Buy link: bfan.link/new-improved-elephants
The young 12-piece Afrobeat orchestra Lagos Thugs is the real thing. Named after and based in Nigeria’s sprawling capital, this brilliant Fela Kuti-inspired band is led by singer and saxophonist Adetunji Adeyemi, their recent debut album ‘Chaos’ grabbing accolades across the board including a 4 Star review in Songlines Magazine. Seamlessly fusing authentic afrobeat with jazz, dub, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa, the album is produced with vintage dirt and analogue warmth by French producer DJ Ness Afro, the band bravely taking on the mantle of Fela’s political and musical legacy with sensational results!
Masterfully remixing the heavyweight single ‘New Improved Elephants’ is the UK-born, Lisbon-based producer Mr Bird who is, of course, no stranger to us, releasing a ton of amazing music on Tangential as well as on quality imprints such as BBE, Ramrock Blue and Matasuna Records.
Switching from the live performance sound of the original song to a smoother, dancefloor production, Mr Bird has kicked this remix out of the park. Adding heavy thunder to the bottom end and dubbing the combined horn section into the heavens, ‘N.I.E.’ has been transformed into an irresistible groover that would fit into sets by Mr Scruff, Joe Claussell or Theo Parrish, Mr Bird’s Angolan-inspired percussion and bass submersion wizardry, increasing the energy levels whilst the call-and-response of the vocalists and featured horns demand our attention to the message. This is really quite special.
Release date: May 14th, 2024.