Kukan dUb Lagan ~ New Life New Vision :: MikelaBella Records :: Coming Soon!
For the past two years, Israeli music label MikelaBella Records has made a startling impact upon an already well established scene, an achievement as respectable as it is not easy. However, the musicianship and technical experience of its owners and participants speak for exponential amounts of time beyond oven that.
MikelaBella's philosophy is one of unification rather than classification and their showcase of styles reflect this. Having featured releases under the genres of Electro, House, Techno, Dubstep and many more, the common interest and criteria for the label's artist is one of quality emphasis and attention to detail. Every artist packs years of personal music experience under their belts, both on the dancefloor and in the studio, as DJ and more.
This label's latest release ‘New Life New Vision’ by Kukan dUb Lagan encapsulates these ideals and philosophies perfectly. Showcasing a dozen tracks which hail from a rainbow of eclectic musical genres from both the traditional and experimental spectrums of sound, yet belonging to none. The most important aspect, and well worth emphasizing at that, of this release that truly moves it onto its own level is its utter lack of sterility and banality. "Kukan", despite its subtle electronic nature, feels alive, generated directly in your immediate environment or between your ears. It is this aspect which elevates music, and specifically this stellar release, into true artwork masterpiece status. After you have listened, you will understand to the fullest just what that means.
Click below for samples:
1. Colazione Dalla Nonna
2. La Vita
3. Zingari Vibes
4. Psychedelic Funk-O-Delic
5. The Re-Turn of the Master
6. Funk Me
7. Volcano Session
8. SunSet with MikelaBella
9. Scratch
10. New Life New Vision
11. L'illusione del Capitano
Track by track:
Colazione Dalla Nonna
This intro piece sounds like something that came out of a smoky jazz blub or reggae bar more than a "traditional" electronic music piece. However, the digital elements show themselves before long, making this an overall appropriately enjoyable introduction to the rest of this album.
La Vita
This track is like an iced drink on a hot summer day. Chilled out, yet refreshing and condensation-inducing, "La Vita" is built of crisp urban percussion elements, a warming bassline, and minimal synth effects accompanied by live horn sections. This genre-breaking arrangement has the precision of a studio-built track with all the atmosphere of a live music performance.
Zingari Vibes
This old-timey intro belies a following procession of glitchy drum work resting atop a soothing sub bassline more felt than heard. Reggae guitar stabs quantify background wah pedals and bluesy saw waves and subtle synth arpeggios. Funky and eclectic, this piece combines all the best pieces of retro flavor with ultra-modern techniques and electronic styles.
Psychedelic Funk-O-Delic
As the name implies, this is a neuron-tickling arrangement of off-timed drum and bass works. Cowbells clang out head nodding beats to the tune of a heady bassline and \mid-range riffs which order up a dancefloor shaken, not stirred. Masterful piano work distracts you from the subtle changes in percussive filtration and glitch placement.
The Re-Turn of the Master
Immediately noticeable is a crunchier-than-normal bassline which contrasts nicely against crisp, clean hihats. Roughly a minute later, the beat is in full swing, using clever amounts of reverb and panorama which implies spaciousness. Beautifully affected digital strings echo and bounce about, giving this reggae-esque track a slight touch of Eastern vibration.
Funk Me
Minimal urban beats paint atmospheric soundscapes of smoky relaxation and musical marriage of East and West amidst a jungle of percussive groove. Pitch-oscillating resonance drifts between left and right as a masterful brass section plays its way from the hinter ground to the fore. The bassline definitely earns this track's name, with an echoed piano adding the cherry to this sundae.
Volcano Session
This track picks up the tempo a tad. Bass drops and a lightly housey drum sets progress with the chugging rhythm of a choo-choo train while dirty filtered synths build in intensity. This is one that will get you out of your seat hand help you break free of the roots you've gathered. Instruments both analog and digital make this piece a fruitful collusion of wide ranges of musical spectrum.
SunSet with MikelaBella
Cacophonies of blended daily noises throw your perceptions into short chaos before surgically realigning them with well-placed rhythmic repetition and harmony. Expertly panned Latin guitars influence duets against jazzy string melodies. A bit of brass improvisation rounds out this piece to the fullest, creating an atmosphere somewhere between a smoky blues club and a spring mushroom garden.
Scratch
This masterwork of electro glitch seems parented by a wedding of analog synth bass and housey-reggae percussion. The bleeps are tasteful, well-timed and never overused. The musical progression is smooth, reassuringly leading you into worlds of retro synth sounds which never remain the same from second to second, panning their oscillation rates at regularly chaotic intervals.
New Life New Vision
This track is obviously a piece with a meaning and dedication behind it. At once noticeable is the attention to clarity and quality of each of the sound elements. Bass, percussion, and lead fit amongst each other comfortably and with plenty of breathing room to spare. A live-feeling conga and bongo session is the highlight of this piece, slipping you completely into the groove.
L'illusione del Capitano
Squelching tape delay punctuates the sections of this track, making it a department boutique of altering moods, all glued together by a bellows-like bass and guitar using small touches of distortion. Medleys of influence abound here, from eastern European organ, winds and brass from even further, and Dubstep percussion from the concrete jungles coexist in smoky harmony.
Related Links:
MikelaBella Myspace | www.myspace.com/mbrec |
Kukan-dub-Lagan Website | www.kukantaiko.com |
Kukan-dub-Lagan Myspace | www.myspace.com/kukandublagan |
CD Available also on ::USB Compact Stick:: exclusive to PSYSHOP *including several new tunes and remixes not available on CD* | www.psyshop.com/shop/Sticks/mlb/mlb1cs001.html |
European distribution through Psyshop
| www.psyshop.com/ |
For the past two years, Israeli music label MikelaBella Records has made a startling impact upon an already well established scene, an achievement as respectable as it is not easy. However, the musicianship and technical experience of its owners and participants speak for exponential amounts of time beyond oven that.
MikelaBella's philosophy is one of unification rather than classification and their showcase of styles reflect this. Having featured releases under the genres of Electro, House, Techno, Dubstep and many more, the common interest and criteria for the label's artist is one of quality emphasis and attention to detail. Every artist packs years of personal music experience under their belts, both on the dancefloor and in the studio, as DJ and more.
This label's latest release ‘New Life New Vision’ by Kukan dUb Lagan encapsulates these ideals and philosophies perfectly. Showcasing a dozen tracks which hail from a rainbow of eclectic musical genres from both the traditional and experimental spectrums of sound, yet belonging to none. The most important aspect, and well worth emphasizing at that, of this release that truly moves it onto its own level is its utter lack of sterility and banality. "Kukan", despite its subtle electronic nature, feels alive, generated directly in your immediate environment or between your ears. It is this aspect which elevates music, and specifically this stellar release, into true artwork masterpiece status. After you have listened, you will understand to the fullest just what that means.
Click below for samples:
1. Colazione Dalla Nonna 2. La Vita 3. Zingari Vibes 4. Psychedelic Funk-O-Delic 5. The Re-Turn of the Master 6. Funk Me 7. Volcano Session 8. SunSet with MikelaBella 9. Scratch 10. New Life New Vision 11. L'illusione del CapitanoTrack by track:
Colazione Dalla Nonna
This intro piece sounds like something that came out of a smoky jazz blub or reggae bar more than a "traditional" electronic music piece. However, the digital elements show themselves before long, making this an overall appropriately enjoyable introduction to the rest of this album.
La Vita
This track is like an iced drink on a hot summer day. Chilled out, yet refreshing and condensation-inducing, "La Vita" is built of crisp urban percussion elements, a warming bassline, and minimal synth effects accompanied by live horn sections. This genre-breaking arrangement has the precision of a studio-built track with all the atmosphere of a live music performance.
Zingari Vibes
This old-timey intro belies a following procession of glitchy drum work resting atop a soothing sub bassline more felt than heard. Reggae guitar stabs quantify background wah pedals and bluesy saw waves and subtle synth arpeggios. Funky and eclectic, this piece combines all the best pieces of retro flavor with ultra-modern techniques and electronic styles.
Psychedelic Funk-O-Delic
As the name implies, this is a neuron-tickling arrangement of off-timed drum and bass works. Cowbells clang out head nodding beats to the tune of a heady bassline and \mid-range riffs which order up a dancefloor shaken, not stirred. Masterful piano work distracts you from the subtle changes in percussive filtration and glitch placement.
The Re-Turn of the Master
Immediately noticeable is a crunchier-than-normal bassline which contrasts nicely against crisp, clean hihats. Roughly a minute later, the beat is in full swing, using clever amounts of reverb and panorama which implies spaciousness. Beautifully affected digital strings echo and bounce about, giving this reggae-esque track a slight touch of Eastern vibration.
Funk Me
Minimal urban beats paint atmospheric soundscapes of smoky relaxation and musical marriage of East and West amidst a jungle of percussive groove. Pitch-oscillating resonance drifts between left and right as a masterful brass section plays its way from the hinter ground to the fore. The bassline definitely earns this track's name, with an echoed piano adding the cherry to this sundae.
Volcano Session
This track picks up the tempo a tad. Bass drops and a lightly housey drum sets progress with the chugging rhythm of a choo-choo train while dirty filtered synths build in intensity. This is one that will get you out of your seat hand help you break free of the roots you've gathered. Instruments both analog and digital make this piece a fruitful collusion of wide ranges of musical spectrum.
SunSet with MikelaBella
Cacophonies of blended daily noises throw your perceptions into short chaos before surgically realigning them with well-placed rhythmic repetition and harmony. Expertly panned Latin guitars influence duets against jazzy string melodies. A bit of brass improvisation rounds out this piece to the fullest, creating an atmosphere somewhere between a smoky blues club and a spring mushroom garden.
Scratch
This masterwork of electro glitch seems parented by a wedding of analog synth bass and housey-reggae percussion. The bleeps are tasteful, well-timed and never overused. The musical progression is smooth, reassuringly leading you into worlds of retro synth sounds which never remain the same from second to second, panning their oscillation rates at regularly chaotic intervals.
New Life New Vision
This track is obviously a piece with a meaning and dedication behind it. At once noticeable is the attention to clarity and quality of each of the sound elements. Bass, percussion, and lead fit amongst each other comfortably and with plenty of breathing room to spare. A live-feeling conga and bongo session is the highlight of this piece, slipping you completely into the groove.
L'illusione del Capitano
Squelching tape delay punctuates the sections of this track, making it a department boutique of altering moods, all glued together by a bellows-like bass and guitar using small touches of distortion. Medleys of influence abound here, from eastern European organ, winds and brass from even further, and Dubstep percussion from the concrete jungles coexist in smoky harmony.
Related Links:
MikelaBella Myspace | www.myspace.com/mbrec |
Kukan-dub-Lagan Website | www.kukantaiko.com |
Kukan-dub-Lagan Myspace | www.myspace.com/kukandublagan |
CD Available also on ::USB Compact Stick:: exclusive to PSYSHOP *including several new tunes and remixes not available on CD* | www.psyshop.com/shop/Sticks/mlb/mlb1cs001.html |
European distribution through Psyshop
| www.psyshop.com/ |