Review:
Young Marco and A Good Christian draw the curtain down on their brilliant Italian dream house retrospective series, Welcome To Paradise, with a third and final instalment that's every bit as good as its predecessors. After opening with the previously unreleased brilliance of Jacy's "Resounding Seashell" - the kind of cut that deserves to be played at languid, laidback afternoon pool parties - the Dutch duo variously serves-up sought-after gems (Leo Anibaldi's Larry Heard-esque "Universal"), humid and intoxicating early morning anthems (the tribal chants, kaleidoscopic chords and New Jersey organs of Green Baize's "Tramp Heart"), early ambient house anthems (Deep Blue's "Deep Blue (The Inner Part of Me)") and stone cold classics (Don Carlos's "Overture").
Review:
In recent times, Krystal Klear's EPs have wholeheartedly paid tribute to a variety of (mostly New York-based) historic clubs, artists and dance music sub-genres. While he's officially broken the spell with The Division EP - his first outing on Running Back - for the most part it's still a heart-warming, retro-futurist treat. He kicks things off with the cheery, Italo-disco revivalism of "Neutron Dance", where throbbing synthesizer arpeggio lines and mid-80s melodies are underpinned by a bustling mid-tempo house groove, before slowing things down via the Balearic synth-pop shuffle of "Division Ave". Then you'll find more muscular, freestyle-meets-acid house fun (wild and mind-altering peak-time highlight "Shockzoid") as well as the baggy, glassy-eyed Balearic house rush of closer "Moonshake Mike".
Review:
Waxwood generally likes to keep his identity on the down low, though it was confirmed recently that he's a Brooklyn-based Russian with a penchant for cosmic and spiritual music from around the world, as well as layered ambient experimentation and intoxicating house and techno beats. All of these traits come to the fore on "Kama", which sees him pepper a rolling, head-nodding hypno-house groove with simmering strings, relaxed electronics and chiming melody lines. It's rather good, all told, as is the more obviously Balearic revision by Swiss crew Fuga Ronto, which adds guitars, electric bass and new backing vocals for an even wider-eyed listening experience.
Review:
Spanish producer Pional has an incredible track record to date, delivering must-have releases for the likes of Hivern Discs, Young Turks, Permanent Vacation and Ninja Tune offshoot Counter Records. Here he continues this rich vein of form with an EP for Phonica that simply sparkles from start to finish. Check, for example, the darting, chiming synthesizer melodies, toaster-warm chords and bubby beats of "XME", which is subsequently turned into a psychedelic disco chugger on the similarly wonderful "A Quiet Ceremony mix". Heavier dancefloor thrills arrive in the form of "One Night Stand", where spine-ingling, manipulated vocal samples and stretched out chords come underpinned by heavyweight drums. The latter can be admired on the brilliantly throbbing "Slow Drumapella Version".
Review:
Irishman Peter Power has become quite a well known figure in Berlin since moving there several years ago and has been one of the figures behind some of the city's now legendary haunts like Kleine Reise (RIP) and the successful Loftus Hall/Bertrams: which has had a great run thus far too. Now the man behind the Ufordia imprint returns with his second outing on Thomas Von Party's Multi Culti, which itself has also made the move to the German capital. Power delves deep into the exotic here, borrowing heavily from African music and getting very atmospheric and esoteric in the process. The life affirming raindance of "Adama Waro" (original mix) is certainly geared for some moments of truth on the dancefloor. Equally spiritual is the traditional percussion based journey of "Mori Baka" (original mix). There's some great remixes by label manager Dreems and Bucharest duo Khidja: the latter's contributions which shine the most, particularly on their balearica infused/Second Summer of Love sounding remix of "Dansakoni".
Review:
You'd expect a compilation curated by open-minded DJ/producer Hunee to be eclectic in nature, and Hunchin' All Night is just that and more. Marketed simply as "a collection of his favourite dancefloor cuts from the '70s until modern time", the compilation set is packed with obscure and inspired jams in a variety of styles. Compare, for example, the gentle but tribal rhythms and new age synthesizers of Carlos Maria and Nuno Canavarro's "Blue Terra" with the glistening, mid-80s Balearic jazz-funk brilliance of Stanislas Tohon's "Owhaaou" (as re-edited by French digger Raphael Top-Secret), or even the Clavinet-heavy Highlife brilliance of Pat Thomas's "Yesu San Bra Disco Hi Life". And that's before we get to the acid-flecked techno madness of Villa Abo and Hunee's wonderfully dreamy and dubbed-out pulse of Mappa Mundi's "Trance Fusion".
Review:
Newcomer Feon up next on Optimo Music, with some some gorgeous and sunkissed balearica. The London based producer wrote these tracks in a brisk 10 day session, shortly after the experience of Ayahuasca ceremony - which is evidenced in the psychedelic sound of the first track. He has explained that the production involved his vocals being layered 30 times in different harmonies, then put through a space echo and you can sure hear it! This one was awesome. Then we have the trance inducing muscle disco of "Holland Fly By" with its super cosmic influences enough to propel your mind into the stratosphere. Finally there's something much more experimental on the solemn, breaks-driven tripper "Without Sound".
Review:
Courtesy of Seb Wildblood's London based Church imprint, we have "It Rains Here" the debut album from Yadava. The Manchester based producer has appeared previously on Bristol's Banoffee Pies Records, AdHoc Records and is co-founder of the So Flute label. He also hosts a show on NTS Radio. A charming and colourful album across the various moods it presents in around a dozen or so tracks. From the sublime urban blues of "Weightless", the soulful nu-jazz broken beat explosion of "All The Fills', the latin-infused polyrhythmic deepness of "Saudade" and "All Is Well" where he nails a straight up, four- to-the-floor, dusty deep house groove in the vein of Berlin's Money $ex crew - it's all killer no filler here from an emerging talent.
Review:
BeachFreaks Records co-founder Charles Bals is a man who knows about records - and obscure European ones at that. Club Meduse, his first compilation for Spacetalk (a label with a track record for producing these kinds of killer, crate-digging comps), is loosely designed as the soundtrack to life around a mythical (IE imaginary) Cote D'Azure resort. Musically, it gathers together the kind of hazy, soft-focus and life-affirming cuts that you would have heard at resort discos in the mid-to-late 1980s. Suffice to say that Bals' selections tend towards the rare, magical and undeniably Balearic, from the glassy-eyed, cascading jazz-funk of the Keyboys and loved-up post-boogie sweetness of Gemini's "Take a Chance", to the sparkling Euro-electro of Miss' "Hip Hop" and pitched-down drum machine chug of Gigi Flag's "Nymphomaniac (Instrumental)". Essential.
Review:
Famously, George Evelyn's Nightmares on Wax project is the only surviving link to Warp's early days as a bastion of Yorkshire house and techno. Of course, the Leeds native left that style behind years ago - though, interestingly, two tracks on this belated seventh album ("Eye (Can See)" and "Tapestry") touch on soul-sampling house - instead turning his attention to slinky downtempo grooves. For the most part, Feelin' Good sticks to the plan, offering up slow, laidback, summery fusions of soul, dub, funk, instrumental hip-hop and string-drenched Balearic moods. It's something of a return to form after a string of so-so sets, recalling Evelyn's two greatest moments, 1990s' downtempo classics Smokers Delight and Carboot Soul.
Review:
Pentagram is Boratto's first album in four years, but it sounds like his time has been well spent. Expertly produced and crafted, it is also the Brazilian producer's most diverse release. It moves in style from the low slung electronic disco of "The Walker" into the live drums and guitar of "The Black Bookshelf" and the smart dance pop of "Overload", which features Luciana Villanova on vocals. Of course these could all be signs that Boratto has grown up and got serious - after all '"Forgotten" sounds like an adept take on punk funk and he veers into neo-classical on the sweeping strings and keys of "Scene 2". However, this album demonstrates that he is still capable of delivering the kind of spine tingling trance he made his name with, as the hands in the air trance-techno of "Alcazar" so effortlessly reminds us.
Review:
Chasing The Dream is the first artist album on Tale of Us' label and it's an impressive affair. The work of Ukrainian duo Woo York, it stays true to Afterlife's love of melodic electronic music. This is audible on the gentle break beats and warm synth hooks of "More Than a Feeling" and the title track or the windswept "Inception". That said, there is also a darker side to Dream; it first rears its head on the pulsating acid of "Burning With You" before the pair veer into the throbbing, epic "Energy Pulse" and drop tough kicks and the purring bass menace of "Kadastre". However, they really impress on the record's more melodic moments, and the soft-burning hooks of "Rise" shows that Woo York and Afterlife are masters of the art of the melodic.
Review:
reasures From The Temple was designed as a companion piece to Thievery Corporation's 2017 album The Temple of I & I, a set famously recorded at Geejam Studios in Port Antonio, Jamaica. It contains a mixture of previously unheard material originally slated for inclusion on its predecessor and all new remixes of album tracks. As you'd expect, the mood is dub-wise, soulful and humid throughout, with skanking dub cuts and soulful reggae jams nestling side by side with more up-tempo dancefloor workouts (see the dubby deep house beauty of "Guidance" and the breakbeat-driven bustle of "Music To Make You Stagger"). Most of the finest reworks come from TC, whose revisions mostly join the dots between digital dub and "Sleng Teng" style ragged riddims.
Review:
Nicola Cruz returns with another spellbinding fusion of Afro Brazilian charm in the form of "Folha De Jurema". With the dusky dulcets of Arteria FM, the dusty strums of Spaniol and sultry plucks of Salvador Arguaya, Cruz commands a decorated cast as they explore a mystical new vision of a traditional Brazilian folk standard. The remixes are just as warm and alluring as Xique Xique adds a little steel string tension, Crussen maps out a chugging Scandinavian odyssey and Rio's Carrot Green brings us back home to the motherland with a poignant, hazy flutter of house soul. Stunning.
Review:
After his remix of Shkoon's track "Bushiya", Chilean DJ/producer Rodrigo Gallardo now presents with his own EP on Underyourskin Records. It is the first solo EP on the imprint by him, according to the German label. Gallardo has put together a mix of electronica and downtempo here on the Minero EP. In addition to the two original tracks - the woozy latin folk of the title track and "Como Si Fueran Dioses" (which will appeal to fans of the Crosstown Rebels or Sol Selectas sound) the release also includes a minimal techno styled remix by Berlin's M.RUX and one by MoM & ANuT which is respectful to the original, but injects it with more added dancefloor dynamics in impressive fashion.
Review:
Hamburg's Stefan Kozalla aka DJ Koze returns in 2018 with his new opus entitled Knock Knock on his Pampa imprint - which exists outside of trend and influence. An unholy mixture of techno with disco, soul, hip hop and psychedelia - there are even wafts of easy listening and indie rock. Special guests include Bon Iver, Speech from Arrested Development, Kurt Wagner of Lambchop, Pampa's very own Sophia Kennedy and the fine vocal talents of Jose Gonzalez. The first single taken from the album is "Illumination" which features the inimitable Roisin Murphy from Moloko. A lo-slung, deep and soulful journey featuring subtle filtered disco house elements and it's very stylish indeed.
Review:
Turkey's Ali Kuru specialises in slow, textured and deep beats with sultry, exotic overtones. His forthcoming LP "Egzotik" has elements of the type of noirish Mediterranean vibes peddled by Guy Gerber or David August. Here we have a selection of remixes of mainly album tracks. First up Italian cosmic legend Daniele Baldelli and Dario Piana team up for a killer electronic body music remix of "Ashoka". Next, Craig Bratley delivers a moody, minimal rework of "Zurna", "Return To Paradise" is turned into a traditional clippety-clop clap-along by Nicola Cruz and lastly "Lost Bedouin", reworked by Peter Power, recalls a million 90s chillout rooms.
Review:
Much praise was heaped on the 2015 debut EP from Black Spuma, a "retro Balearic" collaboration between prolific Frankfurt producer Phil Lauer and Slow Motion man Fabrizio Mammarella. Unsurprisingly, Onda is similarly inclined; check, for example, the synthesized marimba melodies, dreamy pads and Sueno Latino-era Italian deep house groove of "Metallo Nero", or the gentle Adriatic breeze that is "Hundred Fingers Man". The superb title track sees them upping the tempo and intensity a little whilst retaining their core values (melody, groove, and eyes-closed vibes), while closer "Gabula" sees them change tack, lacing rubbery TB-303 acid lines over a swinging breakbeat and whizzing electronic effects.
Review:
Dutch trio Yor Kultura head up the Laut & Luise imprint and are well regarded within mainland Europe's festival circuit - with appearances at some of the most respected events such as Garbicz Festival, Amsterdam Dance Event and of course America's infamous Burning Man. These guys can truly bring the goods! Beginning with the entrancing cosmo-balearica of "Lotus" with its woozy arpeggios and lazy rhythm patterns. On "Oak" they're then into some sleazy and slinky tech house (on the depper tip) that's perfect for the afterhours. The EP's true standout is the slo-mo tribalism of "Willow" with its smooth polyrhythms and hypnotic atmosphere, which you could imagine played live to much fanfare. It also gets a series of wicked remixes: Fleeting Wax main man Mehmet Aslan delivers a rendition that nails that indie-dance vibe, as heard by him on labels like Emotional Especial and Huntleys + Palmers. The dub mix by Aslan also features next and forgoes the wacky vocals for a more woozy and trance inducing version: that we were well into!
Review:
When it comes to picking remixers, the Omena crew is on the money. Certainly, we can't think of a stronger selection of left-of-centre deep house producers than the crew they've assembled to remix tracks from Seb Wildblood's album The One With The Emoticon. It's arguably Telephones who steals the show via an 11-minute revision of "Wet Plants" that's high on dreamy melodic touches, eyes-closed electronics, warm bass and heavy, densely layered percussion, though Kornel Kovacs' deeper, dustier and more left-of-centre house rub of "Wet Summer" is equally as potent when it comes to club rotations. Horizontal, head-in-the-clouds thrills come via the Yu Su and D.K remixes, with the latter's blissful and drifting take on "Interlude" sounding like a long-lost, 1980s new age ambient treat. In a word: essential.
Review:
Ibiza institution Cafe Mambo needs little introduction. Starting as a sunset hangout, it soon became a perfect venue for the island's pre-parties and has developed an iconic status worldwide. It has served up thousands of sunsets since it first opened it's doors in 1994 and here's Sunset to Afterdark: an expertly crafted collection compiled by the team behind the successful Future Disco series and Needwant label. This one takes you from those unforgettable sunsets to, like the name suggests, the nighttime where things really heat up. If there is one essential soundtrack required this summer, this is it. Highlights not limited to: Zero 7's sublime drifter "Last Light", Dutch trio Kraak & Smaak's emotive and bittersweet little ditty "Stumble" (Blue Hotel Mix) through to the gorgeous remix of Tempelhof & Gigi Masin's "Blue 13" by Declasse main man Steve Coby. There's even a bit of slinky and uptempo tech house from hot UK duo Dusky. Comes with two continuous mixes for your convenience: Sunset and Afterdark, naturally.
Review:
Laurel Halo's latest release was apparently inspired by her recent film score work for Amsterdam-based arts collective Metahaven. Certainly, it's a largely becalmed and beguiling collection, experimental in ethos but also cinematic in tone. It contains a sextet of instrumental pieces that vary in style and tone from the loopy, otherworldly creepiness of "The Sick Mind" and droning "Supine", where ambient chords and manipulated cello notes combine to create a druggy soundscape, to the slowly unfurling, widescreen epics that open and close the mini-album. These, particularly "Raw Silk Uncut Wood" are intensely picturesque and beautiful, with Halo subtly shifting between epic ambient passages and the kind of sweeping, string-laden musical movements that mark out the finest cinematic compositions.
Review:
It's been some six years since Hun Choi made his debut on William Burnett's WT Records imprint. In that time, he's proved incredibly hard to pin down. This debut album for Rush Hour seems designed to continue that trend, offering a series of warm, melodious and curiously Balearic cuts that defy easy categorization. Sure, there are dancefloor-focused moments - see the cacophonous, Detroit-influenced hustle of "Error of the Average", the deep acid madness of "Silent Sensations" and the classic deep house bounce of "Desire" - but also a range of downtempo and ambient jams that arguably impress more. Of these, it's "The World" - a humid exercise in tropical drums, twittering flutes and looped vocal samples - and the sublime, string-laden "Bruises" that really stand out.
Review:
This is Amsterdam scene stalwart Tom Trago's fourth album, coming five years after The Light Fantastic. Trago set up a new studio at his family home, in the coastal town of Bergen in the northern Netherlands. The album was made with the purpose of creating a global sound, along with the music that has influenced him throughout his life in a new yet natural environment. That is evident throughout the album, because it's a rather diverse affair which demonstrates his expertise in the studio and the impressive variety in his repertoire. From the chill, blunted urban ode of "Bergen", the classic Detroit electro influence of "Zeeweg" or "Morph" to moments of sultry, late night deepness on the emotive "Faith Belongs To Us" or the (hi-tech) soulful closer "Working Machines" - this sees Trago at the absolute top of his game.
Review:
Osaka's GROUND is no newcomer to the world of experimental electronics, with the artist's last official EP having come out all the way back in 1995 as a self-releases 7" on the forever-defunct 595-76-8239 Music. Sunizsm is his debut LP, with a few of these tunes already out in the last few months on separate EPs, each one of them backed by a series of killer remixes, of course. The LP as a whole, however, is a startling beauty, dipping and diving from dance music to the abstract, rich in Ground's Japanese aesthetics. "Logos", one of the tracks released already, is a tripping bundle of percussion and Eastern vocal chops and, among our other favourites on here, there's also the off-kilter chimes of "Hanasai", the moody bass tones of "Feel It", and the hypnotic journey that is "Sunizsm" itself. House-not-house for the DJ-not-DJs.
Review:
The Balearic scene of the mid '80s is an ever-popular genre, there's just something forever cool about its laissez faire attitude where anything interesting with a groove got thrown in the mix no matter how weird the choice might be. Leo Mas was there, alongside Alfredo, spinning at Amnesia, and now he begins to tell the tale via this new compilation series. The 12 tracks here range from flute driven hippy jams ("Gil") to sleazy Italian EBM/disco ("Satan In Love") and Melody FM balladry ("l'Ultima Notte") via droney Goth ("Clouds Over Thin Paper"). Bonkers, just the way it should be.
Review:
More sleazy, mid-tempo and laid-back percussive styles courtesy of The Mushrooms Project - it's what they're becoming known for really. They are back on London's Leng with a sound that immediately resonated with rising stars and newly signed label mates Earthboogie. "Dubby Bolas"is actually from the Italian duo's 2016 LP Rivea Corymbosa. It really excited Earthboogie - who turned it into cosmic/balearic tinged ambient house journey. Equally, the Mushrooms were fans of the Afro disco sound that the Londoners displayed on their debut track "Route Ten To Interzone" which they have now respectfully reworked featuring a little bit more dancefloor dynamic.
Review:
Since ditching a plethora of recording aliases back in 2014, Malaysia-based Frenchman Karim Sahraoui has released music on some of techno's most renowned imprints, including Transmat, Compost Black Label and OFF Recordings. Plentitude sees him add another iconic label to his CV via a first outing on R&S Records.Our highlight is probably the ear-catching, house-tempo Detroit futurism of "Born Again", where positive-sounding pianos and saucer-eyed electronics rise above a shuffling rhythm track. That said, many people will enjoy the hypnotic, dub techno inspired tech-house hypnotism of opener "Spy of the Desert", while closer "Before The Second Coming" is as rich, fragrant and melodious as they come.
