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BBE Music
Let's Do It AgainPREORDER
Feel My SoulPREORDER
Played by: Kongisto
Played by: Kongisto
Review: Kirk Degiorgio has long been one of the deep house lover's favourite techno artists, infusing his productions with a jazzy, soulful musicality that 20 million 'warehouse bangers' could only dream of. Seldom has that been more the case, though, than on this new 16-track offering, which finds him in straight-up jazz mode. With most of the tracks coming in under the two-minute mark, it's really a collection of sketches rather than an album proper: the idea, we're told, was to pay tribute to European 'library music' (tracks made as soundbeds for film and TV) of the 1970s, and in that task he's succeeded admirably. Still, we would't mind hearing some extended versions, because what's here is absolutely glorious
Illa J feat Harleighblu
Various
Paul Hillery/Various
Played by: BRENDON P
Played by: Juno Recommends Broken Beat Nu Jazz
Played by: Craig Charles Funk And Soul
Played by: Craig Charles Funk And Soul
Played by: Craig Charles Funk And Soul
Played by: Juno Recommends Broken Beat Nu Jazz
Played by: DJ LAUREL, Ralf Gum, Milton Jackson, Juno Recommends Funk, Fredeverything, BRENDON P, LEGO EDIT
Review: It might be a cold, rainy morning in mid-February in real life, but shut your eyes and Atjazz's new reworks of this MF Robots cut, which operates in the territory somewhere between neo-soul, acid jazz and soulful house, will transport you somewhere else entirely - a poolside in Miami, maybe, or perhaps a Sunday afternoon at Glastonbury as you bask in the sunshine at the Jazz Stage. The differences between the six remixes are fairly subtle, but generally speaking Atjazz's rubs give the Original a lil' extra bass squelch, while it's his Aart Dub that stands out for yours truly with its dreamier, spacier vibes - think Deodato, Dexter Wansel or maybe The Sunburst Band.
Various
Alina Bzhezhinska & HipHarpCollective - "Paris Sur Le Toit" (feat Sanity & Tom Theythem - DJ Spinna remix) - (3:48)
Louie Vega, Leroy Burgess & The Universal Robot Band - "Barely Breaking Even" (feat Patrick Adams - Matthias Heilbronn mix) - (9:22)
Review: BBE put out music across a wide stylistic spectrum, so when (as here) the label staff pick out their own personal faves from the past year's releases, the one thing you can be sure of is that the collection's never going to get boring or same-y. With tracks ranging from the freeform jzz of the Koichi Matsukaze Trio's opener to the vivacious high-life of Eji Oyewole's 'Unity In Africa', via Matty Heilbronn's rerub of a Louie Vega/Leroy Burgess take on disco/funk classic 'Barely Breaking Even', not every track here will delight every listener, admittedly, but there's no doubting the quality of what's on offer - making this a compilation that's perhaps best viewed as a jumping-off point for further explorations in the future.
Review: We can think of few more suitable producers to remix the soul-fired work of the brilliant MF Robots (AKA Brand New Heavies original Jan Kinkaid and sometime band vocalist Dawn Joseph) than Louie Vega and Josh Milan. They adopt their occasional Two Soul Fusion alias to put their spin on the sublime 'Make The Call', offering vocal and instrumental variations of two main mixes: a squelchy, Kaidi Tatham-esque house re-wire and a 'Boogie' remix that brilliantly re-imagines the track as a turn-of-the-'90s Leroy Burgess/Universal Robot Band jam. Atjazz also steps up to deliver vocal and instrumental versions of 'The Love It Takes', brilliantly joining the dots between early '80s Quincy Jones Michael Jackson productions and his own liquid deep house vibe. In a word: essential!
Played by: Moonee
Various
Played by: Craig Charles Funk And Soul
Review: This is one of those rare instances where the title of a record is almost longer than the review - not necessarily a bad thing, given that said title has already pretty much described said record perfectly! But in case it wasn't clear, what we have here is a collection of library tracks - music originally made for use in film, TV and advertising - inna funk, jazz and soul kinda vein. Think Pearl & Dean, 70s TV themes and moody 60s spy thrillers... which you probably were, because this is an album that sounds exactly like you'd expect it to. But with 30 tracks to choose from - some of which are a whole three or four minutes long! - there's much for all you beatniks, jazzbos and lounge lizards to enjoy here.
Various
Review: Brussels' Stephane Allemand AKA Lefto Early Bird is best known for his wide-ranging radio show - think of him as Belgium's answer to Gilles Peterson, if you will - and here he serves up a 19-track collection that takes a similarly eclectic approach. After Ain't About Me's powerful opener, a haunting spoken word piece about living through 9/11, you get sultry disco/boogie from Patience Africa, acid house from Shlundee, Middle Eastern-flavoured jazz from Alemayehu Eshete, frenzied footwork from DJ Spinn and stripped-back rave/hardcore from Elisa Bea, all interspersed with multiple despatches from the more experimental end of the broken beat spectrum. Approach with open mind and open ears!
Played by: Craig Charles Funk And Soul, Pete Haigh, Juno Recommends Funk, BRENDON P, Sean McCabe, Tooli (Local Talk / Omena / 18437)
Review: BBE are about to drop 'This Is Brian Jackson', the first solo album in 20 years from a flautist, pianist and producer who's best known for his 1970s work with Gil Scott-Heron (that's his flute solo on 'The Bottle'). The album finds Jackson working up unissued demos laid down during a 1976 studio session, and here Louie Vega (Masters At Work) and Josh Milan (Blaze), working as Two Soul Fusion, provide an almost overwhelming array of remixes of the second trailer single. With a high-calibre line-up like that, you shouldn't need us to tell you how good this is: suffice to say, the Downtempo rubs are the ones to head for if you like it funky, while if your tastes lean more towards soulful house then the Extended Remix or Dub are your best bets.
Played by: Juno Recommends Experimental
Played by: Craig Charles Funk And Soul
Played by: Sam Redmore, Romanto (YSR / DISCO MACHINE), Juno Recommends Deep House, Pete Bandit, BRENDON P, JAMES ROD, Don Welch, Matthias Heilbronn
Review: Louie Vega's cover of boogie-era disco classic 'Barely Breaking Even', which is created in cahoots with the two men most responsible for the early '80s original, Leroy Burgess and Patrick Adams, was a relatively faithful rendition. These high-profile remixes are naturally a little more revolutionary, though tastefully done and in keeping with the spirit of Vega and company's version. Ron Trent leads the way delivering a spacey, percussively detailed, and effortlessly soulful vocal remix and dub - the latter showcasing the high-quality musicianship of everyone involved - before Matthias Heilbronn takes over. Choose between full vocal and instrumental takes on the rubbery, disco-house style 'BKNY Mix', the rolling and sun-splashed 'Soulflower Mix' and his more faithful-to-the-original 'Remix'.
