SIMBAD Vinyl & CDs

Review: Brooklyn's Wonderwheel is kind of like an institution by now; a label which has been delivering high levels of quality since the early 00s, and who is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. In fact, the imprint has only managed to develop and nurture their tribalistic style of the years, and it's fair to say that they have successfully managed to create a Wonderwheel 'sound'; heavy, club-friendly deep house with subtle Afro nuances. This new EP, Turntables On Ipanema, is a collaborative effort by a series of familiar names: DJ G's wonderfully tropical house ballad "Samba De Terra" leads the 12", and is followed by Simbad's darker, more broken house groove called "Detroit De Janeiro", a perfect blurring of the sounds of the two American cities. Over on the B-side, "BerimBOOM" by Nickodemus and Simbad is a warm, beat-heavy deep house tune, and Zeb's "Space Forest" winds the tempo down to a sweet, mid-paced groove with magnificently dubby harmonies, and a balearic kinda feel.

Review: The Sofrito Super Singles series is on the cusp of double figures and this offering from collective main man Frankie Francis and the excellent Simbad might just be their best work so far. As ever with Sofrito, there's a sense of music education that comes with this record as the label shines the light on Gwo Ka - the folkloric rhythm of Guadeloupe - and one of its greatest voices in Esnard Boisdur. The focus here is Bosidur's 1991 track "Soufwans" (which translates as Sufferance for those not au fait with Guadeloupian) which in the hands of Francis and Simbad is flipped into a hypnotic house production replete with deep bassline and some killer synths. The accompanying dub mix will probably appeal to the deeper house selectors too as there's some killer drum programming on that one.

Review: Rainy City Music's philosophy has always been to only release a few select recordings every year over the last 25 years. The Manchester-based label's objective is to avoid the saturation of music / plastic pollution since 1996 and their brand new vinyl 12" release to celebrate their latest milestone celebrating the deeper underground dance music sound of their city is finally here. The legendary Jamaican Dub Poet Mutabaruka appears with a brand new track 'Catch, Loot, Steal', plus an echo drenched Ital dub over on the flip. Not to mention a brand new rendition of Muta's timeless classic 'Dis Poem' released unofficially by Bobby Konders back in '86, remixed respectfully here by Irfan & Simbad.

Review: London production hero and DJ Simbad joins forces with BBE for a retrospective album named "Collections Vol.1". Included are five wonderful tracks released throughout his 15 year career featuring his distinctive, warm, jazz-infused production with guest vocals from some of the scene's finest. From the emotive broken beat of "Elevate", evocative urban blues of nu-jazz jam "Let Go", to the sensual late night deepness of "Get Your Sh Together" and "Thankful", this is a set that displays his ability to create powerful and soulful expressions. It's great to finally see these getting a proper release on BBE.

Review: When Marvin and Leon wrote 'After The Dance' in 1976, we doubt they ever thought anyone could ever remake it like Simbad and Melo
did in the studio after Raw Fusion A&R, Mad Mats came up with the idea for this wonder of a cover. This is a beauty to be felt deep down
on the dance floor. But not only does Simbad go jammin' with Melo, this time around our insect friends down in the West London cellars,
Bugz In The Attic, take on the remix duties and deliver what might become another track of the year. With its soulful strings and cut up
beats it's sure to swing away on most heavy dance floors worldwide. On the flipside of this masterpiece the Raw Fusion-signed funk fiend,
Phil Asher mixes up the previous Simbad release 'Supersonic Revelation' with the deepest 4/4 groove you'll ever hear on 12-inch vinyl.

Review: This is the latest Faces 12" - it’s a house ting. The feet-note heavy "2nite’s Da Nite" on the A-side is dirty & uncompromising, sexy to the fullest. The instrumental is to be found on the B-side. But what should deserve ur attention is "Interluv". Hip boogie foreplay 4 the b-boys & the b-girls - Git it? Got it. Or maybe it works better after all precious weekend wellness. Easy. U have the choice. So - There u go & keep smiling, the shit ain’t so bad at all! Simbad also releases music under the names Heal, Twitch, Beatkeepers, Dreadpoet, Loose Ensemble, the Marathon Men, Mowgly & Les Barons and has currently finished an album for Chilli Funk (under Marathon Men with F.McQuinn) to be released in September 2005.

Review: Mr Simbad is seriously hot right now! After the incredible success of his worldwide hit "Soul Fever", which got played by everybody, he's now back with his second single, "Supersonic Revelation". Continuing his trademark R&B/soul, with a slight electronic touch, he's teamed up with vocalist Abdul Shyllon for some proper ghetto soul. It almost comes off like a Detroit house cut slowed down to an R&B tempo, but of course with a twist. To ensure that the tune also gets proper spins in the clubs we got the Marathon Men (Simbad & F. McQuinn) to deliver a fierce house remix that's got both soul and a swinging house thump! For the B-side we thought that no one could be better to remix "Soul Fever" than our friend DJ Karizma. Take a listen to his remix of "Soul Fever" and we think you'll agree that this is proper house music at its very best. The mix has already been getting spins from people like Gilles Peterson, Phil Asher and Kev Beadle. Raw Fusion bring a packed release.

Review: French soulboy Simbad (Marathon Men, Mowgly) has done a gritty electronic soul bomb that could easily be the biggest track of the year. Props have been coming in from just about everywhere with Gilles Peterson and Benj-B playing it on repeat for the last months on their shows. Soul Fever was also one of the big cuts at this years Southport Weekender and our Raw Fusion myspace and website have been rammed with questions about the track. Basically, the hype is absolutely mad!

Review: After a long and dark winter, SMBD thought we all could do with some uplifting and soulful Spring music. He's back with his third seasonal EP on GAMM and this bunch of jams have been his personal DJ weapons over recent years. They're now given a sweet edit for your dancing pleasure. From the uplifting gospel vibes on Dorothy Norwood's "He's A Friend" (SMBD '79 edit), the boogie down vibe of William Bros "Never Could Have Made It" (SMBD '81 edit) and finally on the flip is the Mighty Clouds Of Joy's "Glow Love" (SMBD '79 edit) that is a disco-fied soul explosion and sure to burn up the dancefloor anytime.