A limited-run cassette version of J. Rocc & Mr. Thing's "Cooking For Chefs" was just released by Big Crown... don't sleep!
Here's the scoop...
In the wake of Surprise Chef’s new album Superb and on the tail end of an incredibly successful world tour, we enlisted some of the finest DJs on planet Earth to interpret the Surprise Chef catalog how they see fit and pressed those mixes up on a very limited edition cassette tape.
Los Angeles’ own J.Rocc of the World Famous Beat Junkies runs through Surprise Chef’s catalog on side A and London’s own Mr Thing puts it down on the B side. Top ranking DJs mixing a top ranking catalog of music from one of Australia’s finest instrumental outfits.
Every chance we get, we champion art & culture. Having these two legends lend their talents to this project is a dream come true over here. We hold these guys in the highest regard and are tremendous fans of theirs. Here’s Surprise Chef through the eyes of two unbelievably talented DJs.
Hidden on the flipside of Liam Bailey's "Champion" remix is the wicked "Ugly Truth" with vocals from Lee 'Scratch' Perry.
About Liam Bailey...
Back before the world knew of Liam Bailey's crooning, acoustic Reggae, or his comparisons to an Otis-Redding-type soul sound, or even the depth-of-texture his vocals provide the occasional UK Drum & Bass track—Liam was just another lad in Nottingham, England, being raised by a single mom with a heavy record collection.
Being the son of an English mother and British Jamaican father who wasn't around, Liam will admit his childhood was fairly chaotic and filled with "all the cliches that happen when people start mixing up in the '80s in England." Those records he'd listen to, sitting cross-legged in front of the speakers, not only provided some solace for a young Liam then. With names like Bob Marley and Dillinger, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix on their dust jackets, those records would eventually carve into shape the singer/songwriter we know today.
Fast-forward to 2005, Liam is in London and doing the whatever-gig-you-can-get musician hustle, ideally looking to land a record deal. And it was through this time that Liam first teamed up with Leon Michels, musician/producer luminary, and the co-founder of Brooklyn's own Big Crown Records.
In 2007, Liam's management introduced him to Sounding Out the City, the first record from Leon's El Michels Affair. It blew him away. Liam jumped at the chance to connect with them and collaborate on some writing sessions. Within a week, Liam flew out to New York, met and vibed with Leon and the group, and began writing and recording songs. "It was an amazing first trip to New York," Liam recalls of meeting Leon. "And I've been working with him ever since."
That trip helped kick off what was to follow next for Liam: a slew of record releases, label deals, and working with some wildly-notable mainstream producers. Even a just-famous Amy Winehouse heard one of Liam's apartment-made, lo-fi recordings through a friend and liked what she heard. Regardless of the audio quality, Liam's particular sound shone through—all guitar, warm-rough and genuine soul. She signed him to her label shortly after.
But, as the story can go with major labels, they already had an idea of the Liam they wanted to make, promote, and push. With the typical pay-day enticement, Liam did his best to fit into whatever shape they put him to. "'Maybe I can make it work,' that's what you're thinking," Liam remembers. "But, you quickly find out that you can't." The prospects of trying to maintain for these labels became quickly apparent: you may win, and then lose yourself—or you just lose.
Still, Liam considers himself lucky. "I always knew that I wasn't defined by the deal that I was in," Liam reminisces. "I had this feeling that I'd just keep going..." Liam confirms it was this youthful arrogance that both contributed to those past prospects going pear-shaped, but then also helped him to save himself. "It taught me the value of listening to your instincts, the importance of believing in yourself—and not trying to find that self-empowerment through something you don't understand."
But the work accomplished and captured from that 2007 NY trip continued to linger. The evident chemistry of Liam, Leon, and the group produced something else lasting from that 2007 NY trip: the 7-inch "When Will They Learn/I'm Gonna Miss You." Released five years after it was recorded, "When Will They Learn" was a near-instant roots classic and still bangs up club Reggae nights to this day. With a strong relationship established, Liam would regularly reconnect with Leon and collaborate. Finally, in 2019, the time was right to do a full-length album together. And this time, it would be free of any restricting major label presumptions and opinions.
Liam Bailey – Ekundayo (Big Crown)
His debut album on Big Crown Records is called Ekundayo. And the word's meaning may be all you need to know to get to the essence of this project. It means "sorrow becomes joy" in Yoruba, a language spoken mostly in Western Africa. Liam's potently unique voice has always had to fight against label agendas to get through. Now, teaming back up with Leon and his production, that restraint has given way to a pure, liberating freedom that trusses up the entire record like a spine.
"This is the record we always wanted to make," says Michels, nodding at those past projects, where they bottled a spark of lightning in a studio session. But then there always was the slightly deflating feeling of whether or not Liam's label situation at the time would like it.
On the surface, Ekundayo is a weighty Reggae record, full of new and old textured riddims. But listen more in-depth, and you'll find subject matter that's more recognizable from a modern-day R&B record.
An example of the former is the first single off the album. Sung to the most beautiful woman at the nightspot, "Champion" is a joyous anthem powered by a silly-thick Juno-bass throb and 808-proof drums. In short, "Champion" is dancehall-ready. But then there's a song like "Don't Blame NY." Moody and sparse with a somber drive, you might have to resist the urge to compare it to a Frank Ocean-ish type vibe. Liam's voice is in a different but fitting element here, showing stripped-back emotion and soulful restraint. And then, anyone who has lived and tried to thrive in New York won't have a hard time relating to the lyrics.
Credit to Leon's hand, elements of Jamaican production are everywhere, peppered across the record. Like the pitch-perfect organ stabs that push through the authentically positive "White Light," or the muted, percussive guitar strums that chug along in the back of "Fight."
In the same vein of any fantastic singer/songwriter album, Ekundayo is a reflection of who Liam Bailey is, a portrait of him for us to consider and take in. And what we see is an artist growing into himself, taking on topics and approaches he never would think of just a few years ago. Some evidence: "Ugly Truth" is about reconnecting with his biological father, a subject he once thought would be too personal to address. Sometimes we can't express ourselves before we're ready to.
The journey from conforming to major labels to this latest record has been a long one for Liam, and a bit of a struggle. But struggle may be the only way we truly grow and evolve. With a new clarity of purpose, sound, and life, Liam has found joy out of those struggles. And it's called Ekundayo.
The Eastern-tinged "Fazed Out," feat. Qanun ace Tamer Pinarbasi, is off El Michels Affair's Yeti Season LP out March 26.
Here's the scoop...
Fresh off of their 2020 offering Adult Themes, El Michels Affair is back with a new full-length release. Titled Yeti Season, this newest album has everything we've come to expect from EMA’s patented cinematic style of instrumental soul music.
Where Adult Themes inspired a soundtrack to an imaginary film, Yeti Season brings us to a different place in time—with new inspirations. Taken with Turkish-styled funk and an almost Mumbai-esque take on soul, El Michels Affair offers us a different kind of drama and imagination with Yeti Season.
If you've been following along, this shouldn't be viewed as too far a departure for El Michels Affair. The first single off of Yeti Season showed their hand back in 2018. A double-sided banger, that release brought the musical textures to the fore that dominate this record. The first song, titled "Unathi," is fully realized with the beautifully haunting-yet-hopeful vocals of Piya Malik, formerly of 79.5. Singing in Hindi, Piya's ethereal voice is telling us to work and strive together toward progress. Even if you don't understand her language, you can still hear the urgency of purpose, creating a lasting vibe that sits on top of it all.
There's also a children's book written by Leon's mom, Francine Prose
Leon Michels explains that Piya had a vital influence on this record: "When Piya started singing in Hindi, she had a different voice, a different tone. I knew we had to do something together." And so Piya appears on three other songs on Yeti Season: "Zaharila," "Murkit Gem," and "Dhuaan." Each providing particular signatures to the album. "Zaharila" is a building and changing love song punctuated by blaring trumpets, driving drums, and Piya's pleading lyrics. While the more upbeat "Murkit Gem" opens with a fuzzed out, Wu-Tang-esque baseline that buoys Piya's stylings. The psychedelic guitar and Piya's changing tones and textures singing about an all-consuming love are what pushed "Dhuaan" on to the second single from Yeti Season.
There is also a vocal appearance from Shannon Wise of The Shacks, yet another Big Crown artist. Her song called "Sha Na Na," lies more in the familiar EMA vein: melodic, hypnotic, soulfully visual. But between Shannon's airy singing, the jumpy baseline, moody vibes, the active drum lines, it sounds like a pensive walk home after a strangely dramatic night.
So what is Yeti Season? It could be more of a feeling than an actual place or time of year. It's a heavy album—as evidenced by the signature musicianship and dramatic vocal expressions. But it's also a hopeful record, with phrasings, textures, and chord changes that hint at something better—or fuller—coming our way. You hear it in songs like "Ala Vida," with its stabby, pulsing chords laying a bedrock for EMA's bright, atmospheric horn lines. Or even in "Fazed Out," which leaves you with a feeling of determination, a striving for resolution even though the driving, march-like song structure should accompany some conquering army.
This persistence has to come from the fact that Leon Michels and company finished this record during the lockdown. It was a tough and troublesome time. But look at what has come of it: Yeti Season—a record of high and heavy drama, but also one of hope and promise.
It may take a year like 2020 behind us to find hope in a winter big footed creature like a Yeti, but that's where we are.
Pre-order a copy of Yeti Season by El Michels Affair right here. Check out "Fazed Out" and the whumpin' "Murkit Gem" below.
Big Crown is releasing the new El Michels Affair album in a limited-run die-cut jacket on orange vinyl. Check the tracks "Rubix" and "Enfant" below.
Here's the scoop from Big Crown Records... Big Crown Records is proud to present Adult Themes, the latest full length offering from El Michels Affair. This album takes the band’s “Cinematic Soul” aesthetic literally and sends the listener on a journey through a whirlwind of moods and energies. With their 2005 debut album Sounding Out The City, El Michels Affair spearheaded an instrumental funk / soul movement that inspired a slew of bands and even lead to the creation of a few independent record labels.
When Leon Michels name first appeared on a record, he was 16. That release was called "Thunder Chicken" and the group was his high school band, The Mighty Imperials. The record was essentially an homage to The Meters, at the time it was near pitch-perfect for the budding retro-soul scene. While that release was an early step for Michels, aspects of it have almost become trademarks of his work: a unique raw-yet-disciplined approach to his sound and songwriting, and a soulful genuineness that has a sense of humor one minute and a sense of solace the next.
Right from the jump his hustling work ethic was evident, always involved in a lot at once. While finishing Thunder Chicken, Michels began touring and recording with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings –which he did for the next 7 years. During that time he was also recording songs in a makeshift home studio and preparing for what would be his first full-length record, Sounding Out The City, and the first release under the name El Michels Affair. In 2004, when Sounding Out The City was recorded, Michels’ obsession with Euro Library, American soul, and early rocksteady crept its way into the songwriting and recording aesthetic, the outcome was something Michels appropriately dubbed “Cinematic Soul.” The album was to be the first release on Truth & Soul Records, a new label Michels co founded.
Leon Michels in the studio
The lo-fi warm recording aesthetic and bottom heavy production alongside the immediate success of EMA’s debut release lead to playing a show with Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan fame. That show went over so well it lead to a tour with El Michels backing multiple members of the Wu-Tang Clan. It was these shows that ended up laying the groundwork for the release of El Michels Affair’s second full-length, Enter the 37th Chamber, which eventually introduced them to a worldwide audience. While the band’s fanbase went through the roof, the industry also quickly recognized that EMA was a force to be reckoned with. Almost in a domino effect, a huge range of hip-hop artists sampled Michels’ songs, from Ghostface Killah, Just Blaze, and Jay-Z to J Dilla, J.Cole, and Travis Scott.
While simultaneously running a label, playing / touring, and co-producing other artist’s music Michels helped found The Menahan Street Band, co-produced Aloe Blacc’s sophomore smash LP, Good Things, and received a writer credit on Adele’s Grammy-nominated album, 19. Shortly there after Michels found himself on tour with The Black Keys after being cold-called by Dan Auerbach and asked to join them on the road. It turned out that Auerbach was a big fan of the sound and approach of the Lee Fields record “My World”, which Michels produced. When Auerbach was tapped to make Dr. John’s critically acclaimed album , “Locked Down” and Lana Del Rey’s LP, “Ultraviolence”, Michels was brought along to play and add his signature sound. That led to being included in and touring for Auerbach’s psych-rock project, The Arcs, which features Michels as a musician and co-producer.
in 2016, Michels co-founded Big Crown Records with Danny Akalapse, the second record label Michels has helped build from the ground. Since then, he has produced a majority of the albums from the labels roster including Lee Fields, Lady Wray, Brainstory, Paul & The Tall Trees, Liam Bailey, and Thee Lakesiders. Michels has also produced records for Beyonce & Jay-Z’s side project, The Carters, Hanni El Khatib, Chicano Batman, Marco Benevento, and Don Toliver.
In 2017 in between producing, playing, and recording on other artists’ records Leon Michels began creating compilations of short interludes intended to be sampled by hip hop producers. Some of these wound up becoming songs by Jay Z & Beyonce, Travis Scott, and Don Toliver. These minute-long snippets were inspired by the dense moody work of ‘60s composers like David Axelrod, and Francois de Roubaix, as well as Moondog’s brand of classical jazz. Michels was having so much fun creating these instrumental / orchestral nuggets that he decided to expand on some of the ideas and create what would become the soundtrack for a movie that has yet to be made, an imaginary film entitled “Adult Themes.”
The album plays like the colors on an artists pallet. Songs like “Rubix” and “Villa” are densely orchestrated with the hard-hitting drums that El Michels Affair is known for. On “Life of Pablo”, Leon’s son makes his first appearance on record and intros a song with an epic arrangement and a moving mood. “Hipps” is a drum heavy ballad that could’ve easily fit on EMA’s debut record, Sounding Out the City. Other compositions like “The Difference” and “Kill The Lights” are bare, melodic mood pieces with sparse drums and sophisticated chord movement. All of these tunes come together to make perfect backgrounds for dialogue and action.
One of the beautiful things about instrumental music is that the listener can decide what the narrative is. With Adult Themes, El Michels Affair has created a “choose your own adventure” in musical form.
You can pre-order a limited edition version of Adult Themes from Big Crown right here. Listen to the tracks "Rubix" and "Enfant" feat. The Shacks followed by the track listing.
El Michels Affair - Adult Themes
1. Enfant
2. Adult Theme No. 1
3. Kill The Lights
4. Villa
5. Adult Theme No. 2
6. Life Of Pablo
7. Adult Theme No. 3
8. Rubix
9. A Swift Nap
10. Hipps
11. Munecas
12. Adult Theme No.
