The Weeknd
Starboy

Don't sleep on those contagious grooves!!!

Franco-Cameroonian rapper of 25 years old, MIKANO has been lucky enough to visit the four corners of the world during the first part of his life. He grew up in cities as diverse as Abu Dhabi or Cairo where he discovers life, but also music.Since his childhood he is passionate about rap music, Snoop Dog, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent or Nas. Later, the click will be with Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and Kid Cudi's "Man Of The Moon". His new favorites naturally guided him towards rap and English language.At the age of 17, his family settled down in Paris, where he began to compose and write, inspired by the music that touched him at each stage of his life and his travels.Now inspired by artists such as Agnès Obel, Frank Ocean and Alabama Shakes, he’s started recording titles and the release of a first EP "No Devices Found", first test quickly followed by "Blind Man Dreams" a second haunting and dreamlike EP (entirely produced by his accomplice SVTVS) which allows him to appear on the radars of the French and international music industry. It has positioned him as an artist who crossover the genres.MIKANO presents "Melting Ballons" a mixtape where imagination and emotions are put in the foreground. The artist has chosen to put sensations at the heart of his creation, from his mind directly to the microphone and invites the audience to walk in a museum of thoughts, raw emotions, that he can modulate on demand."Melting Balloons" opens with the instant ear-worm « Silhouette " where the rapper continues to have fun, by mixing genres, in putting his voice on a production halfway between Afro-Beat and Trap. Follow tracks as intimate as "Silent Screams » a song totally sung and « Symphony » a true invitation of letting things go. It gradually intensifies and gives place to "Fuego", a demonstration of strength: where the rapper reveals all his power and his technicality.Mikano's music is made for those who love Frank Ocean, Blood Orange or Kid Cudi. So many influences that the rapper had digested and diluted with subtlety. He’s been able to make something that sounds like it has never been heard before, something completely new. Mikano's sound is intimate, deep, juggling lightness and strength. He’s taking the listener from one extreme to an other, from a song tinged with sweetness and fantasy to a title inflated with energy and raw power, served by an impeccable flow.

MF DOOM is the man in the iron mask. The most mysterious figure in hip-hop has also become one of the most popular, supplying beats and rhymes for Gorillaz, De La Soul, Madlib, Danger Mouse, and Wu-Tang Clan, and drawing praise from heavyweights like Just Blaze, Nas, and Mos Def. Since 2002, DOOM has released numerous volumes of Special Herbs, one of the longest-running instrumental series in hip-hop history.Now, the first two volumes in the acclaimed series are available on vinyl for the first time in years. With obscure loops and dusty samples galore, Special Herbs Vol. 1 & 2 is a must-have for any DOOM fan or hip-hop head.

Whilst a certain Parisian electronic duo were still (probably impossibly chic) toddlers, French band/production Space had worked out that making lots of hooky synth disco and wearing Space suits in public at all times were a potent pop combination, one that enabled them to sell 12 million records across 4 albums from 1977-81, before imploding in the time honoured fashion of lawsuits and bitter recrimination all round.Space was the brain child of French producer JP Iliescuo. He assembled a crack band of French session musicians for (at the time) a previously unheard cosmic-disco-synth combination. The unforgettable melodies came from talented young composer Didier Marouani (also known as Ecama). The musicianship from Roland Romanelli and Jannick Top, Joe Hammer and Madeline Bell.Fast forward over 4 decades and for our debut release we at Array Recordings are proud to present our first release which captures the essence of those 4 albums, and the breadth and diversity of their sound in one 14 track extravaganza. All remastered to present a new sonic experience."Magic Fly" sounds as fresh and other-worldly now as it did then with it's irresistible hookline, whilst at another end of the spectrum, "Carry On Turn Me On" remains Space's most genuine contribution to the disco pantheon, with it's orgasmic vocals and floor destroying, organic groove."Running In the City" and "Air Force" is the sound of forgotten futures past, "Flying Nightmare" a cosmic funk odyssey. "Deliverance" remains one of the few Disco tracks to feature a full male voice choir and "Deeper Zone" ushers in the sound of the 80's.The band were not short on conventional pop moments, "Save Your Love For Me", an epic, over blown euro-synth pad belter, full of genuinely synthetic emotion. "Symphony" is grand, positive and catchy as. The band also knew how to preserve (and intensify) the emotion at the slower tempos. "Just Blue" is a gradual funk odyssey and a perfectly plastic soul. The haunting, dystopic "Velvet Rape" draws the work to an menacing closeThe compilation is a fitting tribute to one of Europe's great forgotten innovators.