Brokenbeat / Nu Jazz Recommendations October 2016

Review: Stuttering off-beat fractured dancehall wizardry, Spacek smashes it once again with "Follow Me". Nothing fits as it should - and that's exactly how we like it. The keys ripple just behind the drums while the bass bumps ahead of them and Steve keeps his own time with his clipped falsetto falling just on the rhythmic sweet spot - but you're never quite sure how he made it in time. Loaded with an instrumental and acapella, there's heaps of creativity to be had right here.

Review: A couple of years back, Optimo Music reissued a classic chunk of NYC downtown experimentation from Peter Zummo, a post-modern composer arguably best known for his work with Arthur Russell. Thrillingly, this follow-up marks the multi-instrumentalist's first new album for many years. Full of his delay-laden trumpet lines, tumbling trombone, and spaced-out beats, Dress Code (Don't Look At My Car) feels like the products of an unlikely collaboration between Holgar Czukay, Konk and the Idjut Boys. It's all devilishly hard to pin down, but never less than inspired, with Zummo serving up both downtempo and upbeat compositions in his unique, fusion style.

Review: Mercury-nominated Soul subverters The Invisible drop the second single from their album Patience with top shelf results: not only are we treated to brand new non album track "First Time" (a slinky exercise in futureproofed electro boogie), not only do we enjoy the hazy string safari "Life's Dancers" but we're also provided with an immaculate Floating Points extension. Doubling the length of the already beautiful original with his own subtle kaleidoscopic soul textures, it's a triple win scenario for all concerned - especially you.

Review: Since 2010, Renegades of Jazz has been on a mission "to bring jazz back to the dancefloor", usually via the use of funk style breakbeats. Moyo Wangu is their third studio set, and blends their usual inspirations - jazz-funk, heavy soul, hip-hop, New Orleans marching band business - with a heavier Afrobeat influence. The resultant set is unsurprisingly vibrant, with punchy horn lines, Nigerian vocals and raw Afro-funk guitars working in harmony with their loose-limbed, break-based drum rhythms. Highlights include the stomping sweatiness of "Harambee" (a delightfully percussive excursion), and the Tony Allen style Afro-funk of "Zebra Talk".

Review: Peace and football: not only the best compilation album title of 2006 (and possibly every year since) but also an immaculate collection of Brazilian folk, funk, disco and soul by Sonar Kollektiv champs Jazzanova. Ten years on and the SK dons are back with a second edition of Paz E Futbol, compiled with just as much care as an homage to football's spiritual home as that debut record. To adopt the football parlance, the band's digging duties score goal after goal after goal; the smoky Simoneisms of Ary Lobo, the heavenly vibraphonics of Skymark, the slippery time signature and almost cosmic bossa of Lucas Santana, the raw jazz soul of Nathan Haines, the list goes on. Peace out.

Review: For the second instalment of the ongoing Sonzeria project, Gilles Peterson and pals have "reimagined" one of the Worldwide radio show host's favourite Brazilian albums - Jose Prates' ludicrously hard-to-find 1958 cast recording of touring cultural show Tam Tam Tam. The original album is considered to be one of the most important artefacts in the story of modern Brazilian music. On this re-imagining, Peterson and collaborators Will Horrocks (LV) and Rob Gallagher (2 Banks of Four) have taken key phrases and snippets, and used them as starting points for new compositions. Drawing heavily on samba, bossa-nova and Latin jazz, as well as dub and contemporary electronics, it's a set that skillfully tiptoes the fine line between paying due reverence to Prates' album, and using it as an inspiration for fine new works.

Review: Some five years after it was released digitally, Aybee's Deepblak label revisit the wonderful Afrikan Sciences LP Means &Ways to grant it a double LP vinyl edition. For those unfamiliar with the album, the 11-track set showed Eric Porter refusing to stand still, variously touching on polyrhythmic IDM, dusty jazz-hop, dense post-techno wonkiness, hard-to-pigeonhole madness (see "Alpha Male Syndrum"), sparkling aural experiments ("Ways & Means"), and pleasingly off-kilter dancefloor fare. Amongst this category you'll find deliberately out-of-time deepness, slipped broken beat, and dense drum workouts ("NanoRock Skank"). As usual, Porter's tunes are bizarre but brilliant.

Review: Experienced producer Shafiq Husayn first appeared on Eglo back in 2014, delivering a fine EP of hip-hop framed modern soul, with the assistance of a battery of collaborators. Two years on he returns to Alex Nut and Floating Points label, with Eglo regulars Fatima and Jimetta Rose lending a hand. It sounds like Husayn has been listening to Floating Points, because "On Our Way Home" is a sumptuous, string-drenched affair, with orchestral parts rising and falling over a skittish electronic rhythm. The focal point, of course, is Fatima and Rose's harmonious lead vocal, which is as sweet, evocative and addictive as you'd expect. It may only be a single-sided release, but it's one killer cut.