More rawness from the man they call Omar S. He’s got a mixCD for Fabric and a 12" on Sound Signature coming out. Check them. Deep shit.

This weekend I saw a tight young jazz combo playing at our radio presenters birthday party. While they were playing I was talking with Luigi from Infinitskills about his future projects. One of them was doing something with the jazz players on stage. He told me they did a rework of Rene Costy’s “Scrabble”, sampled by Dilla for his ode to the Police (haha). Through the Laid Back site you can listen to the result. Rene Costy happens to be from Belgium. Didn’t know that.

Tight piece of music. And more coming from where it came. Infinitskills are without doubt some of the most talented cats around.

And Louis, don’t forget to send it to me. I need this.

One for the One-Handed / Paul White fans. Interview, mix and cheeky cutup all here.

One of the names that’s been popping up quite a lot recently is Souled. You might have seen their productions in the playlists of most London based radio programs we like, you might have spotted their 12” in the shops or heard one of their remixes somewhere. What I’ve heard of them was always spot on. It’s deep, moody and fresh and I don’t need much more than that to get pleased.

If you like their music as much as I do, don’t hesitate to buy their 12” on Fresh Minute Music. Watch out for other releases on that label too. Got sent an Altered Natives EP (with a Souled remix) that’s very hot. Proving Broken beat is far from over.

And although I always fear for the worst when an artist puts an acapella on their 12” (that Jazzanova remix competition for example produced some toe curling bagger), the Souled remix of Erykah Badu’s “Honey” is one of the motivations to keep applauding the act. Proper slow House gem. Find it here for free.

One of the dj’s that is on top of our wants list for our own party is Rahaan. This Chicago Disco aficionado has been in Brussels before for a legendary nights from what’ve heard but it’s time to bring him back. Saw him at Southport and adored his set there. Proper deep Disco the way I like it. Brought the way I like it. Something lacking these days where dj’s only show off their perfect mixing technique or newest / rarest records. Rahaan got the skills and the killer records but above all he’s got what it takes to be great dj; he’s got a story to tell. So if you see him spinning near you, check it out.

The skills he has as a dj are reflected in his edits. He’s not just tagging his name onto rare records just for the sake of building up some reputation. Nope, he cuts and pastes until you got a proper dj version of the track. If you bring them right they are devastating on the dance floor.

Some of his edits are released. On Love4Music and on KAT records. That last label has just dropped their second 12” with Rahaan reworks. The Kokomo track has been playing on my iPod every morning since I got it. As a sonic breakfast to prepare me for the day to come. All other releases on this mighty fine label are firmly recommended too. I’ve always got some in my box when I go out to play.

One of the stand out cuts in his set at our Go Bang! party. Out now. This ones is addictive, no less. Phil Asher doing it again remixing his Restless Soul colleague Bopstar. That bass, those vocal stabs. So heavy. Can’t wait to cause mayhem with this on dance floors. Hot!

Check the Innervision blog. Innervisions is a label all lovers of decent deep House should know. Dixon, Ame and Henrik Schwarz should be households names. The blog holds news about their upcoming project on BBE (looking nice indeed), the new club the guys from Club 11 are starting in Amsterdam (also looking swell), the subscription on their new releases you can get and more. Nicely written, nicely looking. But you can’t expect anything less from them, isn’t it ?

Some cheeky free remixes from the man called Dorian Concept. To get you warmed up for his album. Nice ones.

Flying Lotus, as always a bit ahead of everyone else, dropped his album last year. Still trying to get my head around it, still discovering new things in it every day. But there’s more on the way. 2009 will see albums by some other hero’s of off-centre beat making.

Hudson Mohawke – Polyphone Dance EP (Warp)
All tracks are from this piece of vinyl to keep us warm before his album drops are shit hot.

Harmonic 313 – When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence (Warp)
His EP last year promised a lot but this one even tops the expectations. Not out yet but already essential.

Dorian Concept  - When Planets Explode (Nod Navigators)
Just buy it. You’ll need it in your collection.

Together with One-Handed keeping on going strong it looks like it’ll be a great year for forward thinking Hiphop beats. Hopefully Morgan Zarate will drop something new we can buy soon. That would make my year, no doubt.

A little update on the (Electro) Boogie post. Which is having some nice things. Generating traffic and getting me in contact with some very interesting people.

But here’s some more on the topic: 

- Robbie M website and Myspace for those wanting to know more about the man behind Midnight Express.
- More info about the Rhythm Based Lovers who have released more than just one 7”. They’ve got a 12” out on FrequeNC too.
- And here’s more on Future Times, the label that released that 7”. Check the Maxmillion Dunbar too. Sizzling hot wax. Love the Omar S quote on their site. Genius.

Can’t get enough of this sound. I’m slowly considering Jheri Curls and a leather suit.

I’ve been sleeping on this one a tad too long but I picked it up last week in the fantastic 12INCH record shop in Paris and it hasn’t left my decks since then. N.D.ATL is Kai Alcé’s new label with the letters standing for New York, Detroit and Atlanta as the 3 cities that have influenced his sounds. And the record is indeed the perfect symbiosis between the raw deepness of Motown and the subtle vocal perfection of the big apple. Great record. Kind of bummed that I missed the first release though.

And you might want to dig a little deeper into the man’s oeuvre. He has released on labels like KDJ’s Mahogani, FXHE and Track Mode. Check his myspace for some sounds.

As one of the founding members of the Belgian Bullion fanclub (LuiGi from Infinitskills / Laid Back being one of the other members - check the end of the play list of our Christmas radio show with them) I’m happy to see the year starting the way it does.With a banging release of the man. To add more joy the other One Handed artist, Paul White, adds some of his magic on the 7" too. Don’t know much about who Tranqill is but I’m happy to see the family is growing. Keep ‘em coming Alex.

One of the plans for 2009 is visiting one of the nights of the London beat community. When they’re not coming your way, you need to go theirs will be my motto more than ever this year. You’ll see me a lot on dance floors in London, Manchester, Amsterdam and maybe Paris, if I can get past the bouncers. Even more than you would see me on local ones if my budget would allow it.

People active on the net will have spotted this already but others maybe not and it’s too funny to miss out on. Taking the piss out Kanye’s new autotune direction. Nice one.

The next time I’m in Ghent I’m definitely going to visit the MacFly store that has just opened there. Looks like a neat place for dope music and stylish clothes. Big up to Dyno and all involved for embarking on an enterprise like this one in times as difficult as they are.

In their quest to be more than just another record / clothing store they are set to bring you some fresh sounds of their own. Through mixes, beat compilations and more. Nice. The first mix is one by Ducth beatmaker Sotu the Traveller who has made a blend of r&b and slow jams, mainly from the 90’s. Check it out.

You might have heard Floating Points‘ "Love Me Like This" on many decent radio show these last few weeks. It’s a very nice take on Disco with lots of lovely synth action. Taking all the good stuff from the 80’s and leaving the crap for what it is. One of the highlights of ‘08.

You can download it for free from his Soundcloud. Check it. 

Long time since I’ve heard some proper Hiphop as fresh as this. One of my favourite MC’s teaming up with an hors category producer. This sounds so good you need to sit down for a while after hearing it. I want more of this.

Another big one in my -100bpm box … Jesse Boykins III with "Pantyhose". Nice one. Addictive. Thanks to Lefto for putting this one back under my nose. So I wouldn’t sleep on it twice.

 And to round off. The Aaron Jerome remix of Little Dragon’s Think Twice. Nice twist on a stunning original. Out on Peacefrog. A talented kid.

It’s no secret we at Onda Sonora love most music coming out of Detroit. From Motown to Funkadelic, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, UR, Carl Craig, Kenny Dixon Jr, Theo Parrish, Dilla and Black Milk. To name the more obvious ones. Next to these artists with a somewhat higher profile there’s an immense wealth of quality producers. People like Paul Randolph, Norm Talley, Delano Smith, Mike Clark, Snowman, John Arnold, Andres / Dez, Wajeed, Keith Worthy, Patrice Scott, … and the list goes on. All producing quality music. Always raw, deep and soulful. Despite it being classifiable as Hiphop, House, Electro or Techno there’s always a common factor that touches the right snares.

Some of these cats, along with others, have started the Exchange Bureau. Describing their goal this way;

"Bridging the gap between Detroit’s funk and techno history, Exchange Bureau Music stands to unite the organic and electronic with a new collective of established and up-and-coming Detroit based musicians and producers all under one organization. The band-turned-label will still maintain the funk-driven Exchange Bureau sound, expand with EB side projects and remixes, and introduce new agent releases incorporating house, funk, broken beat, techno, hip hop, electro, and more."

If you see who the “agents” involved are, you can’t be but excited. When you here the first bits of music that excitement only gets bigger. The “Spookie Dookie” track on the blue Detroit Beatdown EP is a killer and when you explore the site you know that’s only a prelude to more pleasure. Check it out and spend money at their online store.

Not always fond of the 8-bit bleeping Hiphop beats but sometimes their done with feeling, flair and style which makes them hard to resist. Like Flying Lotus, Hudson Mo, Rustie or Samiyam do. Or like Cupp Cave does. This Belgian new kid on the block has been causing some stir in the small but steadily growing beat scene over here and is ready to do the same on a more widespread level. With this collection of beats nicely designed packaged. Taste it and order it if you like it.

This one is a big one. Two of my favourite producers teaming up (guess who they are!). To produce a banging club record. Forgot to play it in our show this week. Won’t make that mistake next week. Because this is hot. Check other releases on this label too if you’re into deep techy dance music.

It’s no secret we, here at the Onda Sonora HQ, are fans of Prime Numbers. Their latest release only makes that love bigger. A nice hybrid between Dubstep and Techno. Dark & Moody. More info on Wireman’s Myspace. 

Like last year we are compiling a list of things and people to watch out for in 2009. The first names that sprung to mind turned out to be in the list I compiled last year. Talk about being ahead of you time. Haha.

One that’s definitely going to be in it this time is Dorian Concept. The Austrian keyboard wizard will be the new Flying Lotus (who I didn’t mention in that list last year – big mistake). Which is a very lame description I know. But I don’t mean it musically, I see it more like he’ll be in a league of his own, far above and beyond all the others technically, creatively and when it comes to deliver banging tunes. Proof of that is already in the shops.

There was the Treble O Beat Tape, a tune on the ‘Here Comes Treble’ compilation and some giveaways on the Treble O site, he worked together with Sam Irl, did a remix for Fulgeance and now there are a 2 EP’s out on vinyl (buy it all here). With the “Fucking Formula” being the heaviest beat I’ve heard in a while. And he has rocked Dour Festival and Deviation with energetic live performances.

You can find an older free release here. Not as strong as his current work. This one is rather for the people wanting the complete collection.

If you know his main release, the album “When Planets Collide” on Kindred Spirits sublabel Nod Navigators, will drop in 2009 you know why I see a bright future for him.

Got a promo copy of the Phlash and Friends album "Deep Electronic Sounds". Rarely heard such a strong House album. All killers no fillers. And we’re on the cover. Which is made up out of pictures of Phlash with "friends". It’s a picture taken when we visited his Inspiration Information night last year. Always knew we had more talent as models than as dj’s. Haha.

This one arrived with the mail yesterday. What a killer House track. Solidifying Theo Parrish’s status as an utter genius. After “Love Triumphant” and “Going Downstairs”, this one is another mid tempo bomb. The result of Theo’s work with some Red Bull Music Academy participants and lecturers. Members of the stellar team of people working on this gem are Vito Money, Andreya Triana, Ommas from Sa-Ra, Sofie L., Aia Dick and Steve Spacek. Resulting in a beauty of a song. This is the definition of Deep, Raw Soulful House. Essential. Nothing less.

Needless to say the b-side is dope too.

Only right to make some promo on this blog for the next release of our guest at our upcoming party. The 3 separate 12”s already available of the Phlash and Friends project have all had their shine here already. But now it’s time to let you know the album is about to drop. “Deep Electronic Sound” on the Italian Archive label will be in stores very soon. No doubt you’ll hear Phil Asher (aka Phlash and thus the main main behind this all) drop some of the songs on it in his set or on our radio show next week.

The friends participating in this project are Karizma, Dego (4 Hero), Zed Bias, Mark de Clive Lowe, Orin Walters (BITA), Sa-Ra’s Ommas, Rich Medina, Zansika, Alma Horton and others.

All of the tunes already out are bangers but the album cuts take it up a notch. Like those with Rich Medina or Sandra Nkake (which are both on the vinyls as instrumental but the vocal versions really rip it).

Don’t think about it and buy this one if you see it. Or pre-order it at Rush hour (who are doing the distribution too so you’ll find all the info you could wish for here).

Essential one if you like raw, soulful music. 

Those crazy Japanese dudes are trying to get me broke. Releasing essential vinyl like there’s no tomorrow. The Cro-Magnon album and EP’s (with the killer “live” takes on Moodymann and others) for instance. And the Nubian Lady and Physical Sound Sport EP’s, which are all the way my cup of tea. Both proper African Disco not Disco / Deep Detroit House releases. Check ’em out.

And then I’m not talking about Eric Rico, Gaggle and other top releases I have skipped for now.

Eric Rico is in Antwerp tonight. At De Cinema. Thanks to the guys from A Cut Above.