I hate modern life! Time flies by so fast and you can never tend to enough things. See, it’s been 5 days since I’ve written a post for undomondo and I haven’t done anything notable in the meantime, just tended to some things I’ve probably left untended for a few weeks. It’s always a race to micromanage things, trying to get the ones left behind uptodate, while another thing gets left behind.

Anyways enough rant, we’ve got a clear blue sky here and I have been listening to more easy listening stuff in accordance. Here’s a selection from some of the downtempo/nujazz stuff I’ve been listening to on and off for a few months, there will be a second part of this selection tomorrow hopefully.

Bristol’s Ben Westbeech has an album on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings, modern urban soul/jazz/beat mixture from a talented songwriter, this one’s over retro horn samples and with a great catchy hook. Germany’s Deja Move has urban downtempo beats over flurrying rhodes chords and percussions on a suitable track named Warmin’ out on Audiopharm.

An artist collective I’ve first heard this year is Free the Robots on Elsewhere Studios, I’ve played a strange electronic beat tune from them on Undomondo #12 but this time it’s a sampled jazzy track their self titled EP has lots of diversity!. Next is the single off Frankie Valentine’s The World of What on Sunshine Enterprises, “Marinheiro So” featuring Monica Vasconcelos on the vocals, lovely tune. Tru Thoughts‘ Jumbonics is the most different of the whole bunch, with a driving electronic bass and soulful vocals and more of a pop mentality than standard downtempo bizness. Last but not least is the eightpiece afrofunk outfit “The Haggis Horns” and their blast of a track called The Traveller off First Word Records.

Ben Westbeech - Stop What you’re doing
Deja Move - Warmin’
Free the Robots - Jazzhole
Frankie Valentine - Marinheiro So
Jumbonics - Auto-Magic
The Haggis Horns - The Traveller