I’ve been hearing rumors for YEARS now that Mulatu (one of my all-time favorite artists) was going back in the studio to cut a new album. At first it was supposedly going to happen with Quantic, which I hope still comes into fruition someday. But when I heard that it finally did end up happening with the Heliocentrics (who I’ve blogged about a few times with various different projects they’ve been involved with), I got even more giddy. Malcolm Catto & crew have a way of making things sound raw, dirty and haunting unlike anyone else (aside from maybe Mulatu circa 1971). Their trademark mix of psychedelic funk is executed under what seems to me magical studio conditions- beyond being analogue/retro, it sounds like they must have a resident voodoo priest during recording sessions. According to this little sneak peek video on youtube, they don’t, but I can still pretend. Anyway, today I’m sharing the first track off the upcoming album. Listening to some other highlights off the album, I really can’t wait to have this beast in it’s entirety. Thanks to the good people at Strut, you can get a good idea of how it all runs together by listening to       this podcast too.

Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics : Masenqo
taken from the album “Inspiration Information” on Strut (2009)

Gonna keep today’s post short and sweet. This is a song that has been absolutely slaying me for months now. A little slice of heaven so potent you might need to sit down so you don’t get bowled over. (I spent an entire night listening to it for the first time, not sure that a song this good actually existed.) From the insanity of the guitar lines (can you say, distortion?) to the incomprehensible beauty of the vocals (any Portugese speakers out there who’d care to translate this, please, hit a brother up), I literally cannot get enough of this track. The Captain reminded me that this song needed to be shared when he mentioned Milton on a recent post over at Soul-Sides.  Now I’m sharing it with you. Enjoy.

Milton Nascimento : Trem De Doido
Taken from the album “Clube Da Esquina” on Odeon (1972)