EX GENERATION
The Napoli Exchange

P-Vine Japanese imprint reissue copies of Eric Dunbar's sought-after album 'Freeway' which was originally released on TSG Records in 1976.

Japanese vocalist Q.i & producer Hair Kid, originally from New Jersey and now also based in Japan, are the duo known as Milk Talk. Their off-kilter brand of synth funk sits somewhere between modern funk & city pop but is sure to please fans of vaporwave, future funk, disco & deep house as well. Their recently-released album is still an elusive find outside of Japan but “Wagamama Riso,” a digital-only loosie released during the early days of the pandemic, has now been unleashed in physical form on Los Angeles-based MoFunk Records. MoFunk's head, XL Middleton, remixes the track and adds his own retro-electro/R&B flair to the leftfield boogie feel of the original version. Both versions on a single 7” make this a top choice for anyone who loves their funk loaded with analog synthesizer action.DJ support:- DJ Notoya (Tokyo Condition)- Walla P (Voyage Funktastique)- Soul ClapMilk Talk's self-titled debut album was released recently in Japan and has added greatly to the buzz surrounding the group. However, the difficulty of procuring physical copies of their LP outside of Japan will surely make this 7” a desirable piece of add to any DJ or record collector's stash. Milk Talk was also recently featured on the Soul Clap Records compilation “New Directions In Funk Vol. 1,” curated by XL Middleton.

Habibi Funk is dedicated to re-releasing a style of music that historically never existed as a musical genre. We use the term to describe a certain sound that we like from the countries of the Arab world. The songs we chose were created in places quite far from another and under very different circumstances. Some were written and recorded during war times, others in exile. Despite the differences we think there is a musical connection between them. Essentially, we are interested in the musical endeavors, in which artists from the Arab world mixed local and regional influences with musical interests that came from outside of the region. Even though the name suggests it’s all about funk music, our focus is more than just that. Often these influences might be inspired from Western popular music such as soul, pop and rock but it’s not limited to that either. Some of our favorite records are best described as Arabic zouk (a genre originating from the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe) like Mallek Mohamed’s music, Algerian coladera (a popular musical style from the Cape Verdean islands) or Lebanese AOR, which means the process of musical influences displayed on this compilation was much more versatile than just taking Western music as a blueprint and translating it with a local accent. The compilation features 15 different artists. Some you might already know thru Habibi Funk’s releases like Fadoul, Ahmed Malek, Dalton or Al Massrieen, while others are meant as an introduction to artists like Kamal Keila, Sharhabeel Ahmed, Attarazat Addahabia & Mallek Mohamed who will all release full length albums on Habibi Funk in 2018.In todays world there are still many stereotypical conceptions to be found when it comes to the Arab world. Contrary to what a lot of Western narratives and media suggest, the Arab world we got to know through extensive traveling in several countries of North Africa and the Middle East, is a very versatile terrain. A place full of different stories, ideas and beliefs. And we hope that the music we release helps as a tiny, tiny piece of a larger puzzle to establish a diverse, more nuanced yet adequate idea of how musically vibrant this very diverse region once has been and also still is. At the same time we do not want anyone to misunderstand this compilation as a selection of songs to represent Arabic musical history of the 1970s and 1980s. This compilation is nothing more than a very personal curation of songs we like and in no way reflects on what has been popular in a general sense.All tracks on this compilation are directly licensed from the artist or, in the case of artists who are sadly no longer alive, from the artist’s family. There are three exceptions: Hamid Al Shaeri’s track was licensed from SLAM! and the tracks from Belbao and Attarazat Addahabia were both licensed from Boussiphone. As a European label dealing with non- western artists we try to be aware of the responsibilities that derive within the making, seen from a post-colonial point of view by demanding ourselves not to reproduce exploitative economic patterns. We split all of the profits from our releases equally with the artists without deducting any costs that are not directly related to the release .Our agreements are license deals with limited terms after which the rights fall back to the artist or the artist’s families. We think it is important in today's reissue market, where too many shady business transactions happen, to be transparent about our licensing policies.

KAYAMBA & BLANC MANIOC present "WALIMIZI"Walimizi means Cultivators in Shimaoré!Cultivating values together through artistic practices, cultivating in a new way exchanges nourished by tolerance, in a fraternal and respectful way.Respectful of the past of traditions and different temporalities. To move forward as much as possible together in the new world.Thx to all RemixersPraktika, PANGAR, Deena Abdelwahed, Cornelius Doctor & Tushen Raï and Gael Champion for additionnal drums on Tseki and Laisse moi Danser !!crédits

Upopo Sanke signifie "Chantons une chanson" en langue ainu. Umeko Ando (1932-2004) était l'une des artistes les plus connues des Aïnous, une communauté indigène longtemps opprimée du nord du Japon. Elle chante leurs chansons traditionnelles avec Oki Kano à la harpe Tonkori, qui a également enregistré l'album."Upopo Sanke" a été mixé en partie par Oki Kano avant d'être masterisé et gravé sur vinyle par Kassian Troyer. Le 2LP est disponible en 45 tours et le son est fantastique. Cet album est le deuxième album d'Umeko Ando, la suite de "Ihunke", enregistré à l'origine en 2000 et réédité en 2018 par Pingipung avec Oki Kano. L'écoute de cette musique peut être une expérience méditative, chaque note et chaque syllabe semblant contenir un doux sourire, cette musique touche doucement le cœur.Oki Kano est un ambassadeur musical de la culture Ainu qui effectue des tournées dans le monde entier avec son Oki Dub Ainu Band et donne également des concerts en solo, toujours en jouant du Tonkori, la harpe Ainu à cinq cordes.