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Karl Hector & The Malcouns

I - Stones Throw

Now-Again follows up the Heliocentrics’ percussive excursions into the astral realms of psychedelia with an album of Afro-tinged funk music – originating from the Southern Sahara and recorded in Germany.

Sahara Swing sees the musicians behind seminal band The Poets of Rhythm bring the sounds of West and East Africa back to their native Munich. The result is a sprawling journey through unfamiliar rhythms and melodies – taking in the polyrhythms of West Africa and Fela Kuti, Ethiopian moods and scales, the experimental jazz of Sun Ra and the groove of James Brown.

Marimbas, shekeres, gourds and bells collide with ethereal organ, choppy guitar and gut-bucket drums to produce a free-flowing statement of sound. This is not a ‘World Music’ record but an album of the World – one that reflects the journeys and experiences of the players and their syncretic worldview.

Headed by the mysterious Karl Hector – erstwhile leader of the Funk Pilots project – and aided by Poets of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers producer J. Whitefield alongside Thomas Myland and Zdenko Curulija (founders of the Malcouns), the band have crafted nearly twenty tracks that follow the musical roads that Hector has traveled, exploring new areas without ever leaving the heavy grooves that underpin their music.

Continuing the style laid out on the Poets of Rhythm classic album ‘Discern/Define’ on Ninja Tune and the backing behind Lyrics Born (ft. Poets) modern classic ‘I Changed my Mind’, this album sits next to artists like Sharon Jones, The Heliocentrics, The Budos Band, and El Michels Affair – a slow-burning slice of Afro Funk that grows with every listen.

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Karl Hector & the Malcouns “Sahara Swing” from hiltmeyer on Vimeo.