De-Phazz has released a new studio album for listeners drawn to electronic groove, downtempo lounge, and world music. De-Phazz, the German collective associated with European nu-jazz and lounge since the turn of the millennium, presents De-Phazz pres. In A Rudie Mood.
Released on Phazz-a-delic New Format Recordings, the album brings Pit Baumgartner and drummer and co-producer Oli Rubow into reggae, dub, ska, and jazz territory. It is not a straight tribute to Jamaican music. The record combines roots reggae rhythms, analog dub space, ska accents, and De-Phazz’s sample-based approach. Its guiding phrase is: “Bringing together what doesn’t necessarily belong together!”
The album is available on vinyl and digital platforms. It takes rhythmic ideas associated with Kingston and runs them through sampling, live playing, and studio processing. The result is polished but not sterile, with plenty of room for bass, drums, horns, and echoes.
The meaning of “Rudie”
The title De-Phazz pres. In A Rudie Mood refers to the Jamaican “Rude Boy” culture of the 1960s. Rude Boys were often working-class young people in Kingston, known for sharp suits, defiant attitudes, and their connection to ska and rocksteady. Jamaican communities in the United Kingdom carried these sounds and styles with them, where they became part of British music culture.
Those rhythms later traveled through vinyl, pirate radio, and touring sound systems into continental Europe. In the album notes, Pit Baumgartner writes about rhythms that have moved and changed over decades. The title recognizes that Caribbean music has been heard, adapted, and reworked far beyond Jamaica. Baumgartner calls De-Phazz’s approach “Rude German Sampling”: a collage method that does not aim for strict genre purity.
Pit Baumgartner, Oli Rubow, and the guests
Pit Baumgartner and Oli Rubow shape the record together. Baumgartner works with found sounds, samples, arrangements, and dry humor. His productions have long moved between jazz, pop, electronica, and styles that resist neat labels.
Rubow gives De-Phazz pres. In A Rudie Mood its live rhythmic center. In reggae and dub, the relationship between kick drum and bass carries much of a song’s weight. His playing stays controlled and spacious, with syncopated details that keep the grooves from becoming too smooth.
The duo also invited younger musicians into the sessions. Vocalists Eben Jones and Emily Zils, who perform together as Eez, appear alongside Jona Heckmann and guitarist Alex Weis. Their contributions give the album different voices without breaking its overall mood.
They also worked with familiar musicians from the wider De-Phazz circle:
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Joo Kraus adds trumpet parts that bring jazz phrasing and late-night color to several tracks.
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Andrew Murphy brings experience in UK and Jamaican dub reggae to the record.
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Oliver Leicht of the Frankfurt Radio Big Band plays clarinet, adding an unusual texture to the dub arrangements.
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Sandie Wollasch, Ulf Kleiner, Marcus Bartelt, and Bernd Windisch appear on a session cover that brings several longtime collaborators together.
Track by track: De-Phazz pres. In A Rudie Mood
The vinyl and digital release contains twelve tracks.
Side A
1. Phazzie Dub “Phazzie Dub” opens the album slowly, with drums, tape delay, and a low bassline. Oli Rubow’s beat has acoustic weight, while Joo Kraus’s muted trumpet enters in short, distant phrases. The horn often works like another voice in the mix, then disappears into echo.
2. Freedom Way Paul St. Hilaire wrote the lyrics for “Freedom Way,” and Eez, Eben Jones and Emily Zils, sing them over Rhodes chords by Eckes Malz. Oliver Leicht’s clarinet moves through the arrangement with a dry, woody sound that is uncommon in dub but fits the track’s uneasy harmony.
3. Mr. Fine (Dub Mix) “Mr. Fine (Dub Mix)” revisits a song Baumgartner originally wrote for Ukulele Dub Society. De-Phazz rebuilds it around ska rhythm and ukulele. Eez carries the vocal hook, while Joo Kraus adds brief brass responses.
4. Rag`n`Jazz This instrumental centers on guitarist Alex Weis. It brings together ragtime touches, gypsy swing, and rocksteady rhythm. Weis plays with a warm, old-school guitar tone, surrounded by vinyl crackle and chopped rhythm samples.
5. In A Rudie Mood The title track moves at a slow dub pace. Trombonist Jona Heckmann takes the melodic lead over Baumgartner’s guitar chops. Rubow’s dry snare fills and the restrained arrangement give the song a slightly tense, filmic feel.
6. Kinky Raggae “Kinky Raggae” uses familiar roots-reggae references but folds in urban pop production. Emily Zils and Eben Jones wrote the lyrics and sing close harmonies over Rubow’s hi-hat pattern. Oliver Leicht’s clarinet lines borrow some of their movement from Balkan music while staying inside the groove.
Side B
7. Montego Moonlight “Montego Moonlight” begins with ambient sounds before settling into a lovers-rock-influenced downbeat. Rubow uses brushes, and Joo Kraus leaves space between open trumpet notes. It has a quiet, nocturnal feel without drifting into background music.
8. Can You Handle It (Dub Mix) Andrew Murphy takes the microphone on “Can You Handle It (Dub Mix),” joined by guest vocals from Mikey Dread. The track leans into UK sound-system dub, with heavy bass and a direct vocal delivery. Matthias Dörsam adds flute lines that cut through the lower frequencies.
9. Overdub Overdo The lead single is a song about dub production itself. A ukulele rhythm pushes the song forward while Eez delivers the hooks. Jona Heckmann’s trombone gives it extra punch, and Tobias Escher’s accordion adds a brief continental touch.
10. So fine, so good “So fine, so good” brings Baumgartner, Rubow, and Kraus into a stripped-back arrangement. A simple drum break and organ line leave room for Kraus’s playful trumpet phrases, synth swells, and acoustic guitar.
11. Phazzie Dub (Reprise) “Phazzie Dub (Reprise)” returns to the opening track but pushes further into dub effects. Feedback, isolated instruments, and chopped trumpet echoes reshape the earlier material. The reprise treats the original less like a song to repeat than a source to pull apart.
12. Little Something (Remix) The album closes with “Little Something (Remix).” Sandie Wollasch sings over Rhodes piano by Ulf Kleiner, with brass from Jona Heckmann and Marcus Bartelt and bass by Bernd Windisch. The remix turns the song toward reggae-soul and lets the arrangement build gradually.
Production, mix, and mastering
De-Phazz puts considerable attention into studio sound, and De-Phazz pres. In A Rudie Mood follows that approach. Bernd Windisch mixed the album. The bass is full, but Rubow’s drum attacks remain clear, and the sampled and acoustic elements occupy separate spaces in the mix.
Christoph Stickel mastered the record at cs mastering in Vienna. The mastering preserves dynamic range instead of flattening the sessions. The vinyl edition gives the arrangements room to breathe, particularly on the dub tracks where small delays and background details matter.
Artwork
Uli Ambach of UCgraphic designed the artwork. Rather than using familiar reggae imagery, the cover uses a grid of black, burgundy red, yellow, and green blocks. The colors refer to Pan-African and Rastafarian palettes, but the graphic treatment is clean and digital. The inward-moving pattern mirrors the album’s use of older musical references in a modern studio setting.
Music in motion
The album considers how music travels. Reggae and dub came from specific Jamaican social and musical histories, and their global influence does not erase those origins. At the same time, styles change when musicians in other places work with them. Baumgartner’s approach accepts that tension rather than pretending it does not exist.
On De-Phazz pres. In A Rudie Mood, De-Phazz uses Jamaican rhythms as material for its own language of samples, jazz harmonies, and live musicians. Some listeners will prefer a more traditional dub record. This one is deliberately less orthodox.
Worldwide digital distribution by Klangspot Recordings GmbH
Klangspot Recordings GmbH handles worldwide digital distribution for De-Phazz pres. In A Rudie Mood.
Klangspot Recordings works with Phazz-a-delic New Format Recordings to make the album available through digital streaming and download services. The vinyl edition remains part of the release, while the digital version gives listeners access wherever they use music platforms.
The record can be heard online or played as a 12-inch vinyl LP. Its production rewards close listening, especially the balance between Rubow’s drums, the low end, and the guest musicians’ short instrumental parts.
In Pit Baumgartner’s words: Enjoy the mix, and pick your favorite bastard!
Album details:
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Artist: De-Phazz
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Album title: De-Phazz pres. In A Rudie Mood
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Release date: Friday, September 18, 2026
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Record label: Phazz-a-delic New Format Recordings
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Digital distribution: Klangspot Recordings GmbH
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Physical format: Vinyl (12″ LP)
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EAN / Barcode: 4260082362137
