CrammedBlog

Lee "Scratch" Perry Performs with Zuco 103

Zuco 103 will be presenting their new album “Whaa!” to the French
audience on June 10th at Cabaret Sauvage in Paris.

Legendary dub/reggae pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry (who guests on the
new Zuco 103 album) will be joining them on stage for that special occasion !

Lee “Scratch” Perry appears on “It’s A Woman’s World” and “Love Is
Queen Omega”, two of the tracks on the “Whaa!” album, which he also
co-wrote.

For more Zuco 103 Tour dates info check the Crammed website, Live section.

Cibelle 'About a Girl' Exclusive Preview

Exclusively visible on the Crammed Blog, this video is extracted from Cibelle‘s forthcoming "About A Girl EP" Dualdisc, which will include 4 new songs on the audio side and 4 video on the DVD side.

"About A Girl" is Cibelle‘s very personal rendering of an early Nirvana song. This video was directed by Elsa Dahmani.

For more details on the “About A Girl EP”, click here

ARTE Television teams up with Crammed to celebrate Brazil at the Cannes Film Festival

To celebrate the Year of Brazil in France, the Cannes Film Festival is organising a special screening of the mythical Marcel Camus film Orfeu Negro (which was awarded the Palme d’Or in 1959), followed by a cocktail party on the boat which hosts Franco-German TV channel ARTE, during which a documentary entitled Searching For Orfeu Negro will be shown in the presence of Brazil’s Minister Of Culture (and megastar) Gilberto Gil and of ARTE president Jérome Clément. This event takes place on May 18.

On this occasion, ARTE Television has teamed up with the CRAMMED DISCS label to produce a limited-edition DVD containing excerpts from a documentary by Simon Brook (Magical Jungle), an interactive map of Brazil, music videos by Bebel Gilberto and Zuco 103, and six audio tracks by Cibelle, Bebel Gilberto, DJ Dolores, Zuco 103, Celso Fonseca and Suba (*), who rank among the best exponents of the new wave of Brazilian music, and who have all been discovered and released by Crammed on its Ziriguiboom imprint.

(*) The Suba track happens to be “Felicidade”, a modernist version of a song taken from the Orfeu Negro soundtrack.

CIBELLE 'ABOUT A GIRL'

"About A Girl EP" is a DualDisc EP by Cibelle, featuring 4 new tracks and 4 videos. Her debut album established her as one of the most original and seductive young artists to come out of Brazil.

Out in May

Cibelle is about to do a giant leap forward with the new album she’s now working on. This limited-edition EP points to the new directions she’s exploring (more folk, more microbeats, more sonic inventivity...). The CD side contains four new songs, including the title track, a cover of an early Nirvana song. The DVD side contains four videos made by young filmmaker Elsa Dahmani (Tony Gatlif’s daughter) and by Cibelle herself.

KONONO Nº1 hits the Blogosphere

Last weeks Konono Nº1 took the blogosphere by storm. Just do a simple Konono search on Google and check for yourself. 

Some excellent blogs helped building the craze starting with ‘burb killa’ Christopher Porter.

Monday Christopher reported about some early recordings of Konono No. 1 from back in 1978. "Glad all of us finally got to catch up."

Another cool blog is the Can’t Stop Won’t Stop from Jeff Chang.

But most of all, Konono’s Congotronics kicks mad bass pressure. The effect is not far from say, the b-boy throb of “It’s Just Begun”. When on “Masikulu”, the bassline drops out, you take a deep breath, because you know it’s coming back. It’s like ducking a big wave on the inside while you’re paddling furiously back out to lineup and you know the big sets are still rolling in. Huge rollers of blissful noise. If Lubuaku was raw power, Congotronics is high drama. You won’t be able to remain motionless.

ZUCO 103 Exclusive on iTunes!

An exclusive album sampler will be available next week throughout Europe on iTunes Music Store, ahead of the physical release of the new Zuco 103 album “WHAA!". 

It will contain the following 4 tracks:

© Stijntje de Olde

1. It’s A Woman’s World (feat. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry)
2. Duele Le Le (feat. Dani Macaco)
3. Vivente
4. Whaa !

More Details About Bebel Gilberto's 'Remixed' Album

BEBEL GILBERTO REMIXED

1. Céu Distante remixed by DJ Spinna
2. Simplesmente remixed by Tom Middleton
3. O Caminho remixed by Guy Sigsworth
4. Aganjú remixed by Latin Project
5. Winter remixed by Nuspirit Helsinki
6. Baby remixed by Yam Who?
7. All Around remixed by Telefon Tel Aviv
8. Cada Beijo remixed by Thievery Corporation
9. Jabuticaba remixed by Stuhr
10. Aganjú remixed by Spiritual South
11. Next To You remixed by Steve Hillier
12. Every Day You’ve Been Away remixed by Monoaural
13. River Song remixed by Grant Nelson

BONUS DISC

1 Aganjú (John Beltran Mix)
2 Simplesmente (Tom Middleton Balearic Mix)
3 Baby (Yam Who? Dub Mix)
4 Aganjú (Spiritual South Bontempi Repercussion)
5 Winter (Nuspirit Helsinki Dub)
6 All Around (Bombay Dub Orchestra Mix)

Bebel Gilberto‘s debut album Tanto Tempo became a worldwide phenomenon, selling a million copies around the globe and captivating audiences with its mix of classic bossa nova updated with cool electronica.

Her second release, simply titled Bebel Gilberto, further consolidated Bebel’s status. It showed a more mature, more confident Bebel, an artist in full bloom whose songwriting skills and inimitable, magical voice had ascended to new heights. The album was received with enthusiasm, and earned a string of awards and nominations, including a Mobo Award (UK), an Adlib Award (Japan), nominations for a Grammy and for a BBC Radio Award for World Music, etc.

Now here comes Bebel Gilberto Remixed, a collection in which all the tracks from the ‘Bebel Gilberto’ album are given fresh, electronic interpretations by an international cast of dance / hip hop / electronica producers.

The list includes well-known masters such as DJ Spinna, Thievery Corporation, Yam Who?, Nuspirit Helsinki, Tom Middleton, Spiritual South, Dubstar’s Steve Hillier, Telefon Tel Aviv, Stuhr and Monoaural.

While several of these remixes are definitely very dancefloor-friendly, Bebel Gilberto Remixed is first and foremost aimed at providing a great home listening experience, and offers an alternative way of discovering the already-classic songs from Bebel’s second album.

The initial pressing will be a limited edition including a second, bonus CD containing 6 additional remixes.

More About The Tracks & The Remixers

1. Céu Distante remixed by DJ Spinna
One of the most original and eclectic figures to come out of the US underground hip hop scene, DJ Spinna has done remixes for Michael Jackson, Mary J.Blige, Ronny Jordan, Mos Def, Zero 7, George Michael and De La Soul. He’s released albums under his name and as part of his Jigmastas crew. Spinna’s rendition of Bebel & Pascal Gabriel’s song transforms it into a super laid-back jazzy hip hop jam.

2. Simplesmente remixed by Tom Middleton
An uplifting remix by the man who helped shape dancefloor techno (with Reload) and ambient techno (with Global Communication) in the early ‘90s, and then went on to spark off the electro revival with the Jedi Knights (who influenced everyone from The Prodigy & The Chemical Brothers to Daft Punk). Tom Middleton has recently put out a string of successful dancefloor tracks & mixes under his Cosmos alias. This remix features additional Rhodes piano by Tom ‘Shur-I-Kan’ Szirtes.

3. O Caminho remixed by Guy Sigsworth
Guy has written and produced tracks for Seal, Bomb The Bass, Lamb, Talvin Singh, and Madonna. He’s also produced songs for Björk, and served as her musical director. His own project with vocalist Imogen Heap is called Frou Frou. He co-wrote and produced ‘Cada Beijo’, one of the outstanding tracks on the ‘Bebel Gilberto’ album (remixed in this set by Thievery Corporation), and has produced here a beautiful, cinematic new version of “O Caminho”.

4. Aganjú remixed by Latin Project
This summery, smile-on-your-face version of Aganjú has already been requested for inclusion in several compilations. Latin project are Jez Colin and Matt Cooper, two British musicians/producers who have worked with acid jazz greats like Incognito, Solsonics and D*Note. They moved to the U.S., formed the Latin Project and released their “Nueva Musica” album, a combination of electronic dance beats and Latin rhythms.

5. Winter remixed by Nuspirit Helsinki
This multi-talented Finnish collective of DJs, producers and musicians have used a team of 7 musicians (including a string quartet) to create and record this new arrangement of Bebel’s “Winter”. NSH have done remixes/production work for Yoko Ono, Astor Piazzola Nicola Conte, and have ascended to the forefront of the European neo-jazz scene on the strength of their productions for Jazzanova/Compost, Guidance and Ubiquity.

6. Baby remixed by Yam Who?
Beside their daily occupation behind the counter of Reckless (the famous Soho record shop), Andy Williams and Desmond Morgan aka Little Rico form an almighty pair of hot producers and remixers, and have done reworks of tracks by Raphael Saadiq, Little Brother, Allison Crockett, Nas, Pharell Williams and Zero 7. Their off-the-wall rendering of Bebel’s “Baby” features keyboard and guitar playing by ‘80s new wave/funk hero Chaz Jankel (who used to be part of Ian Dury & The Blockheads).

7. All Around remixed by Telefon Tel Aviv
With their latest album, New Orleans-based band Telefon Tel Aviv have earned themselves a reputation by hovering between textural, ambient electronica, song structures and classical instrumentation. They first reached a wider audience by remixing Nine Inch Nails. Their subtle remix of All Around features interesting harmonies and additional guitars.

8. Cada Beijo remixed by Thievery Corporation
There’s no need to introduce Thievery Corporation, major purveyors of quality downtempo music, who have just released their 4th album, and who have already collaborated a couple of times with Bebel (she sang and co-wrote a track on one of their earlier albums, they produced and co-wrote “Lonely” on Bebel’s ‘Tanto Tempo’).

9. Jabuticaba remixed by Stuhr
A pleasant and relaxed rework of the Bebel Gilberto/Carlinhos Brown tune, by up and coming U.S. mixers Stuhr have done remixes for Tito Rodriguez, for the upcoming solo album by The Cranberries’ Noel Hogan, and for Patti Labelle and Kay Starr, among others.

10. Aganjú remixed by Spiritual South
One of the most highly-rated production/remix teams in the UK, Spiritual South have been releasing their Latin/house/funk/break bombs on labels such as Afro Art and Ubiquity. Their ‘Sub Rub’ mix of Aganjú sounds like a brisk walk through a dark yet humorous electronic alley… while their (totally different) ‘Bontempi Repercussion’ remix, which is included in the limited-edition bonus disc, is much more typical of their usual percussive & festive style.

11. Next To You remixed by Steve Hillier
Producer/songwriter Steve Hillier was the main creative force behind the alternative pop band Dubstar, who have had a string of top 40 hits and two gold albums in the UK. Steve has remixed tracks for Dubstar, Heaven 17, Hooverphonic, Billy Bragg and Backyard Dog, amongst many others. His sometimes quasi-psychedelic rendition of “Next To You” manages to be even more dreamy than the original.

12. Every Day You’ve Been Away remixed by Monoaural
... aka Berna Ceppas and Kassin, a young producer from Rio de Janeiro who has worked with the likes of Lenine, Marisa Monte, Arto Lindsay and Caetano Veloso and who, together with Moreno Veloso and Domenico, forms the acclaimed “+2” trio, who have released two interesting and charming albums (as “Moreno +2” and “Domenico +2"). This whimsical, mad remix features João Donato’s son Donatinho on keyboards.

13. River Song remixed by Grant Nelson
Already a dancefloor favourite, the album’s energizing finale is a crafty and exciting remix courtesy of Grant Nelson, a man who has produced some of the most club-friendly techno, house and UK garage records (a.o. under his Bump&Flex moniker) in Britain, runs his Swing City label, and has remixed everyone from Thelma Houston, Roy Ayers and Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King to Mousse T and Jodeci.