Malcolm Catto shares rare gems recorded at Quartermass Sound Lab

Drummer, producer and sound alchemist Malcolm Catto (Heliocentrics) compiles recordings made at Quartermass Sound Lab, his analog bunker in London. 

Here's the scoop from Strut HQ...

Today we announce a very special release, Malcolm Catto presents Quartermass Sound Lab: Psychedelic Sorcery From an Analogue Bunker in London (out September 18 via Strut Records), a deep dive into the world of London’s Quatermess Sound Lab, the studio behind the works of producer, drummer, engineer and co-founder to The Heliocentrics - Malcolm Catto.

Over the last two decades, Catto has quietly established himself as a sought-after sonic architect in contemporary music. Revered for his analog-first approach, he has built Quatermass Sound Lab around vintage recording equipment, valve preamps and live performance, creating recordings that feel warm and timeless. Equally inspired by punk, hip-hop, psychedelic rock, jazz, funk and electronic music, Catto has developed a production style that rejects genre boundaries in favour of instinct and atmosphere.

Describing himself as "50% musician and 50% listener," Catto approaches each session as a collaborator rather than a conventional producer. That philosophy has made Quatermass Sound Lab a creative home for an extraordinary range of musicians, from established innovators to emerging voices. His remarkable discography spans collaborations with Yussef Dayes, DJ Shadow, Madlib, Quantic, Mulatu Astatke, Orlando Julius, Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids and countless others, each project using analogue wizardry to shape bold, contemporary recordings with a character all of their own.

This collection opens the Quatermass archive for the first time, gathering previously unreleased recordings, alternate versions and mixes that chart Catto's evolution as producer, drummer and sonic instigator. Tracks include the abrasive, post-punk electronics of Snapped Ankles' ‘Shopping Parade’, French rap experimentation on Wet Enough’s ‘San Pé’ and the richly textured psychedelia of Vanishing Twin's ‘Backstroke’. Catto’s work with jazz and global sounds features with Divine Earth’s visceral ‘Free Soul’ and extended pieces by Venezuelan futurists Insólito Universo and Lausanne Afrobeat collective Professor Wouassa while undiscovered artists include the brilliant UK band Toyface with their epic ‘Potter’s Wheel’.

More than a producer retrospective, Quatermass Sound Lab is a portrait of an artist whose fingerprints can be found across some of the most adventurous records of the last twenty years, presented on standard edition Black Vinyl LP or CD. 

Pre-order a copy from Bandcamp right here. Check out the tracklisting followed by an interview with Malcolm and a few Quartermass Sound Lab tracks.  

Malcolm Catto presents Quartermass Sound Lab

1. Snapped Ankles - Shopping Parade (Extended Mix) 06:05

2. Cyril Cyril - Les Gens (Malcolm Catto Mix)

3. Little Barrie - Rest In Blue (Early Version)

4. Divine Earth - Free Soul (Malcolm Catto Edit)

5. Hannah Williams - Late Nights & Heartbreak

6. Idris Ackamoor - Beginning Roots

7. Insólito UniVerso - Tonada del Guante (Malcolm Catto Mix)

8. Professor Wouassa - Bande de Kokos (Malcolm Catto Mix)

9. JJ Whitefield - Chilli Chicken (Malcolm Catto Mix)

10. Vanishing Twin - Backstroke (Malcolm Catto Edit)

11. Wet Enough!? - San Pé (Malcolm Catto Mix)

12. D.O.K. - Valediction

13. Chris Ward - Spinning Out

14. Toyface - Spinning On A Wheel

!K7 Records finally releasing long overdue Quantic DJ-Kicks set

Producer/composer and DJ Will "Quantic" Holland's dancefloor ready DJ Kicks set is out Friday with a release party at Phonox UK.

Here's the scoop...

Having worked and lived in the UK, US and Colombia throughout his 20-plus-year career, Quantic is an artist whose reputation has long been forged by his unique engagement and vibrant musical exchange with local scenes and cultures from across the world. His discography of electronic releases is vast, spanning two decades and ranging from solo productions and intimate collaborations to expansive ensemble projects. Under aliases such as Quantic, the Quantic Soul Orchestra, the Limp Twins, Flowering Inferno, Ondatrópica and many more, the multi-instrumentalist, DJ, composer and producer Will Holland has released over twenty studio albums as well as countless EPs and singles.

Now, Quantic pulls from his unparalleled, wide-ranging pool of musical companions for his DJ-Kicks compilation, which fittingly radiates friends and family energy. The mix bursts with unreleased exclusives and places the art of curation at its core, giving the listeners space to go and dig more of the songs and sonics which resonate the most. Will Holland includes a breadth of new material, including new music from Quantic alongside another of his other aliases Sobredosis.

Having made records together as Transgressors, he hails JJ from The Poets of Rhythm. Similarly, the drummer of London band The Heliocentrics, Malcolm Catto, played in the Quantic Soul Orchestra in the early 2000s, and the band’s fuzzy track features early on in the mix. The ties don’t stop there though. Having mixed his album ‘Bring Backs’, Holland welcomes Mist’s jazz instrumentalism onto his Kicks, followed by a whistling dance contribution from JKriv – ft. Gabriel Oliveira – with whom he spent his early days as bassist for New York live house ensemble Tortured Soul. Quantic also brings to the mix his Colombian contemporary Frente Cumbiero, with whom he formed tropical supergroup Ondatrópica.

As a selector often booked to play at sunset, Quantic channeled this energy into the mix’s pacing too. “I love when people suddenly realise they are engulfed in the night… and this mix does put you out into some pretty high tempos of bass music, dub and Cumbia.” Beyond raising profiles, the mix encapsulates Quantic’s tempo-changing DJing style which, over the past decade, has built him a strong community of fans. In regard to the compilation’s sonic journey, which likens the voyage to boarding a boat, he says “you’re going down a river and get off in a different place… it’s also a cool way to encapsulate, stylistically, what I’ve been up to as a DJ over the last few decades, while shining a light on people I admire”.

This DJ-Kicks is the latest instalment in Quantic’s ever-evolving artistic trajectory, an accompaniment to those moments when the gloaming disappears into darkness. An homage to an unparalleled artistic path within the dance music cosmos. Will Holland’s longstanding dedication to a full range of melodic and percussive expression alongside continued musical collaboration is what makes his edition of DJ-Kicks such a rare beauty.

Get a copy of Quantic's DJ Kicks 2LP directly from !K7 Records right here. Check the track listing below followed by a couple of tracks and a clip from an all-vinyl Quantic set at System in London last year.  

Quantic DJ Kicks

A1 JJ Whitefield feat. bonnie behave - The Mind Is A Palace

A2 The Heliocentrics - Minimal Engagement

A3 Quantic - Dialect

A4 Alfa Mist - In My Defence

B1 JKriv feat. Gabriel Oliveira - Pifeiro Malandro

B2 Quantic & Sly5thAve - Twang

B3 Frente Cumbiero - Michilero

B4 Quantic - Theme From Selva (Remix)

C1 Quantic - Eko Eko

C2 Quantic - Motivic Retrograde (Live Version)

C3 Eblis Alvarez, Meridian Brothers - Un Grande Nubarrón Se Alza En El Cielo

C4 The Maghreban - Covent Garden

D1 Anna Morgan - Throw Dat Azz

D2 Ehua - Scintille

D3 Turbo Sonidero - Kumbia ESSJ

D4 Sobredosis - No Llores Por Mí

Also Known As: Malcolm Catto

The latest in Madlib Invazion's music library series is "Glass Cathedral" from Chop, the alias of producer/drummer Malcolm Catto. 

Here's the scoop...

The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series was created by Madlib and Egon over the course of the Pandemic, and was a chance to give their creative friends the ability to stretch out and indulge in whatever type of music they wanted for release on the label. 

The music had to be great and able to be presented as a stand alone album – like the best “Music Library” releases of the past, on labels like Italy’s Sermi, Germany’s Bruton, France’s MP2000 and the UK’s DeWolfe. And, like those albums, it had to work as easy, one-stop clearance for background cues in film and television production and, as producers have been indulging since the 1990s, for sampling. 

The series contains 12 releases by DJ Muggs, Karriem Riggins, J-Zone, the Heliocentrics’ Malcolm Catto and Jake Ferguson, JJ Whitefield of Karl Hector/Whitefield Brothers/Poets of Rhythm, Motif Alumni and Music Research Library, Mario Luciano of Polyphonic Music Library, Henkel, Gabriel Rowland of Los Yesterdays, Dan Hastie and Terin Ector of Orgone, Dan Ubick and Joe Harrison 

The albums will be released on the Madlib Invazion Bandcamp on the first Friday of each month over the course of one year. Listen to "Psycho Bubble" off the Glass Cathedral album from Mr. Chop or simply "Chop" (aka Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics) following the tracklisting and a short Analogue feature. Get a copy of Glass Cathedral via Bandcamp right here. 

Glass Cathedral by Chop

1. Out To Lunch Pt 1 00:43

2. Oscillo 03:43

3. Mutant 05:21

4. Monolith 03:14

5. Trigger 01:44

6. Omilation 03:32

7. Glass Cathedral 04:59

8. Strange Dream 00:29

9. Out To Lunch Pt 2 00:48

10. Patchwork 02:27

11. Leuterisms 03:36

12. Flip 03:09

13. 2 XYZ 03:34

14. Tub 01:00

15. Rioflection 03:13

16. Psycho Bubble 03:36

17. The End 02:42

Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto team up for Quartermass Seven

Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto's new collaborative recording Quartermass Seven is due from Madlib Invazion on November 6th.

Here's the scoop...

Born in a Dalston basement, Quatermass Seven by Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto could only have been produced in the colourful streets of sprawling London. Driven by the three contributing musicians’ 25-year plus journey through multiple genres and inspirations, what you will hear in its seven tracks is the ‘60s British blues explosion colliding with a mid ‘70s Bronx block party; Haight Ashbury acid rock mashed up with Manchester’s summer of love circa ’88; or a prime slice of UK freakbeat broadcast from New York’s jazz underground, emerging kicking and screaming above London city tower blocks.

This meeting of minds between guitarist Barrie Cadogan, bassist Lewis Wharton and drummer Malcolm Catto represents a re-birth of sorts for Little Barrie, with these their first recordings since 2017’s critically received Death Express album, and the sad and untimely passing of friend and drummer Virgil Howe. Following a difficult period of soul searching for both Barrie and Lewis, they made the decision to record again: knowing they weren’t looking for a replacement for Virgil.

With most tracks recorded live with minimal overdubs, produced by Malcolm at his Quatermass studios in London’s borough of Hackney, The Heliocentrics’ main man brings new flavor to the band’s rhythm section by blending his power behind the drums and his expansive mixing desk skills to take Little Barrie’s music into new territories. Recorded on Catto’s treasure trove of analogue gear, and mastered onto ¼” tape, the overall effect is guitar, bass and drums finding the sweet spot where genres collide.

What Quatermass Seven delivers is a darker, deeper and more expansive set of grooves, layered with frazzled and flawless guitar lines and flowing melodies, as well as pointing toward a future of exciting new musical opportunities. “Still here, so fine, just a little darker state of mind” sings Cadogan on ‘Steel Drum’: words which sum up hope in times of uncertainty, whilst (maybe) unintentionally offering a perfect description of the music contained herein. 

Pre-order a copy of Quartermass Seven via Rappcats right here. Check out "After After" below. 

Heliocentrics drummer Malcom Catto shows off his studio

The Heliocentrics meet Orlando Julius

Nigerian saxophone legend Orlando Julius’ collaboration with versatile UK psych-jazz combo The Heliocentrics – who have previously worked with Mulatu Astatke and Lloyd Miller – is one of the most adventurous Afrobeat projects to come along in a while. The fully collaborative album Jaiyede Afro (Strut) finds Orlando Julius reaching back to his funky roots, revisiting a few early compositions and creatively repurposing James Brown's In The Middle with hard-pounding beats provided by Malcolm Catto.  The Jaiyede Afro album, set for release September 8, can be pre-ordered now on iTunes. Check out the track “Buje Buje” below followed by the entire Super Afro Soul album which Orlando Julius cut with his Modern Aces group back in 1966 and Strut reissued in 2000.

Orlando Julius discusses the origins of the song Buje Buje
“My parents used to tell us stories, folk tales and there were a lot of different stories involving tortoises – they often made tortoises sound like human beings. There was one about a tortoise who had a farm and I always thought, ‘how could a tortoise have a farm?!’ This tortoise is working on his farm and a pretty lady is passing by. So, he cuts his foot with his cutlass and pretends that he is injured so that he can get her attention. The lady comes over and tries to help him and he says, ‘I can’t work with this cut. Could I climb on your back to go to get help?’ She agrees, he climbs on her back and she starts to walk. He says, ‘I’m too far up, could you push me further down your back?’ Finally, the lady realises that he is up to no good, she is very unhappy and tells him to find his own way. Once she has left, the tortoise continues to play this trick on other women.

“I made the story into a song and brought human nature into it – good people and bad people. The song teaches us not to copy something that is bad, fake or deceptive.”

Mulatu & The Heliocentrics @ Nancy Jazz Pulsations

Helios repeat Mulatu magic with Lloyd Miller

Two years ago funky drummer Malcom Catto and his nine strong Heliocentrics massive joined  Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke on stage as part of Karen P's Broad Casting series at Cargo. The sold-out gig went so well, they wound up collaborating in the studio a few months later on a fantastic album which became the third volume of the Strut label's Inspiration Information project. Evidently, that was just the beginning of Catto's cultural collision experiments.

While critics were heaping praise on the Helios better-than-anticipated Mulatu collabo, Catto and crew were busily making plans for an encore adventure, this time involving legendary ethnomusicologist and mult-instrumentalist Dr. Lloyd Miller. The title of Jazzman's career retrospective of Miller's work, A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz, is quite apt as the longtime University of Utah professor has been exploring Middle Eastern music since his first trip to Iran in the late 50s. Long before the term "world music" was coined, Miller was traveling around Europe in the 60s, applying traditional Middle Eastern instruments, rhythms and scales in different contexts with fellow forward looking artists such as Don Ellis and Jef Gilson. Suffice it to say that Miller was well-prepared for a monumental throwdown with the Heliocentrics crew which is due out August 1 on disc followed by a vinyl release on August 31.
Here's what you're in for...

Fantasia, Part 1

1. ELECTRICONE
2. NAVA
3. MANDALA
4. SPIRITUAL JAZZ
5. BALI BRONZE
6. FANTASIA Pt. 1
7. MODALITY
8. SALENDRO
9. PARI RU
10. LLOYD’S DIATRIBE
11. FANTASIA Pt. 2
12. CHAHARGAH
13. SUNDA SUNSET










Gol-e Gandom by Lloyd Miller on Iranian TV 1965




Yèkèrmo Sèw by Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics



Yèkatit by Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics