Review: This great value five-tracker sees former Swedish Brandy producer Opolopo launch a new moniker, Actual Proof. Musically, it offers a slightly more varied diet than his previous work, variously touching on deep house futurism (the rather quite spellbinding "Huff & Puff"), bubbling, sub-aquatic deepness (two excellent mixes of future late night staple "Hubble") and gritty, stripped-back disco/deep house fusion (two dubby versions of lead cut "The Grit"). As usual, it's all immaculately produced, offering the sort of far-sighted but groove-centred deepness that always impresses dancefloors. This boy will go places.
Review: Few deep house producers are quite as hot right now as Adesse Versions, whose lovingly executed bootleg reworks and original productions have proved hugely popular in recent times. Here, he pops up on Local Talk, providing more lushly produced deep house gems for discerning DJs. Opener "Wash My Soul" impresses from the off, with bold synth riffs and sparkling electronics building in intensity over a chunky groove. The saucer-eyed "The Light" is a touch deeper but no less immersive, with mangled vocal samples rubbing shoulders with swirling pads and twinkling pianos. Finally, he makes great use of a joyous, life-affirming vocal sample on the deliciously positive and upbeat "Thank U". It's arguably the pick of a very strong bunch.
Review: Detroit veteran Miller, whose 25+ year production CV takes in the likes of Guidance, Distance, Nite Grooves and Planet E, is in African-inspired mode on this three-tracker for Mad Mats and Tooli's Local Talk. Opener 'Afro Grey' blends Afro, jazz and cosmic elements with classic house beats to create a 4am, eyes-wide-shut journey of a track. 'By The Way She Moves', which follows, is a more contemplative slice of electronic soul best suited to warm-up or post-club play, while closer 'One Way Back' treads similar ground to 'Afro Grey' musically but rides a tribal rhythm that leans towards broken beat.
Review: 1Bringing the sassy end of modern house production to the table for Local Talk, "Antoinette" is a keys-rich, uptempo deep house cut that keeps the vibe soulful and still primed for the peak of the party. Shaking the styles up, on the flip "Cat Feeding" takes a sharp turn for acid country, replete with jack-hammer drums and oodles of squelch, while the ravey madness continues apace with more savvy 303 tweaking on "I Want You Now". With crisp and punchy production, there's no way these tracks can fail to destroy the dance and cut it with tracks twenty years their senior.
Review: When you've stopped sniggering at the title, this latest missive on Local Talk is well worth further investigation. For starters, it sees a musical shift for the label, away from the "trad garage"-inspired sounds of old towards rougher, more robust, Chicago-influenced sounds. Anaxander's take on early Phuture, the thrillingly raw and bombastic "Candy Store", is worth the admission price alone. There's more sparse, balls-out 303-and-909 thrills to be found on the equally intense - if a little less muddy - "Aniseed Lollipop", while "I Can't Forget" sounds like the kind of sweet, naive, analogue deep house (and it certainly sounds like it was created on battered old kit) that could have slipped out on Gherkin or Nu Groove at the tail end of the 1980s. That's some compliment.
Review: If you like your deep house on the soulful, jazzy and dreamy side then you're in for a treat with this two-track EP, which sees Prescription veteran Nicholson teaming up with in-demand keyboardist de Clive-Lowe. 'Yeah Yeah' sadly isn't a Georgie Fame/Matt Bianco cover but instead a freeform excursion that uses filtered piano chords as the foundation for an ultra-jazzy workout with shufflin' drums and a wigged-out (Farfisa?) organ line, while 'Another Story', with its squelchy bassline and gently tinkling ivories, is perhaps more one for late-night play than the dancefloor, but equally impressive. A fine team-up from two very respected players.
Review: French legend Ludovic Llorca is back under the Art Of Tones guise for the always impressive Local Talk. Acid soul funk? You bet! Take a listen to I "Just Can't (Get Over It)" and you'll believe there is such a thing. On the flip, the smooth and soulful groove continues on "Dirty Stories" which has an undeniably French touch about it, with good use wonky synths, emotive strings and SP1200 style vocal cut ups. Deepness in the vein of Pepe Braddock or Chateau Flight.
Review: Having not bothered with the Art of Tones alias much over the last few years, Ludowic Llorca has now dropped two singles in the space of two weeks. Following his Murk-influenced "Your Love" for Defected offshoot DFTD, here he delivers some deeper fare for Local Talk. With its righteous vocal, slack snares, rubbery live bass and tumbling Rhodes chords, "The Same Thing" sounds like classic Detroit deep house given the Llorca twist - Piranhahead in Paris, perhaps. It's excellent, as is the accompanying Dub, which beefs up the beats and loops up choice sections of the original vocal. The bonus cuts are pretty tasty, too, with the classic proto house-meets-baggy US garage vibe of "I Don't Think That's Music" catching the ear.
Review: Following a surprise outing on House of Disco, Ludovic Llorca returns to Local Talk for the first time since 2013's much played The Same Thing EP. In its' original form, The Rainbow Song is a near perfect example of Llorca's particular brand of deep house - all stretched-out chords, a bustling bassline, tough but shuffling beats, cute cowbells and bluesy vocal samples. It sounds like an underground summer anthem in waiting. There's more of a funk-flecked urgency about the excellent S3A Broken STL Remix, which introduces further vocal samples and, arguably, an even more addictive groove. Certainly, it feels a little wilder than the original, whilst retaining Llorca's unique deep house perspective.
Review: Although Ludovic Llorca has released albums under his other production aliases (the most recent being 2017's jazz-funk set "The Garden" under his longest-running pseudonym, Llorca), "Unbalanced" marks his first full-length outing as Art of Tones - some 13 years after he launched the project on 20:20 Vision. It's naturally a wonderfully warm and positive set, with the veteran French producer making great use of dusty jazz, soul, funk and disco samples throughout. There's plenty of breezy, feel good club tracks to be found dotted throughout - see "Keep On Having Fun", the electric piano-fired drive of "Where One Is", the hypnotic "Grow" and classic gospel deep house of "Grow", for starters - alongside a handful of hazier downtempo cuts that recall the early days of his production career in the mid 1990s.
Review: "Where The One Is", the lead cut from Art of Tones' latest Local Talk release, sounds like a peak-time anthem in the making. Seemingly crafted using a mixture of cut-up Philadelphia soul samples, jammed-out new disco instrumentation and jazzy, ambidextrous house beats, it feels a little like a tooled-up, slightly more low-slung version of Blackjoy classic "Moustache". You'll find more low-slung, disco-fired, Clavinet-sporting heaviness where "Double Wheelin" provides further guaranteed peak-time pressure. As for "Reprise Du Fonk", it appears to be a quick-fire dub of "Where The One Is" featuring even more elastic bass guitar, jazz-wise guitar licks and life-affirming electro piano solos.
Review: This year marks two decades since Martin 'Atjazz' Iveson put out his first 12" single. That he continues to deliver high-grade, soul-flecked deep house is testament not only to his skills, but his staying power. With this EP, he had little to do but put his feet up, as Kaytronic and Peacey took it in turns to rework last year's "Fox Tooth". The former kicks things off, combining heavy analogue bass, tech-tinged beats (think classic Swag) and creepy, late night textures. Peacey takes a different approach, teasing out the inherent sweetness of Iveson' synth work on a bouncy revision that makes excellent use of an extended breakdown.
Review: Black Fan has only put out one EP on Wolf Music Recordings prior to this latest outing on Sweden's excellent Local Talk stable. His music is characterized by deep, dubby and raw beats coated in a distinctive party flavor, qualities heard loud and clearly on the wonky bumps of "In The Water". "Dancin' Together" takes the more soulful approach, where choppy female vocals ride above jittery chords and starry pads, whereas "J2015" is an altogether dustier affair, a quick-firing mass of percussion shots and siren-like melodies.
Review: Such is the frequency of their output, you'd think Local Talk were trying to set a record for the highest number of releases in any given 12-month period. All jesting aside, their quality threshold remains high, and this EP from the previously unheralded Tony Blitz is another winner. "Vodka & Valium" rolls along at a furious tempo, delivering a mix of speaker-wobbling low-end bounce, hip-wigglin' US garage beats and some particularly curious vocal samples (listen to the clips and you'll know what we mean). Crazkazat remixes, turning the original into a smooth, classic sounding chunk of wide-eyed piano house. "Bring It Back", meanwhile, moves further towards UKG territory whilst retaining a gooey deep house centre.
Review: When it comes to fusions of modern house music and indigenous music from around the world - most prominently the African continent - few are quite as skilful as "ancestral soul" innovator Boddhi Satva. It's for this reason that we're not surprised that Local Talk has snapped up this single from the long-serving producer, though "Basic Knowledge" is a far more straightforward proposition than many of his house tracks. It's available in two distinctive versions: the Ron Trent style loose-but-groovy drums, drifting chords and glassy-eyed synth riffs of the "00's Mix" and the bass-heavy, analogue-rich breakbeat-house shuffle of the "90s Mix". Arguably best of all, though, is the ultra-deep Afro-house delight that is "Together" - a wonderfully atmospheric number that's available in both vocal and instrumental formats.
Review: Madness is the work of a young Swedish producer, even though it sounds like it was crafted by a seasoned artist. As its title suggests, "Electric Piano On The Run" is a freeform, jazzy house jam, with slinky piano tinkling and lush strings supported by an offbeat groove. "Drumming Man" does what it says on the tin, with dense, live drums underpinning dramatic, plucked riffs. Best of all though is "Forest Dance"; achieving the near impossible balancing act of fusing 70s sleaze soundtracks with early techno synths, its loose organic rhythm and subtle jazz keys provide the backdrop against which these seemingly incompatible worlds meet and get it on.
Review: Italy's Corrado Bucci is a rising talent in the deep house game, and one who has already released on the lovely Rebirth label before touching down on Swedan's titanic Local Talk. There's two original house cuts within: "It's Not Over" is a classic soulful house number with ringing horns and a circling vocal chop for that floor love, while "No One Can Stop Us" is a little juicier and yet similarly groovy and funked out. Compatriot Martin Patino remixes the latter into a deeper, more mesmerising deep house excursion filled with minimalistic influences, whereas Turbojazz goes for the jacking approach on his retouch of the same tune - wet and wild, raw and seductive.
Review: An all-star cast (by Local Talk standards, at least) has been assembled for this latest trip into '90s house territory. C.R.S.T's opener "Monster Munch", was produced in collaboration with Welsh house wizard The Organ Grinder, and bumps along impressively on a bed of skipping garage beats and vocal cut-ups. Chesus's "Newark", meanwhile, doesn't hide its US garage roots, being dominated by the twin attractions of rolling organs and female yelps. The vocal cut-ups on C.R.S.T's "Life" recall Basement Jaxx's "Fly Life", while the music sounds like a mid-'90s New Jersey garage dub. Chesus closes proceedings with "Life", a delicious disco/house fusion brimming with sinewy strings and Teddy Pendergrass-ish vocalizing.
Review: You have to wonder what Local Talk will do when everyone gets fed up of new deep house cuts that sound like old US garage gems. This two-track salvo from Cazum & Andreas could give a clue to their future intentions. "Nostalgia" sounds more like a classic, Prescription-era deep house cut from Chez & Trent than a booming slice of MK revivalism. It's a good look, and certainly one of the more interesting Local Talk releases of recent times. There's also great depth and soulful intensity to "Can't Hide It", a warming exercise in synth bass-driven late '90s deep house. The jazzy keys and slight Latin flavour evoke memories of co-producer Andreas Saag's nu-jazz past (under the Swell Session moniker).
Review: Swedish DJ/producer Claes Rosen is no newcomer to Local Talk, having first appeared on Mad Mats and Tooli's label back in 2013. This belated second outing is arguably the most summery deep house track you'll hear all winter. Full of dreamy vocal samples, sun-kissed chord progressions, tumbling electronics and Midday-bright synth flourishes, "Kvasten I Hoernet" feels like the audio equivalent of being gently massaged while sunbathing. It doesn't feel like it particularly needs remixing, but the accompanying Needs Remix - deeper, dreamier, a little more soulful, and shot through with the bass-heavy warmth of Landslide style 'future garage' - is equally as impressive as Rosen's original. For those who need intro drums to mix with, Rosen has also included an 'Extended DJ Edit'.
Review: The Local Talk bandwagon keeps on rolling. While others have begun inching away from the classic garage/deep house revival, Mad Mats and Tooli are sticking to their guns. Given that they do it better than anyone else - there's a heartfelt authenticity to the label's releases - you can't blame them. Cle's "The Jam" is another beauty. Building constantly with bold pianos and 'Nights of The Jaguar'-ish synth-strings, its simultaneously pleasingly uncluttered (check the loose, bongo-laden groove) and surprisingly big. Dirtytwo's remix gives it a little more of a Mood II Swing-ish twist, whilst retaining some of the original's attractive looseness.
Review: Given his roots in San Francisco's Bay Area, it's perhaps unsurprising that COFLO makes warm, gently breezy and sun-kissed music that joins the dots between the hippyish, dub-flecked deep house of Dubtribe Soundsystem and jazz-funk fired broken beat. His latest single, "Lux", is a particularly good example of his tactile and wavy fusion of styles, particularly in the EP-opening "Extended Mix" form (which also includes some tidy Latin percussion). The Latin, deep house and jazz-funk influences also come to the fore on "Coflo's Mix", while the rock solid vocal and dub revisions by Kaidi Tatham are more house-flavoured than you may expect, even if they do boast the kind of colourful jazz-funk synthesizer flourishes we've come to expect from the 2000 Black artist.
Review: Given that this is Ben Worrall's fourth Crackazat 12" for Local Talk in less than three years, it would be fair to say the project now has a regular home. As with many of his recent tracks, "Proton Blue" looks to classic US garage for inspiration, peppering a bouncy groove with rich organ stabs and jazzy synthesizer melodies. It's accompanied by the alternative "Deep Orbit" version, a more hypnotic and slightly more spacey interpretation that gives greater prominence to the producer's jazzy synthesizer riffs. "Called My Name", meanwhile, is a soulful, jazzy and fluid affair blessed with a hazy vocal and some luscious jazz guitar. The cut's loose and languid jazz-funk influences are explored further on the arguably superior "Meet the Band" remix.
Review: Mad Mats and Tooli's Local Talk return with the second single from Crackazat's new album entitled Rainbow Fantasia. Ben Jacobs is a musician based in Sweden who grew up in Bristol, moved to London in 2007 (to study jazz at university) and has since then teached, played and composed electronic music. Here "Sundial" gets the remix treatment by Groove Assassin aka Nick Moss of Things May Change and Delve Deeper Records fame. He performs a respectful rendition of Jacob's deep and soulful track, but injects a little more looseness and flow in to counteract the very loopy original - sounding like classic Masters At Work in the process. Nice one!
Review: Ben Jacobs ends 2014 the way he started it, with a dose of thrillingly sweet and melodious house on Mad Mats and Tooli's Local Talk imprint. "Somewhere Else" is a typically positive affair, with waves of ear-pleasing music box melodies, cheery chords and hazy vocal samples riding a swinging US garage groove. It's the kind of record you stick on to chase the blues away; it's almost impossible not to smile at its jaunty positivity. Ad Bourke tries a different tack on his rework, opting for a deeper, more melancholic sound and some hushed, DJ Sprinkles style beats. Even better is Hade 94's version, which adds a little analogue style grit and a booming, warehouse-friendly deep house feel.
Review: After sneaking out singles for the likes of Futureboogie and Astro:Dynamics over the past couple of years, it's time for Crackazat to step up to Local Talk with his limber and expressive brand of synth-rich deep house. "Candle Coast" features a simmering garage swing in its rhythm and keys that could sit neatly in a Strictly Rhythm classic, but it's a track piled high with tension despite the easy-bumping surroundings. "Dancrodile" takes a more leftfield direction into tropical flavours with its bright and breezy keys and shuffling ethnic percussion, and then "Silent Sing" goes ranging out towards a proto-techno jazz fest that would make the Motor City originals well up.
Review: Ben Jacobs aka Crackazat (we love that name!) returns to the unstoppable Local Talk imprint with his debut LP, a spiffing thirteen tunes of chimerical oddball house in a distinctive garage flavour for party goers and heads alike. Heavy chords, mild pads and plenty of digital processing feature throughout this beauty, where tracks like "Let Love" and "Eye Light" - NY house kinda joints - blend ever so well with more broken and stranger counterparts like "Oh Pagode" or "Ambience", the latter of which is a blissfull excursion into dense and meditative soundscapes. Gorgeous!
Review: While Ben Worrall's debut album as Crackazat, 2015's slightly overlooked Crescendo, was quietly impressive, this sophomore set is simply superb. Naturally musically rich - Worrall is a brilliant producer, but has always been a very talented musician, too - the set sees him lay down ten tracks that gleefully join the dots between slick jazz-funk instrumentation, sensual and soulful vocals, brilliantly played solos and grooves that put the dancefloor first and foremost. While there are a few downtempo explorations dotted throughout (the dreamy synth chords and meandering synth-sax of "Midnight In Sector Six" standing out), it's naturally the quality and quantity of his U.S garage, soulful house and deep house cuts that impresses most.
Review: "Holding You Close" was one of the undoubted highlights of Crackazat's sublime sophomore album, Rainbow Fantazia, which dropped to much critical acclaim last autumn. Here the track gets a deserved single release, with the fantastic original version - a deliciously tactile, eyes-closed vocal number underpinned by elastic acid bass and fluttering synthesizer motifs- being joined by a fresh rub from Detroit heavyweight Waajeed. The former Platinum Pied Pipers and Slum Village man naturally teases out the tracks more soulful elements, adding new female backing vocals to a sumptupus, partly electronic, partly organic deep house groove. It's a superb rework and arguably far more club-friendly than Crackazat's original version.
Review: Fresh from the release of his fine Return of the Sample Jesus full-length on hometown label Uncanny Valley, Cuthead pops up on Local Talk. It's largely business as usual, with the Dresden producer delivering a quartet of chunky, club-ready deep house cuts laden in ear-catching samples. The title track and "Get Down" both pepper bumping, energy-packed beats with cut-up hip-hop vocal samples, heavy bass and twinkling deep house electronics, suggesting both pack a serious dancefloor punch. "Potato Express" wraps woozy, soulful horn samples around a loose-limbed, jazz-flecked house groove, while closer "What Can I Say" is a drowsy, Dilla-esque instrumental hip-hop excursion.
Review: Israeli and Berlin-based DJ/producer Dasco has put out a fair number of singles over the last few years, but none are anywhere near as good as "African Power", their first outing on Local Talk. The title track is superb: a wonderfully jaunty, atmospheric, evocative and positive fusion of Afro-house, jazz, deep house and calypso that boasts layered percussion, a brilliant bassline and some lusciously lilting trumpet solos. "Keep Moving", meanwhile, is a heavily percussive deep house workout full of spacey synths and heavy South American drums. Trinidadian Deep does a fine job making "African Power" deeper, dreamier and even more melodic, while Anthony Nicholson joins the dots between Latin house and deep nu-disco on a suitably Balearic revision of "Keep Moving".
Review: Under the Zepherin Saint alias, Tribe Records label owner Dean Zepherin has been serving up singles since 2008. Somewhat surprisingly, this EP on Local Talk marks his first ever outing under his given name. "Blue Moon" sees Zepherin brilliantly showcase his musicianship and production skills via a Dego and Kaidi Tatham style broken house/jazz-funk fusion cut smothered in punchy horn riffs, life-affirming chords and some seriously sensual keys-work. "Flying High" is a slightly more intense and percussive chunk of musically advanced deep house - think jammed-out organ licks, layered synth lines, stacked percussion and foreboding bass - which also comes accompanied by a heavier and even more intoxicating Dub mix.
Review: Since setting up shop last year, Mad Mats and Tooli's Local Talk label has provided discerning dancefloors with some delicious, old skool flavoured house. This EP from Finnish producer Deymare continues that pattern, offering up four tracks that pit the piano flourishes and vintage drum machine grooves of Mr Fingers with the bumpin' basslines and heady soundscapes of Nu Groove-era NYC house. "1990" itself is near perfect, but it has more than able support from the subterranean New Jersey vibes of "Time To Move", mid '90s grooviness of "Keep On Movin" and early Masters At Work bump of "The Beat Is Back". Highly recommended.
Review: Brilliantly, this has one of the oddest concepts we've ever come across - a deep house cover of ESG's "Moody" with added Neneh Cherry vocal samples - yet it works magnificently. Musically, it's structured around a groove that recalls classic MK-era US garage - all shuffling beats and rolling organ riffage - on to which all manner of subtle samples and acid tweaks are added. It's simple but devilishly effective - think deep, driving and emotion-rich. The Butt Jackin' Remix adds some more late night riffage and boompty-influenced beats, while the Short Edit (not so short at nearly 9 minutes) shaves off all of 90 seconds. Still, stellar stuff all told.
Review: Bringing on carefully polished and honed modern old-skool house vibes aplenty, Dirtytwo deliver their second single for Swedish Local Talk. "Trapped" is full of surefire dancefloor success, not least as it revolves around some powerful deployment of vocals from Colonel Abrams' seminal proto-house banger "Trapped", except here the soulful croon is stitched to a Chi-town deep house jam with easygoing organ chords and measured drum machine patterns. "I'm Feelin'" keeps the same mellow vibe over bumping beats, albeit in a more cheeky early garage style that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Strictly Rhythm, not least when Frosche's bold vocal hook comes in.
Review: You can always count on Local Talk to bring the heat where pumping New Jersey house action is concerned, and it's no different on this offering from label mainstays Dirtytwo. "Waisted" sounds as though it looks to a certain Mr Vandross for some soulful crooning, but he's surrounded by a wealth of romantic string blasts and cheeky DX7 lines to round out a peppy belter. "Talkin' 2 U" gets sassier thanks to a crazily addictive lead synth line that bounces like the most uplifting of peak time jams. If that wasn't enough, there's a "Hard On edit" of that second cut that lets some squelchy acid in on the action amidst more wistful synth lines.
Review: Last time we heard from crate digging champion DJ Spinna, he was unfurling a bunch of synth-heavy hip-hop and boogie tracks on Japan's Jazzy Sport. This time round, he's decided to revisit his love of four-to-the-floor house music, delivering a pair of cuts that look to Chicago acid, Italo-disco and cosmic disco for inspiration. It's an unusual step given his usual soulful flavours, but one that he pulls of with panache. Opener "TB Or Not TB" is a throbbing, tech-tinged, acid-flecked stomper full of druggy synthesizer arpeggio lines and psychedelic electronics, while the deeper and more melodious "Cosmocrank" sounds like an inspired collaboration between Prins Thomas and Larry Heard.
Review: It seems near impossible for us to begin a review of a Local Talk release without mentioning the label's raison d'etre, namely reinventing classic New Jersey garage and dubwise New York house. They're at it again here, with SJ Steaw offering up three tracks of typically bumpin', organ-heavy deepness. Opener "I Want" leads the way, working cut-up vocal stabs around robust drums and nagging organs. "Sky Hunt" goes for more of a classic house approach (think Morales in his underground pomp, pre radio friendly drivel), while the breezier "Think It Over" is pure instrumental UK garage pressure.
Review: If you like your deep house delivered with a lil' extra garage-y bump, this two-tracker from Mad Mats and Tooli's Stockholm-based Local Talk imprint needs to go into your basket right now! 'Brotherman (Part 1)' marries a soulful male vocal to a huge organ bassline - think one part Naked Music to one part Tuff Jam and you're somewhere in the right ballpark. But taking the gold here is 'Brotherman (Dub - Part 2)', where the vocal's stripped right back while the organ's swapped out for a nagging keyboard riff, augmented by monumental synth sweeps.
Review: Local Talk are one of the hottest labels in the 4/4 domain, and this latest floor-ready bomb sees Swedish producer Eric Ericsson doing his thing in fine style. "Love it" is a smooth house belter for the warm summer months, working for both warm-up and peak time sets, while "The Chi", as the name suggests, is a sweet Chicago-style house nugget that's a surefire floor-filler. To top it off, Oskar Offermann remixes "Love it" and goes even deeper than the original. Bangin'.
Review: Highlife man and Auntie Flo collaborator Esa Williams has decided to co-credit this surprise outing on Local Talk to his little used deep house alias, Mervin Granger. While the booming, bass-heavy, tech-tinged deep house roughness of "MVK" that will get most attention, it's opener "Bontas (Live Mix)" that really floats our boat. It takes a similar approach, but has a looser swing and benefits greatly from some live guitars, keys and bass. BBE regular Bodhi Satva provides the obligatory remixes, turning "MVK" into a rubbery chunk of Afro-influenced tech-soul/deep house fusion on the superb "Ancestral Soul Remix". For a lighter, even sunnier vibe, check the delicious piano solos and breezy beats of his "Thump Remix".
Review: Amazingly, it's been 16 years since Canadian deep house producer Fred Everything dropped his first EP. It seems fitting, then, that his latest release is big chunk of '90s nostalgia for unashamed revivalists Local Talk. Everything is an old hand at this kind of thing, of course, and it shows. Both versions of "Brothers & Sisters" bolt classic garage riffs and woozy vocal samples (and, in the case of the AM Pacific version, snaking synth-horns) onto the kind of snappy, swinging groove he probably knocks out in his sleep. The best of the lot, though, is "Legacy", a flowery, near Balearic garage-house odyssey that sounds like it was inspired by 808 State's "Pacific State".
