Welt Discos: Rafiki - The Source EP
Just in time for Bandcamp Friday tomorrow, here’s a note that the latest release on my label Welt Discos is up for pre-order! It’s by Mumbai DJ and producer Rafiki aka Sohail Arora, who besides his own music runs the Krunk label and related events in India.
I first became aware of Sohail’s music through his track ‘Backseat Cruiser’ on the first ever volume of FuFu Records’ 88 - Double Happiness compilation series, which I played on my former radio show Flamingo back in June 2021 (you can revisit that show here). I then played a few tracks from Krunk on subsequent shows and put Baalti’s ‘Ustad’ in my mix for Dimensions — here. But I was particularly interested in Sohail’s own track ‘Backseat Cruiser’, which reminded me of some of the more accessible Kruton records I had on my shelves: blunt but funky drums, aleatoric bleeps, heavy bass. Idiosyncratic yet danceable. I got in touch with Sohail and he agreed to do an EP for Welt Discos. Simple right?
Well, it’s been a long and rocky road, as any of you who’ve read my previous posts on the subject of pressing vinyl will already know (see here and here). I won’t go over all the trials and tribulations again, but safe to say this EP has been a long time in the making. But now that it’s finally here, I think both Sohail and I are thrilled that these four tunes are out in the wild and ready to be heard in their natural habitat: the club!
Here’s a run-down of the EP.
A1 A London Sound
This is the first time I’ve released an EP with a lead single and that’s partly down to this track being an absolute SMANGER. It was first played by Suchi in the now-legendary Daytimers BR, which I wrote about at the time. This was my description of the track, which I stand by today:
It’s a slamming house track that reminds me of Gemini at his raviest (like the perennial ‘Return To Jack’) with heaps of UK rave attitude on top. The cascading arpeggios that come in part way through take it up a notch further and you can see it in the face Suchi pulls: BANGER.
Over the past few weeks it’s been played by The Blessed Madonna on her Best Of February show on BBC 6 Music and on Irish national radio, and I had the pleasure of playing it in my set at Los Ninos in Brussels, where it went down a treat. I really hope I hear this out a lot over the summer!
A2 The Source
The title track of the EP was Sohail’s starting point, inspired by his experience of bass music and rave on visits to the UK. You can hear the UK Funky influence in the shifting drums of the opening section, which then give way to a more regimented vibe for the rest of the track. This is probably the heaviest track I’ve put out on the label, though that’s always subjective and it’s by no means the fastest (Viewtiful Joe takes that accolade). It feels like the bedrock of this EP and alongside the UK signifiers I hear the raw, jacking vibe of Chicago House.
B1 Where Is The Honey?
You’ll have to wait a little longer to hear this one in full — it’s premiering tomorrow on Bolting Bits — but I can tell you it’s a fab breaks-meets-house hybrid that recalls the offbeat charm of ‘Backseat Cruiser’ but with a touch more emotion. I love it.
B2 Varied Sciences
Of course the B2 had to (secretly) be my favourite. Metallic breaks, scatterbrained bleeps, bongos, a huge acid bassline and bittersweet harmonies: what more could you want? I put this in my recent mix for RA — you can hear it at the 1h06m mark — and it proved the perfect transition point between Phyzikal Flex’s (very sped up) ‘Seventh Heaven’ and the uplifting broken beat message of ‘Move Up’. I only let half the track play, though, so you’ll have to check the EP for the full experience.
A note on distribution
This is the first Welt Discos release to be made available digitally at the same time as the physical release. And not only that, it’s also on streaming platforms. This is because the main way that people access music in India is through streaming, and Sohail and I wanted the EP to be available to people who follow his music via that route. The world of digital distro has been a steep learning curve for me, but the mindbending stuff is worth it to know that the music will be more accessible across the world.
That being said, everyone knows that Bandcamp is the best platform in terms of making sure your money goes to the artist and label, so I encourage anyone who likes the sound of the EP to pre-order a digital or physical copy on Bandcamp Friday tomorrow, ahead of the full release next Thursday.
As always, it’s much appreciated!