The Art and Design of Naked Music (US)

If you were to think of iconic album covers in the house world, you'll probably think immediately of Jason Brooks' original Hed Kandi designs. But at around a similar time, Naked Music over in the States was also producing 12s adorned with similarly slick and sexy imagery. The most amazing thing was having an impression of the music before even breaking the seal on one of their crisp import vinyls.

The original concept was put together by designer Stuart Patterson of L.A. design shop Colorola Studios. Interestingly, the design was originally conceived for OM Records, who rejected the ‘sexy, racially-vague, young nubile, in a seductive pose’ as being too literal an interpretation of the brief. But when OM's then label manager Bruno Ybarra and producer Jay Dene joined forces to create Naked Music in 1999, Stuart Patterson was on-boarded to resurrect the original designs.

Still reeling from the rejection by OM, Stuart was somewhat cautious about how far to take the concept, as much as the idea of diving into the abstract appealed. As a result, an auxiliary logo was created to accompany the 'nude' image, just in case it was subsequently deemed inappropriate. Alas, it never was, and Stuart gave life to what remains, in my view, one of the most striking and influential design concepts the house industry has seen in the last 13 years.

I've pulled a few high(ish) res Naked artwork images included in the slideshow below. Take a look, and have a listen to one of the label's most iconic mixes, in full, via the YouTube embed.

Naked Music Cover Artwork

Miguel Migs - Nude Dimensions Vol. 2 (Naked Music)

Wired Review - June 2013

I love Wired. I've been working closely with Kate and Michael for a number of years and there's no doubt it's been the most rewarding experience of all my years DJing and tinkering away on the London music scene.

So again I was totally gutted not to witness another clearly fantastic Wired show (logistically a bit difficult when you're 13,000 miles away!). But thanks to the wonders of the interwang, I can still keep in touch with the guys and the performances, and it sounds like June 2013 was another killer show. And in true keeping with the monthly musical theme, this month Kichael decided to focus on acoustic, vocal jams.

Check the wicked Ruth Anne who flew in from L.A. just for the show to perform her incredible acoustic mash-up of Robin S' 'Show Me Love' and Lauryn Hill's 'Doo Wop'. Sickness.



Then we had the incredible northern talent in the shape of JP Cooper with more acoustic gold on 'Whenever You Hold Me', a very personal story of unrequited love...



And last, but by no means least, one of my most favourite singer/songwriters in the whole world - the one and only Obenewa. Having been tipped for big things by the likes of Gilles Peterson, the lovely lady simply goes from strength to strength on this live performance, airing for the first time brand new material from her forthcoming EP, 'B'.

Check the video for the interview, but it's worth mentioning that Obenewa wrote 'The Answer' (along with the rest of the EP inclusions) in just five days, with just three days in the studio to record them. Impressive indeed!

From the interview, it sounds like Obenewa has referenced a range of styles and influences on this latest release, so I'm mega excited to hear the whole record. Obenewa has promised to send it to me while it's still hot off the press, so watch this space.



Again, gutted not to have been there. But that said, there's a chance I'll be popping my speccy face up at August's show. Hoorah!

Coming up, apparently a certain tinker named Shakka did a Wired-supported EP release this week. Green. With. Envy. More on that soon...

Osmojam - 80 EP (Bandcamp)

By complete surprise, I got an email from an upcoming Parisian nu soul artist called Osmojam this weekend. Safe to say there's been few releases that have blown me away in quite the same way.

Osmojam is the beautiful Nadia Henry, who is currently working as a Commercial Manager in a French energy utility, but just happens to moonlight as one of the finest soul voices I've heard in a very long time. With her influences including names such as Kurt Elling, Omar and Jamie Cullum, Nadia has been practicing music from the tender age of just 5, becoming a long-term violinist before turning her hand to singing in a gospel choir alongside her studies. 

On this insanely free release, Nadia has turned her hand to reworking some classic 80s numbers from Wham!, Madonna, Janet Jackson and Phil Collins (three of my favourite artists of all time, so I'll admit I was skeptical at first). 

It's always incredibly difficult to add something to tracks that are so embedded in popular culture, but Osmojam strips everything right back to basics to let her incredibly captivating and powerful verse come right to the forefront to reinvent each record effortlessly. Intricate acoustic guitar and slick rhodes lines provide the perfect backing, as supplied by Fabien Coronada and Kelyan Horth. Expect big things from this girl in coming months.

Watch out for new album 'Echappée' due to drop exclusively on BamaLoveSoul very soon.