettrlinge Im Bauch' was you're favourite as it's tastefully remix as a space broken beat by Mary Olivetti - oh yeah!

And for more Afro-futurism dancefloor there's the Moodrama remix of the title track as vocal and instrumental versions.

I can't lie, I was a little suspicious on hearing of a 'Children Of Zu Zu' remix album as the original was so good but when Petersohn joins in himself with 'A Meditation On Monk' version of the title track (which is brilliant - could be Monk vs. Mingus vs. Ginger Johnson vs. Ra) you know Charles and Compost's intentions were pure; as Charles himself says, “The shared desire for the EP's tracks to embrace the idea that a remix can be a work of art in its own right has been fully realized. All the mixes have a personal touch, using the originals as raw material that has been played with to one's heart's content. I'm very happy!”. 

We're very happy too Charles!

P.S. As featured in the Colour & Pitch Sessions April Mix (see below) and if you don't know about Manchester's Charity Shop Classics (latest Gerry Hectic Listener's Choice is HERE - Show 543) and check HERE for an early history on Jerry Dammers.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Children Of Zu Zu Remixes | Charles Petersohn & https://CompostRecords.lnk.to/CharlesPetersohn-ChildrenOfZuZuEP

Colour and Pitch · Colour and Pitch Sessions with Sumsuch - April 2026

Artist: Charles Petersohn

Title: Children Of Zu Zu Remixed

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label : Compost Records

Catalog Number : CPT669

Format:  Vinyl 12" / Digital / Bandcamp  

Review: Eric Demuro - Ara Macao / Freedom Layers (Pilchard Rounds) (Bastard Jazz Recordings)

Bastard Jazz, the label itself, has always been know as eclectic / underground in the electronic, funk, soul, hip-hop, reggae since its inception so here's a couple of more tracks to open your ears and eyes!

Celebrating the 25th anniversary this year, the NYC based lable has come a long way from the break/dub samples of 'Natural Collie' ('The Dubbled Up EP' - BJ005 with Dr. Rubberfunk remix!) to last year's disco/funk/boogie/housee album by Peter Matson, 'Hotel PM' (see review HERE).

And this, the first single by Eric Demuro, Venice based bass player who focuses on "groove, experimental and electronic music" is more evidence of their open-minded approach that's very much jazz-funk (and more) as the Italian OST jazz-library gets a injection of "elastic bass lines, warm Rhodes textures, and loose, patient percussion" on 'Freedom Layers (Pilchard Rounds'. 

The low-slung space funk then gets amplified on 'Ara Macao', featuring Fanni Zahár (flute) as a percussive Steve Reich vs. Lonnie Liston Smith in the rain-forest with marimba that's as much jazz-dance as headphone.

The is an introduction as Demuro has an upcoming album, 'Simulacra' in June which may or not be included in the Birthday competition on social meda run by Bastard Jazz to win ALL thier releases on vinyl - which would weigh more than a ton!  All you have to do is name you're favourite label release!  I'm thinking 'Ara Macao'!

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER:  https://ffm.to/eric_demuro_simulacra.HGW

Artist: Eric Demuro

Title:Ara Macao / Freedom Layers (Pilchard Rounds) 

Release date: 8th May, 2025

Label : Bastard Jazz Recordings

Catalog Number :  TBC

Format: Vinyl (pre-order) / Digital / Bandcamp