Record Shopping Etiquette
The do’s, the don’ts, and best practices when it comes to shopping for vinyl.
Electric South African Jazz from MABUTA
Led by bassist, composer, producer, and Cape Town native Shane Cooper, Welcome To The World is the debut release from MABUTA, a collective of incredible musicians from the currently thriving South African jazz scene.
Phil France of Cinematic Orchestra Returns with New Album ‘Circle’
For the second week in a row, Gondwana Records has released another great record, this time the sophomore album from Phil France, titled Circle.
Bargain Bins #02
Are you collecting records on a budget, but you still have the itch to do some digging? The BeatCaffeine Bargain Bins series will highlight three great records on a bi-monthly basis that can often be found for five dollars or less.
Gondwana Records Celebrates 10 Years with New Spiritual Jazz Series
To help celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Manchester-based Gondwana Records, the label is putting out a collection of limited-edition spiritual jazz releases.
Desert Island Selects: TJ Oliver-Gorton
Let’s play the hypothetical game. You are trapped on a deserted island. You have all the essentials to live (food, water, shelter, etc) and a record player (essential in my mind). In this, admittedly ridiculous scenario, you can only bring with you five records. What would they be?
Tropical Balearic Grooves From Australia
Quite possibly one of the best records of the summer comes from “down under,” as innovative Australian producer and deejay known as Sampology (aka Sam Poggioli) has just released a great new EP titled Mt Glorious.
Five Aretha Franklin Records You Need In Your Life
This week (morning of August 16, 2018) we sadly lost one of the greatest vocalists and inspirational figures of our time in Aretha Franklin. The artist who has rightfully been declared the “Queen of Soul” sold over 75 million records, won 18 GRAMMYs, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 1987, became the first women to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Makaya McCraven – Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape)
Jazz is not dead, not even close. Not only is it thriving at this moment, the sound is evolving and speaking to a whole new generation of listeners. The evidence couldn’t be more clearer than on Makaya McCraven’s new recording Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape), which brings together two of the most vibrant scenes in jazz today, Chicago and London.
Bargain Bins #01
Are you collecting records on a budget? Is the wallet a little thin this month? Do you still have the itch to do some digging? BeatCaffeine is starting a series called Bargain Bins. This new reoccurring series will highlight three great records on a bi-monthly basis that can often be found for five dollars or less.
BeatCaffeine’s Top Tracks of 2018 (so far)
Eight months into 2018 and this is shaping up to be a very good year for new music. Over the past few months, there has been a number of incredible jazz releases by Kamasi Washington, Sons of Kemet, Kamaal Williams, Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones, Emma-Jean Thackray, Tenderlonious, Makaya McCraven, and others
Mr. Bongo releases limited edition Cymande 45rpms
The UK based label Mr. Bongo has just released two well-crafted limited edition seven-inch releases by Cymande, featuring four of the legendary British funk bands most notable songs.
BeatCaffeine’s 100 Best Jazz-Funk Songs
At times written off by the genre’s purists that the 1970s were a less than remarkable time for jazz, the decade was actually an era of major exploration for many jazz musicians, incorporating elements of funk, soul, rock, and early electronic sounds into their own recordings. This expansion of musical influences and an adaptation of more electric instrumentation helped lead to what some consider as a golden time for what has been coined “jazz-funk.”
Manuel Göttsching’s electronic masterpiece ‘E2-E4’ that changed everything
Declared by Pitchfork as “the most compelling argument that techno came from Germany,” and ranked the fourth best album of the eighties by FACT, Manuel Göttsching’s 1984 E2-E4 is considered by many to be one of the greatest electronic recordings of our time.
