It was in the height of the happy-go-lucky indie music scene when Jack Penate’s first album came out and it brings back so many memories of studying (or actually not studying) for my A Levels at college. I’ve actually put ‘Matinee’ on whilst I write this post and, albeit a perfectly nice album, I (alongside many others) have definitely grown out of that brand of indie rock.

The critically-acclaimed 2009 sophomore LP ‘Everything Is New’ came next which not only catapulted the artist into the safe zone of being highly credible away but also launched Paul Epworth as one of the brightest producing talents around and after a massively successful tour and tons of promo, Jack went into hibernation.

Over two years of hibernation have come to an end today though, as earlier he released a new song via his YouTube channel titled No One Lied. It’s a slow and heart-felt track with some lovely harmonies.

Looking forward to hearing more.

A few months back J.Rocc was commissioned by label Tru Thoughts to create a special tribute mix to highlight the career of Will Holland aka Quantic (pictured above) and the result is a glorious 40 minutes of latin and reggae infused dub, all intertwined with great intrumental sounds of the Quantic Soul Orchestra and the Combo Barbaro.

This Best of Quantic mix is a great for fans but also the perfect introduction to one of the great musical talents that there is.

Best Of Quantic Mix by J.Rocc

Quantic – “Snakes In The Grass”
Quantic – “Cumbia Clash”
Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno – “Dog With A Rope”
The Quantic Soul Orchestra – “Hands Of My Love feat. Alice Russell”
Quantic y Conjunto – “Cumbia de Dilla”
Quantic & His Combo Bárbaro – “The Dreaming Mind (Part 1)”
Quantic – “Infinite Regression”
Quantic – “Perception”
The Quantic Soul Orchestra – “Left & Right” f. Alice Russell
Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno – “Cuidad Del Swing”
Quantic & His Combo Bárbaro – “New Morning (Slow Version)’
Quantic And Nickodemus Feat. Tempo & The Candela All-Stars – “Mi Swing Es Tropical”
The Quantic Soul Orchestra – “Tropidelico (Occidental)”
Quantic And His Combo Barbaro – “Enyere Kumbara”
Quantic And His Combo Barbaro – “Undelivered Letter”
Quantic – “Transatlantic”
The Quantic Soul Orchestra – “Super 8″
Quantic – “Use What You Got” f. Sonny Akpan
Quantic – Sabor” f. Tempo
The Quantic Soul Orchestra – “Get A Move On”
Quantic – “Not So Blue”
Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno – “Cumbia Sobre El Mar”

Tickets are in hand for the Fela! broadway show on Saturday in London and so the discovery of this Fela Kuti remix/edit could not have fallen at a better time.

Fela Kuti is an absolute legend and his creation of Afrobeat lives on in so many music forms today.

Joystick Jay’s rearranged the structure, added drums, percussion, subtle bass and some rhodes chords.

There was a hunger for more Joystick Jay after this so we’ve also got his July mix. Thought we could barely recognise any of the artists in the mix, it’s a classic old school disco treat with Afrobeat elements throughout.

Joystick Jay – July 2010 Mix – download

Download audio file (Joystick Jay – July 2010 Mix.mp3)

Tony Allen – No accomandation for Lagos (Joystick Jay Edit)
Ilya Santana – Lioness Dream
Almir Ricardi – T Parado na tu
Jacques Renault – Norman’s fire
Woolfy vs Projection – This Space
Martin Buttrich – Trippin in the 16th
Quarion and Session Victim – Pepper Candy
Tigerskin – Voodoo
Manuel Tur – Fianchetto
David Astri – Dancing digits (Soft Rocks Remake)
Rene Bretbarth – Le groove rhodes
Manuel Tur- Beats and the birds
Das Volt – Gestures
The Valentine Brothers – Money’s too tight to mention
Gimmicks – Visst ær du kær
Jean Yanne- Coit
Move D – Got thing
Manolo – Loose myself
Lou Reed – Walk on the wild side (Holtoug remix)
Bassekou Koyate & Ngoni Ba – Jonkoloni (Joystick Jay Edit)

I’ve got a couple of days off work to celebrate Christmas so I’m going to officially sign off from Mahogany until Boxing Day or the day after.

I’m currently preparing a special New Years Eve post which I’m excited about but until then I thought I’d leave you all with an indistinguishable classic by The Fugees. Most, if not all of you will already be familiar with this track but that’s not important because you might not have listened to it in ages!

This particular track is a bonus version of Fu-Gee-La and features Wyclef, Lauryn and Pras demonstrating their worldly wisedom by doing almost the entire song in a range of different languages. There’s French, Japanese, Creole and a whole lot more than I can’t pinpoint.

It’s a fitting song for the year we’ve had where we’ve seen visitors from all over the world come to enjoy the music we love. From Afghanistan to Russia to China and even Papua New Guinea! So, if your language is featured or even if it’s not, consider this track a thank-you for reading.

Merry Christmas Everyone and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the support!

Fugees – Fu-gee-la (Refugee Camp Global Mix) –

We never usually do this but it’s something the Fugee’s prided themselves on and that was highlighted the blight of the poverty. I’ve attached a link to Oxfam so if anything feels like donated a fiver or a tenner then it’s easy. We’ve just done it.

Check the link for more information…Oxfam International.

It’s the start of the week – a busy week for me and the same probably goes for you as well. If not, I’m jealous.

If you’ve got anyone coming round to yours for a meal or a drink this week, may I suggest you play these two gems by Thievery Corporation. These are two of my favourite tracks from the D.C. based duo who frequently have guests on their worldly wise music.

Both of these songs blend seamlessly into the background of conversation and help set the mood for any dinner or drinks party.

Thievery Corporation get their soft dub sounds spot-on for Amerimacka with guest vocalist Notch.

Thievery Corporation – Amerimacka ft. Notch –

Warning Shots ups the tempo slightly and the hindu-inspired vocal effects throughout display how perfectly they merge completely different kinds of music.

Thievery Corporation – Warning Shots ft. Sleepy Wonder and Gunjan –

Still haven’t seen them live yet. It’s on my list though.

Thievery Corporation – Radio Retaliation (Live at Merriweather Pavillion) –

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQdPz2MmEW4

I spent a good couple of hours in the Pussy Parlure (it’s not what you think!) at Glastonbury and they were playing some particular music that literally got everyone onto dancefloor.

The whole gypsy/middle eastern crossover into electro and house music is just what’s needed if you ask me – it almost got into the mainstream when Samim released Heater a couple of years ago but since then it’s remained mainly underground.

Nickodemus has championed the music for ages so let’s indulge.

Balkan Beat Box – Adir Adirim (Nickodemus Mix)

I checked out Nickodemus after this remix and he’s just released my new summer soundtrack song. The rappers featured are The Real Live Show and they sound a lot like Jurassic 5. Perfect.

Nickodemus – Sun Children (feat. The Real Live Show)

If you love a good movie then you’ve probably seen Crash (2004) which I found incredible – the Score by Mark Isham was equally as impressive and the Arabic vocals for this particular song settled perfectly for a film that highlighted so much prejudice in the Western world.

This is the song during the dramatic car rescue scene with Matt Dillon and Thandie Newton.

Looking forward to watching this film again.

Mark Isham – Flames

If you haven’t already seen it, go get it! Here’s the trailer.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqJvWsOIix4

Gladiator is hands down one of my all-time favourite films and the music to accompany the film helps capture the incredible atmosphere throughout the movie.

The original score and soundtrack is composed by the legendary Hans Zimmer and sung by Australian Contralto singer Lisa Gerrard. Interestingly enough many of the songs Lisa Gerrard has sung in her career are not sung in any language in-particular; instead she let’s her voice travel with the music and whatever sounds come out is what is recorded. Bon Iver uses a similar technique to this.

The soundtrack won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award when the film was released in 2000.

We all know the tragic yet triumphant ending of Gladiator set in the epic Colosseum and the last song, Now We Are Free,  is the one that really pulls the heart strings.

Epic film.

Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard – Now We Are Free

Here’s a little clip from the film – definitely going to watch the full thing tonight.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyN9w-Pqbgc

The Darjeeling Limited left an empty pit in my stomach for travelling across India on a train with only a bag on my back. Unfortunately that ain’t going to happen tonight but as an alternative this song manages to take me there whilst injecting some of Dusk + Blackdown’s modern dub/electronic sounds.

You can definitely hear hints of Burial and Thievery Corporation in this track – it does need some bass however so tune your equalizer or put it on your big speakers.

Dusk + Blackdown – Confusion (feat. Farrah)

Thievery Corporation – Lebanese Blonde

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhyYXSe1wU4