Review: Venezuela's Juan Laya and London's Jorge Montiel only put out their first 'Electropical' collection of Latin-infused jazz, funk and disco grooves last year and now here we are, up to Part 3 already! Across the EP's seven tracks, the pair - also known collectively as Los Charly's Orchestra - explore various musical pastures from the upbeat and summery ('Sexmachina', the Club Mix of 'Spacial Paradise') to the more contemplative and cinematic ('Kalimba Variations', 'San Juan' feat Grupo Madera), ending on an African-inspired note with the Afro-Funk Mix of 'Spacial Paradise'). Will no doubt be big for the likes of Gilles Peterson, Mr Scruff and Snowboy.
Review: Three years on from the first volume in their ongoing Electropical series, long-time collaborators Juan Laya and Jorge Montiel are ready to drop part four. It's another sunny, summery and musically expansive affair, with the duo wrapping live instrumentation (guitars, flutes, bass, keys etc) around a variety of tropical-inclined grooves. The star attraction is arguably the energetic but mellow and colourful 'Amazonas Secret Kingdom', which is later turned into a flute-heavy dancefloor dub (featuring flautist Marcelo Andrade) via the haunting 'Drum & Flute Mix'. Elsewhere, 'Abstract Fragments of a Dream' is a mid-tempo samba-boogie treat featuring vocals from Andre Esput, 'Kalimba Vibrations (Oyobi Mix)' is a jaunty chunk of Latin house cheeriness, and 'Beyond Civilisations (featuring Kris Huston)' sits somewhere between tropical house, Afro-house and sub-heavy broken beat.
Review: Juan Laya and Jorge Montiel team up for this killer jam on Imagenes. "Funk Supreme" instantly evokes the memory of Herbia Hancock's finest work, with swirling organ stabs, layered percussion and a nice funk'd up bassline. The 'heavy breaks club mix' of the same track is the Juno favourite, with the speaker cone worrying drum break brought to the fore in wonderful fashion!
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