Leonie
Closer To Heaven

Hesnawi crafts restless grooves with evident buttressing from a reggae foundation. Highlighted across the LP is how Hesnawi essentially pioneered such an effortless synthesis between traditional Libyan music and Jamaican reggae stylings, plus the endlessly disparate funk, jazz, and disco accents which firmly situate Hesnawi in a league of his own.

Sound Signature · Jason Hogans - Malletts Creek

Habibi Funk 021: Free Music (Part 1) by The Free MusicAvid Habibi Funk listeners may be familiar with Libyan composer / producer Najib Alhoush, who’s “Ya Aen Daly” - Bee Gee’s “Stayin Alive” cover - was included in our 2nd compilation.Najib’s group, “The Free Music” produced an astonishing 10 albums, all impressively strong and equally infused by soul, funk, disco and reggae. Groovy synths, thumping bass and drums and Najib’s distinct flavor collide for something special. Self-financed, all their albums are fully dedicated to their unique musical blend, a distinctly infectious groove that unfortunately didn’t make an impact outside of Libya due to the complex political situation at the time.When we made the selection for this album, we could have chosen a completely different number of tracks and the album would be been equally strong. There is a reason why it says “Part 1” in the title.

We welcome Ed Longo and his studio project The Applied Arts Ensemble debut on Early Sounds with “The Other Fantasy”, the result of many recording sessions that took place in different places around Europe with an array of musicians from a predominantly jazz background.Conceived with a strong jazz-funk, fusion and boogie approach, the record is conceptualized around the quest for Otherness in the schizophrenia of the digital age, and the resulting exotic dystopias which we are confronted with every day.