27 year old Niko Schabel was brought to our attention by Quantic. “Have a listen, you might like this,” he said handing over a CD-r to Ubiquity A+R rep Andrew Jervis after a gig in San Francisco. He was right. Schabel hails from Berlin and, thanks to Quantic, now records for Ubiquity as Radio Citizen.
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From Radio Citizen's 'Hope and Despair' LP. iTunes: http://apple.co/1FJkwgwAvailable online at: http://www.ubiquityrecords.comSpotify: http://spoti.fi/1J2LzUz
Comment by Cool8
Nice voice 🙃🤙
Comment by Kristina Ivanova
Amazing tunes! Magnetic voice...
Comment by Peter szabo
S vb xxx z nm vl h v
Comment by jimettarose
feels so good
Comment by jimettarose
good vibes
Comment by RADIO GRABUGE
Added to our playlist! Great job!
Comment by Nasss
j'adore
Comment by Sven R
supergeil
Comment by Virgadaula R. Clubbing
lovely
Comment by Virgadaula R. Clubbing
wow
Comment by Renzo Rivera Cavero
nice and cool
Comment by anaisamancay
how can we trust again?
Comment by Jojo Bonobo
very good...smooth...chiling
Comment by schmalx
My track for this summer! 'How can we smile again?' Bajka is there toelp us. Trust me!#
Comment by Guille Gil
Silky voice she hasssssssss!
Comment by Sumosui
loved this one a long time now
Comment by Najem Eddine Essafi
Joliiie
Comment by Miss MND'
sweet!
Comment by Baby Funk & Children of Truth
Real nice and cool song!
Comment by alex flexible sounds
great tune!smells like summer!!!
Comment by ZAK HAMBURG
really great stuff
Comment by ZAK HAMBURG
in love with this voice for years, now.... loved 'the hop'...
Comment by flying dutchman
Bajka sorry.....my excuses....
Comment by flying dutchman
Amazing tune....great for chillin'.....!!! Dajka has that special tone......
Comment by Casbah 73
this is sweet!!
Comment by Renegades Of Jazz
simply wonderful...
Comment by Mute Speaker
Awsome
Radio Citizen - Hope and Despair(CD/2xLP) Ubiquity Records URCD279/URCD279, 2010-10-19 Radio Citizen (feat. Bajka) - Summer Days by Ubiquity Records Radio Citizen - Skyscrapers by Ubiquity Records Tracklisting : 01. Test Me feat. Ursula Rucker 02. Skyscrapers 03. Summer Days feat. Bajka 04. World 05. Isarwellen 06. Hope feat. Bajka 07. Home 08. Therma 09. Move 10. Stop Or Go feat. Bajka ![]() 11. Last Exit 12. Midnight Links : nikoschabel.de myspace.com/radiocitizen facebook.com/pages/Radio-Citizen/311500998867 youtube.com/user/radiocitizen ubiquityrecords.com facebook.com/ubiquityrecords twitter.com/ubiquityrecords myspace.com/ubiquityrecords youtube.com/user/ubiquityrecords Press Release : Four years have passed since the release of Berlin Serengeti, the debut album from producer Niko Schabel and friends, aka Radio Citizen. His first album was an all-out assault of electronic music armed with organic tentacles that reached far into an eclectic bag of rough jazz and worldly funk. It not only caught the ears of tastemaker DJs and press (“It leaps dozens of genres in a single bound, digs up all those old sounds I love, fits them together, and erects a temple to pop's melting pot” - PITCHFORK) but also wound up in movies and TV shows as varied as Grey's Anatomy, Californication, and this summer’s blockbuster Takers. Schabel creates music that balances being accessible and exciting by way of his ability to blend the electronic with the organic. On Berlin Serengeti he seamlessly glued-together a loose collage of sampled textures and embellished them with gifted musicians and vocalists. On Hope and Despair he takes an even headier blend of raucous live instrumentation and works it into gritty songs and walls of sound with deft mixing and subtle studio trickery all rooted by heavyweight bass lines. His mass ensemble of musical friends often performs together in the Radio Citizen live show that developed after the release of the first album. Their unified musical prowess is reflected in the soloing, the harmonies, and all the interactions, that lift Hope and Despair above its predecessor. “Hope and Despair has many more layers of sound, there's more to discover,” says Schabel. “If the Berlin Serengeti album was 8mm, Hope and Despair is cinemascope. It’s heavier, with more space and deepness.” The album launches at full force on the first track, “Test Me.” Jagged strings provide a tense backdrop for special guest Ursula Rucker to strut her stuff. On “Home,” “Midnight” and “Skyscapers” Schabel furthers his Berlin Serengeti experiments forging indestructible genre (and speaker) busting joints that ride the line between hip hop, dub and jazz. On “Hope” and “Stop or Go” Bajka adds her unique dusty vocal flow to the busted beats. She also wrote the music and lyrics to “Summer Days,” the more organic and live track of her three appearances. On “Move” and “Thema” Schabel balances Afro-Cuban rhythm with big band backing, the latter taking off with a pull-no-punches rhodes solo. “Last Exit” is a piece of cinematic jazz just waiting for the right movie to happen. The sound, at times, is like an orchestra in the style of The Art Ensemble of Chicago or Sun Ra’s Arkestra with huge wind sections or multiple percussionists driving the listener on a whirlwind tour through African rhythms, Ethiopique-stewed funk, and film-noir jazz. The bitter blue sound of “World” recalls vintage Archie Shepp (circa Attica Blues) with Schabel interjecting only brief moments of respite from the chaotic walls of horns and piano. “Julian Waiblinger (drums) and Wolfi Schlick (flute and sax) have really come into their own. The piano players (Jo Junghanns, Antonis Anissegos and Marja Burchard) have great features. Playing a lot live and improvising (with Radio Citizen, Niko Schabel Quartet, the Express Brass Band and other bands) has been a good schooling,” explains Schabel. “And working in the studio forces one to really know what you want to do and exercise it both with precision and intuition,” he adds. For Hope And Despair Schabel made thousands of drafts, piecing together countless recording sessions, and spending long hours spent editing and listening for the right moments and sounds. “The title works on different levels. It’s definitely about the process of producing this album which took so long I needed much endurance,” explains Schabel.” But it also refers to the global-political situation of the last ten years which really provided enough reason for despair but also some for hope. Then, there's the music business…” he adds. The four years between records was not spent entirely in the studio or touring. Schabel also knocked out a complete soundtrack for the movie “Football Under Cover,” (an award winning indie-flick about an amateur female soccer team from Berlin that goes on a nerve-wracking journey to play the first female soccer match in the history of Iran) in addition to making music for many small movies, engineering, and producing for other bands. ![]() Comments are closed.
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