Review: Three years on from the first volume in their ongoing Electropical series, long-time collaborators Juan Laya and Jorge Montiel are ready to drop part four. It's another sunny, summery and musically expansive affair, with the duo wrapping live instrumentation (guitars, flutes, bass, keys etc) around a variety of tropical-inclined grooves. The star attraction is arguably the energetic but mellow and colourful 'Amazonas Secret Kingdom', which is later turned into a flute-heavy dancefloor dub (featuring flautist Marcelo Andrade) via the haunting 'Drum & Flute Mix'. Elsewhere, 'Abstract Fragments of a Dream' is a mid-tempo samba-boogie treat featuring vocals from Andre Esput, 'Kalimba Vibrations (Oyobi Mix)' is a jaunty chunk of Latin house cheeriness, and 'Beyond Civilisations (featuring Kris Huston)' sits somewhere between tropical house, Afro-house and sub-heavy broken beat.
Review: We're excited to announce the new track by London-based Venezuelan producers Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel aka Los Charly's Orchestra, who combine a retro but still modern sounding style. They are characterised by creating a feeling that blends disco, funk and soul from the '70's with a Latin perspective. Once again bringing said elements together in a delightful fashion here,"Fly Away" is an emotive and low slung number, reminiscent of Earth Wind and Fire, Jamiroquai, Change or Candido - with good friend Xantone Blacq on the keys. In addition to the original, there's a handy instrumental rework for added value to the dancefloor.
Forget About It (feat Hanlei - original mix) - (7:03) 115 BPM
Review: Last time we heard from Martin Denev back in 2017, he was successfully collaborating with Baleric nu-disco king Pete Herbert. He's in a collaborative frame of mind on this comeback single, joining forces with Hanlei and vocalist Sasha Zico for two perfectly pitched tracks. The latter features on "Perfectly Enough", a languid shuffle through deep broken house pastures laden with spacey synthesizer lines, twinkling electric piano solos and stylish, hip-house style vocals. That's given the remix treatment by Atjazz, who turns in vocal and dub versions reminiscent of the sparkling, melodious goodness featured on his 2001 album "Labfunk". Also worth a listen is Hanlei hook-up, "Forget About It", a luscious slice of swinging dancefloor positivity (track five) that's given a chunkier soulful broken beat makeover by Opolopo (track one).
Review: Venezuela's Juan Laya and London's Jorge Montiel only put out their first 'Electropical' collection of Latin-infused jazz, funk and disco grooves last year and now here we are, up to Part 3 already! Across the EP's seven tracks, the pair - also known collectively as Los Charly's Orchestra - explore various musical pastures from the upbeat and summery ('Sexmachina', the Club Mix of 'Spacial Paradise') to the more contemplative and cinematic ('Kalimba Variations', 'San Juan' feat Grupo Madera), ending on an African-inspired note with the Afro-Funk Mix of 'Spacial Paradise'). Will no doubt be big for the likes of Gilles Peterson, Mr Scruff and Snowboy.
Review: London's LCO have been championing real disco for almost a decade now, and they've yet to let us down, consistently delivering not re-edits, but actually properly performed tunes and damn good ones at that. Earth, Wind & Fire are clearly a big influence and here on "Sunshine" we get some classic silky 70s boogie featuring a stunning vocal from Andre Espeut that gives a nod to both Philip Bailey and the late great Maurice White. Also included is "Deep Disco Rework" which, like it says on the tin, steers the song away from pop and caters instead for those who want a deeper, funkier late night groove.
The Boogie Is Back (instrumental) - (4:21) 113 BPM
The Boogie Is Back (extended dub edit) - (6:18) 113 BPM
Review: One listen to The Boogie Is Back and you'll find it hard to argue with Juan Laya and pal Jorge Montiel. The song is a pure homage to the vintage days of classic boogie, with a repetitive bassline, tight guitar licks and electro tom pings in the style of artists like Cheryl Lynn. The icing on the cake is the classically soulful vocals of Mikie Blak, and essential release indeed.
