CAP 001 Nels Cline & Thurston Moore
CAP 002 Stefan Prange
CAP 003 nolte.
CAP 004 Various Artists
CAP 005 Girlboy Girl
CAP 006 Missouri/Granfaloon Bus
CAP 007 Lars Vegas U.S.
CAP 008 Green Apple Sea
CAP 009 Lars Vegas U.S.
CAP 010 Skull Session
CAP 011 Timo Shanko
CAP 012 Trans-Global Underground
CAP 013 Rohan
CAP 014 The Fully Celebrated Orchestra
CAP 015 Bright Light Group
CAP 016 Harpswell Sound
CAP 017 Fania
CAP 018 Steve Landner Trio
CAP 019 Camilla Ringquist
CAP 020 Babylon Circus
CAP 021 Natural History
CAP 022 Plektronite
CAP 023 Kad Achouri
CAP 024 Timo Shanko
CAP 025 Katharina Franck
CAP 026 Di Grine Kuzine
CAP 028 Steve Landner Trio
CAP 029 Platz Quartett
CAP 030 Irie Révoltés
CAP 031 Harpswell Sound
CAP 032 Trans-Global Underground
CAP 033 Jim Murple Memorial
CAP 034 Irie Révoltés
CAP 035 Flatlands Collective
CAP 036 Seasick Steve
CAP 037 Björn Berge
CAP 038 Sally Nyolo
CAP 039 Trans-Global Underground
CAP 040 Tinariwen
CAP 041 1000 (Klare/Maris/de Joode/Vatcher)
CAP 042 Green Apple Sea
CAP 043 The Horst
CAP 044 Move Against G8
CAP 045 Jeff Platz
CAP 046 Dr. Woggle & the Radio
CAP 047 The Senior Allstars
CAP 048 Mi Solar
CAP 049 Mary Halvorson, Jessica Pavon ...
CAP 050 Noam Weinstein
CAP 051 Stars Play Music
CAP 052 Phil Vetter
CAP 053 Björn Berge
CAP 054 Kapelle Petra
CAP 055 Kimoe
CAP 056 Kimoe – Highlights 7''
CAP 057 The Levellers
CAP 058 Platz/Klare Quartett
CAP 059 Babylon Circus
CAP 060 The Senior Allstars
CAP 061 The Senior Allstars
CAP 062 Maria Kalaniemi
CAP 069 Mi Solar
 
 
CAP 001 NELS CLINE & THURSTON MOORE: PILLOW WAND
CD
Skycap Records/Little Brother Records
Thurston Moore and Nels Cline’s album ‘Pillow Wand’ is 66 minutes of pure energy. Two of today’s most innovative, creative and gifted guitarists on one album! “ ... Pillow Wand is definitely by far one of the best intuitively and spontaneously composed music of this kind. (...) a mediator between the musical universes Jazz and Rock Avandgarde (R. J. Intro...)
12 Euro
(only a few
copies left)
 
 
CAP 002 STEFAN PRANGE: DRAW ME A STAR

7"
Singer and guitarist of the bands Hillside, nolte, Perfect Blue Buildings etc.
Four beautiful tracks.
“Perhaps at the moment the coolest singer/songwriter music that money can buy. Friends of the genre: take a listen here!...

3 Euro
 
 
CAP 003 NOLTE.: S/T

12"
nolte. at the interface between traditional songwriting and experimenting with the possibilities of a rock band. Noise and wonderful melodies combine, and nolte. are very conscious of their influences.
“Great ideas, incredible songwriting, traps in the effective dynamics and a good feeling for freedom. Honest. Super.” Spex magazine

3 Euro
 
 
CAP 004 VARIOUS ARTISTS:LOKAL-WELTWEIT. Die Gleis 22-Compilation

CD
Compilation incl. some unreleased and some released songs of bands who played at Gleis 22 in Muenster: The Sea & Cake, nolte., Sleepyhead, Sammy, Beatnik Filmstars, Eleventh Dream Day, Granfaloon Bus, Tub Racer, Lullaby For The Working Class, Charles Curtis Trio, uvm.
sold out, sorry
 
 
CAP 005 GIRLBOY GIRL: TWO HALVES

7"
The Bristol based quartet, who toured Germany with the Beatnik Filmstars, gave us four wonderful songs.
3 Euro
 
 
CAP 006 MISSOURI / GRANFALOON BUS: SPLIT-SINGLE

7"
Double A-Side 7” with two outstanding americana songs. Limited edition of 500 copies.
sold out, sorry
 
 
CAP 007 LARS VEGAS U.S.: SMOKING

CD
The band, consisting of nine musicians, started in 1989 and recorded their first album six years later. It took five years for the album to be finished. The record is impressive and gained a lot of attention, e.g. the songs were chosen as the soundtrack of the Miramay film “Next Stop Wonderland“ and MTV used Lars Vegas as the backgound music for various programmes.
8 Euro
 
 
CAP 008 GREEN APPLE SEA: ALL OVER THE PLACE

CD
Green Apple Sea recorded one of the most beautiful soundtracks of Winterblues with their first album “All over the Place“. The three young musicians, to whom we owe our thanks for these wonderful melodies, do not come from the United States – as the first impression might suggest – no, they all come from Muenster and are everything but inexperienced: Their singer and guitarrist, Stefan Prange, is not unjustifiedly known as one of the great newcomer songwriters of our country and has been a cause for sensation as a solo artist (e.g. he was the opening act for Willard Grant Conspiracy) and as “part of the sensational nolte.“ (Westzeit...)
8 Euro
 
 
CAP 009 LARS VEGAS U.S.: MEATLAND

CD
With their third album the seven-piece got to a absurdly comical mixture of Jazz, Rock and Spoken Word performance, that refuses boring modernistic club culture and put one´s foot down with virtuosity and musical perfection. (...) Here comes a small band knowing how to spell “Jazz Noise”, eating the urban groove of a project like Soul Coughing and answering the question “Does humour belong in music” simply as well as seriously with “Yes”. (...) Their best album so far… (Spex magazine)
8 Euro
 
 
CAP 010 SKULL SESSION: RISE ABOVE

CD
The Skull Session project began in the fall of 2000 in Boston Massachusetts. The music presented on this recording was selected from two studio sessions recorded in the early spring of 2003 by Craig Welsh in his Boston studio.
“My original intention was to present the players with a variety of musical motifs, some involved, some not so involved, and to let their individual interpretations collectively define the overall outcome of each selection. Timo Shanko, Luther Gray, Scott Getchell, and Joe Morris are some of the most interesting players in the new music scene today. Their extensive musical backgrounds and experiences in free and improvised music brought much more to these recordings than I could have imagined. As a musician I've always had a deep appreciation for music that pushes the boundaries of previously established concepts tending to always lean towards the more abstract and aggressive approach.”
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 011 TIMO SHANKO: FREEDOM RIGHT NOW

CD
Leading German jazz magazine Jazz Thing was very enthusiastic about Shanko’s contribution to the Skull Sessions album. Shanko’s mentor Joe Morris was even more explicit about Shanko’s skills: ‘This recording will establish Timo Shanko as one of the strongest new voices on saxophone of the day…He strives to be original by extending the music he loves.’ Formerly known as a sideman in Fully Celebrated Orchestra and Skull Session amongst others, ‘Freedom Right Now’ is Shanko’s debut as a leader. And unexpectedly it became a masterpiece.
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 012 TRANS-GLOBAL UNDERGROUND:
IMPOSSIBLE BROADCASTING

CD
Trans-Global Underground had to happen. They refused to accept that dance music had to be four to the floor house. They refused to accept that something called ‘World Music’ ever existed. They slowed down hip hop and sped up dub. They sang in whatever language they felt like singing in. They were DJs but they played live. It all seems so obvious now. Their influence is all over the place, sometimes benign, sometimes joyful, sometimes hidden deep, sometimes beautiful and sometimes bloody dreadful. But the price of innovation is often a trail of shite left in your wake. A thousand dodgy car adverts with colourful tribes people, colonialised blanded out ethnic samples and five year old beats…that’s not it at all…

So, fact: the name Trans-Global Underground followed on from the recording of a single, ‘Temple Head’ for Nation records, a label created specifically to fuse western dance music with Arabic music, Asian music, African music…then more a dream than a reality. ‘Temple Head’ caused delight and confusion in equal measure. DJs such as Andy Weatherall Danny Rampling and Monkey Pilot caught on fast while other DJs, confronted by a record featuring tablas, Polynesian vocals and playing at 95bpm, simply played the thing at 45rpm instead of 33. It became Single of the Week in Melody Maker and got played on daytime Radio One. At this point it wasn’t too clear who was in the group and TGU and Nation had a joint policy of only sanctioning interviews in TGUs name with interviewees who were only faintly connected with the group; if they knew anything about them at all.

But Trans-Global Underground turned out to be very real indeed, appearing as a live band presenting one of the best live shows in the country at the time featuring a whole mix of live instruments and percussion, rappers dancers and bellydancing vocalist Natacha Atlas…imagine Basement Jaxx jamming in a Cairo nightclub with Princes rhythm section and you’re halfway there. Their audience was accordingly varied. One night they’d be at a hardcore rave in Glasgow, the next a bhangra night in Birmingham, next in a club on an indie lineup in London, next at a hiphop night in Cardiff…TGU and Nations mix of breaks, rap, Arabic and Indian samples, and heavy helpings of ragga, house and funk, now sounds like a premonition of a whole heap of music out there currently.

In the late nineties, as a fog of Goa trance and ambience descended on the UK, it was time to move further afield. TGU producers HAMID MAN TU and TIM WHELAN worked for a while in Egypt along with Natacha Atlas for whom they produced a hit single and gold album in France, while turning out tracks for artists in the Middle East. The band played regularly in Eastern Europe, where they’re still a big success, and moved further afield into South Africa, India, Tunisia, Kazakhstan…still appearing sometimes as a 7 piece full on band, sometimes as a soundsystem, sometimes as DJs.

In Trans-Global Underground’s endless schedule of recording producing and performing, Britain became pretty neglected; in fact none of the band were able to confirm whether their last album, ‘Yes Boss Food Corner’ had ever been released here at all. How much this bothers them isn’t clear…not even to them. Today TGU are in the incredibly fortunate position to be able to make their own music without either compromising or being pushed into obscurity. They exist like a self-contained music business operating offshore and transmitting to who they please when they please. Hence the title of their new album, ‘Impossible Broadcasting’.

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 013 ROHAN: ROOTS

CD
Rohan is a bold new addition to the ever growing world rhythm music scene. His music blends many styles including traditional Indian, Jamaican reggae, and Western beats into an explosive blend of ethno-hypnotic, head-nodding music. Not just another hipster latching onto the Asian Underground/Massive scene, his music subtly blends electronic music with acoustic instrumentation to create a modern approach to song writing that never loses focus on melody.
Rohan was born in 1973 in the U.S. to immigrant parents of diverse origins. His mother is Jamaican and his father is from Guyana having Indian roots. A self-taught musician, Rohan's love affair with music started from an early age. At age ten, he began playing the guitar that his older brothers bought when no one was looking and spent his teenage years honing his guitar skills and playing in bands throughout the NJ and NY area. Growing weary of being an outcaste in the mainstream music field, Rohan gravitated towards the music of his cultures - the music that his family played when he was growing up like ska, reggae, calypso and Indian classical.
In addition to his Indian and Jamaican influences, Rohan's music has been greatly impacted by the music that America's other underclass have pioneered including hip-hop, dance, and blues. Hip-hop loops, dance beats and slide guitars are intricately weaved into his tunes. "It would be impossible for me not to have been influenced by other minorities in this culture. That experience is a huge part of me." His exploration of such styles has broadened the palette from which he draws. Reflecting on his music, he says "I use music and play instruments to help me understand who I am. I try to reflect this by using my music as a melting pot of world beats and melodies…serving up an ethno-textured experience."

Album Description
Roots, the debut album from Rohan, is an ethno-textured experience with hypnotic rhythms that covers a wide range of musical terrain from world-electronica/lounge, trip hop, spatial reggae/dub, to ambient acoustic guitar and tabla beats. Roots' exotic blend of sounds will free your spirit, while its sublime melodies will discover a home in your subconscious.
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 014 JIM HOBBS & THE FILLY CELEBRATED ORCHESTRA:
LAPIS EXILIS
CD
"You can compare us to the Renaissance guys of the avant garde, the kind of attitude that Ornette Coleman had in his music. You can mix that with a punk-rock aesthetic because we don't want to have to play the jazz mantra all the time" - Jim Hobbs

Even by jazz's sometimes bizarre standards, alto saxophonist/composer Jim Hobbs is an anomaly. A twenty something Fort Wayne, Indiana born renegade; Hobbs is the spokesman/leader of the Fully Celebrated Orchestra, a collective ensemble which is actually a quartet comprised of bassist Timo Shanko, cornet player Taylor Ho Bynum and the slash and burn drums of Django Carranza. The eclecticism of his influences is what sets him and his group apart - Duke Ellington Suites, heavy metal, Don Cherry and Willie Nelson's song stylings ("the way he can twist melodies that are common"). This seemingly disparate mix and match of American culture is all the more unusual because Hobbs and company bring to it a sense of fun. "This music is supposed to be fun!!" claims Hobbs. "Our sarcasm which has shown through in our song titles is where our punk energy lies; it's not that we have punk politics or believe in punk anarchy. Just like rock musicians, we borrow some tradition in what we do, but we also try to be "free". The rock musicians our age had the sense to pick up a guitar, which made more money than a saxophone." Such remarks might lead you to believe that the Fully Celebrated Orchestra are an ad hoc band of auteurs. On the contrary, Jim Hobbs has split reeds and breath with Joe Viola and George Garzone while at Berklee College of Music; logged calypso gigs with Mackie Burnett's band, Panorama, and thrashed with a variety of alternative rock bands.

Django Caranza incorporates everything from free-jazz drumming to reggae "riddims" in the swirl of Fully Celebrated performances. His backing of "every reggae superstar to come to the Boston area" and additional work with ex-Ellingtonian trombonist Vince Prudente, only serves to add to his arsenal.

Taylor Ho Bynum is a marvelous cornetist with an outwardly directed post-bop sensibility. He harmonizes (or is it harmolodic-izes?) nicely with Hobbs and in places blows pregnant cornet blats and simple muted horn lines.

Rounding out the ensemble, Timo Shanko, the California born bassist whose quickened pulse acts as the bottom and incineratory agent in this band's bitchesbrew of hard-core impulse and freedom. Timo Shanko released his debut solo album ‘Freedom Right Now’ on Skycap records last year (2004).

The Fully Celebrated Orchestra is a group, although members can change within the band. But whatever person fills in has to fill in with the band's sound, that pocket of sound which exists where we are at our most relaxed.
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 015 BRIGHT LIGHT GROUP:BRIGHT LIGHT GROUP

CD
Boston is just a stone's throw from New York and yet the two cities are worlds apart as far as music is concerned. While the spirit of jazz has haunted the streets of New York for a hundred years, in Boston, jazz music is more of an intellectual affair. It's been said that in New York you have to suffer to play jazz, in Boston, you study it. Jazz music has established a firm foundation in New York City, where in Boston, it seems to simply pass through for a brief visit. Thanks to its conservatories and music schools, Boston is probably the world's largest elite school for jazz musicians. Nowhere else is jazz played with so much propriety, so much respect for tradition, as it is in the twin cities of Boston and Cambridge. The strong alternative rock scene in the 1980s and '90s made it difficult for independent jazz to develop in Boston as it did in Chicago and San Francisco.

In Boston, musicians such as Joe Morris and Joe Maneri have managed to develop an idiom whose unmistakable unification of intellectual calculation and uncompromising desire for independence, expressive fire, and introverted nobility could only be possible in Boston's musical climate. It is precisely this concord of apparent opposites that gives rise to a driving force, which has not only become a collective language for jazz musicians (and not just the established ones), but also bridges the camps of jazz and rock, going far beyond crossover mainstream. Bands such as Either/Orchestra (former alumni include John Medeski and Matt Wilson) and the Fully Celebrated Orchestra, have been renewing jazz for years, with little attention from the outside world. New York needs the world, Boston is a world unto itself.

Boston is Jeff Platz's challenging territory. Platz's sound ranges over rapturous independent rock and a free jazz awakening. The cutting, sometimes heavily grating sound of his electric guitar clearly betrays his close ties to rock. During the many years he played in the lounge-rock band Lars Vegas, he learned to discipline himself, to express things efficiently so as to safely avoid the temptations of excess often found in collective and individual jazz improvisation. Platz's music is generous, although never accidental. It is all part of a process, and yet with every beat and sound, it expresses a particular aim. It doesn't have to build up new limits just for the sake of overcoming them later. The secret of its uninhibited quality lies more in Platz's playful use of the familiar, where intuition, feeling, and memory are the most important navigational instruments. Communication isn't pursued simply for the sake of communicating, but instead, it is a method of association used to exchange and create themes.

Saxophonist Jim Hobbs and drummer Django Carranza, both of the Fully Celebrated Orchestra, are Platz's kindred spirits, as they lead the aggressiveness of free jazz back to the inspired relaxation of the intimate moment. Scott Getchell's trumpet lends transcendence to the sound; Kit Demos's bass grounds it. The musicians of the Bright Light Group mark out the terrain in both horizontal and vertical directions; the geography of each piece allows lines of communication to flow from one musician to the next and back. The transparent layering of individual musical platforms recalls the metaphysical free jazz spirit of the 1960s; the way each musician's contribution is rolled into a collective density reveals the musicians' roots in '90s rock. Platz opens up paths between jazz and rock that have as little in common with jazz-rock as Czech Budweiser has with its American imitation. The Bright Light Group is newer, and at the same time, billions of years older than everything that is subsumed by the avant-garde. A vision of the jazz of tomorrow.
Wolf Kampmann
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 016 HARPSWELL SOUND:SKYLIGHT

CD
Ron Harrity veröffentlichte mit seiner Band Nord Express zwei hochgelobte Alben auf dem amerikanischen Indie-Pop Label Slumberland (http://www.dropbeat.com/slrland/) - ,Nord Express‘ (1996) und ,Central‘ (1997) - bevor er gemeinsam mit Trey Hughes, Mike Dank (drums) und dem Bassisten Jonathan Takami in 2002 Harpswell Sound gründete.

Slumberland, gegründet 1989, stand in der Tradition von Labels wie Postcard, (frühe) Creation, K und Bus Stop. Bands wie Rocketship, Ropers, Hood, Aislers Set u.a. machten Slumberland schnell zu einer angesehenen Adresse für besten Indie-Pop – in all seinen Facetten. ,Nord Express's ethereal, oddly pretty pop music isn't exactly "catchy" in the conventional sense -- it isn't full of great hooks and maddeningly hummable melodies you can't get out of your head. But their slow, stripped-down, extremely repetitive songs do find entry points into your consciousness, infecting you with their cool melancholy, their droning obsessiveness, and their occasional moments of shiny cheerfulness.“

Mit Harpswell Sound setzt Ron Harrity die Soundästhetik von Nord Express fort. Mit dem Gitarristen Trey Hughes fand Harrity einen kongenialen Partner, der seine musikalische Vision teilt: ‘Harpswell Sound formed when guitarists Ron Harrity and Trey Hughes met and swapped material they had recently recorded. After working on some songs together they acknowledged that their approach was informed largely by a fondness for 60’s folk and folk rock bands such as Fairport Convention, Jackson Frank, Velvet Underground as well as more contemporary groups such as Yo La Tengo, Luna and Richard Buckner.

Schlagzeuger Mike Dank, langjähriges Mitglied in Lars Vegas, und Bassist Jonathan Takami geben mit ihrer lässigen, unaufgeregten Spielweise die perfekte Rhythmus-Sektion für das Songwriter-Duo Harrity/Hughes.

Harpswell Sound verkörpern das gepflegte Understatement. Die Musik der Band aus Portland, Maine, wirkt wie mit Patina überzogen und verbreitet die Schönheit des Verblichenen, des würdevoll Gealterten.
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 017 FANIA: NATUREL

CD
FANIA, born under a lemon tree in the Sahel desert on a summer day, was introduced to Senegalese music by her grandfather, and even as a child she learned old West African melodies and dialects, such as Peul, Wolof, Mandingo, Sonike. At the age of six, when children tend to voice the most abstruse career aspirations, FANIA knew that she wanted to be a musician, so it’s no surprise that she couldn’t imagine anything better than to make music. But FANIA doesn’t simply make music, she lives music.

As a nomad between two worlds, the austere, simple and natural life of her homeland of Senegal on the one hand, and the fast-moving, iridescent and exciting big city life in her chosen home of Paris on the other, FANIA has accomplished a balancing act between these two opposite cultures on a personal as well as on an artistic level. This way, she can enjoy the advantages of the metropolis and loves to go dancing or shopping, but has held on to her African naturalness and prefers walking to driving so that she can experience her surroundings with open eyes.

As there could hardly be a greater contrast between FANIA’s cultural influences, it’s no surprise that her musical interests are just as diverse. They include African musicians such as Ali Farka Toure, Baaba Maal, Bembeya Jazz National or the Super Rail Band, but also pop musicians such as PJ Harvey, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Prince or Serge Gainsbourg. Of course, this is no haphazardly assembled list, but a mirror of her cultural bridging.

FANIA’s lyrics are about the different themes of African life: the ghosts, the quiet, the magic, the love, etc. Her music is an intelligent mélange of traditional instruments and urban rhythms, the latter influenced by Western pop music. With her fresh and very original second solo album she helps us to understand the African culture of tomorrow.
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 018 STEVE LANTNER TRIO: BLUE YONDER

CD
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 019 CAMILLA RINGQUIST: FOR VENUS

CD
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 020 BABYLON CIRCUS: DANCES OF RESISTANCE

CD
Vor rund zehn Jahren in Lyon gegründet, zelebriert Babylon Circus eine Melange aus urbanem Reggae, Ska, Jazz, Dub, Punk, neo-realistischem Chanson und osteuropäischer Folkmusik. In ihrer Heimat Frankreich ist die fröhlichen Truppe längst zur Kultband avanciert. Mit mehr als 600 Shows in 15 Ländern eroberte sich das irrwitzige Kollektiv bereits auch zahlreiche Anhänger in Deutschland, Italien, Polen und Slowenien. Über 40.000 Alben haben die Franzosen europaweit bisher verkauft.

Nach dem beeindruckenden Erfolg ihres letzten Albums “Au marché des illusions” freuen wir uns nun auf die neueste Veröffentlichung des wundervollen musikalischen Wanderzirkus: „Dances of Resistance“, produziert von Laurent Jaïs (Manu Chao, Amadou und Maryam, Las Wampas...).

In den ersten Sekunden vernimmt man, zuerst kaum hörbar, Menschenstimmen und Batucada, als Ausdruck des Aufstandes gegen die Irrungen der Weltpolitik. Dann erst fängt das Stück an, das dem Album seinen Titel verleiht, und mit Reggae und starken Bläsern den Startschuss gibt. Augenblicklich weiß man, wo es hingehen soll. Babylon Circus beschleunigt das Tempo, bremst es hier und da elegant und poetisch wieder aus, bevor die Band laut und schnell erneut anzieht.

Die Texte sind zweisprachig (französisch/englisch), politisch engagiert und dennoch frei von jeglichem Cliché. Kriege und deren Anführer stellen eine Art roter Faden durch das Album dar („War Lord“, „L’huile sur le feu“). « De la musique et du bruit » erinnert an die höchst umstrittene Äußerung des Präsidenten Jacques Chirac, man könne die Leute ja verstehen, die in den Siedlungen wohnen, und sich vom Lärm und dem Geruch der Ausländer belästigt fühlen. Auch die Liebe kommt nicht zu kurz, doch nur ein trauriger Zirkusclown vermag es, Liebeskummer mit derart viel Swing wie in „J’aurais bien voulu“ erklingen zu lassen. Ein beinahe kindliches Intermezzo an der Drehorgel („Interlude Barbare“) oder die „Parade acoustique“ an der Klarinette gönnen dem Hörer wohlverdiente Verschnaufpausen zwischen wilden Tracks wie „Musical Terrorism Act“ oder „No competition“.
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 021 NATURAL HISTORY: FUR

CD
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 022 PLEKTRONITE: ENTER THE PLEKTRONITES

CD
Pairing Finland and the mandolin sounds a little odd at first. However, over the centuries, this amiable six-stringed instrument with the chiming tone has been used in different types of music around the world, from Italian serenades to Brazilian choro to bluegrass. So why shouldn’t the mandolin have found its way up to the northern reaches?

The mandolin does in fact have a history in the land of the thousand lakes, even though this history has had its interruptions. In the nineteenth century it was a downright popular instrument, typically in use at home, although there were also a few mandolin orchestras at the time. Between 1920 and 1930 there were around fifty ensembles in Helsinki alone. However, as time went by, the mandolin went out of style in Finnish folk music. Now, in Suomi, people are proud of the vital and innovative folk music department at the famous Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. And a couple of ingenious people there have been involved in the rediscovery and revival of the mandolin since the 1980s. Heikki Lahti and Petri Hakala have been working diligently at this for fifteen years. While Lahti, an old master, raised the mandolin from the depths of unpopularity in Finland, Hakala represented the new generation of mandolin players. Originally a bluegrass fan, he made sure that the old polkas, schottisches, and waltzes remained in the instrument’s repertoire. As a member of the New Folk pioneers Ottopasuuna and the Helsinki Mandoliners, he also introduced the mandolin to the twenty-first century. Hakala’s modern methods were especially useful to three of his students.

JUHA-MATTI KURRA, PETRI PRAUDA, and JARMO ROMPPANEN are an inventive trio known as PLEKTRONITE, and this is their debut album. Kurra found his way to the mandolin via classical guitar and Irish folk music, and is equally inspired by Celtic melodies, American folk, and Scandinavian music. Among other things Kurra has worked as the director of the Rimpparemmi Folk Dance Theatre Band, and is still busy in the dance scene. Prauda spent his youth playing wild rock before he warmed up to folk. Like Kurra, he is about to graduate from the Sibelius Academy, and is currently teaching at the Academy and touring—not only with Plektronite, but also with other folk bands such as Frigg and Hyperborea. His energetic virtuosity occasionally allows a glimpse of his rock background to shine through. Romppanen can look back at engagements at the Finnish State Opera and the National Theater. A composer, arranger, and concert promoter, Romppanen is a key figure in the southern Finnish folk scene.

It was 1998 when the three hooked up together and began working on a repertoire of traditional dance music. Polkas, waltzes, schottisches, mazurkas, and minuets are all part of the program, but they are not played in a stiff, stylized manner. Instead, they are imbued with a fresh spirit, youthful élan, and the sly humor the Finns are famous for, giving the music the occasional surprising twist. The trio’s repertoire is also enriched by their own original compositions. "Pletroniitit tuloo!" - "Enter the Plektronites!" is the trio’s exuberant battle cry. An entire family of mandolins and some of their relatives are involved in the music. There’s the mandola, the alto-voiced variation; the mandocello, the old daddy bass, and finally, there’s the cittern, which is a silvery sounding instrument well-established in Irish folk music. – Stefan Franzen


Juha-Matti Kurra : mandolin, mandocello
Petri Prauda : mandolin, cittern
Jarmo Romppanen : mandolin, mandola
12 Euro
 
 
CAP 023 KAD ACHOURI: SOCIETÉ

CD

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 024 TIMO SHANKO: THE CHARLATAN & THE GENIUS

CD

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 025 KATHARINA FRANCK: FIRST TAKE SECOND SKIN

CD

www.katharinafranck.de

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 026 DI GRINE KUZINE: BERLIN WEDDING

CD

www.kuzine.de

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 028 STEVE LANTNER QUARTET: PARADISE ROAD

CD

Steve Lantner – pianist/improviser

Boston-based pianist/improviser Steve Lantner brings the disparate natures of a wide range of musical styles - free improvisation, jazz, contemporary chamber and microtonal music - together to create an all encompassing voice that is uniquely his. He is known for his originality, energy, versatility and a style that places melody and harmony back on the improviser's palette alongside texture, velocity and abstraction. Part of his pursuit is to find a new language that embraces the deep traditions of Jazz without picking one side or the other in its dichotomy - to establish a style that embraces the breadth of all the developments at our disposal.

He has performed with Joe Morris, Rashid Bakr, Sabir Mateen, Roy Cambell Jr., Dave Rempis, Kent Kessler, Michael Zerang, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Allan Chase, Joe Giardullo, Laurence Cook, Joe Maneri, Mat Maneri, Chris Washburn, Jim Hobbs, Timo Shanko, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Lockwood, Charlie Kohlhase, Tom Plsek, Nate McBride, Bill Lowe, and many others. Venues in which he has performed include The Knitting Factory (NYC), Tonic (NYC), CBGB's Gallery (NYC), The Empty Bottle (Chicago), The Hungry Brain (Chicago), 3030 (Chicago), Jordan Hall (Boston), WGBH-FM (Boston), Zeitgeist Gallery (Cambridge), and The Middle East (Cambridge).

His most recent trio CD Blue Yonder (Skycap Records, 2005) has received unanimous praise from critics. He has released several recordings under his own name, all critically acclaimed. His two previous releases, Voices Lowered, and Saying So received "Best of the year" awards in 2001 and 2002, respectively. He has recorded for Skycap, Leo and Riti Records, and has a relase pending 2007 release on Hatology.

with Allan Chase, Joe Morris, Luther Gray

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 029 PLATZ QUARTETT: UNRAVELING

CD

Unraveling is my third release on Skycap Records. I really enjoy the power and directness of a quartet format, especially with this lineup of players. Timo Shanko and Luther Gray both made major contributions to my first release, Skull Session, Rise Above. Joined here by Kit Demos on bass this group really provides endless options for exploration of these six musical sketches. Ron Harrity, recording guru and always positive power source did a great job capturing this evening of music as well as mixing and mastering the results. I hope you enjoy Unraveling as much as we all enjoyed creating it!

"His compositions favor simpler more skeletal frameworks. Free jazz noise with rock sensabilities." -All About Jazz / USA

"Platz’s music is meritous and outstandingly colorful!" - Improv.hu / Hungary

"The music is packed with zeel and a feeling of walking on the edge.." -One Final Note / USA

Platz on Skycap records
Skull Session – Rise Above (Cap 010)
Bright Light Group – s/t (Cap 015)

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 030 IRIE REVOLTES: YOYAGE


CD

15 Euro
14 Euro
 
 
CAP 031 HARPSWELL SOUND: LET'S GO ANYWAY

CD

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 032 TRANS-GLOBAL UNDERGROUND:
IMPOSSIBLE RE-BROADCASTS

CD

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 033 JIM MURPLE MEMORIAL
FIVE'N YELLOW

CD

Jim Murple Memorial is jamaican R’n’B; real rhythm’n’blues, light and spellbounding, where suffering courts the joy of living, jamaican style, leasing no one diff e r e n t ! ! !

Way before the birth of rocksteady and reggae, this is R’n’B as played in the local dance bars of Kingston in the 50’s .

We find a scintalling drummer, an upright bass, 2 unforgettable guitarists, cool and poppin’-horns, and of course...Nanou’s mild crystal voice, the treasures of labels such as Motown, Atlantic or Verve. A voice full of nostagia, carrying one away, far away.

They sing in french and english, play mainly their compos and some covers as the masters used to, boogie-woogie, dancing, shuffle, R’n’B, ska : a pure driving music. The passionate musicians are able to seize the essence and soulfullness of those years, giving you an interpretation with their kaleidoscopic virtuosity.

Their notorious popularity started in parisians clubs such as the notable “New-Morning” where they played with the cream of jamaican musicians “The Skatalites”. All of their concerts are real “fiestas” where the vibes invite you to dance, sing, jump, and clap your hands...or at least toe-tapping. The group produces, records and plays on stage in various styles with their own personalized gusto. Not just fast beat ska, also astonishing sounds and solos all engineering “fast-hand style” on mix and match studios kits, four-tracls for authentique sound.

13 Euro
 
 
CAP 035 FLATLAND COLLECTIVE
GNOMADE

CD

Jorrit Dijkstra’s Flatlands Collective is an international group that brings some of Chicago’s hottest improvisers together with a remarkable alto saxophonist and composer from the lively Dutch improvisation scene. Dijkstra and Chicago improvisors Jeb Bishop, Jim Baker and Kent Kessler had a successful musical encounter in Chicago’s Candlestick Maker in 2003. They found a common ground in a more trans-national way of improvising, using open forms, humor, and a looser interpretation of the American jazz tradition. Dijkstra met James Falzone during their time at New England Conservatory. He admired the Fred Lonberg-Holm’s kaleidoscopic musicianship and knew Tim Mulvenna as one of the most versatile drummers in Chicago. After projects in Paris, Vancouver, Edinburgh and Boston, The Flatlands Collective is another example of Dijkstra’s interest in uniting musicians from different cities in the world who share similar improvisation ideas. Dijkstra says: ”I believe that the landscape in which you grow up has an effect on how your music sounds. This is what’s so interesting about jazz: musicians in New York, Barcelona, Moscow, Shanghai or Addis Ababa play this music, but there is always a distinctive local interpretation.” And he adds: “I called this group The Flatlands Collective after the landscape heritage I share as a Dutchman with the Chicago players.”

Dijkstra provides most of the compositions, in which he strives towards a balance between composed material, clear guidelines for musicians to improvise, and openness for the most adventurous kinds of improvisations. The group has organically developed a way of improvising that incorporates free jazz, game pieces, graphic score readings, texture-based minimalism, and melodic layerings. The Flatlands Collective also enables Dijkstra to experiment with the Lyricon (a vintage analog wind synthesizer from the 1970s) in an acoustic ensemble setting, adding an electronic touch to the rich variety of ideas, structures, and textures. The Flatlands Collective has released their debut CD Gnomade in December 2006 on Skycap records.

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 036 SEASICK STEVE
DOGHOUSE MUSIC

CD

What you really have here is Seasick Steve himself; a real American, trainhopping, jailbirding, cowboying, carnival working, migrant farm picking, occassional tramping, near-fatal heart attack surviving old hobo.The real deal.Steve was invited to leave his home before his 14th birthday. (nuff said!) Having spent many hours listening to stories from the hobos, tramps, and bums who would come by his childhood home asking for work or just a handout; he reckoned he was ready for a life on the rails.So making up a “bindle” (sleeping roll and some clothes, etc.) and not forgetting his guitar, he headed off into the sunset.Sound romantic? For the most part it was not! Sleeping ruff. Going hungry. Working for handouts. Eating at the missions. Riding the rails. Playing on street corners, for your small change and MANY a free stay in the county jails of America…and this is the “G” rated version!!! But then there was those moments...stories told and heard in the “jungle camps”; scraps of old songs picked up. Food for song? You bet!Seasick Steve’s music is so out of it and old fashioned that it somehow arrives at modern. His audiences have been mainly younger people who are into the Fat Possum sounds of R.L. Burnside or bands like the White Stripes.While doing shows with R.L. Burnside, Steve saw how young audiences went crazy for what he was doing. After playing the kids would come and ask, “what kind of music is this?” Steve replied, “well it’s kinda low down blues and such.” Their response was, “we hate blues… but man we love what you do!” This is what got Seasick Steve out again and doing what he does best – being the pied piper of the low down hobo blues.(And wait till you see and hear the 3-string trance guitar!!!!)

http://www.seasicksteve.com

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 037 BJÖRN BERGE
I AM THE ANTIPOP

CD

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 038 SALLY NYOLO
MEMOIRE DU MONDE

CD

Sally Nyolo comes from the South of Cameroon. She was born in the Eton Land in the small village of Eyen-Meyong, near the town of Tala in the Lékié region. She left her homeland at the age of 13 to settle in Paris. Sally built up her professional experience from 1982 to 1994, first as a backing-singer working with numerous French and African artists as Jacques Higelin, Sixun, Nicole Croisille, Touré Kunda, and many others…

Sally Nyolo joined the group Zap Mama in 1993 for their world tour and recorded with the group the album "Sabsylma" and two live albums (in Japan and at Montreux). In 1996, Sally Nyolo recorded her first solo album entitled "Tribu" (Tribe), released by the Label Lusafrica. All the tracks - sung in Eton, her native tongue - were written and composed by Sally, except "Tamtam" co-written with Sylvain Marc.

In June 97, Sally Nyolo received the RFI Discovery 97 prize awarded by Radio France Internationale. The jury, presided over by drummer Manu Katché, afforded this recognition to the album "Tribu" for its artistic merits, and to Sally Nyolo as one of the most promising hopes of the new generation of African musicians.

And Sally Nyolo soon went on to prove that she was more than just a promising hope. Spring 98, Sally returned in studio and started working on her second album entitled "Multiculti". Released in May the same year, Sally's second album doesn’t only confirm the young singer's vocal talent, but also reveals a deep passion for “métissage” (musical and cultural fusion), reinventing successfully the mix of traditional African rhythms and modern musical heritage from the 90's. Sally's hot fusion sound scored a major hit with French audience when the young Cameroonian star kicked off her latest tour on May 28th at the legendary “New Morning” in Paris.

Between August and September 98, Sally Nyolo focused on her international career, playing series of dates across the United States and Canada (where she had already built up a considerable following of fans). When she returned to Europe, Sally embarked upon an extensive tour of Spain and L'Ile de la Réunion, and then performed a further series of concerts in France. December '98, legendary French pop star Jacques Higelin invited Sally to perform as “special guest star” at his concert at the "Cité de la Musique" in Paris.

Sally returned to the music news in January 2000, releasing her third album "Beti" (name of an African tribe). Sally's new album, partly recorded in Cameroon, revolved around “Bikutsi”, a traditional rhythm from the forest regions of central Cameroon. Following the release of her album, Sally started touring in spring 2000 : after taking her catchy Bikutsi sound to France, Sally brought the house down in her homeland when she performed at the "Rencontres Musicales" in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé (May 1st - May 7th). Sally went on playing in Germany (in May) and Quebec (in July). The singer kept up a hectic tour schedule throughout the summer of 2001, touring France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland. The same year, she received a golden disk award (over 100.000 copies) for the song "No Mélène Ziga Nda", written by Sally on a music composed by Michel Aimé for Yannick Noah’s album, which includes the famous single "La voix des sages".

Sally returned to the studio in 2002 and her fourth album “Zaïone” - name of her son she had had the previous year - was released in October of that year. Broadening her musical horizons, Sally mixed her traditional Bikutsi with other musical styles on this album. “Zaïone” included duos with number of French artists : Nicoletta, Nina Moratto, Muriel Moreno and Jean-Jacques Milteau. Teaming up with her Cameroonian friend Princess Erika, Sally also enjoyed a brief flirtation with reggae on the song "Jah Know", which was chosen as the first single release for this album. Sally’s albums sold 120.000 copies over the world and 25.000 in France.

End of November 2002, Sally played a series of concerts in Paris at "La Scène". Few months later, the star was hitting the UK in February 2003 for a major tour and followed on with Germany and Switzerland in March before jetting off to Japan, where she played at the Quattro Club in Tokyo during the Francophone Week initiative. Sally returned to her native country in May with concerts in Douala for the Douala Massao International Festival of female singing. Her international career was further boosted in 2004 when she performed in Italy, Belgium and also London at the African Music Festival. The Brazilian singer Martinho da Vila invited her to sing and play a duet on his album "Conexões", and to perform at his concert at the "Olympia" in Paris.

In March 2005, she leant a hand to a David Murray production, "Pouchkine", which was performed at the Banlieues Bleues Festival in the Paris region. On top of her artist career, Sally Nyolo opened a studio in Yaoundé and set up her own production company named “Tribal Production” with the aim of developing the Cameroon music scene. In June, the first album of Tribal Production was released in Cameroon, untitled "Original n°1". This beautiful album found a world wide release under the name of “Sally Nyolo & the original bands of Yaoundé – Studio Cameroon” in 2006 (World Music Network) revealing totally unknown but so talented artists.
Billboard, 6th November 2006 : “What's so remarkable about Sally Nyolo's latest CD (Studio Cameroon) is how organic and effervescent the melody-rich music is, whether it's steeped in the bikutsi rhythm of the singer's Cameroon homeland or fired by other Afro-pop influences, including highlife. It's the former Zap Mama member's return-home project, where she hooks up and collaborates with local musicians at her newly built studio in Yaounde. The sessions are revelatory, as Nyolo unveils new talent rooted in the rhythms of the Cameroonian forest.

Mémoire du Monde

During the 2005 summer, Sally Nyolo was finishing the production and mastering of her new CD. "Mémoire du Monde" is an electro-acoustic album, light and deep, in which the legendary 6/8 of Bikusti rhythm dives its roots into the language of La Fontaine. Recorded in Cameroon with local musicians, and then in Paris with her own band, the “World’s Memory” swings from a language to another (Eton and French), inventing a new way of singing the songs. No doubt we find the purest Bikutsi in this album, but also the exhalations of blues and reggae.

The album is entirely written, composed, produced and realized by Sally Nyolo, except the tracks on which Michel Aimé, Marc Etienne and Sylvain Marc collaborated. We can also catch the voice of her former Zap Mama’sister Sylvie Nawasadio, and the Bokué Pygmies.

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 039 TRANS-GLOBAL UNDERGROUND
MONNSHOUT

CD

Trans-Global Underground came into existence back in the formative days of todays dance culture with 2 stated aims…to find beats no one else was trying to dance to and to ignore any notions of musical barriers. Since then they’ve kept to the same ethos, stubbornly individual, fiercely independent and keeping their own course no matter what was going on around them. Thus they’ve moved in and out of fashion and in and out of continents, successful first in one world and moving on once the job was done… not so much outstanding in their field as setting up the tent in someone else’s and partying all night with the neighbours.

Their last album, 2004s ‘Impossible Broadcasting’ was an invitation to enter into their world. Three years later ‘Moonshout,’ probably their most ambitious release to date, steps out into everyone else’s.

‘Moonshout’ sets out to answer the obvious question that gets asked of TGU….how do your ears deal with defining the undefinable? It’s an album that travels great distances and through 4 distinct moods. ‘Moonshout’ commences full-on with some of the most dancefloor friendly songs TGU have ever recorded. The sounds and influences are from all over but the source is clearly the collectives’ birthplace in London.

At this point we could give a scholarly dissertation about the links between Brazilian drum and bass and Indian rhythms on ‘Dancehall Operator,’ the Romany roots of rap that find their voice in the title track ‘Moonshout’ or the relation between R&B and classical Arabic structures that haunt ‘Awal’ but TGU would have us kneecapped for pretension so we wont.

TGUs collaboration with Portugal’s notorious BLASTED MECHANISM moves the album into a second section of even harder edged territory, with the collective finally achieving their ambition to write an angry country song in ‘Swampland’ and with ‘Cape Thunder’ creating a nightmarish vision of chaos, before the mood changes again. ’Jhumka’ featuring ghazal singing star NALINI introduces a series of dub soaked sound-scapes with a strong sub-continental drift, leading up to the epic ‘Spice Garden’ featuring the amazing voice of legendary Bulgarian traditional vocalist YANKA RUPKINA.

The final 3 tracks have little to do with anything else that TGU have ever done…in fact they have little to do with anything anyone has ever done. Again, we must bypass any scholarly dissertations of the influence of Bollywood and country and western music on 1960s Afropop, but we could say that this is the closest to Elvis that Trans-Global Underground have ever come……so far, anyway.

Trans-Global Underground’s line-up, which has changed endlessly over the years, is now focussed round drummer and programmer HAMID MAN TU, storyteller, singer, chanter and percussionist TUUP, instrumentalist TIM WHELAN and supreme sitarist and bassist SHEEMA MUKHERJEE but expands ever outwards bringing in a whole number of regular contributors and some new faces, notably vocalist KRUPA who features on the Bollywood pop style of ‘Emotional Yoyo.’

Further beyond, TGU collaborated with a whole number of artists across Europe….Senegalese vocalist BURAMA BADJI based in Prague…..Iraqi rapper NAUFALLE from the French/Arabic band AIWA, based in Rennes….the wonderful YANKA RUPKINA, rapper RISE FM from Budapest and of course BLASTED MECHANISM, from somewhere between Lisbon and the outer rings of Saturn. Theres also the treat of NATACHA ATLAS’ first appearance on a TGU album since her legendary period fronting the group many years back.

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 041 1000 (KLARE/MARIS/DE JOODE/VATCHER)
UNPLAYABLE

CD

Jan Klare (reeds)
Bart Maris (trumpet)
Wilbert de Joode (bass)
Michael Vatcher (drum)

This band is called »1000« (thousand) because it was born in 2004 in a series of concerts called »1000 years of jazz« , because »1000« is a strong number and because it is as digital as can be. The quartett's line up has various roots. Wilbert de Joode and Jan Klare work toghether since the early 90's in different groups, most noteably the dutch/ english/ german quartett EUREKA, that existed from 1994 -98, in which also Michael Vatcher was afeatured guest a number of times. After a commission for the Jazzfestival Münster in 1997 the trio Klare, de Joode, Vatcher develloped, that worked in unregiular intervals. Bart Maris himself had worked with de Joode and Vatcher on a number of occasions and had been introduced to Klare in 2001. They soon found out, that they had a lot of sympathy for each others playing and thinking - so putting a band together was a logical step.

The basic repertoire of »1000« consisted of interpretations of classical compositions to begin with - for example from gregorian music, Bach, Wagner, Monteverdi a.o. Then Jan Klare began to write pieces that concentrated on the special characters in the band. The »1000« line up may perhaps remind one of the O. Coleman-quartett - which isn't completelx wron, but »1000« sounds very different. Auf markante Weise gehen hier Composition and its blending with improvisation are the prominent characteristics in this setting. The nstruments change leading and accompanying roles constantly, the music stays solid at all times.
Saxophonist Jan Klare lived in Düsseldorf from '79 to '87. 1987 he went to London, where he worked with Harry Beckett, Ricardo Santos amongst others. In 1990 he moved to the netherlands and then again germany and was involved in a large number of bands and productions in all genres. His most important band is »Das Böse Ding«, which has released 5 CD's and is well active on the european scene.

Bart Maris plays trumpet. It would be impossible to give a list of bands he is in or plays with, as he seems to be on nearly every Belgian CD released in the last couple of years. He was one of the original members of X-Legged Sally, and also of Think Of One before he quit that band in 2003 to put all of his energy in Flat Earth Society. He is also a member of Jaune Toujours, a Brussels folk band with his brother Piet Maris on vocals and accordeon and has worked with people as Fred Frith.

Wilbert de Joode is a veritable research scientist of bass pizzicato and bowing techniques. A self-taught musician, he has been playing the double-bass since1982. His idiosyncratic style was soon noticed and he came into contact with such musicians as J.C.Tans en Rinus Groeneveld, Michiel Braam, Han Bennink en Han Buhrs (Schismatics). de Joode is currently one of the most active bass players on the Dutch improvised music circuit.

Percussionist Michael Vatcher has been based in Amsterdam since 1977, working in Europe over ten years with musicians and ensembles such as Available Jelly, the band The Ex, Frankie Douglas Sunchild, Roof; and Michael Moore based bands. Other musicians he has worked with include John Zorn, Simon Nabatov, Ernst Rijseger. Michael is artistic director for the music element of the Improvisation Festival Frascati in Amsterdam.

13 Euro
 
 
CAP 042 GREEN APPLE SEA
FOREVER SOUNDS GREAT

CD

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 043 THE HORST
VOLUMEN

CD

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 044 VARIOUS
MOVE AGAINST G8

CD

1. Kettcar: Alles vorstellen (Keine Guillotine weit und breit)
2. Nosliw: Es hat sich nix geändert
3. Bernadette la Hengst: Nie mehr vor Mittag
4. Sillywalks Movement feat. Taffari Leaders
5. Blumfeld: Diktatur der Angepassten
6. Tomte: Norden der Welt
7. Madsen: Du schreibst Geschichte live@fritz
8. Afrob feat. Lisi Müde
9. Irie Révoltés: Morale
10. Jan Delay: Söhne Stammheims
11. Fermin muguruza: Plastic Turkey
12. Rainer von Vielen: Tanz deine Revolution
13. Die Toten Hosen: Pushed again live@rock am ring
14. La phaze: colère noir
15. Gentleman feat. barrington levy & daddy ringscaan: hold us down
16. Tocotronic: Aber hier Leben nein danke bierbebenrmx
17. Mad Maxamom: Absage Nr.1
18. Finkenauer: Hand in Hand acc. Version
19. Wir sind Helden: Wir sind gekommen um zu bleiben

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 046 DR. WOGGLE & THE RADIO
ROCKERS!

CD

www.drwoggle.com

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 047 THE SENIOR ALLSTARS
COME AROUND

CD

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 048 MI SOLAR
AMISTAD

CD

Mi Solar from Berlin (Solar means courtyard in Cuban) enrich the otherwise conventional German Salsa-scene. The composition of this collective is heterogeneous in terms of culture, age and sex : Mi Solar consist of German and Cuban men and women aged between 27 and 52 years. They have been trained in Havanna, New York and San Fancisco and hold in their variety great potential and are the explosive for this musical explosion that Mi Solar ignite on stage and on their album. The band surrounding singer Mayelis Guyat ( alias Celia Cruz from Berlin) inspired the audience of the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2005 and 2006. On their debut album “Amistad”, Mi Solar present a mixture of traditional and modern Cuban music. Salsa, Jazz, Timba, Soul, Funk, Bolero and Guaguanco are being processed into their own compositions and convey perfectly the Cuban way of life: dance and celebrate in the Solar with a Mojito!

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 049 MARY HALVORSON, JESSICA PAVONE, DEVIN HOFF, CHES SMITH
CALLING ALL PORTRAITS

CD

Mary Halvorson is a guitarist, composer and improviser living in Brooklyn. She grew up in Boston and studied jazz at Wesleyan University and the New School. Since 2000 she has been performing regularly in New York with various groups and has toured Europe and the U.S. with the Anthony Braxton Quintet (Live at the Royal Festival Hall, Leo Records) and Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant (Sister Phantom Owl Fish, Ipecac Recordings). She has also performed alongside Joe Morris, Nels Cline, John Tchicai, Elliott Sharp, Andrea Parkins, Marc Ribot, Tony Malaby, Oscar Noriega and Jason Moran. Current projects which Mary composes for and performs with include a chamber-music duo with violist Jessica Pavone (On and Off, Skirl Records, 2007); The Mary Halvorson Trio with John Hebert and Ches Smith; and the avant-rock band People (Misbegotten Man, I & Ear Records, 2007). She also performs regularly in ensembles led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Ted Reichman, Tatsuya Nakatani, Jason Cady, Matthew Welch, Brian Chase and Curtis Hasselbring.

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 050 NOAM WEINSTEIN
SIXTEEN SKIES

CD

Called "a thrilling songwriter" by The Nashville Rage, "a young Elvis Costello mixed with Randy Newman" by PasteMusic, and "a talent who croons lovely, subtle songs" by The Boston Globe, 31-year-old Noam Weinstein (rhymes with "No-Bomb Einstein") grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and began performing at Boston-area clubs as a teenager. After college he headed for New York City, where he became involved in the Greenwich Village songwriters exchange and began singing his own material at area clubs and accompanying other songwriters as a guitarist. In 2001 Noam released his debut EP, Enough About You. In 2002 he followed it up with Above the Music (produced by local legend Jimi Zhivago), and in 2004 he completed his first full-length album, Probably Human (with the soon-to-be-legendary Tyler Wood). Late 2006 brought We're All Going There, produced by the ingenious Lee Alexander. In October of 2008, Noam began releasing a series of two-song singles online, and in early 2009 Germany's Skycap Records will be putting out Sixteen Skies, Noam's first foreign release.

Noam is a three-time finalist in the USA Songwriting Contest, a finalist in the 2007 International Acoustic Music Awards, a four-time recipient
of the ASCAPlus Award, and an honorable mention winner of the 2004 Song of the Year. His music has received airplay on indie radio stations like WERS, WXPN, and WFUV, and his song I Can Hurt People aired on the Showtime network during its program Weeds. His songs are also regularly heard on Internet Podcasts and sites like Pandora and Last.fm, and his albums are available from all the major online retailers. Live appearances have included South by Southwest in Austin, CMJ and The Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York, and various clubs across America, as well as in England and Ireland.

In addition to his own recordings, Noam has been honored to have songs of his recorded by Jess Tardy, Greta Gertler, Naomi Sommers, and Lin
McEwan, and performed live by artists like Anita Suhanin and Mieka Pauley, as well as the cast of the play Nero's Favorites. He is also honored to have been a guest vocalist on albums by The Great Unknowns and Sam Sadigursky.

To learn more please visit eNoam.com

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 051 STARS PLAY MUSIC
DISTANCE IS NECESSARY

CD

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 052 PHIL VETTER
SAD MAN WALKING

CD

Singer-Songwriter Phil Vetter releases his second solo album after his highly acclaimed debut “Say good-by to the moment”. The multi-instrumentalist from Munich played most of the songs himself again. “Sad Man Walking” captivates with 12 powerful tunes and elegant melodies of almost fragile beauty.  Strings, trumpets and flutes weave a versatile “carpet” of sound – haunting but never like smooth pop. Phil Vetter’s lyrics are authentic – not a trace of kitsch or shame. “Sad Man Walking” tells Vetter’s own story about a big, lost love that promised everything but kept nothing. The bittersweet melancholic songs struggle with desperation and the power of memories. In the end, hope conquers all. Phil Vetter leads the listener through a very sensitive chapter of his biography. He also takes his audience on his live concerts by the hand. Whether with the band, guitar or piano, Phil Vetter talks about himself and about life with a touch of self-irony. His concerts are warming and inspire the audience with wit and Rock’n Roll.

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 053 BJÖRN BERGE
LIVE IN EUROPE

CD

Bjørn Berge is one of the best known live artists in Norway, only armed with his guitars, footstomp and voice. He has won 2 National Grammies in Norway in the past and was nominated for the third time with his latest album ”I'm The Antipop” for 2007. Bjørn is now starting to gain a reputation in Central-Europe, and especially in France, Benelux and Germany where he played near to one hundred shows in the past few years. Touring constantly Bjørn plays about 100 shows every year, only 10 of them shows took place in Norway last year. The new live album was recorded at the Ancienne Belgique club in Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 22nd 2007. It was a sold out gig with about 800 people, so there's high energy - kind of electric! The last 2 tracks were recorded at Nouveau Casino in Paris in March 2005. This recording is 100% live, and definitely 100% Bjørn Berge. 

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 054 KAPELLE PETRA
STADTRANDERHOLUNG

CD

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 055 KIMOE
STREBEN NACH GLÜCK

CD

www.kimoe.de

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 057 THE LEVELLERS
LETTERS FROM THE UNDERGROUND

CD
 After almost 4 years the Levellers have recorded a new album set for release on August 11th  through their own label  ‘On The Fiddle’.  With an ever changing music industry the Levellers are at the forefront of a now established DIY industry.  They are the perfect role model for other bands trying to find their way in today’s music scene having released their own records, bought their own building/ studio and started their own sell out festival, Beautiful Days.  Although the band are lucky enough to have a loyal fanbase of  at least 30,000 people, new fans are joining up every day having heard the band for the first time on My space or recently seen them on tour.  Now the Levellers are ready to hit back again with this, their most exciting album in years.

Musically and lyrically the album conveys a passion, energy and conviction that shot the band to fame in their early years. The album has been produced by Sean Lakeman who the band met when touring with Sean’s brother, Seth Lakeman. “Letters from the Underground” was recorded in the Levellers own Metway studios in Brighton and mixed in New York by James Brown who has recently worked with NIN and Placebo.

“We have written a consciously political record, not as a manifesto which is how people used to take our lyrics but as a reaction to apathy - something we’re all guilty of. The songs on the album are observations on topics including war, the media, government, betrayal, life choices and broken dreams.” The Levellers May 2008.  Brighton based folk-punk band, the Levellers, are set to release their most politically resonant album in a decade just as the UK has woken up from the new Labour stupor and decided to vote Tory again…

The Levellers have seen a renaissance with their live career in recent years. 2008 sees them airing the new songs and old favourites from their hit-rich back catalogue as they are set to headline the following festivals - Cropredy, Cambridge, Guilfest, Larmer Tree, Glastonbury Leftfield, Stokes Bay, Music Port, Connect and their own Beautiful Days. In addition to these, the band are playing some special shows with Seth Lakeman at Arundel Castle, Bowood House, and Arley Hall.

After the festival season ends the Levellers are playing the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 27th September which will be followed by a full UK tour in November/December in support of the album.

www.levellers.co.uk
www.myspace.com/levellers

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 058 PLATZ/KLARE QUARTETT
GATHERING

CD

Enthralling live-improvisations build upon outspokenly harmonious themes, encounters of wild outbursts with fragile moments of quiescence – that is what alternative and atmospheric jazz is made of, thus radiating enormous amounts of energy: The album „The Gathering“ represents a moment in time capturing a long-lasting creative process that redefines itself over the course of several years all anew. On this album one can experience the results of the collaboration between American guitarist Jeff Platz and German saxophon player Jan Klare for the very first time, aside from live performances in Germany and the U.S.. The liaison between the two musicians, joined for the recording sessions by Alexander Morsey on bass and drummer Christian Schönefeldt, has progressed greatly in recent years. Jeff Platz is one of the moving forces in Boston’s jazz and improv music scene. He also is the A&R person for the German music label Skycap, based in Muenster, programming the label’s contemporary jazz division. Jan Klare, based in Muenster/Germany, is a musician who, among other things, has released the album „Unplayable“ with the band „1000“ on Skycap. Members of „1000“ include renowned musicians such as the Dutch bassplayer Wilbert de Joode and the american drummer Michael Vatcher.

It was Skycap that also initiated this transcontinetal collaboration between Klare and Platz who then toured the U.S. and Germany together in 2006, 2007, and 2008, playing shows in Cologne, Hamburg, Osnabrueck, Muenster, Boston, Portland, and Providence, to name just a few. After this extensive tour both musicians went into the studio to record the material for „The Gathering“ under the guidance of high profile sound engineers Tobias Levin und Chris von Rautenkranz in their Soundgarden Studio in Hamburg.

Jeff Platz (guitar) has recorded three albums with his bands Bright Light Group, Skull Session, and most recently with the Jeff Platz Quartett on Skycap Records. He has played with Joe Morris, Jim Hobbs, Django Carranza, Scott Getchell, Kit Demos, Timo Shanko, and Luther Gray, all of them part of the Boston scene. Before this, Platz was a founding member of the lounge rock band Lars Vegas (also with releases on Skycap) with whom he toured Germany three times sucessfully.

Jan Klare (saxophon, transverse flute, clarinet) has worked with some of the most important improvisors of the European scene like Han Buhrs, Michael Vatcher, Frank Köllges, Conny Bauer, Dagmar Krause, and Scott Fields. Has has played numerous clubs and festivals all over Europe and the U.S., produced and recorded albums with his projects and bands such as Das Böse Ding, Supernova, Autofab, WDR Big Band. His music was featured on radio and television, in productions by Radio Bremen, VPRO (Netherlands), Deutschlandfunk, HR und WDR. Klare also organized various projects for the theater and in the field of literature. His most recent album was one by his band „1000“ (with Bart Maris, Wilbert de Joode, and Michael Vatcher), also on Skycap.

Christian Schönefeldt (drums): After studying at the conservatory in Hilversum (Holland) he was a member of the Landesjugendjazzorchester NRW for many years. During this time, Schönefeldt has toured and played in India, Australia, South and Central America. Since 1992, Schönefeldt works as a drummer for a number of jazz bands in Europe as well as for radio and television. He played with luminaries such as Benny Golson, Joachim Raffel, Jimmy Woode, Herb Geller, Tony Lakatos, and Peter Herbolzheimer. Schönefeldt is currently a member of the Jazzorchester Niedersachsen.

Alexander Morsey (contrabass) plays in bands such as the Lutz Wichert Trio, House 5, Low Interval Limits, the Joachim Raffel Trio/Sextett (with which he was among the winners of the „Jazzpodium Niedersachsen“), Jan Klare’s „7”  (winner of „Westfalen Jazz Münster“) and Caligari. He toured Central America with the Landesjugendjazzorchester NRW in 1992, and was playing with the Bundesjugendjazzorchester under Peter Herbolzheimer. He has performed with Leszek Zadlo, Douglas Sides, Herb Geller, Volker Winck, Russ Spiegel, Claudius Valk among many others, and has played in Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, the USA, and Rumania.

12 Euro
 
 
CAP 059 BABYLON CIRCUS
LA BELLE ÉTOILE

CD

Babylon Circus are back, so listen up. They’ve done more than just change or even progress: they’ve undergone a complete renaissance. And they’re as powerful as ever on stage: in terms of explosive live performance, Babylon Circus have little to fear from the competition, here or anywhere. Then when you’ve felt the cold hand of death on your shoulder, it does tend to alter your view of life, leaving you with different things to say. More profound, more important things… and that’s apparent right from the start of their new album, which is going to win these buccaneers (we’re prepared to bet on this) the massive recognition they deserve!

It all began in Lyon in 1995 (or even two or three years earlier, given that David and Manu have been making music together since they were thirteen. The duo are the mainstays of Babylon Circus, its two spokesmen and singers - although Manu was a drummer for many years, until he decided he’d had enough of lurking behind his kit and stepped up to become David’s “faithful left winger”. Today, in the Porte de Clignancourt cellar where they honed the new album’s eleven tracks, the pair work with seven partners in crime who are at least as mad about music as they are: Georges on guitar, Olive on keyboards, Dadé on drums, Basile on bass, Rimbaud on accordion and saxophone, Laurent on trumpet and Clément on trombone. Quite a set-up! Once, there were clowns (more Bérurier Noir than Coco), which led to the name Babylon Circus. Some arrived; others left. Naturally… with a band of around ten musicians, there’s bound to be a little ebb and flow, especially when the group clocks up 900 concerts in more than 30 countries.

Ireland was one of those 30 countries. There was a festival in Dublin. The next day, the group decided to go busking in the street in the heart of the bar district. A quarter of an hour later, the road was jam-packed and the police came to move the crowd on. Fans offered the band a drink as consolation for the truncated concert, so the police came back again: in the land of Guinness, there’s no open-air drinking, mister. The subsequent row in pidgin English ended up with David in the cells for a day as the only one of the band clumsy enough to get caught during the chase (yes, instead of running in front of the cops, he ran behind them, so it only took one officer to turn round and the lad was nicked). A beating, police custody, a caution and court appearance: what a performance!

Russia was also among the 30 countries: Moscow, city of contrasts, home to a proud race… of heavy drinkers. Tanking up with bathtub vodka may not be the best of ideas when you haven’t had a wink of sleep for 48 hours after two concerts and an exhausting journey, and all this on Friday 13th. So why were the cigarettes left in the dressing room one floor below, down a stupid, treacherous flight of stairs? When they found David at the foot of the stairs with his skull cracked that day, they thought he was dead. He was rushed to A&E. The prognosis was bleak.

David: "I lost twelve days of my life. Double concussion. I couldn’t speak French for a while or even feel a thing, I turned into a Mr. Hyde. Endless weeks of hospital tourism. In fact, that was nearly it for me. I ended up suffering from deep, deep depression and after-effects that are still on the mend.”

To battle the blues, Babylon Circus decided on shock treatment. Just four months after the accident, the group appeared in New York’s Central Park. They were all looking pale. The singer was listless, apathetic, withdrawn and aphasic. But then something clicked on stage. David: "The band kept me afloat. I would have sunk without them. We gave around twenty concerts in summer 2007, then began to work on the new album. And here we are."

The fourth album in ten years, no less. After their 100% indie period, we remember the group being looked after by Yelen, a Sony subsidiary that nurtured such untamed pedigree acts as Tryo, Java and La Rue Ketanou.

New life

We knew Babylon Circus as an alternative rock band back in the days of Dances Of Resistance (2004); now we find them in off-road mode, still with every last milliwatt of their all-consuming energy. Once, David’s band listed The Clash / Mano Negra / Bob Marley as their influences. Today, they freely lay claim to other inspirations, including Higelin, Renaud and Téléphone. This comes across in their music. Add the dramatic events mentioned above and you get songs that no longer look to the papers for their inspiration, but rather everyday life, feelings and even - yes, anything’s possible! - love stories. Or friendship. Or both. Like Marions-nous (Let’s get married), introducing a ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ style couple engaged in daydream nuptials.

David: "I’d actually say the style was ‘Buster Keaton meets Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, but it’s up to you. Anyway, I thought it was fantastic, getting together and finding all that synergy with Eugenio Recuenco, who’s mainly a fashion photographer from a sophisticated, outré world. He directed the Marions-nous video, where I talk to Karina Zeviani, a model and singer with Brazilian roots who, apart from her own group, sings with Thievery Corporation and Nouvelle Vague."
On Marions-nous and Nina, David tried his hand at co-writing (with musicologist, violinist, music teacher and composer Jérémy Dirat).
L'Envol (Takeoff), is a Babylon Circus revamp of a song given them by Erwan from Paris quartet Java. Then there’s Le Fils caché du pape (The Pope’s secret son), a song by Mickaël Furnon of Mickey 3D.
David: "Mickaël helped me with the vocals. I had to avoid overplaying the lyrics. I had to put them across as neutrally as possible to increase their effectiveness.

In real life, I’m more the Clash’s Daddy Was A Bank Robber than the Holy Father’s son. My real dad, I don’t really know… I’ve seen him two or three times in my life, between two stretches in jail. I owe everything to my uncle and his group Les Barbarins Fourchus. It was him who showed me the basics on the guitar, who had me busk and pass round the hat for the first time at the Lille Grande Braderie. I was 14. At school, when they asked me what I wanted to do later, I put “rock singer”. My teachers and classmates laughed. Well, they were wrong!"

Babylon Circus have covered Les Barbarins Fourchus’s La Cigarette - the one lit up after making love, like Charles Dumont, but more cheerful. So it’s been touch and go for Babylon Circus. David had his brush with death, coming so close he felt its touch, before knocking it back with a firm “Go to hell!”. He’s seen the world turned upside-down. The sky has fallen on his head and now he wears it like a cap. Anyway, Babylon Circus are off again on a never-ending tour, crossing the country from end to end. The country? What am I saying? The world!
Gilles Verlant

www.babyloncircus.com

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 060 THE SENIOR ALLSTARS
HAZARD

CD

www.theseniorallstars.de

15 Euro
 
 
CAP 061 THE SENIOR ALLSTARS
IN DUB

CD

For more than ten years, the Senior Allstars have created sonic worlds composed of reggae, jazz and dub. “The Senior Allstars in Dub”, out now on Skycap Records, is their first pure dub album!

Having played just about everywhere and releasing a considerable number of records in the process, the band, who had already been successful on a Europe-wide level under the moniker of Dr. Ring-Ding & The Senior Allstars, discovered their penchant for the instrumental variety of Jamaican music.

Dub pioneers from the 1970s, such as King Tubby, became important influences, along with Ernest Ranglin and Rico Rodriguez, who specialise in exploring the musical boundaries between reggae and jazz. Yet the Senior Allstars have never tried to emulate, creating their own continental concept instead – “my definition of a Jamaican jazz style”.

Following their debut album, “Nemo” (1999), and “Red Leaf” (2006), the band reached another peak in their career in 2008 with the arrival of “Come Around”. Rolling Stone magazine awarded them four and a half stars, demanding an “obligation to listen with concentration”. The same goes for the successor album, “Hazard” (2009), which creates – even more than its predecessor – a dense, atmospheric sound.

Dub elements play a central role on all Senior Allstars releases. The approach of recreating and modifying spontaneously an existing song and the emphasis of its basic elements has always inspired this band. Their new album, “The Senior Allstars in Dub”, is a logical consequence of this dedication and at the same time an homage to a reggae tradition which has been all but forgotten.

Individual tracks from the last three albums were sent out all over the world and worked on by dub specialists such as Webcam Hi-Fi (France), Victor Rice (Brazil/USA), Dubolik (Croatia), and others. “The Senior Allstars in Dub” has turned into a very special best-of album by this band, the nine remixers lending the fourteen tracks a frequently surprising new atmosphere.

The dubs on the album have lead to the idea of translating “The Senior Allstars in Dub” into a live context, the musicians at times mutating into eight-armed krakens to operate instruments and effect machines simultaneously. The result is a sound which expertly combines the Senior Allstar’s jazz-laden reggae with the wafting atmospheres of dub. Listen end enjoy!
the senior allstars in dub – skycap records 2011
mixed by webcam hi-fi (france) * dubolik (croatia) * umberto echo (germany) * dubvisionist (germany) * victor rice (brasil) * crazy baldhead (usa) * aldubb (germany) * elbib (uk) * avatar (ireland)

the senior allstars in dub – live
markus dassmann * guitar, rhodes, melodica, dub fx
frank konrad * bass
thomas hoppe * drums, dub fx
arne piri * organ, wurlitzer piano, dub fx

www.theseniorallstars.de

13 Euro / 15 Euro
 
 
CAP 062 MARIA KALANIEMI
VILDA

CD

13 Euro
 
 
CAP 069 MI SOLAR
HAVANNA BERLIN

CD

13 Euro