Review: Wallace's first outing on Rhythm Section International was genuinely brilliant, so hopes are naturally high for the rising star's sequel. Check first deep, dubby and driving title track 'Papertrip', where echoing, dub techno style motifs, restless piano riffs and infectious hand percussion hits rise above a kick-drum-driven beat and a jazzy bassline, before admiring the ragga vocal-sampling speed garage revivalism of 'BB' (note the nods to mid-90s MK and a genuinely weighty bassline). 'The Function' joins the dots between skippy US garage rhythms and ultra-deep, dubbed-out house, while 'Backwaters' adds sunrise-ready sounds and psychedelic electronics to another deep, skippy and sub-heavy house groove.
Review: Over the last few years, Martin 'Atjazz' Iveson has spent a fair amount of time mentoring Peacey, a young producer with oodles of talent. That much is proved by the rising star's expansive debut album, a superb 16-track set that combines sizzling colo cuts with a string of inspired collaborations. The Edinburgh-based artist sets his stall out via the luscious horn arrangements and immersive ambient electronics of 'Play It By Ear', before drifting between head-nodding R&B loveliness (Oveous hook-up 'Love In The Forest'), sensual and seductive, soul-flecked deep house ('Hold Me Back' with Clyde and Atjazz), mid-tempo boogie-soul ('Playground' with Rona Ray), dubby and dreamy downtempo grooves ('Last Night's Dream'), deep and techy, spoken word-sporting dancefloor workouts ('Culture Bandit' with Vanessa Hidary) and jazz-funk influenced excellence (LaRoye collab 'In The Distance').
Review: The Take It Easy label returns with a red hot one that features a Bugsy 'ReDrum' of Wema's 'Kiherehere' cut. The original artists are a five-piece Tanzanian outfit founded on community and they have a global approach to sound that plays out here. In Bugsy's hands, it becomes a club-ready cut that fuses house and techno with the original's traditional Tanzanian instrumentals and Afro-Latin rhythms. Add in a fiery vocal and the sort of unrelenting drum funk that sends crowds mad and you have another standout from this fledgling label.
Streets Of Rage (feat Omari Clarke - original mix) - (10:04) 125 BPM
Cosmic Funk (dub mix) - (4:18) 128 BPM
Gimme The Rhythm (dub mix) - (6:16) 124 BPM
Mind Made Up (dub mix) - (5:30) 123 BPM
Review: Mike Nasty is one of the more storied operatives on New York's deep house underground, with a bulging catalogue of singles and EPs to his name. 'Black Planet' is his first full-length excursion and does a terrific job in showcasing his trademark sound - an immersive and musically rich take on deep house full to bursting with fluid pianos, subtle jazz references and addictive basslines. Highlights include gorgeous and breezy opener 'Cosmic Funk', the luscious Latin horns and soulful flavours of 'Gimme The Rhythm', the Osunalde-esque wonder that is 'Mother Earth', the stretched-out and the wobble bass-propelled Omari Clarke collaboration 'Streets of Rage'. A trio of top-notch dancefloor dubs - interpretations of other cuts across the collection - completes a fine set.
Review: The legendary Kerri Chandler and his Kaoz Theory label (ode to that priceless 1998 album) turns in a remix and dub package of Antonio Deep Scarano & Toshi's "Kuyo (In Everything)". For the uninitiated ADS is an Italian house music industry man known for his collaborative streak - hooking up with vocalist Toshi for a second time here. With the Kerri Chandler touch, the duo's infectious single gets a full remix treatment that across the board draws upon the purest of house sentiments, meant for warm and worldly times, taking in '90s new age and piano house with percussion, drum machines and basslines to boot. Chandler of course goes large but not OTT in his vocal and dub mixes, next to a pumping warehouse version by Antony Reale, Pietro Nicosia's clubby tribalisms and Salvatore Oppio's barqoue remake too!
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