Review:
The third edition in Midnight Riot's White Isle-friendly compilation series arrives right on time for the summer and brings back a huge package full of sublime cosmic & spiritual soundtrack from around the globe. No surprises from the label, it's packed with hypnotic delights with touches of blue eyed soul, slo mo disco and tropical low slung groovers. Upping the standard it contains unreleased tracks & Balearic revisions from many of the Midnight Riot crew featuring Shalvoy & Hifi Sean, FSQ, Jack Priest, Northern Souls, Chewy Rubs, Dim Zach, Chuggin' Edits & Steve Cobby (Fila Brazillia) plus loads more all curated by label boss Yam Who?
Review:
Much has changed for Maribou State since they delivered their breakthrough album, 'Portraits', in 2015. The runaway success of that album led to live performances at festivals across the globe, and in turn an opportunity to make their own field recordings of sounds - musical and otherwise - in a variety of far-flung locations. As a result, 'Kingdoms in Colour', their third album, is a much more wide-ranging and worldly-wise affair. It exudes warmth and humanity, with glistening tropical guitars and kaleidoscopic electronics rubbing shoulders with shuffling machine beats, jazzy live percussion, warped samples and hazy vocals (Holly Walker and Balearic outfit Khruangbin make notable guest appearances). As a result, Kingdoms of Colour more than lives up to its name, offering a memorable collection of songs and instrumentals bristling with brilliant ideas.
Review:
We were thrilled to see Quart's latest project pop up in the release listings and couldn't wait to get into this brand new extended LP project entitled 'Life Is Beautiful'. This project sees Quart really express his Nu Jazz compositional flavour as he unloads colourful instrumentation from start to finish, with a particular highlight being the smooth layerings of the title track 'Life Is Beautiful'. The album also takes in a range of electronically inspired BPMs, with 'Right Time, Right Place' taking a junglist style drum rhythm and 'Just A Lazy Day' swinging 140 themes left right and centre. Other noteworthy recordings include the beautiful piano riffs of 'Thinking Of You' and the uplifting harmonics of 'Orcha'.
Review:
As everyone expected, the latest in a long run of releases from the Breakbeat Paradise camp is an absolute belter as they unveil 'Closer To The Sun' from Ken. As a single it's a hip hop inspired thrill ride, built on hefty basslines and smooth drum work, immediately shouting "cool" at all who hear it. The bulk of this release comes via the remixes however, kicked off by Discobeta's subtle stripped back overhaul. We then hear Ursula 100 turn the track into an 80's inspired electro thriller before Minded & Forrest get super funky with their complete breakbeat redesign, packed with scratchy vocal slices and emotive horn sections. Finally we finish up with Bezwun's wonderful fidget-like refurbishment, driven by electronic chord stabs and groovy drum movements, rounding off a great EP in style.
Review:
Razor-N-Tape presents "Icarus", a slice of chilled out analogue soul by Lovebirds aka Sebastian Doering with remixes. The original is a deep soul jam reminiscent of Roy Ayers' Ramp project, while the Tall Black Guy's remix gets more of an R&B swagger on in style. We particularly enjoyed JKriv's lush little boogie down rendition, which really hit that sweet spot in all its neon lit glory. Each mix gets its own side in this EP, with stunning full color artwork, making it a truly special package perfect for both
Review:
Having sold out on vinyl at the tail end of 2016, it's heartening to see Pyschemagik's epic Ritual Chants compilation series finally appear on digital download. As the title suggests, Beach is the most laidback, loved-up and Balearic of the three collections, and contains all manner of weird, wonderful and evocative fare - most of which is suitably obscure and hard-to-find. Highlights are naturally plentiful, from the reggae-goes-cosmic trip of Tony Wilson's "Hangin' Out In Space", and fuzzy, calypso-rock bounce of Adrian Gurvitz's "New World", to the eccentric Balearic disco shuffle of Amini's "Habibi" and quirky electro-boogie silliness of Danny Boy's "Discomix", a 1983 Dutch release that's guaranteed to put smiles on the faces of even the grumpiest dancers.
Review:
Phil Mison returns with another blink-and-miss wax special that takes the name from a medicinal leech. Fitting; one session with any of these three versions will drain you of any ill will or negativity. Rising in tempo and energy from the original across Noche Espanola's remix and instrumental version, this is pure Balearica with its glistening strums, sunset chords and magically scattered percussion. The seasonal timing of this is no coincidence.
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:
More exotic daydream fantasies courtesy of Kenneth Bager & Co. with the third single of Japanese act Okinawa Delays and their a great single 'Lotta Love' feat. Satoko Ishimine. This is a serving of sensual lo-slung balearic soul, in the vein of their debut on Claremont 56 last year. It's a project founded by producer DJ Takeo and they get some right legends in on the remix side of things. Check out house royalty Willie Graf's evocative Beach mix (with Darren Eboli) that's just perfect for watching the sunset at Cafe Mambo, while veteran Phil Mison (Reverso 68/Cantoma) works his usual magic on the Balearic House Mix - which captures the zeitgeist of the island's heyday back in the '80s when the likes of DJ Alfredo and Leo Mas soundtracked a perfect summer.
Review:
Out 2 is a project from Jeremy Campbell and R. Zanzibar, who have previously worked together on albums for L.I.E.S. and Lectric Sands under different aliases. They sound right at home on Emotional Response, channeling the influence of 1980s New York dancefloor hybridization into six original tracks and their counterpart dub versions. It's an impeccable tribute to the forefathers of new / no / minimal wave with the right kind of funk rubbed in the groove and ample space in the mix for all the live dubbing the style demands. "Moving" is a surefire death disco party starter, "Dancing" hovers in a beyond the grave island boogie reverie and "Some Air's Red There" heads out into exotically enhanced territory without losing that NYC grit. It's a marvelous record, with the dub versions adding new dimensions to the music rather than simply repeating the same tricks sans vocals.
Review:
Out 2 are the product of a New York-based partnership between Jeremy Campbell and R. Zanzibar, who are just the kind of cult operators that Emotional Response so dearly love. With one foot in classic Talking Heads inspired funk variations and the other in the catch-all stylistic melee of the modern age, this is highly developed party music for well-read rug cutters to bust out shapes to. Just check the gorgeous synth violin styles on "Fire" or the heavy dub beatdown of "Rubber Hour" - these cats know what they're doing. All new-no-minimal-wave lovers take note!
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:
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:
Given his impressive track record, hopes are naturally high for Bonobo's sixth album, Migration, which is his first full-length since 2013. Happily, it's a majestic affair, with the producer delivering another sumptuous set of tracks. It was partly inspired by an extended period musing on the nature of personal identity, and the role that nationality plays in that. This concept is translated via thoughtful lyrics, and songs that draw musical influence from the four corners of the globe. It's not a big stylistic leap, of course - his bread and butter remains yearning, emotion-rich downtempo music built around gently jazzy grooves and impeccable live instrumentation - but given that few artists do it better than Bonobo, we'll forgive him for that.
Review:
Amazingly, it's 25 years since George 'E.A.S.E' Evelyn and then production partner Kevin 'Boy Wonder' Harper sat down and recorded "Dextrous", their monstrous, bleep-era classic on Warp. A quarter of a century later, Evelyn is still going strong, though the grooves have mellowed a lot in that time. Here, Warp celebrate the producer's epic career with a much-deserved retrospective. All the familiar favourites are present, from the rush-inducing thrill of early dancefloor smashers "I'm For Real" and "Aftermath", to the sinewy downtempo goodness of the decidedly Balearic "Les Nuits", the blazed hip-hop dub of "195 Llbs" and stoner soul of "70s 80s". This version also includes a number of exclusive remixes, with names like JD Twitch, Special Request, LFO, Morgan Geist and Loco Dice putting their own spin on this classic material.
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:
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:
Apologies for banging on about this, But Session Victim's recent Listen To Your Heart album is one of the best Balearic-minded house sets we've heard this year. It goes without saying, then, that this third sampler EP is packed full of playable goodness. While they've naturally included an obligatory slow jam (wonderfully dreamy Balearic beats cut "Castle For Sale") and a rush inducing, gradually building Balearic soundscape (EP highlight "Thermal Explorer"), the other two tracks jostle for position in the "best for peak-time plays" stakes. Choose between the tactile nu-disco/deep house fusion of "Head Over Heels" - all sweeping strings, bubbly synth bass and twinkling piano flourishes - and "Almost Midnight", a wonderful trip into disco deep house territory that's as rich and musically expansive as they come.
Review:
While some of the material reissued on Emotional Rescue will be familiar to Baelaric and kosmiche crate-diggers, it's likely that few will have heard of Carlos Cataia's Orquesta. Written, produced and released in Argentina way back in 1985, it sees noted keyboardist Cutaia - ably assisted by producer pals Alejandro Oucinde and Oscar Dominguez - joining the dots between quirky synth-pop, post-boogie space funk, Berlin-School ambience, and the kind of dreamy, chugging fare that would now be described as "Balearic". It's more than a little eccentric, but contains a slew of brilliant cuts, including the weirdo space-pop of "Operativo", and the tape delay heavy piano ambience of sublime closer "Aproximaciann Uno".
Review:
A true pioneer DJ in the Balearic Islands and one of the legendary founders of Ibiza house music culture, Italian Giuseppe Nuzzo aka DJ Pippi remains a world class DJ. As well as being a resident at the island's premier club Pacha, he's also a producer, remixer and label boss of Aluminium Records. His 2016 track "Mr P" gets the remix treatment by Istanbul's Islandman - giving the track a dub-reggae tinged, sun-kissed and lo-slung treatment that's perfect for sipping pina coladas and people watching at Cafe Mambo. The Turkish sound magician in actual fact presents a couple of other remixes from Bager & Co.'s back catalogue: label staple Troels Hammer's "The Singing Clouds" gets the deep tribal rain dance vibe while Jose Manuel's "Babylon" (feat Bababar Dieng) features a splendid and hypnotic Afro vibe that's perfect for drifting.
Review:
Landers and Dalholt are becoming increasingly associated to the Music For Dreams imprint, out of Denmark, and we have to say that their particular strain of electronica is very much in line with our current tastes for all things Balearic and downtempo. The pair land on our charts with their debut LP, a magnificent ride across intergalactic soundscapes that seem to mesh and blend with each other seamlessly, the sounds entering a balance of their own. All that being said, the starry-eyed melodies and atmospherics that loom large over this piece of work do find their way into more energetic, more dance-centric moments that make this a truly complete album from these two relatively young producers. Much more to come from them, surely.
Review:
More indie world music vibes courtesy of Thomas Von Party's esteemed Multi Culti imprint. The folklorica of Ecuadorian producer Nicola Cruz's Cantos de Vision EP gets a bunch of wicked remixes on this EP. Starting out with Simple Symmetry's dark, bumpy and grinding rendition of "Tzantza", Earthly Delight's Yor Kultura from the Netherlands deliver a lo-slung deep funk makeover of the track too. "Bruxo" gets a couple of remixes as well, but it was all about the aforementioned Von Party's deep tribal voodoo acid groove: which will take you deep into the spiritual home of the the rainforest.
Review:
Happy new year! Timewarp crack open a fizzy bottle of 2018 with this immaculate, party-pickling compendium. Their first Freestyle 4 Funk album in 18 months, it makes up for lost time with a full-house selection of warm, funk textures; the vibrant afrofunk feels of Vito Lalinga's "Move Your Body In Africa", the pant-swinging breaks and heroic horns of Sampleheadz' "Moving On", the smoky blues and psychedelic bubbles of Leon's "Body & Soul", the springy jazz mischief of JazzProfilacktika's "Samboppa", Mister T & Lucy Lune's bush-shaking fusion on "Retro Respect", the list of fresh soul-warm funk goes on and on. The perfect way to kick off a new year, Timewarp smash it once again.
Review:
Since bursting onto the scene via a series of bustling, bass-heavy and dancefloor-focused singles at the turn of the decade, Pariah (AKA late developer Arthur Cayzar) has been surprisingly quiet. It turns out he was ridden with angst about the music he was making and unsure of which direction to take. As this long-awaited - and, we should add, rather brilliant - debut album proves, he's final found inner peace. "Here From Where We Are" is, first and foremost, a home listening album. It contains gentle, evocative and slowly shifting electronic soundscapes that largely look towards ambient, neo-classical, drone and dub techno for inspiration. There's no speaker-busting sub-bass explosions or riotous peak-time rhythms, just becalmed and stunningly beautiful compositions that are in turns spellbinding, melancholic and hugely poignant.
Review:
Originally released on Mikhaylo Vityk's own imprint Leleka in 2014 on physical, "A Voyage to Arcturus" is now for the first time available digitally via Apollo Records. Ukranian house mystic Mikhaylo Vityk offers here a suitably epic Vakula LP, A Voyage To Arcturus, trabelling between ambient, dub, tropical jazz and more. Those with a more considered grasp of literary matters will no doubt recognise that Vityk has taken titular inspiration from A Voyage To Arcturus, the 1920 novel penned by Scottish writer David Lindsay with each of the sixteen tracks also named after chapters from the book too. By his own admission, this is more of an imaginary soundtrack than outright album, and as a result there is little here one could call deep house. Spending some time with it does however confirm what a singular talent the Ukrainian is!
Review:
While there's always been something definitively matter-of-fact about the title of the Balearic compilation series, the music they showcase is rarely less than magical. That's certainly the case on this fourth annual instalment. Naturally, the selections touch on a variety of Balearic staples, including Vangelis-influenced instrumental bliss (Max Essa's sublime opener), hypnotic, slow motion grooves (see Simon Peter's wonderful, jazz guitar-flecked "Ottimismo"), flamenco guitar-laden haziness (a killer On-U-Sound version of Los Twangueros's "Entre Dos Aguas"), swirling synth-pop/nu-disco fusion (Faze Action remixing Private Agenda), loved-up blue-eyed soul (Quinn Luke) and deep space electronics (Fabrizio Mammarella's enveloping Ambient Mix of Gallo's "Faron").
