Review: You can tell the age of a horse by counting its teeth, the age of a tree by counting its rings, and the age of a dance music reviewer by counting how many 'Cafe Del Mar' comps are stored away in his/her/their memory banks! That sadly makes this writer about 250 years old, but thankfully the series has recently hit a serious run of form and this latest volume is a delight from start to finish, kicking off as it does in dubwise territory before veering briefly into lo-fi hip-hop and then bringing the classic-style Balearic vibes. With detours into fluffy pop, pointless ambience or self-indulgent neo-classicism conspicuous by their absence, it's everything that's good about the Ibiza sundown experience distilled into two hours of chilled listening pleasure.
Review: With the series approaching its 30th volume, you do kind of know what you're getting from a 'Cafe del Mar' comp - what's easy to forget is quite how delightful and varied a concoction such a known quantity can be. Now here comes Vol 28 to remind us, as it flits back and forth effortlessly between ultra-deep prog ('Love On A Real Train'), laidback piano house ('Nabi'), stripped-down lovers rock (Yvonne Archer's take on 'Ain't Nobody'), shufflin' broken beat/soul ('From Little Seeds We Grow'), hefty dub (see cuts from Feiertrag and Ghetto Priest), the Pink Floyd-isms of Common Saints' 'Starchild' and more besides. Deeply chilled - and deeply satisfying.
Review: Following the release of his ambient house inspired album on Pacific Rhythm, Private Paradise, Sudi 'Space Ghost' Wachspress has offered up a wealth of fresh reworks of tracks from his more classic deep house-sounding 2021 set, Dance Planet. You'll find highlights aplenty across the expansive, seven-track selection, including a wonderfully jazzy, breezy, sun-kissed and breakbeat driven revision of 'Deep' by Dirk 81, a scene stealing steppers dub-inspired Nelson of the East remix of 'Emotional Healer'(his acid-breaks tweak of the same track is also a treat), a Jarren take on 'Be Yourself' that sounds like an old Dream 2 Science jam and Wachspress's own 'Ambient Mix' of 'Emotional Forever', which sounds like the perfect soundtrack to a long, drawn out summer sunrise.
Review: There's plenty to set the pulse racing on Dance Planet, Sudi Wachspress's third album as Space Ghost. In keeping with the Oakland native's career to date, much of the material showcases a colourful, retro-futurist sound that variously doffs a cap to Alton Miller, Larry Heard and Blaze. He begins in confident mood with 'Emotional Healer', a sun-soaked, piano-sporting treat, before giddily skipping between street soul influenced grooves (the gorgeous 'Deep (Vibes Mix)'), pitched-down ambient house ('UFO' and the beatless wonder that is 'After Glow'), heady downtempo numbers ('Dream Weaver') and Burrell Brothers style dancefloor lusciousness ('Back To The Source', Soul Shower'). Throughout, the album is atmospheric, warming and melodically rich. In other words, it's a triumph.
Review: Oakland, California's Space Ghost, AKA Sudi Wachspress, returns to his semi-regular home of Tartelet. 'Time To Dance' itself, in its Original form, channels Chi-town deepness in the Heard/Trent/Damier tradition with perhaps a hint, too, of deep Jersey garage, while the Together Mix adds panpipes to give it a more tribal feel. 'New World Energy' is an early 90s-sounding house instrumental accompanied by a smoother, bassier Sunset Mix, while the ambient 'Forest Dub' and 'Mood Research' (the latter more of an interlude at just 2:08) complete an EP which will suit those who like their deep house on the cerebral side.
Review: Sudi Wachspress, AKA Space Ghost, delivers his eighth long-player in just 10 years. The Oakland, California native has carved out a sound that draws on house, disco, R&B and disco as well as strong influences from the LA beats scene, and the result is an album that operates largely at a walking pace, and as such is probably best appreciated in a home listening setting, with 'Feeling Real Good' and 'Prayer For You' providing the only obvious dancefloor moments. Standouts include the haunting 'Love Beam' with its haunting, looped vocal and bruk beat-y bass squelch, the druggy, slo-mo jazz-funk of 'Mystery Angel' and the sultry, soulful 'I'll Be Yours'.
Review: Hailing from California's Bay Area, Sudi Wachspress AKA Space Ghost should need little introduction to lovers of downtempo beats by now: this is his seventh long-player. More importantly, though, it's an album that's worth checking even if you're NOT normally a big fan of the style, because there's a much stronger dancefloor sensibility in evidence than on previous output. Opener 'Sea Snake Island', for instance, could easily slot into an early-doors deep house set, as could the vaguely melancholic 'Lavender Oil', while the title track has something of jazz fusion air about it. It all adds up to 50 minutes of really very pleasant listening indeed...
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.