Following on to my round up of the singles in part I, here are my favourites albums, compilations and reissues from 2024. It has to be said that, as with the singles, I haven’t been actively following the flow of new releases as I did in previous years. Of course I still spent a good […]
Category: Music
2024 – A Year in Music (part I: 12″s, 7″s & album cuts)
What happened in 2024? I’ll try to keep it more sober this time. On the party front, the year was arguably not a revolutionary one, at least not in my bubble. We kept doing doing what we’ve been doing for most of our lives, but doing it well. Always looking to perfect the art of […]
Akiyo – Excursions in Gwoka Vol. 2
For the sixth BATB release, we pursued the ‘Excursions in Gwoka’ series with a second volume putting focus on the legendary carnival outfit from Guadeloupe, Akiyo. The EP contains two original tracks which were originally released in 1993 on Akiyo’s seminal second LP, 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘷𝘮𝘢𝘯: ‘Déboulé’ and ‘Blo’. The aforementioned album has become increasingly hard to […]
Jaminaround vs Beauty & the Beat – 2024 edition
“Something’s about to come your wayExtend your arms embrace the love(…)Breathe the winds of space and timeLet your senses take controlListen to the rhythm of the cosmic danceGlance far away into the futureLet your mind run through the fields that fill your heart with joyMeanwhile, let your soul inside touch the stars” (from Kuniyuki’s sublime […]
2023 – A Year In Review (Part II – Albums & Reissues)
Following on to the singles in part I, here’s my round up of the best albums and reissues which I had the pleasure to listen to in 2023. As always there’s a good mix of familiar artists and labels who constantly deliver the goods alongside some new names amongst the movers and shakers in our niche […]
2023 – A Year in Review (Part I: 12″s, 10″s, 7″s, album cuts)
“War, huh (God y’all)What is it good for? You tell me (nothing)Say it, say it, say it, say it” As good as any in terms of musical highlights and dance-floor epiphanies, 2023 was a year that will forever be marked by new scales of horror in the Israel/Palestine war. Darker times have fallen upon us […]
Tropical Cosmic Dance with Cedric Woo
At the start of the summer I had the pleasure to be invited for a guest mix on the ever excellent My Analog Journal YT channel. This first time around Zag came to my flat to film and record a strictly gwoka mix, but now was my turn to blend in with the plants and […]
2022 – A Year in Music, part 2 (Albums & Reissues)
Here is the second part of my 2022 review, this time focusing on albums and reissues. Lots of familiar artists and labels in there, as well as a fair share of discoveries. I didn’t do a top 10 or top 15, but if I had to choose one I’d most likely go for the new […]
2022 – A Year in Music, part 1 (Singles)
2022 was the year when parties started to be regular again, with no more lockdowns or pandemics in the way. We were able to plan ahead and host monthly Beauty & the Beat, bi-monthly All Our Friends, go to festivals and even to carnival, which hadn’t happened since 2019. So many highlights to recall, from […]
Lèspri ka a la Gwadloup, printemps 2022
In late March ’22, following two cancelled trips in the past two years due to the pandemic, we were finally back in Guadeloupe. Once we’d navigated all the bureaucratic nonsense involved in being able to travel (mainland France’s frontiers were fully opened but not Guadeloupe’s), it was as always a special feeling to set foot […]