Rocafort Spain Vinilo y CD

Review: The Circle of Confusion are a Swiss dub production duo, who, adding to their fast-growing repertoire of releases, now drop 'Soul Of A Lion', which features Wayne Paul, an English reggae singer who was mostly active in the 90s and 2000s. Though Paul disappeared from the scene towards the end of that period, he now returns with a defiant message of big-feline hope and reminiscence, sung against a modern reggae backing with a polished, 80s roots feel. "How you feeling right now... now that you're older and wiser?" he asks in the song. Alll the better now you're back, thanks for asking.

Review: Brass meets hip-hop on this swaggalicious new single from, yes, you guessed it, the Hip Horns Brass Collective. Boasting over eight band members, HHBC have also enlisted the special trumpet chops of local Italian jazz great Tito Bonacera, as well as the production talent of one HOSS$ Benitez, to produce two slow-sauntering, fat, swelling brass clangers. 'Thunder' steals the A, while 'Marathon Runner' is an intriguing, audiophilic and minimal turnover.

Review: Spanish reissue label Rocafort present this wonderful slice of highlife from Konkolo Orchestra, this time on nice blue wax as well as a plain black version. It's not exactly clear where, or indeed when, exactly the band came from, but their sound is all you need to worry about. 'Blue G' is a lilting, shuffling message of love and support for future generations, and from the message to the effervescent musicality, it's a no-brainer. On the flip, 'That Good Thing' is an instrumental that spirals outwards on the sweetest keys, joyous brass and dreamy guitar, driven by a pattering drum section to radiate good vibes wherever it's played.

Review: Germany's Mighty Mocambos are one of the flagship funk outfits on the scene right now and this new 45rpm on Rocafort Records shows why. It was recorded live on tape during the Queen 16 B-Girl battle in Berlin back in 2022. Opener 'International Cypher' brings a fresh take on funk with oriental overtones thanks to an electric Phin, which is a Thai guitar, being heavily deployed throughout over bristling drums that are raw and hit hard. On the flip, 'Queen 16 Theme' is more lively and loose limbed with a jumble of drums and expressive horns leading the charge.

Review: Rocafort Records took a trip to LA last summer to meet Dan Ubick, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and DJ who is also an original member of Breakestra and founding member of reggae bands The Lions and Night Owls. They decided to hook up on this project which he devised as a couple of instrumentals which then changed form and became the Brazilian-inspired hip-hop sounds you can hear on this 7". Percussion player Bobby Easton, singer Diana Purim and Sadat X from NYC's Brand Nubian also helped add some extra colour.

Review: The popular Spanish ensemble Pyramid Blue come back, and do so in brilliantly fantastic fashion with this red-hot new 7" featuring a captivating mix of Afrofunk and Ethio Jazz. Oscar Martos is the composer and producer who heads up this group and is fresh off big collabs with Tito Ramirez. He manages to draw from modern sounds as well as classic genre tropes here and push both into all new ground with 'Lince Rojo' opening up with an enchanting lead and raw rhythms. On the B-side, 'Doctor One' brings a hint of hip hop edge to psyched-out guitars and cosmic synths.

Review: Spanish-born, Swiss-based reissue label Rocafort invite Sabrosa to lay down some instrumental, funkified grooves in homage the mighty Beastie Boys. On the A side of this little 7" we get 'Sure Pow' an organ and wah-wah guitar soaked expansion on the iconic licks that define all-time classic 'Sure Shot'. On the B-side we get 'Tangerine Shot', a sweetly dubbed cover version of 'Suco De Tangerina' from the Beastie's 2007 album The Mix-Up. Both versions travel some distance from the source material, making this much more than an affectionate rip off. If you dig on sunkissed instrumental funk, this is a surefire selection to slip in a bag of sevens.