Charity Sales
Our early summer t shirt sale raised £700, plus a recent sale of some of my old vinyl raised £1500 for the brilliant Reach Out To The Community charity, who are doing amazing work during the pandemic, looking after and feeding homeless people in South Manchester. Cheers to all the queue crew (pictured). We will hopefully have a one day T shirt & vinyl for sale outside the Reach Out shop before the end of the summer. Thanks to everyone who helped out, bought something or donated!
New DJ-Kicks 2LP/CD,
Print & Mug
Signed copies of the new DJ Kicks CD & 2LP are available in our shop,
Plus a brand new signed A3 print featuring the DJ-Kicks artwork
re-worked in a potato style.
Also a new mug for you to fill with tea and/or cucumber juice. It is the same as the print, but a bit smaller, and much better at holding drinks..
DJ-Kicks Compilation & Mix (Vinyl, CD & Digital)
I had great fun putting this together, and it features a lot of amazing music, ranging from extremely odd to classic. There is an old-fashioned mix CD, a modern, fancy digital download, an even more modern but just as fancy digital stream, and ultra-futuristic vinyl. The vinyl release has gaps between the tunes, and four of those tunes, including a new one from me, will be on vinyl for the first time. Big thanks to all the artists/labels involved, MC Kwasi for the intro/outro, the !K7 crew and everyone else who helped out with advice, contacts, technical support and DJ equipment. A team effort!
2020
Colin Curtis - Jazz Dance Fusion Volume 2 (2LP)
12 tunes selected by one of the pioneering DJs of the Jazz Dance genre, many of which are appearing on vinyl or CD for the first time. Plenty of jazz styles here.. afro-cuban, brasilian, fusion & straight up jazz are all covered. Pauli Mejias kicks off with 'revelation', a tricky 7/8 builder with a killer hypnotic bassline. I love the way it breaks down to a face off between the bass & percussion in the second half. Al Grey & Isuaro’s frenetic and relentless version of ‘Manteca’ really takes off (check the drum break!). Carmen Lundy appears twice on here, singing on her bassist brother Curtis’ evergreen classic ‘Never Gonna Let You Go’ which swings like a beast over a rock-solid b-line, and the highlight for me, her previously unissued version of George Benson’s ’So This Is Love’. I have been after this since hearing a few lucky big name jazz & soul DJs play it from cassette in the early 1990s. Now we all get a piece of this magic. Honestly, this tune is up there with Pharoah Sanders’ ‘Freedom’. My own personal obsession aside, this is a brilliant comp that will satisfy both the nerds and newcomers. A much needed ray of sunshine from one of my favourite selectors.
Teno Afrika - Amapiano Selections (Digital)
Young produce Teno brings us a heavy 8-track vision of the emerging Ampiano sound. A real fusion of established SA styles of music such as Kwaito, Gqom, Afro House, DiBacardi & classic Marabi & Bubblegum flavours. Full of personality, rudeness and bounce. '8 Ubers (Tribute to DJ Jaivane)' & 'Lerato La Bass’ both provide poingy, trilling basslines, whilst the SilvadropZ collab 'Smooth Criminal’ adds soulful chords to the mix. Devastating, simple & addictive.
Various – COMMUNITY - 15 Years of Jazz & Milk (EP)
I remember DJing at Jazz & Milk’s 5th Birthday party back in 2010. Looks like they won’t be having a 15th birthday party any time soon, but this EP more than makes up for it. Pretoria’s Bongani Givethanks kicks off with a beautiful South African number. Moe Fabrik barges in with rolling broken beats, label stalwart Sam Irl does the deep, chunky 4/4 think with his usual increadible heavy & clean production, Steve Spacek sings over twinkles & subs, Feater summons the dawn with a foggy percussion workout, and Abáse closes out with a dubby electro roller with an addictive kora-style melody. A top notch & really varied collection.
Various - CoOp Presents: Plug One (2LP)
Broken beat re-emerges as ‘Bruk’ on IG Culture & Alex Phountzi's Co-Op presents label. Co-Op was the original Broken Beat night at the Velvet Rooms & then Plastic people in London in the early 2000s, and all the producers would bring down their dubs & CDRs to test out in the intense atmopshere. The scene was badly effected by the demise of Goya distribution in 2007 (Goya distributed most of the scenes releases), and though many of the producers continued to make music, the scene was not as vibrant and productive as it once was. Lately, many of the originators have been getting busy again (look at how prolific Dego & Kaidi have been) and the sound has been gaining more attention. This 17 track comp presents a crop of younger producers & one or two old-timers, revitalising & pushing the sound forward. Soulful, tough, syncopated beats for both the original heads and new ears.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, almost all gigs have been postponed until further notice.
Keep your eye on this page for updates.
If you have tickets for a cancelled or postponed event, please contact the promoter or venue.
Stay safe everyone!
Keep it Unreal is Back!
After a two year disco nap, the legendary Band on the Wall in Manchester has reopened, bigger and better than ever. The next one is on 12th August 2022 and is the 23rd Birthday of the Keep it Unreal party. Some very special guests for this one, in the form of Charlie Dark, Mikey D.O.N, Vanessa Freeman and of course, MC Kwasi. If you were with us in the Love Dancin’ tent at last year’s We Out Here festival, you know the deal: heaps of positivity and a big, joyful, musical melting pot. All welcome regardless of age, nationality, mobility, gender or sexuality. Mixed up music for a lovely mix of people!
Trouser Jazz Deluxe 20th Anniversary Edition 2LP on Red/Blue Vinyl
To celebrate 20 years of my Trouser Jazz album, these brightly coloured musical pants get a red & blue double vinyl reissue. You can pre-order it now via the button below.
Listening back all these years later, I can feel the fun and energy from those studio sessions, getting my fingers stuck into all kinds of musical pies alongside collaborators Seaming, Niko, Sneaky, Andy Kingslow, Bernard Moss and more. Some very fond memories of this project!
Thanks to Ninja Tune and everyone involved!