Eight Weeks

Review: Hoorah! It's been a long time coming, but the album from this Canadian act is finally here. We got a taster for their new retro/contemporary jazzy sound with a single in August. The EP featured the breaks-driven "Soul Sugar", the 70s funk indebted "Driving To Montenegro" and the jazzier "Blow", all of which made it to the album. Now joining these tunes are the likes of the fretlessly rhythmic "Blues For BL", the crazy flute frenzy of "The Kelly Affair" and the gentle piano intricacies of "Snowfall".

Review: Colin Baldry is hardly a well-known name, despite spending the last 20 years composing music for TV, film and adverts. Here, he steps out of the shadows to deliver the first single from his brand new 'orchestral jazz' project, Ambient Jazz Ensemble. His own rework of forthcoming album cut "Jazz Face", which opens proceedings, sets the tone, delivering a luscious slice of brilliantly played and impressively produced nu-jazz. Kirk Degiorgio delivers a warm, hip-hop influenced uptempo rework, all scattergun beats and cosy chords, before Simbad steals the show with two excellent spiritual jazz-house versions. Of the two, it's the deeper Rainy Remix that most impresses.

Review: Fresh from the success of the Hurricane Season In Brooklyn album, APS, the project headed by studio whizz/drummer Amon, are back with a follow-up EP. This time the emphasis is on Amon's original influences from West Africa and recording involved a revolving cast of singers and musicians hailing from the country of Guinea all participating at Brooklyn's The Hook Studio. The result is three tracks with a combined running time of about 18 minutes and shedloads of talent. "Coule Ba" touches on reggae, "Korosi" is all retro funk while "Dioubate", with it's enchanting xylophone melodies, is the standout track here.

Review: Ahead of his much anticipated forthcoming album 'If It Were You, We'd Never Leave', Brooklyn's Anjunadeep and Anjuabeats regular delivers one of his finest productions to date (which is really saying something). With support coming in from as wide a spectrum as Zane Lowe and Rob Da Bank, it's fair to say he is looking outside the box. Featuring a stunning vocal performance from Norway's Ane Brun, which sits beautifully above his trademark dreamy layers, you are in for a real treat. The deeper and more atmospheric Ghosting Season mix is also worth checking.

Review: For the uninitiated, Around7 is a Parisian beatmaker with a difference. Composing mainly with an MPC in the old hip-hop fashion, he makes deep, jazz-soaked jams that sit somewhere between Guru, DJ Cam and Moodymann. This 19-minute 'LP' for Phil Weeks' Robsoul Jazz imprint is something of a surprise gem, flitting effortlessly between bossa-influenced 4/4 cuts (see "Broi"), sampladelic deep soul beats ("The 7th Sin"), stoned trip-hop (the Jazzamatazz flashback vibes of "Butter & Fly" and "I Love BBQ") and head-nodding nu-jazz ("Kick It"). The overall quality suggests that we could be hearing more from him in coming years.