Here is the whole playlist:

Here are some quotes and comments from people working in the music-industriy:

Name: DJ Chang Bang

Organisation: Red Bull Music Academy

Country: USA

Comments: like the various sounds incroporated on this one.

Name: David Bassin

Organisation: Freefall weekly radio show – KUSF in Exile /RadioPellenera / Space Invader Radio / Live1.FM

Country: USA (San Francisco)

Comments: Fly5 is the joint, but Reflex Action also commands my attention.

Name: Mario Lovakovic (Umbo)

Organisation: Timewarp Music / Goodgroove Records / Bombastic Jam

Country: Croatia

Comments: lovin the fly5 track!

Name: Art-D-Fact

Organisation: Art-D-Fact Online Web-Zine / Reviewer

Country: Holland

Comments: nice release

Name: Cedric

Organisation: One Summer Web Radio

Country: France (Bordeaux)

Comments: Thank you for the new promo. the sound i love. I will play it on the radio. thanks for the good vibes.

Name: Ulf Engelmayer

Organisation: StadtRadio Göttingen / Radio Lounge

Country: Germany

Comments: tracks for the radio lounge

Name: Paddy Freeform

Organisation: Universal Vibes Radioshow / SSRadio / Life FM

Country: England

Comments: good stuff, radio support guaranteed

Name: Edground

Organisation: Grooveland Music / 99 FM

Country: Brazil

Comments: Dope EP. All tracks are fantastic. Grooves for the dancefloor.

Name: Dirk Habenschaden

Organisation: w-id.net Online Magazine

Country: Germany

Comments: Ouh Yeah, that kills me!

Name: Clairvo

Organisation: Tilos Radio FM90.3 / Jazz Drive On Pulse Radio /Freelance Reviewer

Country: Hungary

Comments: clean and brave!

Name: Matthew Chicoine (Recloose)

Organisation: 98.6FM George FM / Hit And Quit It Radio /Peacefrog

Country: New Zealand

Comments: Properly oddball dopeness.

Name: Kerem Gokmen

Organisation: Dubmission Radioshow (WYEP FM) – weekly

Country: USA (Philadelphia)

Comments: Nice little remix package here, glad to see Stefans efforts getting some edit action, aside from his own remixes Pete Fletchers stands out the most.

Name: Emmet & Ali Hand

Organisation: Up And Down Radio Show / 103.2 Dublin City FM

Country: Ireland

Comments: Very deep, love the drumworx remix

Name: Genetic druGs

Organisation: Cyberjam Show: WDR Radio (Cologne) /RBB Radio(Berlin) / Funkhaus Europa

Country: Germany (Berlin)

Comments: funky progressive stuff here

Name: Craig Bartlett

Organisation: LAMERICA / Tilllate Magazine (reviewer)

Country: Wales

Comments: love this

Name: ALTZ

Organisation: Altzmusica /Bear Funk / DFA

Country: Japan

Comments: Black Alley`s version like underwater

Name: Matthias Kirsch

Organisation: JazzRadio 106.8 FM (Head Of Music)

Country: Germany (Berlin)

Comments: Fresh take on a jazz classic. Fits perfectly to our programming. Great to start the night out.

Take a listen in itunes or amazon and download your own package.

regards stefan

Keyboardist Stefan Oberthaler explores creative possibilities of Nu Jazz on latest release

The creative possibilities of jazz are still being explored. That Stefan Oberthaler should name his new album Journey Man has a deeper meaning. As a musician, Oberthaler is an adventurer, one who is fearless in stitching together old and new elements of jazz for experiments in reinventing pop music for the 21st century. It’s a seemingly uphill climb; there’s been so much that has been done before, even in the area of the avant-garde. But what Oberthaler manages to do is not only reconstruct jazz; rather, he uses jazz as the foundation for which he drops layers of electronic, funk, and lounge music. The results are surprisingly accessible.
Hailing from Vienna, Austria, there is a distinctly European perspective to Oberthaler’s take on jazz. For example, the jazz community in America largely does not have an openness to synthesized beats, especially those inspired by house music. “Move” is aptly named; Oberthaler’s high-speed keyboards generate infectious energy. It also has a truly funky vibe that vocalist Mariko Kiyose latches onto, transforming it into a clash of R&B, dance, and jazz that is utterly irresistible. The title track, on the other hand, reveals Oberthaler’s affection for spaced-out scores.

Oberthaler’s commitment to progressive jazz sounds extends beyond his own work. He has also formed his own record label, Killervirus-Audio, that will explore the various offshoots of Nu Jazz. Oberthaler is basically continuing the pioneering experimentations with jazz that Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock broke ground with decades ago. The commercialization of the genre, with the proliferation of smooth jazz radio causing much of the damage, has created a generation gap in the audience. Oberthaler’s innovative compositions help ensure that jazz will be appreciated by younger listeners in years to come.

link to article

Tracklist:

1. Fly5 // Keyminator`s drumworx RMX

2. Move feat. Mariko Kiyose // Black Alley`s Private Cut

3. Reflex_Action // Pete Fletcher`s RMX of Re_Act (Journey_Man CD)

4. Fly5 // Keyminator`s extended drumworx RMX

The remix from my track “Fly5″ is influenced by the sound of german label Compost-Records. In the late 90ies till the beginning of the 21st. century this label has been famous for a variety of productions combining traditional jazz-influenced tunes with electronic production and improvisation methods – a milestone in european nujazz development.

For this EP I had the chance to team up with to remixers, representing two different musical styles.

First, Black Alley, a Berlin (Germany) based dj, remixer and producer, wellknown for his remixes for Mary J. Blige, Alexi Delano & Vincenso or labels like Mindbase Recordings, Freeport, Brickhouse, Edel, UCA, to name a few. He choosed the title “Move feat. Mariko Kiyose”, smashing it on the dancefloor in a soulful, deephouse way. The selection of vocal tracks is very delicious with deep musical sense, the sound and rhythm moves straight to the dancefloor.

Second, Pete Fletcher, a Glasgow (Scotland) based guitarist, composer, producer and the owner of NuJazzEurope, a label representing wellknown artists like Satoko Fujii, Raymond MacDonald, Marc Urselli and himself. He describes his remix of the title “Re_Act” in the following statement:

I wanted to deconstruct the original track keeping the basic feel of drum, bass and keyboard then add tracks of cellos, sound effects, voice and a wild screaming rock fusion guitar  building up to a climax and then quietly fade out with acoustic guitar taking the outro.”

Release date will be the 7th of november 2011, available in all major downloadstores.

August 1, 2011 (Vienna, Austria) Written by Robert Sutton. His nickname, Keyminator, has the ominous ring of a science-fiction villain, but there is nothing apocalyptic about Stefan Oberthaler’s cross-pollination of lounge music, electronica, and funk. On his latest album Journey Man, Oberthaler comes across as a visionary; his futurist take on jazz reflects progressive European sensibilities but it is much more soulful and heartfelt than most genre-bending experiments.

Where Oberthaler succeeds and others fail is his sense of melody. Too many contemporary jazz acts become so infatuated with the possibilities of sound, especially through synthesized means, that what is left is a sparkling heart of stone. Not so with Oberthaler.  On “Move,” Oberthaler’s keyboards generate pulsating dance rhythms that are further intensified by funky riffs; R&B-styled guest vocals from Mariko Kiyose inject it with pop accessibility. “Move” broadens the definition of jazz; although borrowing elements from other styles, it is primarily rooted in jazz albeit with modern touches that can attract a younger crowd.

The name of the album seems to reflect Oberthaler’s hard-earned résumé, a background that includes working as a sideman for numerous artists. But it can also be interpreted as summarizing his thirst for adventure; after all, music can be a journey itself. Sure enough, the throbbing synths of “Fly5” find Oberthaler reaching into the stars for an otherworldly jaunt. The title track brims with thick atmospherics, stomping beats, and an icy spoken-word performance from Forss.

Although Oberthaler’s genre of choice – Nu Jazz – is nothing new anymore, it hasn’t risen from the underground yet, at least in America. And Oberthaler does it better than the majority of his peers, turning an obscure, often frustratingly detached and unorganized offshoot into a collection of sterling musicianship and rock-solid hooks.

link: jazzcorner

Tracklist:

1. Re_Act (listen)

2. Re_Turning

3. MomentRMX feat. Marina Trost (listen)

4. Re_Touch

5. Fly5

6. Move feat. Mariko Kiyose (listen)

7. Re_Wire (listen)

8. Cross_Roads

9. Mother feat. Bella Wagner

10. Journey_Man feat. Forss

It is available as CD and Download. Cd will be distributed by Amazon and CdBaby in about 2 weeks. The “early adopters” can download it here or you can order a physical CD via mail.

Further infos will follow.

thanx Stefan

“…Past the Mark is a transatlantic collaboration between Vincenzo Pastano (one of Italy’s most in-demand guitar players) and Marc Urselli (New York-based 3-time Grammy award winning producer/engineer/composer). The project started as long-distance collaborative-composing experiment back in 2003, but unfortunately due to their insanely busy schedules, it took a little over 7 years for them to write enough material for a full album, although Pastano has released at least 5 other records of his own in the meantime and Urselli has recorded and/or mixed around 100 records in that timeframe.” (Press-Text)

The result is an eclectic mix of influences, styles and moods with deep roots in the rock traditions and the evolutions of electronic music. The compositions are really unique and Marc Urselli and Vince Pastano give a deep and consequent insight in their musical world.

Past the Mark

iTunes

CdBaby

Producer Opolopo alias Peter Major describes this release:
“Well, the album has been under construction for quite a while in parallel with my solo album (Voltage Controlled Feelings). Some of the tracks were meant for my album but ended up on Amalia’s album and vice versa. However Amalia’s album is more about her musical influences and what shaped her growing up with soul and funk from the late 80′s and early 90′s. I too was heavily into swingbeat and new jack swing from that era, championed by producers like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Teddy Riley so there are some obvious references on the album. But there are also some more twisted and futuristic tracks on there that are harder to categorize. It’s all tied together by Amalia’s powerful vocals, letting her shine!”

AD Bourke, Atjazz and Son Of Kick deliver the bonus remixes for the release.

amalia`s myspace site

www.opolopo.com

www.tokyodawn.net

hypebot
harvard business review
creativevisions
the artist farm
hypemachine
wired

please complete the list.

regards
stefan

listen to the tracks, comment and use the links on the right sidebar to buy the EP in itunes or cdbaby.

this is my last blog-entry for 2010. thanx for reading and writing down your comments. hope we will keep in touch and i wish all of you a happy 2011.

regards stefan

Move feat. Mariko Kiyose – originalmix
“…combines spiky funk, an understated yet engaging vocal delivery, a screaming guitar solo and all modern electronic production effects to spread into the future…”

Move – Sub`s Bleepfest Remix
“…rhythm driven and minimalistic- the vocals appear in and out of the otherwise dub-like backing track to print their story on the listener…”

Move – Sweet noise Remix
“…this is a soundscape which takes the original mix on a journey through reverb soaked deep space…”

so stay tuned and you`ll get the latest information soon.

feedback and comments are welcome.

The Christmas-Special for you is my first CD Out of the Vulcano-Watchtower at special price of 5 dollar (3,68 euros) for the download-version.

go to x-mas special and purchase this special gift for you or your friends till 6th january 2011.

regards

stefan

Click here to view the embedded video.

Q: short bio?

official bio:
OPOLOPO is Yoruban for “plenty”, a word that exemplifies the diversity of this production wizard’s musical voyage. Whether it’s broken beat, funk, house, or future soul, his compositions and productions are always uncompromising with a steady gaze on the horizon and a quick glance in the rear-view mirror.

King Britt -”One word—DAMN!”

Mark de Clive Lowe – “Always challenging, constantly surprising and definitely one of the leaders of the euro new school. louder!!!. “

Starting out with overdubbing on cassette decks with a Casio VL Tone toy keyboard in his early teens, to constructing soundscapes on synths, beat boxes and computers, Peter Major aka OPOLOPO is one of Scandinavia’s most extraordinary producers.

Domu – “Every time I hear music from Opolopo, my spirit lifts a little more. Technically and musically gifted, his risk taking grows with his confidence on every release. An undoubtedly necessary warrior in the new underground resistance to the norm.”

Born in Zirc, Hungary he spent the early part of his creative development touring with a keyboardist father and listening to fusion and electronic records. Artists like Herbie Hancock, Jeff Lorber, Earth Wind & Fire, Quincy Jones, Jean-Michel Jarre, Isao Tomita, and Kraftwerk helped feed his ingenuity.

Equipped with keyboards, vocoder, and modern technology OPOLOPO plays from London to Tokyo, as a one man band, with jazz ensemble Expansions, or with primary collaborator Amalia Miz Fuze Townsend.

Daz-I-Kue – “Opolopo and Amalia together is like FIRE!!!!! I have to wear my oven mits to play their tunes!”

His music spans over a decade on labels such as JVC Japan, Om Records, Warner Brothers, Tru Thoughts, Sony/BMG, Swedish Brandy, and Especial Records. Collaboration/remix highlights include the legendary Dazz Band, Craig David, Mr. V, Lanu, Simon Grey, Ok_Ma, Mpho Skeef, Eska, and Sacha Williamson.

2003 marked the release of OPOLOPO’s debut LP, OMNIFARIOUS on Collision Records. An amalgamation of soul, jazz, house, bossa and drum n’ bass that found a home with djs, critics and an eclectic club audience. Meanwhile on the underground tip, OPOLOPO’s bootleg remixes of Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, and Erykah Badu were building a frenzy with soul music connoisseurs worldwide.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Beyondjazz – “Highly anticipated album by heavyweight futurist funk man Opolopo!”

Embarking on a Japanese tour in 2006, the epic LIFE’S A DANCE on Especial Records in conjunction with JVC Japan’s release of his sophomore album RF presents OPOLOPO, only solidified his reputation as a world class funk and soul conductor.

Currently Opolopo is producing and co-writing two solo projects as well as completing his third full length album – watch out! His latest releases include a remix for Portformat featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow & Dudley Perkins and a collaboration with French graph artist and rapper Grems.

Q: alltime favourites (tunes)?

As far as tunes go, that’s almost impossible to answer. Artists and producers that have influenced me is a bit easier. When starting to discover music through my dads vinyl collection, the artist that influenced me the most was Jeff Lorber from his seventies Jeff Lorber Fusion days. The songwriting and productions from his early records I something I still return to for inspiration. Of course Herbie and George Duke but they both came a bit later for me. Another one was Bob James. I was a total Fusion head in the eighties. On a completely different tip – Japanese synth pioneer Isao Tomita. His seventies synth renditions of classical music and sound manipulations still blow my mind.

Q: situation in your area (venues, concerts, clubs…)?

Like everywhere else, there’s not much of a soul and club jazz scene here. Playing your own material as a soul and jazzy beat driven outfit is really hard. There are a few club nights – Raw Fusion is the main one for the soulful dance stuff. And you have few house nights like Soulmates. There’s more of a pure jazz scene I think. Stockholm has so many amazing jazz players. They are struggling too but at least there are a few regular jazz venues.

Q: collaborations and touring?

We have just finished vocalist Amalia’s debut album. Next step is getting it out there and hopefully put together a tour. I’ve also just put together my third solo album. It features collaborations with amazing vocalists like Erik Rico, Sacha Williamson, Nadine Francois and Amalia Townsend. I think there’s enough material to tour with.

Just completed a collab with crazy and multi talented French rapper and graph artist GREMS. Working on an album with Swedish vocalist Demetrius and just started a collab with vocalist Sofio Rubina from Estonia.

Q: DIY model for musicians/producer?

I think its very much about DIY to try and make it in this industry today. The days of getting picked up by a major label who takes care of everything while you just focus on music are over. It’s more important than ever to network and connect with your fans yourself. Making them feel they are part of your journey and wanting to spread the word. No marketing campaign is worth more than a tip from a trusted friend to check something out. It’s hard but I’m trying to get better with these things.

Q: equipment studio/live?

Nowadays I rarely use any outboard hardware gear in the studio. I use the guitar, bass and Rhodes occasionally but everything else is “in the box”. The box in this case is an early quad core PC running Cubase and Ableton Live. There are pros and cons with this but for me the pros come out on top. Having everything contained in one project file makes it easier to work on several projects simultaneously. Nothing is fixed everything is tweak-able at a later point. Automation of every parameter let’s you be creative and have more control. And besides nothing beats the warmth and fatness of pure digital sound, haha! For live shows I use Ableton Live with a Frost Audio Laptop and various midi keyboards. I use the Akai APC 40 to control Ableton. It’s an absolute dream, giving you dedicated hardware control over the Ableton interface.

Q: productions in the past?

For a list of releases it’s easiest to just check http://www.discogs.com/artist/Opolopo

I’ve also done a bunch of productions and remixes for the majors in a previous life. Back when you still got paid proper money.

Links:

official homepage

facebook

Click here to view the embedded video.

regards

stefan