Jack J
Looking Forward To You

New York’s indie disco funk crew is back with a new album. And it’s the right moment: With new acts like Toro Y Moi, Sault, Parcels, The Internet around… the funky, disco, old school vibe is big in 2020. And The Phenomenal Handclap Band fits perfectly. Probably all these new artists are fans of the Phenomenals. Because The PHB popped up for the first time 10 years ago. Some top knotch musicians from NYC’s funk scene playing dirty discofunk. Some of the bandmembers played in Mark Ronson’s projects and in Amy Winehouse’s backing band. Head of the band: Daniel Collás. Their self-titled debut album on Gomma records 2010 made them many fans in the music scene. A nasty fusion of forward-thinking disco, psychedelic prog rock, and classic soul with a splash of yacht rock. Back then the band took the road, supporting Bryan Ferry and Franz Ferdinand, playing shows at Glastonbury, Wireless, and Latitude… as well as getting praise from Sir Paul McCartney about their album! After the album Collás began to produce other artists in Brooklyn. The band paused. Now they are back. With Daniel Collás in the centre, along with new members multi-instrumentalist Juliet Swango, and vocalist and synthesizer wizard Monika Heidemann. Their sound is still essentially analog dance music, with an emphasis on raw soul, vocal harmonies, African percussion, fuzzy guitars and analog synthesizers.Toy Tonics · Phenomenal Handclap Band - PHB [TOYT110]

Lead by 17 year old Carlton “Dirk” Poward, San Francisco’s Monsta was one of many ephemeral late seventies funk and disco bands that haunt the dreams of record diggers worldwide. This is the only song Monsta ever released - on a 100 copies one sided test press - in 1979. But what a song. Produced by the late Bill Withers, Give Me Something Good Is an epic disco funk monster that has never been reissued to this day! This Past Due Records reissue comes with a full sleeve and the story of Carlton “Dirk” Poward, Monsta and how the mighty Bill Withers got involved in the production of this magnificent slice of boogie.

In Detroit, folks know that Jazz is the teacher. It's a part of so much here. from Motown to Funk and beyond. So there is no way to separate the genres. Detroit's long history of Jazz venues has inspired artists, even when they're gone. The spirit and power of the Graystone Ballroom, the Bluebird, Bo'macs, and others lives on in a new generation of musical artists. And the Timeline continues moving forever forward!!!

The GTT series is a platform that hosts experimental projects & artists in sound art. It is dedicated to support sound as a genre of its own - beyond the boundaries of music theory and free of any expectation. Just art. WOLFFRIEND is a collaboration project between Mischa Wolff (Von Abseits) and Daniel Harrison (Imaginary Friend). The two met each other in Berlin and discovered their mutual interest in beats, rap and sound art. When they moved in with each other last February they spent their first two weeks together in the studio. It resulted in an adventurous sound story called ‘Computers’ that brings listeners into a dimension of their own.

conatala · The Dead Goldfish Ensemble - Walking WallsInspired by Kraftwerk's "Autobahn," Southampton-based musician Steve Hartwell, aka The Dead Goldfish Ensemble, started to craft his own music in 1983 using sequencers and the MSX computer, which could be said as the first generation of home computers available for music production. Hartwell made a tremendous amount of recordings in his home studio until 1993, reflecting his take on minimalist music of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, it featured strange imaginative polyrhythms and friendly playful melodies that innocently bounce around.One circumstance that made this possible was the format of cassette tape publication. From the early 1980s to the early 1990s, it was the most inexpensive and easiest way to release works for independent labels and DIY musicians since it allowed them to dub copies at home, all within their production environment. Various labels in Europe, the United States, and Japan offered artists to contribute their works for compilations. As a result, a vast number of cassette tapes were produced around the world. Those releases eventually led the labels to help form some unique local music scenes and communities by connecting enthusiasts through personal contacts. Essentially, since they were international compilations, it contributed hugely to introducing unknown talented artists from each area to the rest of the world.Hartwell released several cassette tapes from his label Peeved Records and also contributed many tracks to multiple different compilations of home-produced music from labels such as Home Produkt (Belgium), Insane Music (Belgium), EE Tapes (Belgium), IRRE Tapes (Germany), Tonspur Tapes (Germany), and others.This record is The DGE's first album released in vinyl format, compiled from those releases from the cassette era.The cover design is by Yu Yokoyama, featuring the goldfish drawing by Hartwell himself. The sound is digitally mastered by Makoto Oshiro using the original master tape.conatala · The Dead Goldfish Ensemble - All The Hands