Skalap
Well-Known Member
MARK DE CLIVE-LOWE - Heritage Vol.1 (Ropeadope Records / 2019)
Artist Page / Bandcamp
First of all thank you all for the discussion, the guesses, the laughs you gave me. It was a lot of fun to run this thread and see how hard you struggled to find out my pick. Thank you also for all the wrong but great guesses you shared, you have certainly opened new paths for some us and that’s exactly what I expect from this.
There are two main reasons why I picked this album. The first is that I LOVE this album. It is certainly the album that I listened the most in 2019 and I keep listening to almost every week. I have been listening to MdCL's music since the beginning of the ‘10s, when he was collaborating with the great English label Tru Thoughts (Quantic, Alice Russell, Hot 8 Brass Band). I consider MdCL, along with Gilles Peterson, as one of the big brothers of the incredible London/UK jazz scene that has exploded in recent years. Without people like them, there would probably have no Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia or Joe Armon-Jones. MdCL's music is at the crossroads of the musical genres I love the most. There's a subtil mix of electronica, hip-hop, soul, jazz and a touch of world music (Japan here, a country I love and I have listened to a lot of music in the last months - those who are in the Jazz thread, and my banker, know what I'm talking about). You’ll have various links at the end of this text if you want to learn more about MdCL. I wanted to make you discover this great musician I admire through this excellent album, one of the best released this year and a real contender as best album of the year. As the name suggests, Heritage Vol.1 is the first in a serie of two albums. This first is the day, it is quieter and meditative and draws deeper into the Japanese roots of MdCL. The second, just as good, is the night and incorporates hip hop, drum'n'bass and broken beat sounds. I recommend this second volume if you want to continue the journey. As you’ll read in his Bandcamp page, these songs were recorded with an all-star band : Josh Johnson on alto sax and flute (plays/played with Leon Bridges/Esperanza Spalding), Teodross Avery on tenor sax (Talib Kweli/Mos Def), Brandon Eugene Owens on bass (Terrace Martin/Robert Glasper), Brandon Combs on drums (Moses Sumney/Iman Omari) and Carlos Niño on percussions (Build An Ark/Lifeforce Trio). Oh, and it’s on red vinyl ! So you colored vinyl addicts will be even more happy with this pick J
The other main reason why I picked this record is its name, Heritage, which has a special meaning for us, N&G forum members. Only when the VMP staff announced their decision to shut the forum down did I realized how important this place was in my life. Reading the forum’s posts was the first thing I used to do every morning. I wanted to know what had been told while I was sleeping and read all these posts about music, TV series, personal problems, sandwiches, hot dogs, etc…. I also used to find all these great people I have never had the opportunity to meet, people that I feel to know without really knowing but with whom I can discuss anything and everything. These people have no genre, no color, no religions, no political convictions. They are people with their own opinions but who respect those of others. These are people I love and exaggerating a little bit, it's almost a family (I certainly share more things with you all than I share with some of my family members). Am I wrong to think that? The number of contributors and the amount raised in just a few hours to help our dear administrators to build our new home proves that I might be right. I do not have the words to express how pleased I am to be part of this community and how proud I am of us. Once again, a very big thank you to, in alphabetic order, @AndySlash, @AnthonyI, @Captainfog, @Colonel_Angus , @David A., @gouis, @mcherry, @RenegadeMonster for their incredible work as well as for the time and energy they have given us. Needles & Grooves is our heritage and we, all of us, have to take care of our home.
You can order the record at :
Artist Bandcamp page or wherever you want (support your local if you can).
You can re-read the AMA we had with MdCL on June, 10th :
AMA
You can listen/watch :
Heritage album narration with Mark explaining the meaning behind each song Thanks to @Captainfog
MdCL live set for Le Mellotron French global music radio recorded in 2014 Thanks to @Captainfog
You can read reviews of the album at :
All About Jazz
Glide Magazine
Downbeat
UK Vibe
Twisted Soul Music
You can read MdCL interviews at :
Revive Music
Jazziz
Whether you like it or not, here a few other albums that I could have picked or you may enjoy too. You can consider these records as swaps or as new worlds to discover (I prefer the later option but it's up to you) :
Mark de Clive-lowe - Heritage Vol.2
Day turns to night as Mark de Clive-Lowe’s Heritage II takes us from the meditative zen of Heritage into a world of jazz and Japanese roots culture fused with hip hop, drum’n’bass and broken-beat.
>>> Because… Obviously !
Minyo Crusaders - Echoes Of Japan
Minyo Crusaders rework historic Japanese folk songs (min'yō) with Latin, African, Caribbean and Asian rhythms on their debut album “Echoes of Japan”.
>>> Because you’ll never have another chance to listen to traditional Japanese folk songs on Cumbia music.
Coladera – La Dôtu Lado
La Dôtu Lado swings as much as it seduces. It maps new musical routes linking the Cape Verdean island sounds of batuque and funaná, with deep candomblé inspired rhythms and the heart tugging sway of fado.
>>> Because they say summer is coming and you’ll need a sweet album to chill at night.
Nu Guinea – Nuova Napoli
Nuova Napoli is the result of a long musical research that has become a historical investigation on the sound that shaped Napoli during the ‘70s and ‘80s, starting from the contamination of genres (disco, jazz-funk, African rhythms) which ended up in Nu Guinea’s DNA.
>>> Because Je Vulesse, track 2 of the album (try not to move your feet).
Thank you and enjoy !
Skalap
Artist Page / Bandcamp
First of all thank you all for the discussion, the guesses, the laughs you gave me. It was a lot of fun to run this thread and see how hard you struggled to find out my pick. Thank you also for all the wrong but great guesses you shared, you have certainly opened new paths for some us and that’s exactly what I expect from this.
There are two main reasons why I picked this album. The first is that I LOVE this album. It is certainly the album that I listened the most in 2019 and I keep listening to almost every week. I have been listening to MdCL's music since the beginning of the ‘10s, when he was collaborating with the great English label Tru Thoughts (Quantic, Alice Russell, Hot 8 Brass Band). I consider MdCL, along with Gilles Peterson, as one of the big brothers of the incredible London/UK jazz scene that has exploded in recent years. Without people like them, there would probably have no Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia or Joe Armon-Jones. MdCL's music is at the crossroads of the musical genres I love the most. There's a subtil mix of electronica, hip-hop, soul, jazz and a touch of world music (Japan here, a country I love and I have listened to a lot of music in the last months - those who are in the Jazz thread, and my banker, know what I'm talking about). You’ll have various links at the end of this text if you want to learn more about MdCL. I wanted to make you discover this great musician I admire through this excellent album, one of the best released this year and a real contender as best album of the year. As the name suggests, Heritage Vol.1 is the first in a serie of two albums. This first is the day, it is quieter and meditative and draws deeper into the Japanese roots of MdCL. The second, just as good, is the night and incorporates hip hop, drum'n'bass and broken beat sounds. I recommend this second volume if you want to continue the journey. As you’ll read in his Bandcamp page, these songs were recorded with an all-star band : Josh Johnson on alto sax and flute (plays/played with Leon Bridges/Esperanza Spalding), Teodross Avery on tenor sax (Talib Kweli/Mos Def), Brandon Eugene Owens on bass (Terrace Martin/Robert Glasper), Brandon Combs on drums (Moses Sumney/Iman Omari) and Carlos Niño on percussions (Build An Ark/Lifeforce Trio). Oh, and it’s on red vinyl ! So you colored vinyl addicts will be even more happy with this pick J
The other main reason why I picked this record is its name, Heritage, which has a special meaning for us, N&G forum members. Only when the VMP staff announced their decision to shut the forum down did I realized how important this place was in my life. Reading the forum’s posts was the first thing I used to do every morning. I wanted to know what had been told while I was sleeping and read all these posts about music, TV series, personal problems, sandwiches, hot dogs, etc…. I also used to find all these great people I have never had the opportunity to meet, people that I feel to know without really knowing but with whom I can discuss anything and everything. These people have no genre, no color, no religions, no political convictions. They are people with their own opinions but who respect those of others. These are people I love and exaggerating a little bit, it's almost a family (I certainly share more things with you all than I share with some of my family members). Am I wrong to think that? The number of contributors and the amount raised in just a few hours to help our dear administrators to build our new home proves that I might be right. I do not have the words to express how pleased I am to be part of this community and how proud I am of us. Once again, a very big thank you to, in alphabetic order, @AndySlash, @AnthonyI, @Captainfog, @Colonel_Angus , @David A., @gouis, @mcherry, @RenegadeMonster for their incredible work as well as for the time and energy they have given us. Needles & Grooves is our heritage and we, all of us, have to take care of our home.
You can order the record at :
Artist Bandcamp page or wherever you want (support your local if you can).
You can re-read the AMA we had with MdCL on June, 10th :
AMA
You can listen/watch :
Heritage album narration with Mark explaining the meaning behind each song Thanks to @Captainfog
MdCL live set for Le Mellotron French global music radio recorded in 2014 Thanks to @Captainfog
You can read reviews of the album at :
All About Jazz
Glide Magazine
Downbeat
UK Vibe
Twisted Soul Music
You can read MdCL interviews at :
Revive Music
Jazziz
Whether you like it or not, here a few other albums that I could have picked or you may enjoy too. You can consider these records as swaps or as new worlds to discover (I prefer the later option but it's up to you) :
Mark de Clive-lowe - Heritage Vol.2
Day turns to night as Mark de Clive-Lowe’s Heritage II takes us from the meditative zen of Heritage into a world of jazz and Japanese roots culture fused with hip hop, drum’n’bass and broken-beat.
>>> Because… Obviously !
Minyo Crusaders - Echoes Of Japan
Minyo Crusaders rework historic Japanese folk songs (min'yō) with Latin, African, Caribbean and Asian rhythms on their debut album “Echoes of Japan”.
>>> Because you’ll never have another chance to listen to traditional Japanese folk songs on Cumbia music.
Coladera – La Dôtu Lado
La Dôtu Lado swings as much as it seduces. It maps new musical routes linking the Cape Verdean island sounds of batuque and funaná, with deep candomblé inspired rhythms and the heart tugging sway of fado.
>>> Because they say summer is coming and you’ll need a sweet album to chill at night.
Nu Guinea – Nuova Napoli
Nuova Napoli is the result of a long musical research that has become a historical investigation on the sound that shaped Napoli during the ‘70s and ‘80s, starting from the contamination of genres (disco, jazz-funk, African rhythms) which ended up in Nu Guinea’s DNA.
>>> Because Je Vulesse, track 2 of the album (try not to move your feet).
Thank you and enjoy !
Skalap
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SHUT IT DOWN!