2012 was a busy year for Man Recordings boss Daniel Haaksman. First, he started his own weekly radio show „Luso FM“, focussing on eletronic dance music from the Portugese speaking world, i.e. countries like Angola, Brasil, Mozambique or Portugal on German public radio „Funkhaus Europa“.

Parallely, Daniel produced remixes for Kry Wolf, Lord Nelson, So Shifty, Makina Del Karibe and Bonde Do Rolê, and also released his “Rambazamba Remixed” album, plus his much acclaimed compilation of Brasilian Tecno Brega. In between, Daniel travelled the globe DJing, including Angola to play at “União Electronica” festival. While out clubbing in Angola ́s capitol Luanda, Daniel instantly fell in love with the city ́s local house sound.

The Luanda house sound is called Ku House (a mixture of Kuduro and House). The „Ku“ in „Kuduro“ (literally meaning „hard ass“) stands for booty. Besides, Angolan house is in dialogue with local music styles as well as the South African style of house music. Far from the raging, raved up vibes of current European ghetto club music, Angolan house tunes add a subtle form of deepness, mixed with frantic beats and hypnotic Portugese vocals.

Thus for his brand new single, Daniel teamed up with Angolan singer and culture impressario Coréon Dú and produced “Lemba”, originally a Semba tune on a lavish woman named Lemba. Coréon Dú is the brains behind the popular Angolan reality-style dance competition programme „Bounce“, also running „Os Kuduristas“, an internationally travelling roadshow programme promoting Angola’s unique kuduro style of rapping and dancing.

CORÉON DÚ

„Lemba“ is a unique Berlin-Luanda cooperation of Afro house made with a minimalist Berlin twist. Featuring a plain, percussive beat, a speaker busting sub-bass, a subtle arpeggio and the beautiful voice of Coréon Dú, this stripped down track has all it takes to become the big cross-culture club tune of spring 2013. This is a tune that could easily be played both at Berlin ́s Berghain club and Berlin ́s street carnival, the “Carneval Of Cultures”. Yes, it ́s both for house heads and barefoot dancers.

But then that ́s what Daniel Haaksman ́s music is always about: Establishing cultural bridges and sonic exchanges, incorporating the legacy of European bass music, while keeping a keen eye on the dancefloor. Drop “Lemba” and you ́ll feel Daniel Haaksman ́s vision.

Listen to it here:

DJ Feedback:

Laurent Garnier: “Great stuff!”
Riva Starr : “Bravo, Daniel”
Sinden: “Love Haaksman stuff”
Roundtable Knights: “First time I hear about Ku House and I love it!”
Foamo : “Whoa, love this!”
Oliver $: “This is a hit!”
Acid Washed: “Beautiful, this is big!”
Toshio Matsuura (UFO, Tokyo) : “Nice step!”
Shirkhan (Exploited): “Hot stuff, will play this!”
Schlachthofbronx: “Yeah, Haaksman in house!”
So Shifty : “Lemba goes hard, great vocals!”
Isa GT: “Amazing direction, Daniel. Tired of noisey stuff. This is both stylish and heavy!”
Scottie B: “Great!”
Bert On Beats: „Love it!“
Wildlife!: “Dope!”

Buy the release at these fine shops:

Swiss rudeboy Wildlife! releases his debut full length album on PHREE March 4th!

35 years ago, punk rock and reggae met at London’s legendary punk venue, The Roxy. Wildlife! revisits the kinship spawned from this brief but influential moment of music history, transferring it to his own era and sound for Roxy Reboot. He tracked down legendary figures from the UK’s late 70’s punk rock movement to reinterpret their favorite reggae classic, while simultaneously collaborating with the forefront of Jamaica’s dancehall avant-garde, to reinterpret influential punk classics and forgotten gems.

The album’s genre-defying sound refuses to linger on historical memories. Instead, Switzerland based Wildlife! pushed each contributing artist to leave their respective natural habitats and face a raw and stripped down sound as the backdrop to record to. His insistence while collaborating was not to bask in nostalgia but rather attempt to capture an original and contemporary musical snapshot of his own design. ”

“The alliance between punk and reggae was a genuine and a real one. Reggae was the music of rebellion and punk was the music of rebellion, so it was black and white working class culture showing some solidarity with each other.” – Linton Kwesi Johnson

Download “Armagideon Time” ft. Knox from Here:

Stream the album from here:

The Daniel Haaksman remix of Bonde Do Rolês “Dança Especial” has been extensively tested in his latest DJ gigs, now it´s officially available as free download. Grab it from below – watch the bass!!

Listen to Wildlife!´s brand new mixtape, featuring a lot of upcoming heat from the Swiss bass bredda!

Tracklist:

1. Wildlife! ft. Ward 21 – No Future (PHREE Music, March 2013)
2. Wildlife! ft. Rapha – Drop It (Enchufada, April 2013)
3. Wildlife! – Klouds (Mixpak Records, March 2013)
4. Wildlife! ft. Serocee – Pissheadsville (PHREE Music, March 2013)
5. Wildlife! ft. Rapha – Boiler Riddim (Enchufada, April 2013)
6. Wildlife! – Armagideon Time (Sam Tiba Remix) (PHREE Music, April 2013)
7. Wildlife! ft. Rapha – PC Riddim (Enchufada, April 2013)
8. Wildlife! ft. Natalie Storm – Should I Stay Or Should I Go (Schlachthofbronx Remix)
9. Wildlife! ft. Terry Lynn – Oh Bondage Up Yours (PHREE Music, March 2013)