Magic Source
Voyage Spectral

Between the end of the 70's and the early 80's, a new sound appeared in London and its surroundings, a unique mix of Funk, Jazz-Funk and Disco labelled as Britfunk. Characterized by its raw energy that can put the needle In The Red, this up-tempo sound was a match for the UK's dancers and Jazz-Funk clubs. This first release by French label Chuwanaga features some of the most exciting, rare and powerful tracks from that era compiled by the Parisian DJ and activist Saint-James, with bands such as Equa, Potion, Inch by Inch, Congress, Index and Spookey. It features also an insert with an in-depth focus on this musical era.These young British musicians were equally inspired by the American Jazz-Funk productions and by Dub music and Reggae pushed by the Afro-Caribbean community who were at the heart of Britfunk’s development. They gave Funk a unique British flavor. However, more than just a music genre or an enclosed expression of black Britishness, it was part of a genuine musical and social movement with its own dedicated labels, fashion sense and most importantly its own set of values that fueled the whole scene. Britfunk built itself within a multicultural evolution: black people, white people, straight and queer, all dancing in the same room to the same loud sound.

Hot Casa Records present Togo Soul 70 (Selected Rare Togolese Recordings from 1971 to 1981). A treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings mostly recorded in Lomé during the 70’s, a fusion of traditional voodoo chants, raw soul and Afro jazz. Finding these tracks and their rights holders hasn’t become any easier even after few trips all over this west African country bordered by Ghana, Benin & Burkina Faso.We, at Hot Casa Records, decided to select 13 tracks, a snapshot of some hundreds of rare and often forgotten tapes from the most prolific, professional and exciting phase of the country’s recording history, including international stars like Bella Bellow (who even performed to Maracana stadium in Brazil), or Roger Damawuzan, compared as the James Brown from Lomé, and forgotten tapes and brilliant songs in Mina, Kabyié and Fon languages. Many of the tracks featured here are peppered with innovation and experimentation highlighting how diverse the music scene in Togo was at the time, even if the political context influenced their creation.A must have for all music lovers, also used as the soundtrack of the documentary Togo Soul 70, directed by Liz Gomis & DJ Julien Lebrun!

First collaboration between Jamaican singer songwriter Courtney John, the lovers rocker & French producer Guillaume "Gee" Metenier, "All I know" is a very cool - unique sounding, dub funk synth reggae soul with delicious vocals - yes it's all that and more! One to get those sub woofers shakin' - turn it up! "All I know - what you reap is what you sow"

TELE MUSIC is a label of Éditions Musicales Sforzando now owned by BMG Production Music. It is entirely devoted to the music library, that is to say, music for sound illustration used in audiovisual productions. Created in 1966 by Roger Tokarz, just before advertising was allowed on French television, Editions Sforzando specialised from the outset in sound illustration for radio and television.This collection, soberly entitled “Volume 2”, is the sequel to “Volume 1”, produced with equal care, passion and fervour by Lord Funk & DJ L.C. In the mid-90s, Tele Music vinyl was sold at ridiculously low prices. Often disparaged by collectors and record shops, considered by some as lift music or vulgarly called “music by the meter”, the music store was only of interest to fans of instrumental music! But in the 2000's, it had a second life and saw its prices soar on Discogs, thanks to sampling and digging in Hip-Hop mainly. This advent of the library is an era that Lord Funk, curator of this compilation, experienced when he brought several music library collections to New York City (NYC) to his A1 Records stronghold in 1997.A1 was a world-famous downtown record shop where Lord Funk served as a custom sample salesman to hip-hop stars. His reputation as a Frenchman of note quickly grew to the point where all the hip-hop and electro producers in the Big Apple swore by his loops and drum breaks. For them, not a day went by without buying A1 to feed their productions. That's how tracks like Michel Gonet's “Flower Dance” (sampled by Mighty Mi for Promoe's classic “Off The Records”) or Mat Camison & Pierre-Alain DAHAN's “Blue Leopard” (sampled by Jake One for G Unit's “Bette Ask Somebody”) became highly sought-after tracks, first on the East Coast of the United States, then all over the country, and then all over the world, as far as Japan. From then on, music books became a world treasure!In this 2nd volume, Lord Funk & DJ L.C. have chosen a range of music from 1969 to 1983, from psychedelic jazz to electro funk via rnb, soul and jazz-funk. We find Raymond Guiot, flutist, winner of the Geneva International Music Performance Competition in 1954. Raymond is a pianist, composer (notably for Serge Gainsbourg, François deRoubaix, Alain Goraguer) with Guy Pedersen, his lifelong friend, guitarist at the beginning, then bassist of the jazz quintet set up on Raymond's initiative. What a good idea! Raymond and Guy went on to accompany Quincy Jones, Michel Legrand and Lionel Hampton, to name but a few; they are both to be found on albums such as “Indian Pop Bass”, “Contre- basses” and “Musique en Vrac”.Then comes one of the best French drummers Pierre-Alain Dahan of the group Voyage (Sirocco, a label founded by Roger Tokarz), who began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordonand Daniel Humair and who participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson'. Pierre-Alain's playing can be heard improving through the albums “Continental Pop Sound”, “TV Themes”, “Rythmiques”, "Discothèques“ and ”Neo Rythmiques". His guitar colleague Slim Pezin (Manu Dibango, Nino Ferrer, Ray Charles, Tina Turner) is not far behind, as are Michel Gonet, Hervé Roy, Pierre Bachelet, Mat Camison, Pierre Dutour, André Arpino and Sauveur Mallia.Most of the titles in this collection were recorded in the magic place that was the famous CBE recording studio set up by Georges Chatelain, Janine Bisson and Bernard Estardy. Bernard, nicknamed the giant, was a sound genius and a mixing perfectionist. Georges Chatelain was an electronic engineer. Together, they brought a sound, a colour, a trademark.Bernard Estardy was also considered as one of the greatest French sound engineers and an energetic organist for Nino Ferrer or Nancy Holloway. We warmly thank Julie Estardy for her total and unreserved involvement in these reissue and compilation projects.The combination of all these prodigies has given TELE MUSIC a phenomenal and unique sound colour in the service of a sound repertoire that is now part of the French heritage.

Since his introduction in the 60’s, Roger Damawuzan has lit stages on fire, whether it be with The Rickers Orchestra or with The Melo-Togo Orchestra (taking home 2nd place for the first National Festival of Tologese Music). His first 7" vinyl Wait For Me is a holy grail for diggers all around the world. It was such a hit that Togolese music is and will forever be stamped by Roger Damawuzan. He was principal in introducing Gazo, Akpesse and Kamou rhythms to modern day soul music. Relentless and unstoppable, Roger Damawuzan is now making a comeback with a heavy funk 7 inch! This release contains an unreleased single from the album Seda , which will be available on October 14th 2022. Such a force of nature, this album could have been only captured, if not mastered, by one studio. Such mission was accomplished by the legendary studio OTODI (Office Togolese of Disks) by utilizing solely analog equipment to translate and to breath all of Damawuzan’s soul into this album. Roger Damawuzan could have been supported by only one group. Led by Peter Solo, the members of the Vaudou Game and Lomé’s most talented musicians are at Damawuzan’s disposal for this new soul DJ friendly vinyl.

After "Folie Douce" his first single released in 2018 on Cracki Records, Braque de Weimar finally releases his first EP! Between French boogie, rap and electronic music, Braque navigates between genres without ever forgetting to make us dance!