Iranian born, Indian raised Azam Ali is internationally recognized for her work with Vas, the best-selling world music duo she co-founded in 1996 with percussionist Greg Ellis. In a career which spans over a decade and includes eight collaborative and solo albums, Azam Ali has confirmed her place as one of the most prolific, versatile, and gifted singers on the world music stage today.
Iranian born Loga Ramin Torkian has won much recognition in his native Iran as well as in the west as the composer and multi-instrumentalists for the world music group Axiom of Choice whose music is deeply rooted in the traditional music of Iran. Although Torkian is a highly accomplished on many instruments such as the Guitar, Lafta, Djura etc., his two main instruments are the Turkish Saz, which is from the family of lutes, and the electric GuitarViol, a bowed guitar inspired by a 14th century instrument.
Carmen Rizzo, a two-time Grammy Award nominee, is well known for his cutting edge work as a producer, programmer, and remixer. He has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Seal, Coldplay, Alanis Morisette, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Khaled, Ekova, and Cirque du Soleil as well as Paul Oakenfold, BT, Esthero, Jem, Alpha, Tiesto and Grant Lee Phillips. Carving out a very eclectic career for himself, Carmen is recognized for his lush and cinematic sound.
Native Argentinean Natalia Clavier has lived a lifetime of music. “Music just comes to me. Music always finds me. I’ve never had to look far for inspiration” she says of her passion. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Natalia was exposed by her mother at an early age to a constant stream of music ranging from classical, Argentinean folk, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, singer-songwriters from Spain, to soul music from North America.
The sixth installment of the "Sounds of Om" series previews the freshest new music signed to the cutting edge label with exclusive tracks and sought after remixes. Volume Six takes a ride through a slick selection of future house music with a wonky main course, with a side of techy beats & groovy dessert to finish things off with style.
Five years is an eternity in pop culture. Entire music careers can bloom and wither in the accelerated, abbreviated lifespan of the MySpace Era. For Ramin Sakurai and Geri Soriano-Lightwood, the guiding forces behind the Supreme Beings of Leisure, to take such an extended break from the spotlight is more than a bit nervy. There’s major risk involved, the kind that only confident and keenly self-aware artists can take.
The duo, whose previous, sophomore release, came out in 2002, have grown wiser with age and experience. They mark a seductive and profoundly reflective return to the scene with their new album, 11i. And, yes, agrees Soriano-Lightwood, it’s been a long time coming. But it was worth the wait, in more ways than one.
SEE-I is an 8-piece roots reggae band from Washington, DC. While SEE-I is a solid reggae band, there are many other influences that can be heard in the music ranging from blues to rock, latin, soul, funk and brazilian beats. This makes sense because of the variety of bands that the SEE-I band members hail from. 4 of the 8 members are part of Thievery Corporation and other bands represented include All Mighty Senators, Fort Knox Five, Sin Miedo, Thunderball, Nayas, International Velvet, Soul Brazil and others. All of these experiences and influences combine on stage to create a unique sound that can best be described as a reggae jam band. SEE-I delivers a positive vibe that keeps the dancefloor packed and grooving all night with smiles on everyone's faces.
Ask any fan of dance music who their favourite male vocalist is and nine times out of ten Robert Owens name will come back. Sure, there are other great male house vocalists out there, but with more than twenty years as a gifted singer, songwriter, producer and DJ under his belt, Robert has not so much embellished house music as played a large part in defining it. 'Tears', 'I'll Be Your Friend' and 'Ordinary People' are just some of the tunes that have borne his black velvet voice and gone on to become truly classic dance records. Finally, 2008 has seen the release of Robert Owens first artist album in 10 years - 'Night-time Stories'.
"Chillodesiac Lounge Vol. 1: Fever" is a collection of hand-picked tracks that manage to defy gravity in their disorienting, smoky-voiced output. And while doing so, "The Man I Love" and "Tangerine", the first two tracks, also set the mood for the drink-pouring that will most definitely follow.
Worldwide Groove Corporation have made the beautiful instrumental song "Mimosa", which comes off "Chillodesiac Lounge Vol. 1: Fever", available as a free download. It's also the song we've chosen to pair with February's Featured Drink, the Pomegranate Mimosa
Cheb i Sabbah, musical adventurer, global spiritualist and producer extraordinaire has returned to the Indian subcontinent for Devotion, his seventh album on Six Degrees Records. Hundreds of artists in the world music genre, or for that matter any genre, have come and gone like bottle rockets, but Cheb i Sabbah's light keeps burning and it is his bhakti (devotion) to the spiritual essence of music, and to truth and humanity, that is responsible for his longevity.
"Qalanderi" comes from Cheb i Sabbah's new album Devotion, available now from Six Degrees Records.
Thomas Blondet (aka Tom B) is a Washington DC DJ regarded highly for his impeccable taste and understanding of music. Revered locally and nationally as much for his technical ability as he is for his experience behind the decks, Tom B has for the past 15 years held residencies in several influential DC dance clubs, notably the legendary Club Red. He is currently at the Eighteenth Street Lounge and Club Five on Fridays and Saturdays respectively.
This fine track, "Walney Road" comes off Thomas Blondet's new EP Echo Chamber. Rhythm & Culture have also made this song available through Properly Chilled's debut "Featured Drink" e-card, which you can check out right here.
When asked about their work, Jonathan Paul of Paul & Price once stated "We've been told we create 'fashionable' music, a lifestyle for our generation, rich in images, textures, and temperature" and it's hard to argue with him. With this version of Little White Roses you'll find the original's sweet housey vibe stripped down to its more acoustic core, while singer Toddy Ivy turns everything upside down and delivers an incredible vocal melody. In our opinion, it's almost an entirely different song than the original and it's certainly no less beautiful or sweet.
Soulphonic Soundsystem is a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Chauncey Canfield and Transistor Lounge resident DJ Santo that combines broken beats with live instrumentation including horns, rhodes piano and a really sick dose of latin flavor. On "Mr. Sparkle", a track off their incredible forthcoming album "Volume 1", Soulphonic Soundsystem bring just that...some broken beats and jazzy vibes mixed up in a bucket of Latin flavored funk.
Luz Mob's latest full-length "Luz Interpretations" is due out on CrystalTop Music on January 23rd, 2007, it's an album that Luz Mob say "has been in the works for more than 3 years, as I traversed the country, from deepest Brooklyn to the mountains of Colorado, to the S.F.City by The Bay. Crossing genres from cumbia and bachata to dub and reggae to jazz and soul, Luz Interpretations is a tasty stew, flavored correctly with banging beats, thick horn arrangements, and varied spices from across the CrystalTop fam on every instrument in the symphony."
The music of 8mm is a mix of triphop and melancholy, acoustic pop whose sound betrays any number of possible influences, from Massive Attack and Portishead, to Beth Orton, Zero 7 and even Nine Inch Nails, but ultimately 8mm delivers a unique blend that's two parts sexual tension, two parts emotional melancholy, and a dash of dark mystery with equal parts Los Angeles and New Orleans...and they've got a smoking torchy image to match.
One day in her hometown Washington D.C., (USA), JEN started to write her poems using a musical background to create athmosphere. but the music became crystallized inside the syllables and fused to the words intent so much that when she read the lines back by themselves, they seemed naked.
JEN sent her poetry on CD across the atlantic, and Cologne-based producer George Solar was amazed and touched by JENs voice and the loving power of her poetry right on the spot. George started to produce several tracks, incorporating JENs labour of love in music crafted by his various projects (solar moon, rubbasol), and the magic was happening right there.
Meanwhile, the Mellow Dramas album is close to finishing touches. Top German electronica producers like Kieser & Velten (G-Stone), Can 7 (Peppermint Jam), Razoof (Nesta Recordings), Ralf GUM (Gogo Music), CrisP, Raw Artistic Soul, Solar Moon, Sugar Beat, Rubbasol, or German top jazz trumpet player Christoph Titz provide the tantalizing ground for JENs unpolished poetry diamonds to shine on.
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Karma began exploring Jazz aesthetics with club music on their 1993 track High Priestess (written by Robert Nacken), which quickly gained cult status amongst the more discerning DJs and was played and charted by Francois K, Dimitri from Paris and David Mancuso. This track "Shorline Drive" comes from their latest full-length entitled Latenight Daydreaming, and it's a bit of dreamy, acoustic lounge with a modicum of electronic style and some altogether uplifting piano and synth keys. Download It (mp3) Stream It
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Jean-Paul Bondy originally from Detroit, Michigan and also known as VOLUM of the legendary electro duo VOLSOC, began his love affair with electronic music at the tender age of 11. He played in new wave, industrial and techno bands until 1990 when he started VJ'ing for a Detroit techno club and DJ'ing hip-hop. "Xeno Persuasion" comes from his solo album The Path Of Most Resistors and delivers some solid, mid-tempo electro beats. Embrace your inner replicant and grab this track now. Download It (mp3) Stream It
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Half-scottish, half-Burmese Fiona Soe Paing is an artist who, in her own words produces "dark, soulful, lush and minimal electronica, stark cinematic soundscapes, brooding wastelands of neon desolation, the folk music of Cyberia, alien lullabies to envelop and mesmerise in the space between dreaming and waking... this is leftfield downbeat at its most down..." and we couldn't have said it better.
Properly Chilled is pleased to offer "Thayn Tyha Hai", a track that exemplifies Fiona's unique lullaby noir style. Check out GC3 Recordings (former Grand Central folks) for tracks and look for a full-length soon...label to be announced. Download It (mp3) Download It (Apple Lossless) Stream It
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You may be familiar with Natalie Walker's voice from her work with the melancholy triphop band Daughter Darling. Well, she's on her own now. "No One Else" is melancholy piano keys stepping lightly amid harp, accordion and soft orchestral strings, led by Natalie's sweetly sung vocal melodies. Think of comparisons to Bliss, Late Night Alumni, Beth Orton, or perhaps Imogen Heap. Look for a full-length (with production duo Stuhr) on Dorado Records later this year. Download It Stream It
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Ursula Rucker, Philadelphia's queen of spoken word poetry is back with her third album "Ma'at mama". Here we offer a new track off that album entitled "Humbled". It's an ambient, down tempo, spoken word trip through classic Ursula Rucker style. Serene acoustic guitar melodies wander over a deep and melancholy bed of strings, held together by slow moving breaks and Ursula's always evocative lyrical flow. Download It Stream It
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Glideascope demonstrates a free flowing mix of beats that are generously blended with a flavour of cinematic melodies and eclectic choices influencing his emotionally driven soundscapes.
A sustained note and violin solo introduces "A Moment's Peace (revisited)" wherein orchestral strings move over mellow, jazzy shuffles, joined at times by distant horns and winds. As with the original version, you'll definitely feel the cinematic horizon that inspired its sound. Download It Stream It
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Todd Wills and Sam Menter from the outskirts of Bristol, have always been musically together somehow, from days as kids in a band to the partnership they have today. Like their hometown influence Massive Attack, Cities Of Foam worked with a number of vocalists and musicians in order to create the lush soundscapes of the album.
Holed up in a studio in France which they had to build from scratch before recordings, "A Great Day For The Race" features up-and-coming London jazz vocalist Nia Lynn, who features on the album's outstanding futuristic jazz of "Out Of Reach". Download It Stream It
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Hot off the heels of her debut Anniemal comes Norwegian pop-princess Annie's installment of the DJ-Kicks series. The mix features an exclusive track entitled "The Wedding" and previously unreleased track "Gimme Your Money".
Annie's "Wedding (BIG edit)" is a minimal, synth-heavy track with grimy-glitchy-electrofied down tempo beats as Annie's sweet spoken vocals to keep it warm. Download It Stream It
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After the world-wide success of their debut-album "Satta", Boozoo Bajou return with "Dust My Broom". Yes, the laidback feel of their sound reflects the eased-out attitude and pace, with which the Boozoo's produce their music. Good things simply take time. In 2001, "Satta" was released. In 2005 "Dust My Broom" sees the light of day. No big deal for timeless music. Especially when this slow motion attitude yields such rich tracks as those heard on "Dust My Broom".
Boozoo Bajou's "Killer (dub remix edit)" is a deep bossa-dub groover that keeps very much to the tradition of Boozoo's sound. Download It Stream It
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Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940, Los Angeles) is a funk, soul and jazz vibraphone player. Often called the "Godfather of Acid Jazz" because of his popularity in England in the 80's , Roy Ayers may be best known for his song "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" which has been sampled by numerous hip-hop artists . Excerpted from Roy Ayers' Wikipedia page
DJ Spinna, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, is regarded as one of the most versatile and talented producers/DJ's/remixers in today's musical arena.
Roy Ayers' "Holiday (DJ Spinna vocal rmx)" is a smooth, soulful, down tempo breakbeat with lounge vibes and a strong female vocal performance. Download It Stream It
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After being featured on 'Made,' an MTV show for teenagers who want to be madeover, Princess Superstar has relentlessly toured with Djs Are Not Rockstars, and has just released her eagerly anticipated FIFTH opus called "My Machine." It's an epic futuristic concept record involving producers Armand Van Helden, Mighty Mi, Alexander Technique, Boris Dlgosh & Michie Lang, Junior Sanchez, Jacques Lu Cont (LRD/Madonna), and more... Recently, Princess dropped some vocals on the Prodigy's new album which went to #1 in the UK. She also has collaborated with Moby on his track "Jam for the Ladies" (Real video) and the legendary Arthur Baker (Afrika Bambaata, New Order) on "Return to New York." Download It Stream It
Properly Chilled in collaboration with Mush Records... Digging Down 01: An Exploration Into Mush Records
In '06 Properly Chilled went on a dig over at Mush Records and what started as an idea to make one or two of their songs available
for download here at Properlychilled.com, quickly (thanks to the very cool people at Mush Records) turned into a collection of 16 tracks that exemplify the down tempo side
of Mush Records. This collection spans styles from indie hip-hop and south Asian influenced downtempo to glitch pop.
Features tracks by: Blue Sky Black Death, Pedro, Caural, Bigg Jus, Id & Sleeper, S.E.V.A., Scientific American, Her Space Holiday, Neutrino, The Opus, Villain Accelerate, Andre Afram Asmar, Jel, Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician, Labtekwon, and Aesop Rock
Niyaz - Ishq (Six Degrees)
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