RAWAX proudly presents the 6th release by Fresh & Low on their own RAWAX TREASURES series!
This time we have the honor to re-issue "Interact/ Get Up" formerly released on Bomba Records in 1996!


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RAWAX proudly presents the 3rd release by Ricardo Villalobos non his own series!
This time we have the honor to unveil "HEIKE", originally released on LOFI Stereo in 1998. This gem will be available only on Vinyl!

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We are very happy to present you the 3rd release byJordan GCZ on RAWAX!
As always Jordan delivers deep, groovy and complex Techno on the highest level!

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RAWAX proudly presents the 5th release by Fresh & Low on their own RAWAX TREASURES series!
This time we have the honor to re-issue one of the most wanted records from their entire catalogue.
It's "Wind On Water" which came out on legendary Guidance Recordings in 1996!!!
The new version on RAWAX is re-mastered and will be out in Jnauary.

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Following the success of ‘The Original Sound of Mali’ compilation, we return with another explorative delve into the wonders of Malian music compiled by French writer, journalist and Grammy-nominated compiler Florent Mazzoleni and Mr Bongo’s very own David Buttle. Restoring, reissuing and contextualising iconic tracks from Ousmane Kouyaté & Ambassadeurs Internationaux, Rail Band, Les Messagers du Mali, Mystère Jazz de Tombouctou and many more, the second compilation in this series dives ever further into the richness of post-independence music emanating out of Mali. One in which traditional foundations and instrumentation, blended with modern musical advances and influence.

Following Mali’s independence, after ten years of maturation, the 1970s saw modern Malian culture revealed to the world through musical anthologies and overviews of national and regional productions. It was a remarkably fertile period of the country’s musical history, with state-sponsored bands and orchestras now able to be documented and recorded by sound engineers.

Mali has always had a diverse storytelling tradition through music, with each province and ethnic group having its own unique character and nuances. As influences and sounds from the West drifted over the Atlantic, Malian musicians began hearing artists like John Lee Hooker, Wilson Pickett, Johnny Pacheco, Celia Cruz and James Brown. Elements and ideas from blues, soul, rock and funk led to bands covering artists they’d heard from these genres. The Tjiwara Band de Kati’s raw cover version of Pickett’s soul / R&B classic ‘In The Midnight Hour’ and the James Brown funk-channelling cut ‘Get Up James’ from Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako, are two such examples featured on this compilation.

Most bands also relied on playing in hotels in Mali’s capital, Bamako, which naturally became where they honed their sound. With guests wanting to hear the influence of foreign styles and modern instrumentation becoming more available, this fusion of Western ideas with traditional Malian rhythms and organic instruments led to a one-of-a-kind musical excellence.

The second volume in this series, captures the raw energy of Mali in this period, with a spread of sounds that radiated from Mali’s newly recorded musicians. The afrobeat rhythms of Ousmane Kouyaté and mesmerising Malian classic from Bouba and Sokona Sacko, sitting side by side with the swirling hypnotism of Tentemba Jazz du Mali and a ngoni-infused, percussive dancer from Allata Broulaye. Elsewhere, the deep African desert music of Mystère Jazz de Tombouctou rubs shoulders with the grandeur of the Rail Band, powered by Salif Keita’s iconic vocals.

Those are just a handful of the recordings highlighted on this compilation, which includes an extensive booklet looking at the history and relevance of the tracks written by Florent Mazzoleni. With so much enchanting, deep and mind-expanding music coming out of Mali in this period, ‘The Original Sound of Mali 2’ is a perfect aid to discovering the richness of music this country has to offer.

Vinyl LP housed in a gatefold sleeve with A5 booklet liner notes.

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A uncompromisingly afro psych-rock testament.
Christening themselves War Head Constriction, the trio started playing shows, flaunting a gutsy, dark proto-metal sound that refracted Black Sabbath and Deep Purple through an afro-rhythmic prism. In no time, the group was snapped up by the progressive record label Afrodisia and they cut a single, ‘Graceful Bird’ b/w ‘Shower of Stone,’ released in early 1973. Alas, the War Head gleeful discordance might have been a tad too progressive for the commercial audience; the record died on the vine, precipitating a crack-up within the group. War Head Constriction managed to play their biggest show, opening up for Fela & the Afrika 70 at the National Stadium, Lagos before calling it quits. Still, there was no time to mourn the old group, as new ones were constantly forming at St. Gregory’s.
“At Greg’s I started jamming with Soga Benson, my cousin Skid, and Ben Bruce,” Amenechi says. “We all just used to jam, write, explore and perform where we could.”
“Martin and I were kind of rivals since he was in KC and I was in Greg’s,” Benson remembers. “But when Martin came to Greg’s, we became very, very close.”
Soga Benson
(lead guitar, vocals)
Benson kept pursuing the hobby and remained busy as a guitar for hire, joining Ofege for their second and third albums in 1975 and 1977. Yet, his main group Grotto had still not yet been in a recording studio until EMI Records—the premier label for afro-rock—took an active interest in 1977.
“Odion Iruoje was the A&R manager at EMI at the time,” Benson says, “and he auditioned us, liked he material and signed us.”

“I remember the Grotto audition, they were a bit cocky, St Gregs boys, they had some material that they thought was great but I felt otherwise. Grotto was a rock group but we needed to get them somewhere original. That was the challenge, not to sound like Ofege or some British rock group, but for them to sound like their authentic self. I was into youth bands at the time; I felt they offered something fresh. Most pros were into reggae, which I hated (not as a genre but in the way it was aped) and youth bands allowed me to experiment; I gave them something and they in turn gave me something, which I could take to the next project. They made me in a way. EMI Nigeria did not really get the emergence of the youth market, they thought I was fooling around with kids’ bands”.

Mr Odion Iruoje
(Resident A&R exec/Producer, EMI Nigeria)

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Collector, seeker and storyteller Charles Bals brings his curatorial finesse to Hamburg"s Bureau B with "Ambientale", a journey into otherworldly sounds from the years 1983 - 2000. Drifting effortlessly between digital exoticism, mellow fusion, new age groove and library electronics, the pieces range from largely obscure to utterly un-google-able, and coalesce into a stunning soundtrack to tranquil seas, desert sand and starlit skies. Cinematic & enigmatic, "Ambientale" is a stranger you"ve only just met but can"t stop thinking about.

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The infamous and elusive DEETROIT gives another view into the deep unknown with 6 untitled pieces of textured chords, swinging rhythms and dubbed out bliss reminiscent of a vibe somewhere between BASIC CHANNEL, MIKE HUCKABY & RICK WADE whilst staying true to the OG sound we love.

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Dance Mutha Records continues with I Wanna B House, recorded between 88-91 by the Chicago master Mike Dunn. I Wanna B House comes with an edit from Johnny Aux (one half of Paranoid London) and another straight up acid track I'm The Houze.

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‘The Weightless EP’ is Viewfinder’s third release on Rescan Records. Side A offers two straight-up house tracks featuring sampled percussion & stabs. The flip side takes a techno turn, with ‘Roxtone’ pushing the BPM to the EP’s peak. Mihail P provides the fourth track ‘Natural High’ – expect breaks, bleeps and ethereal pads.

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Scruscru has launched a new label called Tunes Delivery and it is back with another banger here in the former of LTF's Fine Tuning album. It comes hot on the heels of some sublime Soviet jazz-funk sample madness on previous works and is another production masterclass. These are deep-cut funk sounds with cooling organ chords, hints of Money Mark vibes and psyched-out synths, wah-wah guitars and plenty of rawness to keep things authentic and timeless. The jazzy flutes of 'Bokeh' make it one of our favourites here but there isn't a single bad jam, truth be told.

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Tracklisting
A1 LQ & Midnight Dubs - Westwind Rebels
A2 LQ - A Lovely Area
B1 Pugilist & LQ - Wild & Erratic
B2 Kloke & LQ - Computer Bubblers (Pugilist & Tamen remix)

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