Über cool Brownswood Recordings, the third and newest independent label established by world music maestro Gilles Peterson, enjoyed their Christmas party in sub-zero temperatures in Old Street's XOYO on December 18. Treated to a handful of stellar acts, all soulful in their own genre - a pre-requisite for the north London label - the crowd, unfortunately diminished by the big freeze, soon thawed and then glowed in the intimate bosom of Peterson and his musical family.

To those faithful, hardy and bloody-minded enough to venture through the blizzards to a chilly warehouse east of the capital, it was worth the slip. Brownswood, set up by Peterson in 2006, after Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, has spread its wings in the past 18 months - there is now more of an emphasis on dubstep and electro - and the performers' sets reflected that.

The Bubblers series - the sixth was released in late November - is rich, subtle and sedate compared with the label's recent departures. Indeed early 2010 release Brownswood Electr*c mixed by Alex Stevenson, a key figure at headquarters up in Finsbury Park - a stone's throw from Peterson's beloved Emirates, of course - has been lauded in the circles that matter. And the latest offering which will be released in the opening week of the New Year, Worldwide Family Volume 1 mixed by Belgian star DJ Lefto and French spinner Simbad, bleeds from the same vein.

 

Lefto & Simbad present Worldwide Family Vol.1 // Lefto Teaser by Brownswood

 

Originally Peterson cherry-picked jazz and soul artists he loved, and there are some excellent stories about how he unearthed and promptly signed them - such as first hearing New York pianist Elan Mehler tinkling in a Swiss hotel foyer, and Bristol-based singer / party-starter Ben Westbeech's demo CD in the early hours on a car radio, in a car park, after a set.

Early Brownswood signings included artists such as Japanese jazz punks Soil & "PIMP" Sessions, Minneapolis-born, honey-voiced José James, and the 44-piece Heritage Orchestra ensemble. Then last year there was the Havana Cultura project, and now a more progressive, pioneering dance slant has been adopted - and Brownswood is better for the variety and evolution.

The new direction was reflected in the acts chosen by the label to perform at XOYO, on Cowper Street. First up, in the upstairs bar, was Brownswood's Ghostpoet, fronted by Coventry-born, London-based Obaro Ejimiwe, the pork-pie hat wearing Malcolm X-alike, whose dreamy lyrics swirled with disjointed, angular beats and got the head nodders going. His music is as anxious as it is mellow - an interesting and sometimes uncomfortable fusion that has led him to be labelled recently a 21st Century Gil-Scott Heron... or Tinie Tempah in a k-hole. I implore you to work it out for yourselves, and there should be a chance to do so if have not had the pleasure yet; this coming year should be huge for him.

The crowd were then instructed to snake down a floor, to where Peterson was spinning his tunes - and at the Brownswood Christmas bash, it must be the easiest audience for the 46-year-old to play to. "They seem really up for it tonight," he beamed after warming the crowd up with that early set. "I fancy going on the decks again!" In the early hours, to split up the acts, he did just that. "Even I only just made it back to London, despite the weather," the Radio 1 DJ continued. "I was in Paris this afternoon, and it was touch and go whether my flight would be cancelled."

More people came in from the cold as the night rumbled on, and next The Simonsound helped them defrost with some psychedelic electro. Simon James, the live performing half of the group (Matt Ford, he of DJ Format fame, stays in the studio) helped the crowd exit velocity in his NASA spacesuit. Their debut album, Reverse Engineering, was released in mid-2010 and is very studio orientated, though James, who lectures about 1950s and 60s electro musical pioneers under the title 'Under the Radar', excelled in his live show, accompanied by the superb flutist and mandolin player Laura J. Martin and some trippy visuals - "a montage of 50's and 60's science, science fiction and psychedelic film and still clips that are synchronised to the set," James informs.

The 2 Bears - Hot Chip's Joe Goddard and Greco-Roman's Raf Daddy - then grizzled and growled on the decks, with their unique homage to the music they were brought up on and influenced by. It's hard to describe the ursine duo's style - they swipe from genre to genre, bouncing from techno to reggae and dancehall - "anywhere we can find a spirit of musical adventure," says Ministry of Sound radio's Rundell. Mosca ('fly' in Italian) then took the night into the small hours with his ragga and dubstep, and was replaced by Brownswood favourite Simbad, who delivered a fitting finale on an ice cool night.

 

Words: Oliver Pickup

 

Related Links:

• Win R&S @ XOYO Tickets
• Review: Gilles Peterson Worldwide Festival
• Ingredients Launch Event At XOYO
• Flux Pavillion @ XOYO Review
• DSB's New London Residency

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