| Artizan Music / Music Blog |  | | Label Bio | As recently stated in One Week to Live, Jafar and Andy 'Touch Fingers', "Have risen phoenix-like from the ashes of Kwaito Recordings, to set up their new imprint Artizan Music." Not to imply that the House of Kwaito burned to the ground; Rather, that it was time for a change of pace and direction.
As the name implies, the Artizan imprint is concerned solely with master-craftsmanship, seeking to profile artists at the very top of their game. With the new surge of interest in electronic dance music and the rise of both the Electro and Minimal subgenres, the Artizan duo felt it was time to embrace some of the more 21st century, forward-thinking elements of the House music scene and combine them with their own infusion of deep grooves and robust beats.
The releases, unlike those on Kwaito, are aimed firmly at the dancefloor and Jafar and Andy both feel that their productions are beginning to shape a new sound that embraces forward thinking electronica with the warmth and soul that has been the trademark of their Deep House journey. Art lies in the detail, and it is this attention to subtlety, combined with dramatic musical statements that will give music both longevity and dancefloor effect.
The first release scheduled for Artizan, (Jafar and Andy 'Touch Fingers' Desertlands featuring the sublime vocal talents of Marcus Begg) was picked up by Neil Pierce's Hustle Music. This meant that the label launched with Rithma's 'Peppertree', boasting remixes from John Larner and Andy 'Touch Fingers', which received good support from Mark Farina at WMC07. Next up is Demarkus Lewis, several further releases from Jafar and Andy ('What Is Love? E.P.' and 'Untitled Prelude'), a 4 tracker from their young protege Tim Split ('Split Personality E.P.) with remixes from the likes of Tone Control, Rhythm Plate, Lost My dog, Toby Tobias and Asad Rizvi.
Meanwhile, work on the Poetiquette live show continues. The collective are working on more organic versions of their various studio productions, in preparation for an intimate industry showcase which will be filmed in the summer. Look out for the footage on here and Youtube. Two of their downtempo, Neo-Soul tracks ('Soul Melody' and 'Loving You Right Back' featuring vocalists Hannah Khemoh and Kai Addams-Lambert respectively) are due for release on Yam Who's 'Urban Safari' imprint.
Whilst the labels residency at the West London Neighbourhood Club continues to act as a London base for Jafar and Andy, their Djing and production, both as individuals and as a unit, continues to sign up new recruits to the deeper house sound. We hope you like what you hear from Artizan Music, the future has only just begun. | | 2007-10-20 08:26:00 | | | History | Having spent their time working for numerous record companies, labels and distributors over the years, Jafar and Andy 'Touch'Fingers were introduced to each other in 2003. They immediately joined forces with a few others to set up the Kwaito Recordings imprint. The ethos behind the label being to put out quality releases that had depth of musicality and longevity, be that Soul, Broken Beat or House.
There were several individual projects that came under the Kwaito umbrella; Firstly the studio productions for release, secondly the DJ collective, thirdly the events and finally the concept of playing live dance music in clubs which gave birth to Rare Unit (now Poetiquette).
The first release on Kwaito, "Hydrophonics E.P," was met with a wave of approval:
"Hardly a week seems to go by without the launch of a new imprint, but this one deserves your time more than mos | | 2007-10-20 08:24:51 | | BLOG ARCHIVE
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