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For over four decades Mr. Fingers has been shaping the core of House Music. Now he returns with a new album that continues this timeless journey through deep rhythms, soulful melodies, and immersive atmospheres. Crafted with the warmth and musicality that define him, the record blends deep house, jazz-infused harmonies, and subtle R&B textures. On 'Leev Ur Mynd' Mr. Fingers once again reminds us why his music remains essential: hypnotic grooves and heartfelt compositions. Not just music for the club, but also for the quiet spaces...
The Death Of Rave’s first vinyl release since 2022 is a long-in-the-making techgnostic fantasy by scene anomaly Mu, scrying ancient energies via archaic DAWs of perception in four addictive bops for aerobic mystics - RIYL Shakti, Enigma, Deep Forest, Young Druid, eL-Hortobāgyi Hortator, V/Vm. Chasing the label’s 2025 regeneration with Dale Cornish’s ‘Altruism’ and Nakul Krishnamurthy’s ‘Punaravartanam’, Mu reincarnate the spirits of Pythia, high priestess of the Temple Apollo at Delphi, with four precious cuts that livicate late ‘80s & early ‘90s dance-pop via anachronistic prisms, with ohrwurming vocals and microtonal melodies that, once heard, become indelibly etched on muscle memory and jig atavistic DNA. Hailing the civilisation of Lemuria - said to inhabit the sunken continent of Atlantis - Mu practise a mode of swaying dance-pop that sensually conjures sunken sites of worship in the Med to roadside clubs of Brabant and Lower Broughton in the 3rd millennium AD. Ageless stories of exile and romance are wrapped up in a particular palette of decades-old software to complicate uchronic timelines and lead “those who carry the wisdom of the sun & navigate the fallen realm through blood memory” to seldom felt sensations. The opening ‘Flesh’ is among our most rinsed songs of the past few years, adored for its DAWbell and monk chant motifs, where vocals incant like Enigma’s sexiest gear. And likewise the frisson of standout ‘Sacrifice’ has haunted our daydreams with a simply unforgettable new beat turn of phrase like some Shakti fantasy that also bleeds into the X-Files shimmy of ‘Kingdom,’ and the import-grade efficacy of the Arabesque ‘Underworld Quanta.’ It’s a whole vibe, certain to find its audience in club shamens and priestesses of this life and the next.
Artur Strekalov, aka mu tate, joins the OST roster with another set of dreamtime snapshots that he collages into a plunderphonic scrapbook of new age-y samples, dialog snippets and squirly, bass-heavy rhythms. One for fans of Oneohtrix Point Never, Special Guest DJ, Space Afrika and Ludwig Wandinger, then. Last spotted breaking bread with Nexciya and Exzald S on 2025's 'Labège', Strekalov has become a reliable presence on the dubwise ambient fringe, spreading his influence across imprints like Warm Winters, Experiences and Alex Egan's Utter. He joins New York's OST, home of Organ Tapes, DJ Pitch and shineteac, among others, with 'life of mu', an album that moves beyond the gauzy, downtempo hum of his last solo joint, 2024's 'wanting less'. This one, as the title suggests, traces a more sturdy narrative, avoiding the overtly nostalgic bass-heavy ambiance that rooted its predecessors and emphasising more suggestive soundscapes that Strekalov peppers with movie samples. Opener 'world has ended for me many times...' cuts fluttering, 'Incunabula'-alike synth vamps into radio interferences and a woman's exasperated monologue that's spirals into distortion. It's remarkably open, too - Strekalov doesn't overload us with ideas, letting his story emerge slowly from the pregnant pauses and negative space. A song almost coalesces on 'low desire society' from whirring electronics and wily oscillations, and the IDM influences that emerged on the opener crystallize properly on 'world of'. But as soon as the album takes a more corporeal form, it inevitably turns to gas: 'lost in translation' is a selection of synthetic belches and cinematic cues and 'heavyweight' is anything but, an oozing, tempo-fluxed chug that's latched to its own druggy logic. Ben Bondy shows up on 'memory of a memory' as the track stumbles from warm, Toytronic-era electronix into crunchy emo-rock in the second half, and Yves B. Golden, who helped zhuzh up Ludwig Wandinger's excellent 'Is Peace Wild', adds her side to the atmospheric 'Yves's Story'.
“Labège, released on Good Morning Tapes, emerged from a residency in the town of the same name in Occitanie, where NEXCYIA, mu tate, and Exzald S lived and worked under one roof. Immersed in the slow rhythms of southern French life, the trio embraced live improvisation, intuitive sampling, and a freeform process shaped by their domestic surroundings. The result is a collection of gentle, drifting compositions—sonic postcards capturing a fleeting moment in time.
The trio brings a distinct yet complementary voice. Working with abstraction, sound mangling tools, field recordings, and fragmented rhythms to sculpt tactile, evolving environments. All leaning into softness and restraint, weaving filtered harmonics and spacious reverb into floating atmospheres anchored by deep sub-bass and hushed vocals.
Their methods intertwine seamlessly, allowing improvisation and chance to guide the music’s form. The result is both expansive and intimate—suspended somewhere between memory and the present.”
Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke joins the Hoodna Orchestra, Tel Aviv’s number one Afro funk collective, melding his enchanting vibraphone playing with their brass heavy force across seven original compositions that play tribute to the classic Mulatu sound while forging fresh paths. Produced by and featuring Dap-King Neal Sugarman, the results are gritty, yet majestic, soulful and uplifting.
Mulatu Astatke requires little introduction at this point. Born in Jimma, Ethiopia, Mulatu went on to live and study in London, Boston and New York. Initially drawn to and trained in jazz and Latin music, he developed the sound he called “Ethio-jazz” over a series of seminal albums combining jazz, Latin, funk and soul, with traditional Ethiopian scales and rhythms.
Long a cornerstone of the Ethiopian recording industry, his albums and even guest appearances were long sought after by record collectors and music enthusiasts around the globe. However the release of an acclaimed ‘Éthiopiques’ compilation dedicated to his instrumental recordings in 1998, followed by the 2005 release of Jim Jarmush’s acclaimed ‘Broken Flowers’ film, which heavily featured Astatke’s irresistible music, introduced him to a much wider international audience. Mulatu would go on to be sampled by the likes of Nas, Kanye West, Cut Chemist and Madlib, whilst touring to large audiences across the globe, and collaborating with London-based psych jazz collective, the Heliocentrics.
Formed in 2012 on the south side of Tel Aviv, the 12 member Hoodna Orchestra is a collective of musicians and composers who initially bonded over a shared love of Afrobeat. They have gone on to incorporate psychedelic rock, hard funk and soul, jazz, and East African music into their sought after releases, winning praise and airplay from the likes of Iggy Pop and Huey Morgan on BBC Radio 6 Music. The collective draws together a huge array of musical talents such as guitarist Ilan Smilan and organist Eitan Drabkin of Sababa 5 fame, Shalosh trio drummer Matan Assayag, and percussionist Rani Birenbaum of The Faithful Brothers, many of whom also contribute compositions to the orchestra, ensuring its collaborative environment.
Over time, members of the orchestra came to find they shared a growing interest in Ethiopian music, particularly the Ethio-jazz of Mulatu Astatke. Since releasing a recording with Ethiopian singer Tesfaye Negatu, Hoodna Orchestra had been looking to find ways to collaborate with Astatke himself and in early 2023 the opportunity arose to invite Astatke to Tel Aviv, record an album and perform it live for their home audience. Stars aligned as Neal Sugarman, multi-instrumentalist member of the Dap-Kings and co-founder of Daptone Records, joined and produced the session with Smilan.
The album commences with title track “Tension”, leading Mulatu’s signature sound in a new, rhythmically intense direction, hence the name, providing fresh creative ground for the collaborators. Astatke’s vibraphone sets the scene, before drummer Matan Assayag attacks the beat and Nadav Bracha’s marching bassline and Rani’s percussion propel the track forward, and Hoodna’s brass section delivers a classic Ethio motif. Mulatu’s enchanting vibraphone solo is followed by a blistering tenor sax solo by Eylon Tushiner. This is Ethio-jazz on turbochargers.
Recorded towards the end of their session, “Major” provides a whole new dimension, joyously and effortlessly swinging out of the speakers after “Tension”. You can sense how comfortable the band feels together at this point. The track features a superb organ solo by Drabkin. The Smilan composed “Hatula” embodies the sound of a cat prowling outside on a hot summer’s night with poise and finesse, before building into a great crescendo that belies the feline creature’s unpredictable behavior and wilder instincts. “Yashan” on the other hand is classic smoke-filled- lounge Ethio-jazz with an undercurrent of tension you can cut with a knife, with the Elad Gellert baritone sax solo lulling you into a false sense of security.
The Latin-jazz tinged grooves of “Delilah” play homage to the early roots of Mulatu’s sound. Leading the song’s key motif, Tushiner’s seductive flute is well balanced by Smilan’s guitar, proceeding beautifully into an enchanting solo by Astatke himself. Tushiner takes an extended turn himself, soloing like Hungarian guitar legend Gábor Szabó, if only he’d moved to Cairo instead of San Francisco. Joined by Sugarman on saxophones, the brass section plays a subtle but important role on his occasion, gently accompanying in the background.
The album closes fittingly with “Dung Gate”. A Birenbaum composition, the track features slow, heavy, melodic motif led by the brass section, counterbalanced by a tidal wave of percussion and hand-clapping. One can imagine the band slowly marching out of the venue through the crowd at the end of their show, the audience clapping in time with the orchestra’s brass and percussion, recalling another legend, the late great Sun Ra.
On one hand, ‘Tension’ is clearly a deeply personal tribute by the Hoodna Orchestra to iconic Mulatu Astatke, but at the same time the recordings emit a remarkable amount of chemistry, and together they have created an essential addition to Mulatu’s rich discography that charts new directions in his Ethio-jazz trajectory and provides the Hoodna Orchestra with their strongest album to date.
Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke joins the Hoodna Orchestra, Tel Aviv’s number one Afro funk collective, melding his enchanting vibraphone playing with their brass heavy force across seven original compositions that play tribute to the classic Mulatu sound while forging fresh paths. Produced by and featuring Dap-King Neal Sugarman, the results are gritty, yet majestic, soulful and uplifting.
Mulatu Astatke requires little introduction at this point. Born in Jimma, Ethiopia, Mulatu went on to live and study in London, Boston and New York. Initially drawn to and trained in jazz and Latin music, he developed the sound he called “Ethio-jazz” over a series of seminal albums combining jazz, Latin, funk and soul, with traditional Ethiopian scales and rhythms.
Long a cornerstone of the Ethiopian recording industry, his albums and even guest appearances were long sought after by record collectors and music enthusiasts around the globe. However the release of an acclaimed ‘Éthiopiques’ compilation dedicated to his instrumental recordings in 1998, followed by the 2005 release of Jim Jarmush’s acclaimed ‘Broken Flowers’ film, which heavily featured Astatke’s irresistible music, introduced him to a much wider international audience. Mulatu would go on to be sampled by the likes of Nas, Kanye West, Cut Chemist and Madlib, whilst touring to large audiences across the globe, and collaborating with London-based psych jazz collective, the Heliocentrics.
Formed in 2012 on the south side of Tel Aviv, the 12 member Hoodna Orchestra is a collective of musicians and composers who initially bonded over a shared love of Afrobeat. They have gone on to incorporate psychedelic rock, hard funk and soul, jazz, and East African music into their sought after releases, winning praise and airplay from the likes of Iggy Pop and Huey Morgan on BBC Radio 6 Music. The collective draws together a huge array of musical talents such as guitarist Ilan Smilan and organist Eitan Drabkin of Sababa 5 fame, Shalosh trio drummer Matan Assayag, and percussionist Rani Birenbaum of The Faithful Brothers, many of whom also contribute compositions to the orchestra, ensuring its collaborative environment.
Over time, members of the orchestra came to find they shared a growing interest in Ethiopian music, particularly the Ethio-jazz of Mulatu Astatke. Since releasing a recording with Ethiopian singer Tesfaye Negatu, Hoodna Orchestra had been looking to find ways to collaborate with Astatke himself and in early 2023 the opportunity arose to invite Astatke to Tel Aviv, record an album and perform it live for their home audience. Stars aligned as Neal Sugarman, multi-instrumentalist member of the Dap-Kings and co-founder of Daptone Records, joined and produced the session with Smilan.
The album commences with title track “Tension”, leading Mulatu’s signature sound in a new, rhythmically intense direction, hence the name, providing fresh creative ground for the collaborators. Astatke’s vibraphone sets the scene, before drummer Matan Assayag attacks the beat and Nadav Bracha’s marching bassline and Rani’s percussion propel the track forward, and Hoodna’s brass section delivers a classic Ethio motif. Mulatu’s enchanting vibraphone solo is followed by a blistering tenor sax solo by Eylon Tushiner. This is Ethio-jazz on turbochargers.
Recorded towards the end of their session, “Major” provides a whole new dimension, joyously and effortlessly swinging out of the speakers after “Tension”. You can sense how comfortable the band feels together at this point. The track features a superb organ solo by Drabkin. The Smilan composed “Hatula” embodies the sound of a cat prowling outside on a hot summer’s night with poise and finesse, before building into a great crescendo that belies the feline creature’s unpredictable behavior and wilder instincts. “Yashan” on the other hand is classic smoke-filled- lounge Ethio-jazz with an undercurrent of tension you can cut with a knife, with the Elad Gellert baritone sax solo lulling you into a false sense of security.
The Latin-jazz tinged grooves of “Delilah” play homage to the early roots of Mulatu’s sound. Leading the song’s key motif, Tushiner’s seductive flute is well balanced by Smilan’s guitar, proceeding beautifully into an enchanting solo by Astatke himself. Tushiner takes an extended turn himself, soloing like Hungarian guitar legend Gábor Szabó, if only he’d moved to Cairo instead of San Francisco. Joined by Sugarman on saxophones, the brass section plays a subtle but important role on his occasion, gently accompanying in the background.
The album closes fittingly with “Dung Gate”. A Birenbaum composition, the track features slow, heavy, melodic motif led by the brass section, counterbalanced by a tidal wave of percussion and hand-clapping. One can imagine the band slowly marching out of the venue through the crowd at the end of their show, the audience clapping in time with the orchestra’s brass and percussion, recalling another legend, the late great Sun Ra.
On one hand, ‘Tension’ is clearly a deeply personal tribute by the Hoodna Orchestra to iconic Mulatu Astatke, but at the same time the recordings emit a remarkable amount of chemistry, and together they have created an essential addition to Mulatu’s rich discography that charts new directions in his Ethio-jazz trajectory and provides the Hoodna Orchestra with their strongest album to date.
The third in Strut’s Inspiration Information studio collaboration series brings together an intriguing pairing between one of Africa’s great bandleaders, Mulatu Astatke, with the next level musicianship of The Heliocentrics collective from the mighty roster of Stones Throw / Now Again.
Known primarily through the successful ‘Ethiopiques’ album series and the film soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Broken Flowers’, Mulatu Astatke is one of Ethiopia’s foremost musical ambassadors. Informed by spells living and studying in the UK and the USA, his self-styled Ethio-jazz sound flourished during the “Swinging Addis” era of the late ‘60s as he successfully fused Western jazz and funk with traditional Ethiopian folk melodies, five tone scale arrangements and elements from music of the ancient Coptic church.
The Heliocentrics have become known as one of the UK’s foremost free-thinking collectives of musicians, inspired by a wide palette covering Sun Ra, James Brown, David Axelrod and all manner of psych, Afro and Eastern sounds. Now a fixture within the Stones Throw / Now Again roster, they forged their own genre-breaking directions in the astral analogue groove on their 2007 debut album, ‘Out There’.
“ It’s like going back to the feel of the ‘60s, it really feels like that,” explains Mulatu. “There’s a new composition, ‘Cha Cha’, and ‘Dewel’, heavily influenced by an Ethiopian Coptic Church composer called Yard. The band took it and added what they feel. It’s a nice experiment.”
The Ethio Jazz album by Mulatu Astatqé is a jewel of the modern Ethiopian music and a mythical album, since the beginning of Ethiopian music reissues. An incredibly groovy Ethiopian record, originally from 1969-1972. Amazing orchestral 'Ethio-groove' filled with US soul, jazz, sometimes Latin and the deepest Eastern rhythms, even including some great nasty and dirty fuzz guitars. A true gem of Ethiopian modern instrumental music, which illustrates perfectly this symbiosis of strong rhythms and quality arrangements of subtle yet deep Ethiopian melodies. A must for all '60s/'70s collectors! In the Ethiopian musical landscape, Mulatu Astatke is a unique musician, composer, arranger. His real contribution consists in his action for instrumental music, in a country where orchestral traditions doesn't exist. For the last 30 years, he is the leading head of the Ethiopian musical scene. First vinyl reissue and definitely one of the most important Ethiopian music albums.