Salar Salman (1959), an exceptional musician and composer, was born in Kirkuk, a city in Kurdistan — the North of Iraq. As a young boy he was famed in his village for his rich and warm voice. When he developed his talent as a guitar player he was seen as one of the best guitar players from North Iraq. As his fingers found a way to accompany his moving voice, he was able to share his songs with a broader audience. Salar Salman’s songs about love, tenderness and soreness affected many people and delivered him the nickname ‘Santana of Kurdistan’. Unanswered love, hidden love, lost love, failing love — his lyrics resonated with his peers in their integrity and honesty. But it was not only his new way of storytelling that moved many; the way he composed music was something new. Moving away from the more traditional, folkloric, often monotonous sound, his melodies moved freely. Inspired by Afro-Western sounds from the 70’s and 80’s, like jazz, psychedelic rock or flamenco, he was able to give a new meaning to his own musical heritage and to create an alternative sound that is still influencing younger generations of Iraqi Kurdish musicians today. More

Let’s Dance – 08PM – by Reda Saiarh is a 10” release on AM Records. Four oddball “New Beat – not – New Beat” tracks produced by this young dj from Geneva (of the duo Ramin&Reda) for renewed appetite for dancing after the lockdowns… title track Let’s Dance is Reda’s 2021 take on the classic Bowie song, followed by an original new production Quinz Lord, in which he samples his girlfriend’s cat. On the flip he worked with Thomas Lavanchy on E-O, a song constructed around traditional Gabonese chanting before finishing off with an ode to Yello medley, mashed up to the deepest kick of the record! Super heavily cut 45rpm! More

Inspired from Romanian cultural heritage, be it film, dance or musical instruments, Folclor Abstract is a glance back to the roots in search of a meaningful future.

The first track is inspired from the soundtrack composed by Cornelia Tautu for the Romanian historical adventure film “Buzduganul cu trei pece?i” (1977). The film presents a politicized version of the events that led in 1600 to the unification of the three Romanian countries, in the aftermath of a victorious battle against the Ottoman invasion (Calugareni, 1595). Dance your way through as the story unfolds.

Dans cu balans is the result of a personal fascination for the cimbalom, an instrument of high versatility, frequently used in the Romanian fiddle music. In contrast to orchestral performances, which adhere to the composer’s notes to reproduce a work faithfully, fiddling is also open to improvisation and tends to produce rhythms that focus on dancing, with associated quick note changes.

Searching for inspiration within Romanian folklore, I found Ivan Braga who was on his own pursuit of cultural heritage, experimenting with a variety of traditional instruments and rhythms from different regions of the country. Doba lu’ Braga is Ivan’s modern take on Romanian drum patterns performed on a traditional Moldavian drum (doba) with an uplifting twist and arrangement for the dancefloor experience.

Reverie is an expression of the creator’s state of mind. Lost in thought, stolen by imagination, haunted by memories, liberated by dreams. More

For the 11th release AM collaborates with Rio de Janeiro based label Outra, to shine a light on a lesser known era of the rich Brazilian music history. The record compiles six slightly edited or ‘fixed’ late 80’s / early 90’s Brazilian pop songs that touch all basic elements of old school hip hop, new beat and electro: drum computers, heavy use of funky (guitar) samples, rapping and scratching, except for that last track which is a sexy melancholic Portugese tune that felt so good to end with. As usual in a white discobag hand-stamped with a little drawing by Frank Koedood. More

Afrobot cuts up four wavy 80’s tracks for darker times! A1 is a sleazy minimal wave banger of Ensemble Pittoresque, recorded in The Hague in ’84, now tripled in duration! After that we continue our trip from France to New York ending in the UK on the B-side. First track is a mix of a 7” b-side and a wrong speeder and a slowly pounding track with a twist is the one to finish with. Comes with an insert and a stamp both drawn by Frank Koedood.

More

ALL I NEED is a 15-minute electronic jam produced by Dion Monti and is accompanied by the vocals (lead and loops) of South African Artist Nonku Phiri. Created in 2015 in their Johannesburg studio, this recording depicts the beginning of their sonic journey and a development of their joint sound. The track evolves from a very subtle beginning towards an emotional climax whilst referring to lyrics of Radiohead’s ‘All I need’ and ‘Ideotheque’.
For this release, they are joined by South African Producer Jakinda & Cologne’s Christian S (Cómeme). Jakinda forms half of the duo Stiff Pap and describes his sound as Afro-future electronica, a sound containing elements of Gqom, Tribal-House, Ethiopian Electronica and Kasi-Tech. Christian S makes use of his distinguishable style and creates the most abstracted version of this track, not scared to heavily cut up the vocals and apply his pitched drums. In addition, the release is hand-stamped with a drawing by Nonku.
More

The 8th instalment of AM Records contains 4 percussive edits by Afrobot, the grooves function as dj tools for various occasions.
Soca Trance” will bring some extra heat on the dance floor, it’s a heavily cut-up, rough electronic soca rhythm with fragments of looped steeldrum melody on top. “I’m Alive” is another Latin banger, a piece of proto house with some lush vocals in the background and a synthesized tropical bird flying over. On the flip, Kalao is an underground Afro/French drum track with lots of flanged percussion, cheering black vocals and an elephant passing by. Body & Soul is the most discoish edit of all: a hypnotic groove with a killer baseline (and a flute sound) interrupted by an uplifting drumbreak.
08AM is expected end of June and comes with a hand stamped drawing by Frank Koedood on the sleeve. More