Afro Art Records

12": Tito Heron - The Stories from the Kuku Land EP

Track Listing: The King of Dreams Brooklyn Chant Mala Moya St. Helena - Live @ Cargo

Released 2001 on Afro Art Records. Track 1 written by Dado Valentic and produced by Paul Murphy and Dado Valentic. Tracks 2 and 3 written and produced by Dado Valentic. Track 4 recorded live at Cargo, London, featuring Soleal Sound System and The Voodoo Orchestra. Produced by Dado Valentic. 'The King of Dreams' is an excellent laid back, percussive, jazzy lounge gem and is the highlight of this EP. 'Brooklyn Chant' is a little bit on the experimental side, with random bird song added over just as random flute melodies - a bit on the odd side. 'Mala Moya' is another percussive number, pretty minimal and takes virtually the whole track to build, whilst 'St. Helena' is a short, but furious, tribal drumming frenzy recorded live at Cargo. Worth getting for 'The King of Dreams' alone. Thanks to Paul Murphy for this vinyl.

12": Cubalooba - Cubalooba

Track Listing: Cubalooba - United Eye/Soul Drummers Cubalaboration Raggalooba - Winston Hazel & Rossman's Refix

Released 11/00 on United Eye Records. Written by Marc Woolford and Paul Murphy. Head straight for the United Eye/Soul Drummers Cubalaboration of 'Cubalooba' which is an excellent, uplifting funky slice of crazy ragga style dance featuring catchy piano riffs and jazzy brass that combine in one of the best new pieces of music that i've found in a long time - essential if you want to light up dancefloors.

Album: Soul Drummers - Medicine Man

Track Listing: Obiman's Return (5.24) Shango Prayer (6.56) Now or Never (3.37) Let the Sun Cheyenne (3.36) Manu Magic (5.12) Medicine Man (4.14) East Side Story (5.35) Lude #7 (1.46) Gham Makhor (4.17) Space and Time (4.39)

Released 2000 on Afro Art Records. All tracks written and produced by Marc Woolford. Track 2 co-written and co-produced by Ashley Beedle; vocals on track 3 written and performed by Carla Hendry; additonal vocals on track 4 by Cheyenne Boss; additonal vocals on track 6 by Carla Hendry and co-produced by Ashley Beedle; vocals on track 7 performed by 'The Man'; vocals on track 9 performed by Maryam F Ghaffari reading a poem from 'Divan-Eh-Hafez'.

12": The Man feat. Ashley Slater - Question

Track Listing: Question - Mambo del Norte Version Question - Phillysophicalsoul Version Question - Slaterpella

Released 2001 on Afro Art Records. All tracks written and produced by Marc Woolford & Paul Murphy. Words by Marc Woolford. This is an fantastic tune, with the Mambo del Norte Version being the more upbeat version and the Phillysophicalsoul Version down-tempo. Ashley Slater, who has a great voice, expresses his philosophies about life, resulting in an non-debatable conclussion - "just shut the f**k up and dance!".

12": Black Science Orchestra - Sunshine

Track Listing: Sunshine - TV Mix Sunshine - Soul Weekend Instrumental Sunshine - Soul Weekender Mix

Released 2002 on Afro Art Records. All tracks written by Marc Woolford, Allison David and Ashley Beedle. Produced by Marc Woolford and Ashley Beedle. This is a revamp of an old Allison David tune of the same name and is guaranteed to be a big hit on any soul dance floor with its 70's funky disco groove (complete with hand-claps). This one conjures up images of big afro wigs and platform shoes. Both the TV Mix and Soul Weekender Mix are big on the vocals of Allison David whilst the Soul Weekend Instrumental is essentially a dub of the Soul Weekender Mix. This isn't my usual flavour, so to say, but I can see that this would have huge appeal with soul DJs. Thanks to Paul Murphy for this vinyl.

12": Dance Freak - The Prayer

Track Listing: The Prayer - Luke & Marc's Original Gospel Mix The Prayer - Benji Candelario's Saturday Night Mix

Released 2002 on Afro Art Records. All tracks written and produced by Luke Howard and Marc Woolford. Additional remix and production on track 2 by Benji Candelario. 'The Prayer' is Dance Freaks second release on Afro Art and is a hands-in-the-air disco anthem backed by big strings and Lurieen Lewis's gospel vocals. As with Black Science Orchestra's 'Sunshine', this isn't really the style of music that i'm into, but this will no doubt go down a storm on funky-soul and house dance floors alike. Thanks to Paul Murphy for this vinyl.

12": Ashley Slater - Private Sunshine

Track Listing: Private Sunshine Private Dubshine

Released 5/02 on Afro Art Records. All tracks written and produced by Ashley Slater and Paul Murphy. Additional remix and production on tracks 1 & 2 by Paul Murphy. Original version of Private Sunshine features on Ashley Slater's 'Big Lounge'. Many thanks to Paul Murphy for this promo release. The title track is one for lazy Sunday afternoons and summer days down by the river - it's a gorgeous down-tempo groove featuring the warm & friendly vocals of Ashley Slater. In contrast, 'Private Dubshine' picks up the pace with a gentle Arabesque percussion groove clattering under the melody of the original score and, as the title suggests, dubs the vocals. Essential.

12": Frogsnatcher - Dream Rabbit

Track Listing: Dream Rabbit - Original Mix Dream Rabbit - Paul Murphys Dub

Promo release 7/02 on Afro Art Records. All tracks written and produced by Zak Frost and Lorenzo Gianecchinni from the Deep Blue Organisation. Featuring vocals from Mr. Clive Natural. Additional remix and production on track 2 by Paul Murphy. Fancy a bit of bouncy 4/4 dub reggae jiggy jiggy? Has that raised your eyebrows? Well it should - 'Dream Rabbit' is a blinding tune suited for funky lounges and groovy global dance floors alike. The vocals in this tune are minimal with just the main "everything is everything" sample looped, chopped and gated throughout the track; if this is too much for you then flip over to Paul Murphys dub version. Another essential cheeky tune for the collection. Thanks to Paul Murphy for this vinyl.

12": Frogsnatcher - Dirty Bird

Track Listing: Dirty Bird - Original Mix Dirty Bird - Guns 'N' Rifles Mix

Promo released 4/03 on Afro Art Records. All tracks written and produced by Zak Frost and Lorenzo Gianecchinni. Additional remix and production on track 2 by Paul Murphy. Thanks to Paul Murphy for this vinyl.

7": Paul Murphy - Soul Call

Track Listing: Soul Call Soul Call - Latin Dub

Promo release 4/03 on Afro Art Records. Thanks to Paul Murphy for this vinyl.

12": Luke Howard - Hi Life / Low Life

Track Listing: Hi Life Low Life

Promo release 10/02 on Afro Art Records. All tracks written and produced by Luke Howard. This is the first release by Luke under his own name, although previous releases on Afro Art include 'The Prayer' & 'Dance Freak in Dub' as Dance Freak with Marc Woolford and 'Lost Love' as Cottage Alert. The moment I first heard 'Hi Life' I knew that this tune would be on my play list for a very long time, and is probably best summed up by Whirl-Y-Gig's DJ Monkey Pilot, who said that "...every ten years or so a tune of this quality crops up...", a statement that I whole heartedly agree with. It's an "instant-smile" type track, where a very cheeky Caribbean steel guitar groove bounces over a solid percussive beat. Definitely one for lighting up global dance floors. In contrast, 'Low Life' is a much deeper, funky groove with embedded hushed spoken samples of "do it to me, I'll do it to you" looping throughout. Essential. Thanks to Paul Murphy for this vinyl.

12": Unitedeye - That Beat EP

Track Listing: That Beat That Beat - M&S Edit That Beat - Big Hair Remix

Promo release 10/02 on Afro Art Records. To be released on 7" and 12" in the autumn 2002. All tracks written and produced by Paul Murphy. Additional remix and production on track 2 by Ricky Morrison and on track 3 by Big Hair. 'That Beat' is Paul's first solo release since last years "Jazz Room" and its certainly a tune and a half to get back into the groove of things. The original version is a delicious funky guitar groove which winds over a solid electro-house bassline, that then breaks into searing electric guitars with a fairly affirmative "That Beat" spoken vocal thrown in. The M&S Edit has a lengthy percussive based intro which plays on the funky guitar groove, into which drops a disco style bassline. The Big Hair Remix gets straight to the point, with a much more solid, punchier bass line, yet staying faithful to the original version.

The 7" release will have an edited version of the A side (track 1) plus part 1 of the B side (I assume track 2), plus there is a video in production too. Thanks to Paul Murphy for this vinyl.

CD: Afro Art Greatest Hits Vol. 1

Track Listing: CD #1: Souldrummers - Space and Time Phil Asher's Restless Soul Mix Black Science Orchestra - Headspace Lullaby Dance Freak - In Dub United Eye - Ska East of the West Ballistic Brothers - Prophecy Reveal Night Time is the Right Time Mix SuPaFix - Ghetto : New Yorkshire Native Soul - Our Day Will Come Afro Tek Mix United Eye vs Souldrummers - Sambana Universal Jones - Phoenix Rising A New Beginning Mix CD #2: Black Science Orchestra - Keep On Keepin' On Road to Washington Mix The Man feat. Ashley Slater - Question? Phillysophical Soul Mix SuPaFix - Barrio : Nuevo Paul Murphy / Marc Woolford Project Mix Cubalooba - Cubalooba High Fidelity - Cream of Beats Unique Club Mix Black Science Orchestra - Cruising Home Souldrummers - E. Side Story / Lude No. 7 Paul Murphy / Marc Woolford Project - Jazz Room Black Science Orchestra - Sunshine Sunset Mix

Released 2001 on Afro Art Records. This double CD compilation offers an unmissable overview of the Afro Art label releases up to the time of the release of this compilation. Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.

Other Info:

For further information on Soul Drummers see their official web site, or on Afro Art see the official Afro Art web site or email: afroart@ukonline.co.uk.