The Qwest TV roundup brings you a selection of the best new content from the platform along with a run down of what's caught our eye in the music world this week.
Prince
The Prince estate has been busy announcing the release of two projects that continue their active effort to open up and disseminate the icon’s back catalogue (something he didn’t leave instructions for in his will).
For the story behind the first new release, we have to travel back to 1995, where Prince handed out a few exclusive cassettes to guests at the Versace show during Paris Fashion Week. Rather than forming part of his upcoming album, The Gold Experience, these tracks never resurfaced again. This morning The Versace Experience Prelude 2 Gold got its official release. Have a listen to the opener below:
On November 29, the estate will also put out a remastered version of 1999, an album first released by the artist in the early 80s. Yet the product will feature several large-scale changes. Not only will it include thirty-five unreleased tracks from Prince’s vault, but also rare photographs, hand-written lyrics, and brand new liner notes.
Alefa Madagascar
Strut has made the next step in its quest to release Indian Ocean sounds. Here, the cultures that are being put on record include soukous, soul and salegy, which all played a pivotal role in Madagascar’s music scene during the 70s and 80s.
The compilation offers a rich selection of Island sounds, with some folkloric influences reaching back as far as the 1400s. With call and response at the heart of the arrangements, mesmerising woodwind, frenetic guitar and triplet-led percussion combine in creating tracks that burst with joyous and punchy expression. Track list below:
A1: Jean Kely Et Basth – Andosy Mora
A2: Soymanga – Moramora Zoky
A3: Roger Georges – Mama
A4: Ny Anjarasoa – Mahonena
B1: Charles Maurin Poty – Amboliako Fary
B2: Mahaleo – Izahay Mpamita
B3: Papa James – Ngôma Hoe
B4: Los Pépitos Et Leur Ensemble – B. B. Gasy
B5: Jeanot Rabeson Et Son Orchestre – Jazz Sega
C1: Feon’ala – Farahy
C2: Terak’ Anosy Group – Soaliza
C3: Saka dit The King – Ȏdy Ȏdy (Tsy Mentsy Mandroso)
C4: Michael – Razana Tsy Ho Meloko
D1: Falafa – Rapela
D2: Los Matadores – Andeha Hanarato
D3: Nino Rafah – Oa Niny Ê
D4: Kaiamba Orchestra – Tokatoka
D5: Atrefy Andriana – Zaka Tiako Mamolaka Keriko
Quincy Jones
The legendary record producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and film producer has announced a partnership with Atlas Music publishing. The organization is home to songs by artists such as Drake, Ed Sheeran, John Legend and many more.
Their joint venture, which will see the Quincy brand acting as a pipeline for future talent, will seek to make the most of the artist’s nose for exceptional new voices. Jones has a long history of acting as a champion for the artists of tomorrow, with Jacob Collier being one recent example. Outside of music, he is also credited with having boosted the careers of Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith.
In a move that will seek to streamline songwriting talent, Quincy has offered some words of wisdom on the medium: “A great song can make the worst singer in the world a star, but the three greatest singers in the world can’t save a bad song! … We’re looking forward to creating a publishing community filled with only the best of the best songs and human beings.” If you haven’t already, check out this Quincy Jones 1964 archive footage on Qwest TV!
Watch now on Qwest TV!Hot on Qwest
“I’m singing with my guitar,” he says before finishing and exclaiming “that is the blues!” It is a fascinating idea, and one that Samba Touré illustrates by describing the distortion, the blues and the rock techniques that have long been a feature of North Malian village ceremonies, in a landscape completely separate from the Western conceptions of the genre.
Watch now on Qwest TV!Laura Mvula’s voice timbre, her unique writing, and her positioning between pop and R&B have made her a special case. Recorded at the Swiss Baloise Session festival in 2016, the British singer and keyboardist is promoting her second album, *The Dreaming Room* (with the collaboration of Nile Rodgers), the follow-up to *Sing to the Moon* in 2013.
Watch now on Qwest TV!What we are seeing is about more than the so-named ‘Istanbul Psychedelia’ that the pair partake in. Aside from questions of style, it is a music with a definite, controversial message at the source. Forbidden on the airways in their native country, this is a sound that seeks to support popular revolt, and to evoke dreams of a brighter future.
Watch now on Qwest TV!
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