Following on from the huge success of their eponymous debut long-player, everyone’s favourite East London brass and drum ensemble return with one of the album’s highlights on 7-inches of heavyweight fat wax. This version of “No Diggity”, the 90’s r&b hit by Blackstreet, has been a favourite in HCB’s live shows for some time now, long before it was committed to tape. Following on from the album’s release, this sousa led hip hop/funk hybrid has become a dance floor staple for many a discerning DJ. Not a difficult decision then to make this club smasher the band’s third vinyl release, but to add extra value to the package we’ve put something rather special and exclusive on the flip! “House Arrest” is an original, party starting Balkan monster, complete with frenetic hand-claps and singing (yes singing!) from the 9-piece outfit, showing another side to the HCB sound, and adding another huge anthem to their repertoire.

Hackney Colliery Band is East London’s unique take on the brass band phenomenon. Featuring trumpets, trombones, saxes, sousaphone and marching percussion, the band are totally acoustic and yet able to blow the roof off any room. Hackney Colliery Band’s members have hugely diverse musical backgrounds, ranging from work with cutting edge jazz group Porpoise Corpus to the Bollywood Brass Band, and from Jarvis Cocker to major orchestras. This breadth of musical talent is clearly on display in their eclectic repertoire. Mining nuggets of funk, hip-hop and hi-octane rock from the musical coalface and throwing in a few chunks of Balkan brass, ska and contemporary jazz for good measure, the Hackney Colliery Band’s setlist is as diverse as the London borough that gave them their name.

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REACTIONS:

“Who’s idea was it to get UK’s Hackney Colliery Band to cover an r&b dance floor classic in a big brass band style? Bloody genius….” Nik Weston (Mukatsuku Records/Guynamukat, UK)

“Loving that “no diggity” version, goes straight in the box for tonight! once again thanks for sending and big thanks for keeping on releasing such fantastic music!” Karsten John (Vinyl Vibes, Germany)

“The HCB version of No Diggity is flaming awesome; dramatic with the flow, and dem beats are mighty fine too – this track’s sure to put a smile on the face of anyone and pack many a dance floor.”  DJ Marcia Carr (UK)

“Nice one, thx! Will play it on the radio show.” DJ Rogall (weekly 88.4 fm , berlin & multicult fm)

“Thanks, just got the No Diggity/House Arrest seven by mail!! I think I already earlier gave feedback related to Hackney Collier Band cd, No Diggity was one of my favourites there and it is also on one of my Wahoo! shows on Samurai FM:
http://samurai.fm/wahoo/wahoo-130-with-vesa-yli-pelkonen” DJ Vesa (Wahoo! Helsinki, Finland)

“One of the highlights on the Hackney Colliery Band’s debut album was a brass band heavy version of the R&B hit “No Diggity” from Backstreet. It was a favourite of the outfit’s live show long before it was officially recorded for this Wah Wah 45s release – and it’s not hard to see why. Over on the flip, “House Arrest” is a skankin Balkan affair with handclaps aplenty!” Juno Records

“Absolutely KILLER!!!!” DJ Kinski (Germany)

“Just a quick note to say thanks for sending up the hackney colliery band 7″. It’s great to have “no diggity” on vinyl and the flip is a big tune as well!” Simon Harrison (Basic Soul, UK)

“The two tracks are awesome! I (as a Balkan person) love the horn side of music. But I think Hackney Colliery Band should think about some vocal tracks…” Dobromir Marzov a.k.a Soulmate (The “45 RPM” radio show, Bulgaria)

“A very nice one !” Ralf Zitzmann (Agogo Records, Germany)

“We already knew that No diggity was a winner, but the great surprise is House Arrest, an explosion of joy and rhythm” Santiago Tadeo Cervera (www.acidjazzhispano.com, Spain)

“Great music! Nice version of “No Diggity”! Hector Pizarro (Chile con mix, France)

“Monster!” Ross Wakefield (Part-Time Heroes)

“Looking forward to spin them!” DJ Laurel (Sound Diving, Minsk)

“No diggity is the one for me !!!” Markus Milz (further in fusion, Germany)

“I have one of those huge smiles on my face again, Teddy Riley’s favorite lyrics were YEP YEP, so It’s 100% YEP from me too, No Diggity is all about diggin’. That includes the flipside too!!” Georgios Paroglou (Greece)

“Personally as a dj, I’ve never been a huge fan of the big band stuff that’s been coming out over the last few years. There has been the odd track or 2 that I’ve added to my crates and I think this version of No diggity is one of them. Although I mostly think this stuff is best to see live there are a few tracks like this one which are well suited to club, bar or mixtape sets. Definitely be giving this one some airtime in all those areas.” DJ Strangefellow

Radio play from Lauren Lavern and Craig Charles (BBC 6Music); Toshio Matsuura, Radio Tokyo Moon (Japan); Russ Jones (HGT Radio)

Or… Purchase through iTunes (Please leave a comment and rating when you buy!)

Mining nuggets of funk, hip-hop and hi-octane rock from the musical coalface and throwing in a few chunks of Balkan brass, ska and contemporary jazz for good measure, the Hackney Colliery Band (HCB) are as diverse as the London borough that gave them their name.

Following on from the huge success of their first two singles and sell out shows at the Scala & Jazz Café (featuring an infamous stage invasion from Amy Winehouse) HCB deliver their mouth-watering debut long-player on July 4^th. The self-titled debut features quirky covers, such as the sousaphone led, heavy hitting take on Blackstreet’s “No Diggity”, deep afro jazz inspired cuts like “Pygmy Goats” and even a gorgeous ballad or two!

The HCB album is already getting huge support from DJs as diverse as Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1), Huey  Morgan (BBC 6 Music) and Robert Elms (BBC London) and the band look set to take the mainstream by storm with their energetic, thunderous sounds.

“Make sure you get with the HCB – and that’s coming from the HBE!” Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (Chicago, U.S.A.)

REACTIONS:

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Chedck this lovely review from Okay Player:

http://www.okayplayer.com/reviews/hackney-colliery-band.html

“This one is a hell of an album!” Borja, Lovemonk Records (Spain)

“Parp! Bloody love it. It reminds me of being a lad up in that Yorkshire, getting home from pit and having to clean the chimneys all night til dawn, then up again at dawn to head back into pit all day. The only respite were playing int’band at t’weekend. Cracking stuff – already played the hell out of Africa, but going to be playing the rest at many a festival this summer – cheers!” DJ Shepdog (Nice Up!, UK)

“Fantastic release! Love this album from the first to the last second – full support for HCB!!!” Dusty (Jazz & Milk, Germany)

Paris DJs Review

“No diggity, no doubt!” Kev Beadle (Solar Radio)

Review in Meme Magazine

“HCB Kill it with there debut album. There are some amazing tracks, but favourites have to be the deep ‘Closer’ and the version of  ‘Under the Bridge’ turns a tainted song into a glorious anthem. Dope!” Pimpernel Jones (Herma Puma, UK)

“Luvin it! pure summer bliss !” DJ Tom Wieland (7 Samurai, Vienna)

” Thanks for the HCB music…

“It swings like nobody’s business. AFRICA puts a smile on my face,because it reminds me of my teenage days listening to TOTO on “am radio”! Very much appreciated.” Andy Williams (The Goods, Canada)

“HCB Album is dope – Loving the No Diggity cover!” DJ John Hendicott (Chai Wallahs / Smerins Anti-Social Club, UK)

“Nice project from Hackney Colliery Band! All tracks are big!” Hector Pizarro, Room 10 Music (France)

“The HCB album is superb! Dropped a track on SOAS radio yesterday.” Chris Greenwood (SMS Festival / Favela Chic, UK)

“This is bloody lovely, been hammering the Africa 7″ and no doubt will find a few gems on here for play…” Phat Phil Cooper, KAT Records (UK)

“There are few artists who can make a human being as overjoyed,ardent or terrified as HCB through the sheer of art music…there is no other conscientious band in activity that crafts music in the same distinctive style as Hackney Colliery Band.” DJ savvas (Greece)

“Lovely, lovely, lovely!” Xander Roozen (Royal Groove Web Radio, UK)

“Congratulations on this release …the teasers off the album were highlights of my sets over summer festivals !!!” DJ Toon (Australia)

” Real impressive and entertaining band, worth more than just one listen. Played it in my last “Jazz 91.8″ broadcast.” Robert Lochmann (Germany)

“Whoa….this is making working faster, better, stronger and funkier at my desk this afternoon ! Seriously, No Diggity, no doubt!” DJ Kappa (Brighton, UK)

“Really nice one !!! reminds me a bit on the German Mardi Gras Brass Band. Really cool brass sound for real !!!” Markus Milz (Further In Fusion, Germany)

Radio play: Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2), Huey Morgan / Craig Charles (BBC 6Music), Robert Elms (BBC London), Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1), Jazz FM, Radio 1 Cz, Sky-Radio Jazz, Kev Beadle (Solar Radio), Royal Groove Web Radio, SOAS Radio, Simon Harrison’s Basic Soul Show, The Goods Radio Show (Canada), Straight Up Radio (Australia), Eclectic Jazz, Starpoint Radio (UK), Eclectic Lounge (Back2Back FM, UK), Jazz 98.1 (Germany), Robert Lochmann (Radio X, Frankfurt), Channel Cro 3 Vultava Cz.

Our first release of the ‘011 sees the much anticipated follow up single to the Hackney Colliery Band’s club smasher “Money”, released last Summer. The East London collective’s version of Toto’s soft rock classic “Africa” has been tried and tested on dance floors worldwide for many months, and it’s release of 7-inches of heavyweight wax is the perfect way to mark the start of Wah Wah 45’s potentially biggest year so far! And if that wasn’t enough, there’s the added bonus of the deep, Mulatu inspired, soul jazz stormer “Right Foot Up” on the flip.

Recorded in our favourite recording studio, The Fishmarket, by Ben (Nostalgia 77) Lamdin and produced by our very own Simon ‘Capstone’ Little, this is a loud, heavy and beautiful capturing of the most storming brass bands in the UK right now.

For more info on the Hackney Colliery Band check out their artist page!

See reactions below – and please leave your own comment in the box, we love your feedback!

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REACTIONS!

“Tops! Thanks as always chaps. Just arrived in time for the Feb issue of DJ Mag!” Found Sounds (DJ Mag, UK)

“Lovin’ the Africa rework…lovelee ” Mad Mats (Raw Fusion, Sweden)

“I love the Toto brass cover! Amazing release! Full support!” Dusty (Jazz&Milk, Germany)

“Shit, this Africa remake is tight! Just bought it, will play it 1000 times!” Sir Nenis (Top Billin’ Music, Finland)

“Just wants needed after hard day down the pit.  It makes the sun shine over Hackney and puts a smile on my face.  Will def be playing on SOASRADIO.ORG Hackney Globe Trotter radio show.” Russ Jones (Hackney Globe Trotter, UK)

“Another Wah Wah smasher!” Tom Weiland (Seven Samurai, Vienna)

“Another nice one to add to the ever-growing collection of Brass Band covers! Cheers guys!” Aaron (Bstrd Jazz, USA)

“A world sound smasher that will drive my listeners at Rai (Italy’s national broadcasting corporation) dead crazy!” Francesco Adinolfi (Rai 1, Italy)

“Got my 7″ today from the shop and it is absolutely brilliant!!” Lovemonk Borja (Lovemonk, Spain)

“The HCB Africa tune is sure to get a couple heads turnin. It’s funny, I haven’t heard the original of that track since I was a kid it seems and for some reason I thought Peter Gabriel did it but that one off band called Toto Had to watch the video on youtube last night and man was that hilarious!” Jason Pulaski (Ubiquity, USA)

“What a right rabble dabble! A nice cockney knees up by the sounds of it, and great fun too!” Raw Deal (Groove Sanctuary, UK)

‘”Africa” is such a brilliant tune. Thanks for sending. Will be charting and playing this for sure!’ Angel Mishev (Reel Feel Clubnight, Bulgaria)

“Absolutely loving this release, I was a big fan of “Money”, and think that this is a great step forward for HCB in terms of production & focus (Money had the medley aspect, which gave it somewhat of a novelty factor….) At a recent gig I played ‘Africa’ twice – once mid-set, and again as the last tune of the night. Reactions were excellent both times, dropping it mid-set led to smiles and sparked conversation between total strangers, and as the night’s finale it became an instant brass band karaoke classic,with many on the dancefloor doing their vocal Toto thing over the top. Everybody likes a cover version, but it has to do something quite different to the original, and ‘Africa’ achieves this in spades. I like ‘Right Foot Up’ too, I think it fits in as a mid-tempo jazz freakout, and will fit nicely into my sets as a join the dots between jazz and funk. Thanks!” DJ Baby Dave (Dublin)

“Not much to say really, knew I would love these tracks before I listened to them. Played Africa on Sundays show and not surprisingly had a flood of emails in asking about it. Wicked track and HCB becoming by far my favorite brass band out there.” King Tee (Ireland)

“Been waiting for this one. Loving it recorded almost as much as the live version. Great! “Right Foot Up” also really nice!” Snorre Seim (Butti 49, Norway)

“What a lovely warm analogue release. Love the harmonies, the trumpets and the original instrumentation. Some things I actually miss in the digital music world at the moment. Keep up releasing high quality stuff! Matt Desch (Bogaloo Radioshow, Germany)

“Heavy heavy heavy!!!!” Ross Wakefield (Part-time Heroes, UK)

“Thanks! I will support it from next Sunday in my programme.” Josef Sedlon (Radio 1, Cz)

“Wow! I think probably one of the songs I hate the most: Toto’s ‘Africa’ and yet somehow in the hands of HCB, it’s supremely listenable – double “yay” for the B-side. Thanks for the promo – will unleash it on  an unsuspecting audience on next’s week show and no doubt play out…. somewhere! Paris (Groovescooter Records, Australia)

“It seems that every Hackney Colliery Band’s release is becoming a surprise, a way to rediscover brass bands. I appreciate the original tune, but the version of Toto’s “Africa” is simply great”. Santiago Tadeo Cervera (www.acidjazzhispano.com, Spain)

“Africa..what can i say…super nice brass band reinterpretation of Toto !!! Full play !!! Markus Milz (Further in Fusion, Germany).

“I never did like Toto’s version back in the days, but this one is truly nice. The flipside is a winner too, keep up the good work Wah Wah!” Georgios Paroglou (Greece)

Buy now from the usual suspects including iTunes, Kudos Records, Juno, Picadillyand more!

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Formed in 2008 out of a desire to play music that appealed to the feet as much as to the ears, the Hackney Colliery Band is East London’s unique take on the brass band phenomenon. Featuring trumpets, trombones, saxes, sousaphone and marching percussion, the band are totally acoustic and yet able to blow the roof off any room. Hackney Colliery Band’s members have hugely diverse musical backgrounds, ranging from work with cutting edge jazz group Porpoise Corpus to the Bollywood Brass Band, and from Jarvis Cocker to major orchestras. This breadth of musical talent is clearly on display in their eclectic repertoire. Mining nuggets of funk, hip-hop and hi-octane rock from the musical coalface and throwing in a few chunks of Balkan brass, ska and contemporary jazz for good measure, the Hackney Colliery Band’s set list is as diverse as the London borough that gave them their name.

Party starter “Money”, produced and mixed by the amazing Capstone, has already received Radio 1 airplay from Gilles Peterson and has been on the wants list of DJs worldwide for some time! And with the cracking original cut “What’s The Time, Mr. Wasp?” on the flip, this is sure to be a huge release for this massively talented outfit. The fattest brass to come out of the East End since Pat Butcher!

Let us know what you think in the comments box – we love to hear your reactions!

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Reactions so far:

“I’m excited about the Hackney Colliery Band! Why?” Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1)

“Could well be the strongest single to date for the Wah Wah camp, that basically does what the Hot 8 Brass Band did for Tru Thoughts, or what Matthew Herbert did for the very British Big Band sound. Take the heritage of the colliery band/Salvation Army, mix with Mike Westbrook and divide by the National Youth Orchestra and you get the HCB. Their cover of ODB’s ‘Got Your Money’ adds weight to the cause. Go get.” Found Sounds (DJ Magazine)

“‘Money’ is a no-brainer, easy sure-shot, simple and plain!” DJ Monk-One, NYCT (USA)

“That Hackney Colliery Band is ridiculous. Can they get out to California very soon?! Played “money” on this week’s show, quite a pleasure to play and will be dishing this one out to the masses many more times.” Jason Pulaski (Ubiquity / Kuci 88.9FM, USA)

“I`m loving these Hackney Colliery tunes, that’s perfectly my sound for sure! Great work and another dope wah wah 45 release!!! Will be getting lots of spins for sure.” Karsten John (Vinyl Vibes, Germany)

“I think the Hackney Colliery must have been before my time, but their band is still sounding fat and very funky. “Money’ is on the money. Can’t say fairer than thout!” Russ Jones (Hackney Globe Trotter / Future World Funk)

“Beautifully funky, already spinnin over lisbon skies and today on Noobai Soul cafe weds dj set. Saucy!” DJ Tiago Santos (Spaceboys, Lisbon, Portugal)

“Wow! What an amazing great summer tune this is…Love it…Will play it everywhere.” Phil Wicked Jazz Sounds (Holland)

“The Hackney Colliery Band seven is a winner! It was my last track at Hi-Fi terapi last Saturday. People were going wild and screaming for more bad ass brass!!” Eivind Olsvik (Hi-Fi Terapi, Norway)

“Money is a monster tune ! Will play on my openair show (SOAS) airing next week (500 downloads per week) …and my occasional forays behind the decks at Favela Chic!” Chris Greenwood (Stop Making Sense)

“Can’t wait to play HCB at my regular Sunday afternoon in Hollywood. I love seeing their expression change from “What’s this?” to “Is this what I think it is?” to “This is fucking great”.” DJ Dave Young (Los Angeles, USA)

“Really feeling this! Can’t wait to play “Money” out!” Ross (Part-Time Heroes)

“I ruddy love the Hackney Colliery Band, heavy.” Capstone (Wah Wah 45s / Tru Thoughts)

“Brilliant releases as always. “Money’ will rock summer dance floors 100% sure. It’s a pleasure to support such talented brass bands on my radio show!” Enrique Domenech (Fusionova Radio)

“What’s The Time, Mr. Wasp?” I’d say it’s time for another drink! Love that drunken horn vibe on his b-side – it’s like they’ve staggered out of a Hackney pub at the beginning, and marched off down the road happy as Larry.” Paris Pompor (Sydney Australia)

“Money reminds me of the street art that The Hot 8 Brass Band brought to my attention. Contender for our next show. Now on frequency every week!” M.path.iq (Germany)

“Loving the concept of a Colliery band coming off the Hackney marshes with two quality cuts of Jazzziness to impress us with loving it.” DJ Abbo (Starpoint Radio)

“Pure fun! Nice brass sounds!” Markus Milz (Further In Fusion)

“The funkiest brass band I have heard in a while and both tracks brought a huge smile to my face!” Georgios Paraglou (Greece)

“HCB stepping up and showing all the brass bands out there how it should be done! ‘Money’ already spun on the show and will be getting repeats all summer long” King Tee (Elbow Rooms)

“Had the privilege of seeing the Hackney Colliery Band perform at the Wah Wah Joint at VIbe Bar before moving to Canada.  I knew from your reaction at the show that they would be added to the already stellar Wah Wah artist line up.  Best of luck with the release, it will without a doubt do very well, hope it makes you lots of MONEY!” DJ Tom Mannix (Canada)

“I love the HCB! Would be great to see them in Brighton!” DJ Kappa (Brighton)

Radio play from Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1), Jason Pulaski (Kuci 88.9FM, USA), Markus Milz, Further In Fusion, Ennio Styles (3RRR, Australia), Pete Isaac, Jelly Jazz (Phonic.fm), Phil Lvene (Eclecticjazz.com), Tiago Santos (Radio Oxigenio 102.6FM, Portugal) & Enrique Domenech (Fusionova Radio)