Review: Soul Notes is a label which surfaced in 2011 and so far this year it's put out music from Efenkei and joint release between label founder Mario Castillo, aka Kastil, and Adryiano. Now Castillo goes out on his own delivering a solid three-track release featuring an Eomac remix of the title-track. "Binary Star" is a snare-heavy, breakbeat-styled techno production that Ian McDonnell totally dubs out in a typically haunting remix, while "Forrest Curtains" is a sinister cut of Detroit styled techno you could expect to hear played late in the night at Tresor.
Review: This EP sees Kastil's Soul Notes label inaugurate a new series of Various Artists releases, split evenly between those familiar to the label and a few names new to the imprint, with four tracks that complement each other perfectly. Local Talk's Fulbert kicks off with "Untitled", a hi-fidelity slice of 90s-inspired house with some pleasingly foggy, jazzy touches nestled amongst its sharp percussion, while label boss Kastil contributes "Red Clown (raw mix)", a stripped back house jam with wavering chords and clattering tin pot percussion. Malin Genie provides "Leavin'", an urgent piece of garage house breathy with breathy vocals and a pleasantly spacious quality, while Jefferson Belmodo finishes up with "Booty Groove" a devastatingly simple house track with lightly filtered bass.
Review: Dutchman Kastil is one of a growing number of producers whose tracks straddle the blurry line between disco and house. On previous releases, he has delivered both deep house originals and disco edits, as well a smattering of tracks that sit somewhere between the two camps. This release sits in the latter category, offering flowing jams that add a bumpin' house sensibility to string-drenched disco cuts. Lead cut "Mc Geever" sets the tone, offering a hip-wigglin' head-nodder built around heavy snares, darting synths, big strings and neat vocal samples. "Saved By The Photo", meanwhile, delivers a Tiger & Woods-ish stroll through loopy electrofunk/house pastures, all filters and touchy-feely synths.
Review: Previously, Dutch producer Kastil has displayed a love for blending house and disco (most notably on EPs for Outernational and Diner City Sound). Here, he offers up an EP that basks in the glory days of mid 1990s US deep house, throwing in a few choice disco vocal samples (most notably a blast of Diana Ross on the nagging "Coming") to appease his discoid instincts. The real standouts are opener "That Jazz" - a warm and snuggly slice of deepness that evokes distant memories of waking up with the man or woman of your dreams - and "Black Velvet", a sumptuous concoction that sounds like classic Nu Groove given a 21st century makeover.
Review: When quizzed about his debut full-length before a Juno Plus party last year, John Talabot paused for a minute. "It's not really house, more electronica - like a proper album," he finally remarked. It's an apt description. Fin is clearly rooted in house - and the kind of melody-driven, atmospheric tackle that the Barcelona-based producer excels at - but it's certainly not a dancefloor-focused set. There are off-kilter downtempo moments, slo-mo compositions and twisted beatscapes that recall the impossible-to-pigeonhole antics of Hyetal (circa "Broadcast"), Sepalcure and Instra:Mental. Then there's closer "So Will Be Now" (one of two collaborations with Pional), a near-genius chunk of future garage/deep acid house fusion that's so beautiful it almost hurts. As transformations go, Fin is stunning.
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