LINKS

LOA official site

LOA on MySpace

Adam Gibbons found his feet after getting into funk and soul whilst studying Music Technology at University and started to ply his trade in various bands around Exeter. Having posted a few tracks onto a friend’s website in 2006, word soon spread to the Freestyle records offices, where he was instantly snapped up and released the huge selling “Wait A Minute”. One of the label’s fastest selling 12’’s, it has gone on to sell huge numbers worldwide and licensed to countless compilations. The follow up “Roderigo” also flew off the shelves and is still in huge demand to this day. Soon after this, the offers of remix work came flooding in; to date Adam has sprinkled his Afro magic on Diesler, The New Mastersounds, Eddie Roberts (NMS), Tim Wood (Social Beats) and is currently working on remixes for Nicole Willis and Flevans, as well as producing an entire album for US band The Diplomats of Solid Sound for Italian label Record Kicks. His tracks have also picked up numerous radio plays, appearing on BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, 6 Music, Xfm and many more. More recently he was invited to record a live session for Mark Lamarr’s “God’s Jukebox” show on BBC Radio 2 at the legendary Maida Vale Studios in London.
Taking its cues from the heavy funk and soul of the 70s, and giving them something of an updated twist, “Press On” is without a doubt one of the finest albums of the modern funk era. Playing most of the instruments himself, Adam has created a contemporary classic. From the opening track you can hear a sincere and honest love of funk and an understanding of what works both on the dance floor and at home. Highlights include the does-exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin “Pure Filth”; the sublime genius of “Touch My Soul”, featuring the voice of the late Steve Marriot; and the inspired cover of the Arctic Monkeys’ “When the Sun Goes Down”, already a firm favourite with DJs.
Already being touted as ‘’the next Quantic’’ we’re sure you’ll agree that this young and talented producer has carved a new niche for himself. With the charm and musicality of funk pioneers such as The Meters, James Brown and Jimmy Smith, but with a contemporary twist, we’re sure this will find favour with fans of artists such as DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Breakestra, The Quantic Soul Orchestra and Mark Ronson.

LINKS

Kraak & Smaak on MySpace

Heineken, Van Gogh, Kraak & Smaak. The three most famous things to come out of Holland. Ever. In that order. Ok so maybe a bit of an exaggeration but the last three years have been an incredible ride for the band considered to be Holland’s hottest live act and as they release their second album things seem set to get even crazier.
Rewind a couple of years and we find three dutch guys plotting world domination from their hometown of Leiden. Since releasing their debut album Boogie Angst they have played over 300 live band and dj gigs, they’ve been hailed by I-DJ as a “Must see live band” they’ve supported the stadium-rocking Faithless on their European tour and played some of the most prestigious gigs in the USA including Coachella Festival, SXSW Festival, the Miami Winter Music Conference as well as playing headline sell-out gigs on the West and East Coast on their last tour.
In the UK, the boys have rocked shows for Club nights like AIR, Fingerlickin’ and Chew The Fat and Breakspoll For this summer they have Glastonbury, Bloom, Lovebox and Big Chill festivals lined up in the UK as well as Sziget, Lowlands and 10 days Off amongst others in Europe.
When it came out, their debut album Boogie Angst stood out because it sounded like nothing else around. The K&S brand of future funk led to their singles being supported by the cream of Radio 1. Annie Nightingale was the first to support the band and invited K&S to record a guestmix for her show. Annie Mac, Pete Tong and Rob Da Bank. Their breaking sound led to a whole host of requests for remixes with Jamiroquai at the front of the queue as well as Mark Rae, Richard Dorfmeister and friends and family like Fort Knox Five, Soul of Man and Skeewiff. Most of these remixes were collected onto a double album (they’d been busy) called The Remix Sessions which was released in 2007. Recently they have worked on new remixes for Junkie XL and Sam Sparro.
Kraak & Smaak released their second album Plastic People in April 08. It features collaborations with Ben Westbeech and Dudley Perkins a.o. The first single off the album, Squeeze Me feat. Ben Westbeech, was a top 10 hit in the Netherlands and received plenty airplay across Europe, the USA, Australia and Japan. The video was picked up by none other than the famous LA blogger Perez Hilton, who proclaimed K&S to be “one of the hottest groups around” and described the music as “Amy Winehouse meets Moby”.