House Music

"Hieroglyphic Being translates five years of experimentation into his best LP to date" Vinyl Factory

"Album of the week" BLEEP

"Chicago dance music hero Hieroglyphic Being releases one of the strongest albums of his incredible career" Pop Matters

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Stunning new album from Chicago’s finest electronic futurist Hieroglyphic Being, aka Jamal Moss, newly released on Soul Jazz Records. This is his third album for the label, following on from The Acid Documents (2015), and African With Mainframes (w/ Noleian Reusse) K.M.T. (2016).

Born and based in Chicago, Moss’s music embodies two of the cultural foundation blocks of the city’s musical lineage; that of Chicago’s original Acid House sound (c. 1986) - Frankie Knuckles, Phuture, Marshall Jefferson et al, alongside a rigorous experimental sound searching that taps into the cosmic musical lineage of pioneering artist Sun Ra whose Arkestra landed and was based in the city from 1946-61, and the equally pioneering work of The Art Ensemble of Chicago in the 1960s and 70s.

The association with Sun Ra is by no means hypothetical, Moss recorded with the Arkestra leader Marshall Allen and a host of free jazz players for the album Hieroglyphic Being & JITU Ahn-Sahm-Buhl’s ‘We Are Not The First.’ (2015).

Similarly, his relationship to Chicago’s original acid house pioneers of the late 1980s is no hyperbole. Originally mentored by artist/producers Adonis and Steve Pointdexter, Moss also runs his own Mathematics label, releasing a constant stream of new music by foundation acid house pioneers Lil’ Louis, Adonis and many others.

Moss grew up in the south side of Chicago. After being thrown out of the home of his adoptive parents, he then spent three years homeless living on the streets of Chicago, living a nocturnal existence as a gigolo in Chicago’s alternative clubs. He began his career as a DJ at the pioneering Liquid Love parties at Chi-town’s legendary Power House (home of Ron Hardy’s Music Box) around 1989.

What clearly defines Moss’s music is that while sometimes pushing the limits of sound to an ear-splitting dimension of experimentation and DIY-electronics – the music is always clearly a progression of the lineage of black music. In the words of fellow Chicagoans, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, it is simply ‘Great Black Music.’ And yet in this uniquely defined sound, Moss somehow manages to draw into this world elements of industrial music, German electronic music (Cluster, Harmonia etc), Detroit’s sci-fi techno artists (Atkins, Saunderson, Craig) and more.

‘Outsider House’ ‘Afro-Futurist’ ‘Rhythmic Cubism’, Moss’s near indescribable sound plays testament to the notion that he is perhaps the last of the line of producers directly influenced by Ron Hardy at the Music Box, uniquely qualified to write a new chapter of Chicago’s rich musical history.

Red Notes is the prolific artists new revelatory and unique project – in his own words ‘A homage to the Blue Note Jazz sound of Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock’ fused together with the classic Chicago House and Acid sensibilities of Larry Heard, Armando, Adonis et al, into a newly imagined futuristic and barrier-less musical landscape.

Featuring organic and synthetic electronic instrumentation, Hieroglyphic Being here fuses real-time live instrumentation and over-dubbed technologies to dramatic effect, as analog and electronic worlds collide.

In honour and dedication: Thelonious Monk , Weather Report, Black Herman, Larry Heard, Herbie Hancock, Marshall Allen, Danny Thompson, Sun Ra, David Hotep, Daniel Carter, Orphy Robinson, Shabaka Hutchings, Mark Sanders, Evan Parker, Yaw Tembe, Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, Armando Gallop, Jon Hassell, Heldon, Pekka Airaksinen, Popol Vuh, Joe Zawinul, Moebius, Plank, Neumeyer, Adonis.

Instrumentation: with Organic Flute, Piano, Guitar, Drums, Alto Sax, Hammond Organ, Korg Triton, Linn Drum, Korg DDD-1, Dr5 Drums, Casio RZ 1, Ensoniq Mirage Fairlight CMI Series III, Moog Mother 3, Allen & Heath Zed 24 mixer, Auria App for Sequencing.

The striking artwork features stunning graphics and illustration from Paolo Parisi (who also created the artwork for the Africans With Mainframes album as well the series of Acid Mysterons albums all on Soul Jazz Records)

"Jamal Moss has composed a modern afrofuturist suite as though in a state of perpetual grace" QUIETUS

Read full review here

"A devastating album of epic dancefloor rituals and visions from Jamal Moss (Hieroglyphic Being) and Noleian Reusse in their prized Africans With Mainframes guise, amounting to their most substantial and impressive collection." BOOMKAT

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This album is available as a very limited 1000 double-LP (+download) and 1000- tip-on hard Japanese gatefold card style CD, digital album all designed by the artist Paolo Parisi.

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Jamal Moss, aka Hieroglyphic Being, returns for a new second album on Soul Jazz Records, after last year’s debut The Acid Documents. this time under the name Africans with Mainframes.

Hieroglyphic Being and fellow Chicago producer Noleian Reusse have been releasing music under the name Africans with Mainframes for over 15 years now, ever since their debut on Hieroglyphic Being’s own Mathematics Recordings label in 2005. ‘K.M.T.’ is the debut album from the group, a collage of apocalyptic Chicago acid meets industrial and transcendental post-house machine funk. 

Both intense and unique, the album of forward-thinking, experimental, boundary-pushing Afro-futurist electronic music shows why Hieroglyphic Being is regarded as one of the most serious purveyors of experimental black music today. You can't stop the prophet!

Born and based in Chicago, Moss’s music embodies two of the cultural foundation blocks of the city’s musical lineage; that of Chicago’s original Acid House sound (c. 1986), that of Frankie Knuckles, Phuture, Marshall Jefferson et al, alongside a rigorous experimental sound searching that taps into the cosmic musical lineage of pioneering artist Sun Ra whose Arkestra landed and was based in the city from 1946-61.

Similarly his relationship to Chicago’s original acid house pioneers of the late 80s is no hyperbole. Originally mentored by artist/producers Adonis and Steve Pointdexter, Moss also now runs his own Mathematics label which has released music by foundation acid house pioneers Lil’ Louis, Adonis and many others. To quote Moss, ‘I am the last of the line of producers directly influenced by Ron Hardy (the pioneering acid house DJ) at the Music Box.’

Moss grew up in the south side of Chicago. After being thrown out of the home of his adoptive parents, he then spent three years homeless living on the streets of Chicago, living a nocturnal existence as a gigolo in Chicago’s alternative clubs. He began his career as a DJ at the pioneering Liquid Love parties at Chi-town’s legendary Power House (home of Ron Hardy’s MusicBox) around 1989.

What clearly defines Moss’s music is that while sometimes pushing the limits of sound to an ear-splitting dimension of experimentation and DIY-electronics – the music is always clearly a progression of the lineage of black music. In the words of fellow Chicagoans, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, it is simply ‘Great Black Music.’ And yet in this uniquely defined sound, Moss somehow manages to draw into this world elements of industrial music, German electronic music (Cluster, Harmonia etc), Detroit’s sci-fi techno artists (Atkins, Saunderson, Craig) and more.

Current Wire magazine front cover artist Hieroglyphic Being’s debut album for Soul Jazz - The Acid Documents - is an album made up of tracks first released last year only ever available in a bespoke edition of 100 copies (yes 100) – in the form of a homemade CD-R – made exclusively for the Sounds of the Universe record store.

This album is now released officially as a one-off edition of 1000 copies on coloured double vinyl, CD and digital, fully remastered with artwork by Japanese artist 2Yang.

Hieroglyphic Being, aka Jamal Moss - who features on the front cover of Wire magazine’s current issue – is a DJ/composer/sound artist who makes pioneering, experimental, boundary-pushing Afro-futurist electronic music.

Born and based in Chicago, Moss’s music embodies two of the cultural foundation blocks of the city’s musical lineage; that of Chicago’s original Acid House sound (c. 1986), that of Frankie Knuckles, Phuture, Marshall Jefferson et al, alongside a rigorous experimental sound searching that taps into the cosmic musical lineage of pioneering artist Sun Ra whose Arkestra landed and was based in the city from 1946-61.

This association with Sun Ra is by no means hypothetical, having just been in the studio with the Arkestra leader Marshall Allen and a host of free jazz players for the album Hieroglyphic Being & JITU Ahn-Sahm-Buhl’s ‘We Are Not The First.’

Similarly his relationship to Chicago’s original acid house pioneers of the late 80s is no hyperbole. Originally menotored by artist/producers Adonis and Steve Pointdexter, Moss also now runs his own Mathematics label which has released music by foundation acid house pioneers Lil’ Louis, Adonis and many others. To quote Moss, ‘I am the last of the line of producers directly influenced by Ron Hardy (the pioneering acid house DJ) at the Music Box.’

Moss grew up in the south side of Chicago. After being thrown out of the home of his adoptive parents, he then spent three years homeless living on the streets of Chicago, living a nocturnal existence as a gigolo in Chicago’s alternative clubs. He began his career as a DJ at the pioneering Liquid Love parties at Chi-town’s legendary Power House (home of Ron Hardy’s MusicBox) around 1989.

What clearly defines Moss’s music is that while sometimes pushing the limits of sound to an ear-splitting dimension of experimentation and DIY-electronics – the music is always clearly a progression of the lineage of black music. In the words of fellow Chicagoans, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, it is simply ‘Great Black Music.’ And yet in this uniquely defined sound, Moss somehow manages to draw into this world elements of industrial music, German electronic music (Cluster, Harmonia etc), Detroit’s sci-fi techno artists (Atkins, Saunderson, Craig) and more.

(The second Hieroglyphic Being album on the new label, under his moniker Africans with Mainframes, will be released on Soul Jazz Records in January 2016)

"Soul Jazz Records set Sounds of the Universe: Art + Sound 2012-15 features some of the heaviest Afrofuturistic producers out there:"  PITCHFORK

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Soul Jazz Records new Sounds of the Universe: Art + Sound 2012-15 is a new double album CD (and two separate volumes of double-vinyl) featuring a line-up of some of the most forward-thinking and progressive artists and producers working with electronic music around the world today.

This lovingly compiled collection features a stunning array of contemporary artists: Chicago’s Afro-futurist genius Hieroglyphic Being; Kaseem Mosse (aka Gunnar Wendell/Siege of Troy), one of the most talked-about, respected artists in underground house and techno; out of Detroit’s Moodyman stable comes Andres; also featured is Los Angeles-based Ras G, associated with the Brainfeeder label established by fellow producer Flying Lotus; and many more!

This new collection features a first CD of tracks recorded exclusively for Soul Jazz Record’s bespoke Sounds of the Universe label. These were originally issued under their Art + Sound series between 2012 and 2015 as unique hand-etched and original commissioned art pieces (reproduced here) collectors’ 12” singles - all pressed in micro-editions of 250 copies for each artist’s release that were only ever available exclusively from Soul Jazz Records’ boutique Sounds of the Universe shop in Soho, London.

The second CD features a fantastic set of all brand new exclusive tracks from the likes of Seven Davis Jr, Drexciya collaborator DJ Stingray, deep house virtuoso Mike Huckaby, Glaswegian noise-punk six-piece Golden Teacher, and lots more – all created and commissioned especially for this release. These songs are not available anywhere else in the world.

Together these 2CDs comprise an amazing selection of new progressive electronic music.

This album is released as double CD pack with slipcase and booklet. It is also available as two separate limited edition double vinyl editions in heavyweight vinyl and gatefold sleeves with full artwork + free download codes, and as a worldwide digital release.

Future Bass! Post-Dubstep, post-House, post everything! Four Tet, Mala, Untold, Black Chow (Kevin Martin/The Bug’s latest project), Coki and loads more all-exclusive new tracks on this new album for Soul Jazz Records.

Soul Jazz Records have brought together some of the UKs most pioneering producers of the day to create an album that can only be defined as future music. All new exclusive tracks from a set of artists all at the height of their respective careers alongside heavyweight new-wave producers. From the off-kilter hypnotic post-House bass music of Four Tet (one of the most hyped tracks of late) to the boundary pushing genre busting post-Dubstep of Mala and Coki (the two halves of Digital Mystikz), Untold and more alongside truly uniques tracks such as Kevin Martin/The Bug’s latest incarnation, Black Chow. Future music! Future Bass!

‘Future Bass’ is packaged in a limited-edition deluxe plastic casing with set of free postcards and vinyl comes on super-loud, super-heavyweight triple vinyl, mastered at Transition.

"Ibara: River Crossing" is the first compilation album to be released on Yoruba Records, the label jointly run by Osunlade -artist/producer/ordained-priest in the African religion of Ifa- and Soul Jazz Records. 

The album is conceived and compiled by Osunlade for Yoruba Records/Soul Jazz Records. The new album features Deep House, African Funk, Nu Soul and Jazz, and Broken Beats from around the world. Featuring members of the Yoruba family of artists -KB, Nadirah Shakoor, Santos, Djinji Brown alongside similarly-like minded artists from around the world – Brasil, America, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Africa and more – this is a revelatory selection of new tracks all exclusively made for this album (including an exclusive new Osunlade track "Acrylic Venezuela"). The album showcases the wide sound of Yoruba – Deep, spiritually uplifting music. Many of the artists are well known with deep musical roots – from KB, a soul/R’nB superstar in South Africa to Djinji Brown, the son of spiritual jazz legend Marion Brown (who joins his son on this track) even down to the yoruba front-cover artwork being designed by Master at Work Louie Vega’s cousin! 

As well as working with many of the artists featured on this album Osunlade continues to remix and produce for an ever increasing range of artists that include 4 Hero, Salif Keita, Ms Dynamite, Zero 7, Cearia Evora, Incognito, Roy Ayers, John Beltran and many more. Yoruba Records was launched by Osunlade as a means to promote many of his favourite artists and develop what he refer