RRR029 – Greenwood & Horn – Dust of Falling Stars EP

Ramrock Red Records are beyond happy to be releasing Greenwood & Horn’s debut single, ‘Dust of Falling Stars’ on June 24th. Born during lockdown, this ethereal chugger would be something that Mr Weatherall would’ve had on his radar. It grabs you by your collar from the opening bars and shakes you firmly into listening to Ian’s beautiful production with Ali’s vocals floating effortlessly over the bass and melody and imagining yourself bathed in eternal summer sunshine at a happening just beyond the perimeter of your mind. The North Street West crew take the track and raise the tempo by a couple of BPMs with Darren Morris adding his keyboard chemistry, Jo Wallace on arrangement and Daddy Ash on the drum machine. Suddenly, you’re on the White Isle in the shimmering heat, moving in perfect time to the Balearic beat and never wanting it to end.Back in the 70’s, you’ll find a young Winsford born Ian Greenwood sharing a bedroom with his much older uncle listening to Northern Souls classics, with his older sister in the room next door singing into a hairbrush to Motown classics…fast forward to his first band Sunset Over Berlin who later became Day Without Rain which gave Greenwood his first real taste of the music business when the band found themselves in the world-famous Amazon Studio’s recording their first EP ‘The Way She Was’ with John Murphy (Thomas Lang) on production duty. Then came a stint with Widnes Indie band 35 Summers who went on to sign to RCA Records and released two singles, ‘Really Down’ and ‘I Didn’t Try and also having the accolade of doing not one but two John Peel sessions. Ian then joined Wirral Indie band Fishmonkeyman and it was with them that Greenwood cut his production teeth, experimenting with electronic music, a collaboration with Chameleons drummer, John Lever and building his home studio named AM studios. Ian produced his own house productions under various disguises such as Oscar Le Mons and Damoon and going on to manage Liverpudlian group, The Sugarmen. Mick Jones of The Clash was such a huge fan of the band that he produced their debut album at Paul Weller Rockfield studio. Over the next five years Greenwood invested heavily in his home studio and was pondering his next career move when lockdown came along, and he started writing music + producing again. Keen to find the right vocalist to accompany his work Greenwood called up the bass player from The Sugarmen, Ali Horn – and so the ‘Greenwood & Horn’ story begins….Ali Horn picks up the story: “I actually first met Ian when he was managing The Sugarmen in Liverpool over 10 years ago – crazy!!! I think we'd been aware of each other’s projects since then and then lockdown was the perfect time for a collaboration”. Ali was born in London, raised in Liverpool and has been playing music as long as he can remember. He’s been integral part of many influential bands such as Strange Collective, The Sugarmen and Post Romantics, Horn knows his way around a hazy, laid back tune and has found just the right balance between slices of Surf, Psychedelia, Folk and Alt-Indie in his musical output and vocal delivery. Having released his debut E.P. ‘It Wears Off’ in December 2019, Ali spent the majority of 2020 documenting, writing and recording his debut album ‘Balcony Boys’, which hit the shelves on the 16th July 2021 via Loominance Records, a label that Horn set up with a couple of friends. His music is a firm favourite of BBC Radio Merseyside’s Dave Monks, BBC Radio 6’s Liz Kershaw with sessions for BBC Introducing and BBC Wales and featured on Tom Robinson’s 6Music ‘Fresh on the Net’.

Twelve Caesars - Scenes from Wild Eyed Dreams LP

Artist: Twelve CaesarsTitle: Scenes from Wild Eyed DreamsRelease date: April 14th, 2023Label: Ramrock Red RecordsCatalogue No: RRRLP009Following on from their outstanding 2022 EP release, ‘Swan Fendered Mercury’, Twelve Caesars aka Andrew Pipe and Stephen Ennever unveil their debut Ramrock Red LP release, ‘Scenes from Wild Eyed Dreams’. The inspiration for the LP’s title, 'Scenes From Wild Eyed Dreams', is a lyric taken from a song on the album called 'Eleven Ways From Hell' - legend has it that there are 11 hidden portals on Earth through which one can enter the Underworld. The topics covered by the LP’s tracks take you on a bit of trek, moving from the US Civil Rights Movement through to Tiananmen Square and the Fall of the Berlin Wall via the war in Vietnam.The forthcoming single release, ‘California Sleaze’ drops on March 31st with remixes from the infamous No’West production team. Did someone say ‘Laurel Canyon’?

Twelve Caesars – California Sleaze – Lyric video

Twelve Caesars - California Sleaze - Lyric VideoArtist: Twelve CaesarsTitle: California Sleaze EPRelease date: March 31st, 2023Label: Ramrock Red RecordsCatalogue No: RRR038Following on from their outstanding 2022 Ramrock Red EP release, ‘Swan Fendered Mercury’, Twelve Caesars aka Andrew Pipe and Stephen Ennever take you on a West Coast road trip with their wonderfully evocative ‘California Sleaze’. An homage to Robert F Kennedy, ‘California Sleaze’ takes its inspiration from Mahalia Jackson’s ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’ & Blind Willie Johnson ‘Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed’ and delivered with a Crosby, Stills and Nash-esque fusion of folk, rock, psychedelic and country music. Did someone say ‘Laurel Canyon’?The North Street West crew will be remixing the track for a May/June release. Until then, play loud and love the one you’re with. Peace.

Twelve Caesars - California Sleaze

Artist: Twelve CaesarsTitle: California Sleaze EPRelease date: March 31st, 2023Label: Ramrock Red RecordsCatalogue No: RRR038Following on from their outstanding 2022 Ramrock Red EP release, ‘Swan Fendered Mercury’, Twelve Caesars aka Andrew Pipe and Stephen Ennever take you on a West Coast road trip with their wonderfully evocative ‘California Sleaze’. An homage to Robert F Kennedy, ‘California Sleaze’ takes its inspiration from Mahalia Jackson’s ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’ & Blind Willie Johnson ‘Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed’ and delivered with a Crosby, Stills and Nash-esque fusion of folk, rock, psychedelic and country music. Did someone say ‘Laurel Canyon’?The North Street West crew will be remixing the track for a May/June release. Until then, play loud and love the one you’re with. Peace.

The Sweet Fantastic – Hypnotisin’ (Get Down) – EP

F*CLR Records are so happy to be finally releasing The Sweet Fantastic’s brilliant ‘Hypnotisin (Get Down)’ as F*CLR’s first fresh release of 2022 – a beautifully reinterpreted version of Raw Silk’s ‘Doit to the music’.It’s been an incredibly long and winding road for Mancunian/qualifiedarchitect/DJ/producer/remixer and extremely patient co-founder of ‘The Sweet Fantastic’, Andrew Sant who now resides in Adelaide, Australia. Undeterred by a two year delay due to an initial knock back on a sample request from Raw Silk’s record company, the onset of COVID lockdowns and studio closures, Andrew persevered and after recruiting the fabulous talents of vocalist Lesley Williams to reimagine the vocals, he revised his original 2019 track from scratch on his dining roomtable along with musical colleague, Troy J Been. They took inspiration from the original track but added their own ‘Sweet Fantastic’ spin to the ‘Do It’ vibes. The North Street West crew lent their production talents to the remix and Ashley Beedle, Darren Morris and Jo Wallace pooled their collective disco chops to add nu-house sensibilities to the already excellent original.Previous releases from Andrew have included ‘Ya feel’ (3 AM Recordings), Out of Kontrol (Tri-Circle), Inbetween Dreams (Tarantic), Escapism (Kolour) and The Beat Conductor (Open Bar) with remixes forNeo on their track ‘Trulybe’ (Tri-Circle) and DJ Meme’s ‘Chanson du Soleil’ (Playmore). His DJ career has taken him around the globe from Sankeys Soap + the Warehouse Project Warm Up Party, Manchester, The Bomb, Nottingham, Miss Moneypenny’s @ BoHo, Ibiza and as a guest presenter on Stamford University Radio, San Francisco, California. Drawing on influences from the likes of Ashley Beedle, Frankie Knuckles, Jimpster, Masters at Work and Kerri Chandler to name but a few, The Sweet Fantastic are already working on several follow ups to ‘Hypnotisin’.‘Hypnotisin (Get Down)’ by The Sweet Fantastic debuted on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM in November 2021 on Ashley Beedle’s ‘Heavy Disco Spectacular’ radio show getting plenty of enquiries and now F*CLR Records can’t wait for your reactions to this evocative dancefloor filler!

RRRLP004 - Till Sunday - Steven Christie ft. Joseph Malik

The incredible 'Till Sunday' recordings are a result of Steven Christie and Joseph Malik writing music together with no pre-planned agenda. The first day of recording lead to the demo track 'Till Sunday', and with Joseph's stunning lyrics and melody, the pair quickly arranged another session which produced the final set of songs - ‘Tired On My Own', 'Justify Me', ' Everybody Seems To Want Something From You' and 'Girl Everything'. The songs also showcase the outstanding vocal skills of Nicole Cassandra Smit and the multi-talented Christina Robertson who also designed the beautiful album sleeve. Instrumentally, the guitar playing of Chris Hall and Jay Robertson (a.k.a 'Aqua Bassino') along with trombonist/arranger, Chris Greive, Alistair Mckenzie on Cello and drummer, Daniel Walls (a.k.a ‘Digital Liquid’) led to the completion of the ‘Till Sunday’ LP recordings. Both Christie and Malik felt the songs had captured a pure, emotional honesty and they presented the whole project to Jo Wallace at Ramrock Records who was deeply moved by the remarkable combination of music and vocals and signed it without any hesitation.Friends for nearly 30 years, Steven and Joseph first worked together in the 90's Hip-Hop outfit ‘Blacka'nized’, also collaborating at that time on the 'East Coast Project' compilation and later on Malik's broad ranging 'Diverse' trilogy of albums. Over the years, they’ve been busy on different projects – Steven has been touring and recording extensively with Scottish super group, The Proclaimers whilst Joseph expanded his song writing/production skills, resulting in a huge catalogue of tracks plus collaborations with international artists including Marc Mac (4Hero), Niki King and Black Science Orchestra. As well as this, Joseph signed his ‘Diverse Pt.2’ and ‘Diverse Pt.3’ LPs with Ramrock Records as well as a plethora of EPs including the ‘Stranger Things Have Happened’ soundtrack with Scottish hivemind, ‘Out of the Ordinary’.

RR008 Ghetto Priest - Sway EP

Following on from his huge radio world domination with all versions of ‘Hercules’, Ghetto Priest lends his considerable talents to Rat Pack Don, Dean Martin’s 'Sway', creating a selection of mixes and remixes to suit every discerning palate. There's the LP cut, taken from his 'Big People Music' album, already championed by David Rodigan on his BBC 1Xtra show.Then the North Street West crew take a slightly dark turn and inject an element of Reggae Exotica reminiscent of those fabulous Tiki lounges of the early 60's. The gently coaxing marimbas and castanets will transport you to warmer climes somewhere in a vintage travel brochure whilst Dr Rey goes West of the Sussex Coastline with his melodica dub.Throw the talc on the dance floor and get ready to sway.

RRR009 – Liotia – Blackout EP

Ramrock Red Records are delighted to announce a new signing & release to the label - the brilliant electroacoustic duo of singer/songwriter Abigail Hubbard and producer/engineer Matt Smyth, collectively known as Liotia (pronounced Ly – Oh – Sha). Between them, they create a truly enchanting ensemble of original sounds, samples, licks and melodies which fuse electronica, trip hop and jazz influences. Liotia combine Abigail’s haunting vocals and with Matt’s digital soundscapes and drum machine to deliver their original version on the stunning “Blackout” EP. There are also remixes from Ashley Beedle & Darren Morris - the “Africanz On Marz” Vocal Remix and Melodica Dub (melodica courtesy of Dr Rey). Darren was the studio keyboard player for Massive Attack and the elegance of production shines through.Abigail and Matt began working together while she was at a local music charity where he managed the studio facility. Matt, who also works alongside producer Adrian Sherwood at On U Sound and is Living Colour’s UK/Europe tour engineer, produced Abigail’s debut EP ‘People Watching’ which gained support from Tom Robinson at Radio 6 and was licensed to producer Robert Miles’ Open Lab compilation. This working partnership progressed into the Liotia project with a tighter, polished more cinematic style including a range of acoustic and electronic instruments. The band have been likened to Portishead meets Little Dragon. Other releases from the duo include their debut EP So Close / Yours Tonight in July 2019.

RRB004 - Greg Blackman - Never Trust Another Man Again - EP

Following hot on the heels of his hugely successful 12” ‘Where did the party go’ with Mr Bird (Juno Records – Single of the Week/ Mi-Soul Radio - A listed/ Craig Charles ‘Funk & Soul’ show’ etc) on Ramrock Blue Records, Greg is back with another of his own compositions but this time, he’s solo. ‘Never trust another man’ is a brooding, expressive social commentary delivered with vocals dripping with melancholy soul. The original clean/explicit versions will be available on Ramrock Blue 7” vinyl whereas Ashley Beedle’s haunting jazz North Street Remixes featuring the trumpet accompaniment of Duncan Mackay will only be available as part of the digital EP.

RR006 - Ghetto Priest - Hercules EP

The A side of this wonderful slab of hot vinyl was recorded at ‘The House of IMIZWA’ studios, by reggae artist and Asian Dub Foundation frontman Ghetto Priest with Carlton Ogilvie on keyboards, Ital Horns on brass duties, Greg Blackman on backing vocals and Crucial Tony on guitar . Ghetto unleashes his fresh reggae take of the mighty Aaron Neville’s iconic 1973 rare groove classic ‘Hercules’. Beautifully executed with deft vocals over a rock solid riddim, the original version taken from Ghetto’s forthcoming ‘Big People Music’ LP, will be heard blasting out of low rider windows rolled down in the summer heat and radios across the globe in 2021 and beyond.Meanwhile on the B side, Ashley Beedle and Darren Morris take the North Street West ‘HOLYVOODOU’ remix on a musical detour through hidden Louisiana backwaters to visit a ‘vaudou’ priestess to collect some gris gris and onward to New Orleans to meet Doctor John at the Mardi Gras. Leaning heavily towards the Meters school of phrasing, the North Street West version is infused with layers of eloquent keyboards, righteous handclapping, chicken bones and a generous helping of Bayou Funk, making a connection to the Aaron Neville original.

RR009 - Ghetto Priest - I don't want to see you cry

Ghetto Priest returns to Ramrock Records for his final single release from his massively acclaimed ‘Big People Music’ with his cover of Ken Boothe’s ‘I don’t want to see you cry’, originally released in 1966 on Coxsone Dodd’s iconic Jamaican imprint, Studio One.The LP cut boasts a who’s who line up of reggae royalty - Ghetto Priest sounding copasetic, keyboards by Carlton ‘Bubblers’ Ogilvie, Crucial Tony on guitar, David Fulwood & Richard Doswell (Ital Horns) nail the horns and Ivan ‘Celloman’ Mussey supplies the strings + cello action and the Bishop of Dub, Adrian Sherwood is on mixing duties. Fellow Ramrock Records artist, Greg Blackman, completes the line up on backing vocals and Matt Smyth from Liotia on the engineering tip.On the North Street West remix, Ashley Beedle, Darren Morris and Jo Wallace retain the Ital Horns but take the vibe back to the golden Rocksteady years of mid-60’s with a sprinkling of 70’s Tuff Gong’ism, sweet harmonies and Darren channelling his inner Jackie Mittoo on Hammond. And lastly, as a very special bonus, the enigmatic Dr R.E.Y stepped into the studio with his melodica and laid down a beautifully haunting version for all you lovers of the Dub.

Joseph Malik - Performance at Boisdale Music Awards 2022

Scottish artist, Joseph Malik performs 'Take A Left' with the Jools Holland Band at the 2022 Boisdale Music Awards before receiving his 'One to Watch' award from Jools Holland. An unbelievable evening.

Suddenly WOW - Little Things

Ramrock Red Records are ecstatic to be able to deliver Suddenly WOW’s extraordinary pile of tiny musical pixels, ‘Little Things’. The duo has existed at the sonic crossroads where they have tailored prime coloured pop and free noise improvisation. The enchanting energy and unswerving devotion of Suddenly WOW members, Darren Morris & Otti Albietz is reflected in their knack for abstracting a groove, conjuring spine tingling eternal resonances and transformative musical energies. Clear hints of cosmic jazz and soft psych electronica, with distinctive musical phrasing, transport you, the listener, to a crystalline space age palace. Darren Morris will be familiar to many music lovers via his extensive two-decade musical output as a highly sought-after keyboard player, studio engineer and instrumentalist. His musical wizardry is always in big demand with artists like Horse Meat Disco, Ashley Beedle, Massive Attack and Joseph Malik, as well as being an integral member of the legendary Black Science Orchestra and the prodigious North Street West production crew. Otti Albietz has had a long and glittering career, having released 12 albums and multiple independent releases as well as working with labels such as Plural Baby and BBE Records. Otti of Suddenly WOW says: “The act of listening to new music is hard, but it’s necessary if we wish to discover songs that embody the uncrushable spirit, the sound of individuals who’ve been told all their life that they’re nothing, erupting with the news that they are everything. Songs that are full of the positive message of self-belief and resilience, pursuing childhood dreams and destiny. We must all listen to the new, the unfamiliar Suddenly WOW”. Darren of Suddenly WOW says: “Yeah, whatever”.