Review: Seems like a few years now since Dave Lee last dusted off his Akabu alias but the name is usually a sign of quality and this new offering is unlikely to disappoint his army of fans. 'Highways' features an ultra-soulful male vocal courtesy of Jinadu, who's also worked with the likes of Black Coffee, Cristoph, Dixon and Jimpster, and comes in three mixes: Dave's own Medusa Mix and Medusa Dub lean towards his Sunburst Band style in their space-y, jazzy musicality while Toy Tonics regular Cody Currie supplies a refix for floors that like it just a little bit (deep) housier.
Review: The latest missive on DJ Chus and La Santa's rapidly evolving Rodelent Music imprint is a three-way collaboration between the latter, Cosmic Bambino and Jinadu. In its original form (track two), 'Immeasurable Light' is a sparkling, sun-bright number in which strong, eyes-closed male vocals rise above a chunky, rubbery electronic bassline, bright synth riffs and sun-drenched chords. The EP-opening D-Formation mix, meanwhile, is a more thickset, tech-tinged affair which wraps a more locked-in groove in sustained, low-register chords, bubbling electronics, rising synth-strings and dreamy, immersive pads. Both cuts are quietly summary and sound like they could get plenty of rotations in DJ sets this summer.
Review: In its original form, Fred Everything's latest collaboration - this time with sugar-voiced British soul man Jinadu - breathes new life into a once mighty variation of deep house: dub house. Rich in sub-heavy dub bass, delay-laden reggae guitars, dreamy chords and UK steppas style drums, it's every bit as good as anything you would have heard in the late '90s or early 2000s. Ian Pooley offers up two contrasting remixes. While the more straight-up deep house vocal take is rather good, we still prefer his 'Dub' revision, which wraps delay-laden synthesizer motifs and head-in-the-clouds electronic flourishes around snappy drums and Fred Everything's killer dub-style bassline.
Review: Jinadu and Elessio Pagliaroli's "They Say" has proven to be one of Moodmusic's biggest underground hits in years, so it's little surprise to see a new package of remixes emerging from the German label's Berlin HQ. Lossless.cc man Anthony Georges Patrice steps up first, effortlessly re-inventing the duo's original as a stomping but picturesque, Innervisions style anthem of epic proportions. Jonas Saalbach and Chris Robin join forces to lay down a deeper, tech-tinged interpretation that makes great use of Jinadu's fine vocal, before Alexander Maier delivers the EP's finest moment - a surging, acid-laden techno rework with all the sweaty intensity of Psychik Warriors Ov Gaia's greatest moments.
Review: Nitri's sunkissed vibes meet Break's faultless bass alchemy in this high power remix. Featuring the silken vocals of Jinadu, this release is a powerful hybrid of smooth jazzy gorgeousness and a hard-stepping, hi-tempo monster. Erring on the soulful side, it's a perfect blend of the two, with just enough bite to keep things interesting. "Musica" is a total change-up, with abstract percussion snapping and clicking through atonal synths and disjointed vocals. More haunted sci-fi than happy-go-lucky, don't expect to pull this out for the sun worshippers - it's strictly for those who prefer the mean beats and nasty nature of D&B's dark side.
Bitches Brew & The Beat Goes On Mix (continuous DJ mix) - (45:11) 126 BPM
Review: This is an excellent little Bitches Brew retrospective from label boss, DJ, promoter and producer extraordinaire Cosmo. Starting with the electronic soul elegy of Chi aka Cosmo's "Mistaken" branded by the distinctive vox of her long time muse Billie Godfrey, your ears are treated to Bambu's instrumental of their timeless Sergio Mendes cover and Jimpster's 2003 Rhodes heavy house rerub of Jinadu. The metallic rhythms and dubbed atmospherics of the MC Chickaboo featuring Freek by The Flaws make this a worthy purchase for those that dabble in melding deep house with more Latin and broken beat flavours.
Review: A supremely cool sampler from nu-soul label Bitches Brew that features a wealth of different talents coming together to make some sweet and smooth treats. Opener Jam features MC Chickaboo (Soul 2 Soul, Goldie, Timo Maas) on the vocals and Attica Blues' Charlie Dark on the remix, turning it into a lowdown "dubstrumental" complete with rollicking drums and some seriously squelchy bass. Jinadu's Natural Thing gets remixed by broken beat hero Domu and it's a typically enthralling workout of crisp jazzy drums and beautiful floating melodies placed delicately on top. Label founder Cosmo weighs in with the gorgeous Mistaken, done under her Ch'i alias and with vocalist Billie Godfrey up front on the mic, turning in a deliciously melancholy yet powerful vocal, backed up with some Roy Ayres-style vibes action for good measure. The Broken mix of Jinadu's Turning The Tide is another revelation, mixing up Rhodes stabs and some precision beats along with a vocal that bores it's way into your memory bank after a couple of listens.
Two standout cover versions round off this excellent compilation - Bamba take on Linda Williams' jazz-funk classic Elevate Your Mind and also turn in a Latin-flavoured version of Stevie Wonder's The Real Thing. Both of them are faithful and clearly done with a lot of reverence to the originals - a testament to a label that has soul running through it's veins as this collection shows.
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