Review: Eric Demuro - Simulacra (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 an album that more than fits in with it's 'Simularca' - Eric Demuro is going to stand out this year!

We had a taster of this album with the single 'Ara Macao' / 'Freedom Layers (Pilchard Rounds)' (see review HERE) but this six track version by Eric Demuro is a great way to celebrate the label's 25th year.

The 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)' and the dream state of 'Dreamstream'. 

And 'Railroad Ties' (Ed. we love anything that is trains based at YATM) keeps us on the edge of dreams and transport systems as the longest track on the album excels with flute, vibes, keys, percussuion and low-slung space funk from rain forest regions.  This Latin flute gang vibe gets further amplified on 'Backlash Off The Grid' and the opener 'Ara Macao', featuring Fanni Zahár (flute) as a percussive Steve Reich vs. Lonnie Liston Smith with marimba that's as much jazz-dance as headphone.

We're told, the album was "Developed between New York and Berlin, Demuro’s approach draws from formal study in New York, time spent working with Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch, and years immersed in Berlin’s Gifted Culture collective, where his studio practice took shape. Recent collaborations, including experimental electronic work alongside James K and projects connected to Ed Longo’s productions, reflect a background shaped through releases with labels such as SUED, Cosmic Romance Records, and others. The result is an intimate and cinematic debut anchored by bass as its guiding voice".

The closing track, 'Hau' is like a Bill Laswell twist to what's gone on before - possibly in the NY subway but apart from that (or possibly in addition), you can also add Bob James and Lalo Schrifin into the mix, it's that good!

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

Artist: Eric Demuro

Title:Simulacra

Release date: 5th June, 2025

Label : Bastard Jazz Recordings

Catalog Number :  BJLP54

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

Review: Zed Bias x MJK - Keep On Livin' + Late To Camberwell (É Soul Cultura & Mr Bongo)

Luke Una and Mr Bongo join forces to get Zed Bias and MJK to join forces on this "dancefloor- focused" floorboard banger in the house and UK garage!

If you're ready to remove your ears from the 24 hour new cycle to emerge into "deeper, more expansive territories" than even Luke Una Presents É Soul Cultura (Vol. 2, see review HERE and this years' Vol. 3 - see review HERE) or Bias' tubular bells (really, see HERE).

Bias was a regular on Tru-thoughts (see HERE) before setting up his own Sidestepper Recordings label as a home to experimental dub/dubstep/house/garage and together with the underground talents of MJK, this is the next generation of hypnotic futuristic techno and house.

Thier combination clearly works on the track, 'Keep On Livin' as it's range goes from Movement in Detroit to Mike Pickering in Manchester; "A track built for dancefloors big or small".

And some as a DJ known for his three-deck mixing style, individually MJK 'Late To Camberwell' is a swirl of a Night bus ride in South London clubland.

This is very Luke Una (as in É Soul Cultura & Mr Bongo) as it's has multi-layers on the dancefloor so demand will be high: get you pre-orders in. 

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Keep On Livin' / Late To Camberwell | Zed Bias x MJK | MR BONGO

LISTEN: youtu.be/XV57jbaBr94 youtu.be/RlphCtEHstY

Artist: Zed Bias x MJK

Title:  Keep On Livin' + Late To Cambe rwell

Release date: 5th June, 2026 

Label : Mr Bongo 

Catalog Number : MRB- TBC

Format : Vinyl /Digital / Bandcamp

Review: VA - J Jazz Vol. 5: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan 1970-1988 (Compiled by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden) (BBE Music)

Tony Higgins and Mike Peden announce that pre-orders available now for J Jazz volume 5: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan 1970-1988, BBE Music’s celebrated J-Jazz compilation series reaches its fifth and final volume in early 2026, culminating in a track list that maintains the exceptionally high standard first set with volume one back in 2018.

This final volume features a selection of tracks that is as diverse as it is deep, reflecting the rich and varied Japanese jazz scene that spanned from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, a golden era of innovation and creativity. J Jazz volume 5 sees compilers Tony Higgins and Mike Peden dig ever deeper into their respective record collections to reveal tracks that encompass myriad styles including white hot jazz funk fusion from Toshiyuki Honda ('Eastern Legacy') and Mikio Masuda ('Sonic Barrier'), super rare ethnic jazz crossover by Crystal Zone - their one-off 45 promo release from 1971, 'Rai Rai' (ライ・ライ), a deconstructed and abstract jazz classic by Yasuhiro Kohno with his solo piano rendition of 'My Favourite Things', and Mile and Half’s skin-tearing, shredding freak-out from their mega rare private press album. A track that is so relentless, it leaves the listener in need of oxygen and a Valium.

These hand-picked selections sit alongside other specially chosen numbers that embrace hard-driving samba (Seiichi Nakumura’s Judy’s Samba), epic head-nodding soul jazz (Masaru Imada’s World Line), psychedelic private press fusion (Aoyama Gakuin 101’s Fervor), angular post-bop tear-ups (Akia Miyazawa’s Nijimasu), intense and insistent fusion (Motohiko Hino’s Olive Step), serene cinematic pianism (Hideo Ichikawa’s On the Trade Wind) and tripped-out hallucinogenic tribal funky jazz (Garandoh) 

With almost 7000 words of extensive sleeve notes, J Jazz volume 5 comes in a triple 180g vinyl set  inside deluxe gatefold sleeve with obi strip, and comes with a 4- page insert, with photographs from the renowned Tokyo Jazz Joints project. Mastered with love @thecarverystudio

BUY LINK/PRE-ORDER (3LP and 2CD) bbemusic.bandcamp.com/album/j-jazz-volume-5-deep-modern-jazz-from-japan-1970-1988

Artist: Varous Artists

Title: J Jazz Vol. 5: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan 1970-1988

Release date: 5th June, 2026 

Label : BBE Music

Catalog Number :  BBE794

BBE 3xLP vinyl / 2xCD / Digital (bbemusic.com) & Bandcamp . 

Review: Jean Jacques Smoothie - Sleeping In The Flowerbeds (Colour and Pitch)

The growing season is upon us but don't let Jean Jacques Smoothie catch you 'Sleeping In The Flowerbeds' whilst his new album is out on Colour & Pitch as their first album release!

You know that we've had the return of Jean Jacques Smoothie with '2 People' re-launch (Richard Earnshaw & The NRG remixes - see review HERE) along with 'Success For Dummies' (PJ Principle remixes - see review HERE) and finally, the album is with us that's been 25 years in the making, 'Sleeping In the Flowerbeds'!

It turns out the Monsiur Smoothie is plain old Steve Robson in real life and based in Cardiff and if it wasn't for the COVID lockdown the album may never have been completed after the 2001 massive '2People' hit based on the Minnie Ripperton sample. 

So the album must start with that track and it's the Rochenko Dubwise mix featuring Tara Busch that's manages to 're-create' Minnie in a too-slow-to-disco Augusto Pablo meets Scientist groove.  And whilst the nine track album closes on the original version of, 'Success For Dummies', Steve proves that he's no dummy: success! 

Blue guitarist/singer Rohan Tarry features on a couple of the tracks, 'Heavy Lifting' and 'Cowgirl'; the pair being a bit on the edge of The Swamp Fox (Tony Joe White vs. Flying Mojito Bros. - see review HERE) and just what you need for "psychedelic electronic Country"!

And then Tara returns on a track 'Over The Edge' with a jazzy-house piano lead and dubby vibe; note this is the 'Album Version' so lets hope we can have a remix like PJ Priinciple's Disco Mix of 'Alpin Morning'.

So that's dancefloor, house, disco, trendy and fun covered before you get to the club instrumentals 'Deep Down', 'Night Jet' and the soft-acid title track, 'Sleeping In The Flowerbeds'.

As regular readers with know, we're keen on the musings of 'Weeds Up Me Knees' (with One Deck Pete) but even he won't be 'Sleeping In The Flowerbeds' -100% Colour & Pitch cool!

PS. Great artwork too - oh yeah!

ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY: Sun Jun 07 2026 at 03:00 pm to 07:00 pm, Pop'n'Hops, Cardiff, Wales 

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://go.protonradio.com/r/rlekfQNU676Pg

Artist: Jean Jacques Smoothie

Title:  Sleeping In The Flowerbeds 

Release date: 5th June, 2026

Label:  Colour and Pitch

Catalog Number: CAP094

Format: Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Kronstad 23 - Dødehavet (Batov Records)

Kronstad 23 are Norwegian  friends who sound like Jerry Garcia and Coco Chatru on the edge of a wood, fjord, beach, naturalist camp with a perfectly 8-track album of Scandi-cool, 'Dødehavet' !

 

Batov Records have already treated us to Bolbec's' 'Foutu Félin' (see review HERE) earlier this month and end it with this "richly cinematic collection of instrumental music that feels less like a record and more like an imaginary film" that's jazzy, libarary, psych rock with a smattering of Scandinavian folk, global influeneces and summer heat!

They recorded the tracks live to tape at keys player Øyvind Arnodd Vie Berg's Bergen home studio, most tracks were captured in one or two takes using a 50-year-old console and tape recorder, with no post-production intervention - perhaps that's why it's got a Grateful Dead 'live' vibe..

The group's first two albums drew praise from Record Collector, Prog Magazine and Sweden's Lira; Dødehavet marks a step further into collective propulsion and rhythm, with jazz, soul, folk, Afrobeat and raga merging into what the band describe as a single, unforced language.

Tracks range from gospel-tinged soul ('Menigheten') and Latin-inflected rock ('Stratosfæren') to heavy Afrobeat ('Høytrykk) and modal jazz ('Bolverk'), all unified by a loose, improvisational feel rooted in collective instinct over rehearsal.

It is a tour de force and super cool, let it all hang out and be free.... but not too free.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Dødehavet | Kronstad 23

Artist: Kronstad 23

Title:  Dødehavet 

Release date: 29th May, 2026

Label: Batov Records 

Cat. No: BTR137

Format:  LP vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Him & Earl - Better Days (Wah Wah 45s)

The WAH WAH 45s release today the soulful, psychedelic folk-pop 'Better Days' as the third and final single to be unveiled ahead of the duo’s upcoming debut album ‘Falling Backwards’ and you'll want to get your orders in before the 26th June! 

As long term fans of the label and head honcho Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s, Jazz FM, Soho Radio and many more) we are always taken aback at the timing of hitting the vibe on the button and this new single is exactly that as we (UK/Europe) emerge out of a heat down into "strangely uplifting and mellifluous feel, the forthcoming album is a mystic brew of desert blues, English folk, Americana and stirring southern soul, with tentacles stretching out into psychedelia and prog".

With a "hooky heat-haze" with kora/Afrobeat guitar and West Coast Beach Boy/Simon & Garfunkell cool that could be King Sunny Adé surfing into WOMAD.

Him & Earl singer/songwriter Olly Him says: “I wrote this about coming out of a difficult time and seeing light at the end of it and better days ahead. An early version was performed with my previous band Creatures of the Deep as a guitar and vocal harmony track, and when it came to recording it for this album we added horns, drums and percussion.”

Living and evolving, it’s one of those timeless songs that can relate to whatever someone might have on their mind. “Like looking forward to seeing someone you miss, or getting through a long winter and looking forward to happier times coming round, and being together again with friends or family”, Olly elaborates; “And it also resonates with the general current feeling of living through fairly depressing and uncertain times and hoping that better days are ahead.

I love this insight and the sense that there will be 'Better Days' to come.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Falling Backwards | Him & Earl

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Artist: Him & Earl

Release: Better Days
Release Date: 29th May, 2026
Label: Wah Wah 45s
Catalog Number: TBC
Format: DOUBLE VINYL LP / Digital / BANDCAMP

Review: Intr0beatz - It's Been Good EP (SlothBoogie Recordings)

Iceland’s finest export, Intr0beatz returns to the cornerstone of SlothBoogie for his latest 4-track EP - and 'It's Been Good'!

Just over a year since Intr0beatz' 'Static Motions' (see review HERE) and the Icelandic producer's appearance on SlothBoogie's '15 years of SlothBoogie' (see review HERE), Arsaell Thor Ingvason (aka Intr0beatz) is back with a "masterclass in the deep, soulful business he’s spent years perfecting".vibe 

With the title track, It's Been Good', 'Undeniably', 'Auf Wiedersehen' and 'At Ease' you get the jazzy, the Latin, the 90s, the swing, the vocal sample and some Balearic beachwear all in a deep house groove.

No pets allowed on  'Auf Wiedersehen' as it taps into the Zachary Berns 'trumpet on a train' vibe (see review HERE) but you'll have your own favourite as 'It's Been Good'; in fact, it's better than that!

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER:It's Been Good EP | Intr0beatz | SlothBoogie

Artist:  Intr0beatz 

Title: It's Been Good EP

Release date: 29th May, 2026

Label: SlothBoogie Recordings)

Cat. No: SBR020

Format: Digital/Streaming / Bandcamp

Review: Inkswel - Mystery Man ft. Reggie B (Flat White Records)

Inswel is still working on those "synchronicities" in sound; this time it's with Reggie B (vocals) and Just One (remix) with the 'Mystery Man' - and he's more than alright!

Fast on the heal's of joining forces with Lizzie Bradley for 'Sunshine In A Cup' (see review HERE - out June 1st), here's a 'Mystery Man' for the fast lane.

Both Inskwel and Reggie B have been game tuned for over 20 years and RB sounds are as fresh today and just made flat white brew.

And another in the two decades of goodness is Just One (aka Justin Chapman) as first heard of with the 'Soul Revolution release in 2005 (on the then trendy Neroli label) and he's still brings the BRUK sound to the deep house on his remix.

If you know, etc - but if you don't, here's a great place to start and the instrumental version showcases the jazz horn.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Mystery Man ft. Reggie B | Inkswel

Illustration: @backdowntrav 

Artist: Inkswel ft. Reggie B

Title: Mystery Man 

Release date: 29th May, 2026

Label : Flat White Records

Catalog Number : FW016

Format:  Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Lizzie Bradley & Inkswel - Sunshine In A Cup (Inner Tribe Records)

You'll recall that we said, when it comes to "synchronicities, Inkswel is pretty good at spotting them" for the Bloom Meadows collab, 'The Passion'.  And he's done it again with Lizzie Bradley as the 'Sunshine In A Cup' runneth over!

Bloomy Meadows' 'The Passion' (see review HERE) was 'typical' of Inkswell as he can draw on his extensive contacts book for just the righ mix of musicians to join the party to modern soul, hip-hop, broken beats, some jazz, house and more.  And 'Sunshine In A Cup' is more than an upfront single as on one part, it's hip-hop culture throughout the 11 tracks and on the other there's some leftfied remixes, notably South Beach Recycling who released one of our favourite albums 'Obsessive Compulsive Disco' on Atjazz (see review HERE) back in 2022.

We're told that Sean Peter (aka Triple J) described Lizzie's voice akin to a “jazz Billie Holiday, Björky underwater feel to a dark, machiney thing” and I'm not sure that even touches it but the b-boy/girl sessions have that Ninja Tune/DJ Vadim groove that frameworks the album so that there's a freedom to experiment on the top!

And get ready for the reggaefied 'No More' featuring Blu and Harrison Smith the jazz-blue-beat of 'Leave Behind' featuring J-Live, Bloomy Meadows and Marley Love.

Having a range of guests and tracks that more than varied make this another Inswel 'must have' and as Gary 'South Beach Recycling' lives near the We Out Here Festival site, wouldn't that be fun to have Lizzie and gang booked for that this year?. 

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://inkswel.bandcamp.com/album/sunshine-in-a-cup

Artwork: Michal Rafaj 

Artist: Lizzie Bradley & Inkswel

Title: Sunshine In A Cup

Release date: 1st June, 2026

Label : Inner Tribe Records

Catalog Number : ITRLTD09

Format:  Vinyl / CD / Digital / Bandcamp  

Rview: Franck Roger - Everything You Are ft. Rona Ray (Vibe Me To The Moon Records)

Fans of Franck Roger probably can't believe that he's got yet another hot release on Vibe Me To The Moon Records but that's what he has as that's 'Everything You Are' (featuring Rona Ray).

 

After EPs 'March On', 'The Truth' and 'Can You Believe' (see review HERE), the ultra busy Franck Roger has teamed up with Rona Ray, (she of 'Playground' - see HERE; 'Can't Let You Go' - see review HERE and most recently, Turbojazz's 'The Joy' - see review HERE) on a track 'Everything You Are' (which was not featured in the Vibe Me To The Moon' "unreleased tracks" mix - see below).

Showcasing the original mix (and Ms. Ray's vocals) and a stripped-back instrumental, it's typical of the Paris-based legend and the label's committment to high quality deep soulful house.

 

This is "a track that feels both classic and forward‑thinking — a soulful house record with emotional weight, dancefloor energy, and the unmistakable stamp of two artists operating at their highest level" so we're backing this one to be on the next dancefloor and the Colour & Pitch Monthly mixtape, really 'Everything You Are' is this!. 

BUY LINK / RE-ORDER: Franck Roger, Rona Ray - Everything You Are on Traxsource

VMTTM PODCAST 002 - Franck Roger -unreleased track. 

Artist: Franck Roger

Title: Everything You Are ft. Rona Ray

Release date: 29th May, 2026

Label : Vibe Me To The Moon Records

Catalog Number : VIBE045

Format: Digital / Bandcamp