Review: Wallace's first outing on Rhythm Section International was genuinely brilliant, so hopes are naturally high for the rising star's sequel. Check first deep, dubby and driving title track 'Papertrip', where echoing, dub techno style motifs, restless piano riffs and infectious hand percussion hits rise above a kick-drum-driven beat and a jazzy bassline, before admiring the ragga vocal-sampling speed garage revivalism of 'BB' (note the nods to mid-90s MK and a genuinely weighty bassline). 'The Function' joins the dots between skippy US garage rhythms and ultra-deep, dubbed-out house, while 'Backwaters' adds sunrise-ready sounds and psychedelic electronics to another deep, skippy and sub-heavy house groove.
Review: Manchester musician Hidden Spheres has always been hard to pigeonhole, with his occasional EPs for Rhythm Section International often being amongst his most eclectic, all-action releases. While this return to Bradley Zero's label is rooted in the floor-filling potential of house, there's still a lot of variety on show. He excels on lead cut 'Tanzen', which is available in three forms: the breezy piano-sporting, summery, analogue-rich deep house gem that is the spine-tingling club mix; the sweat-soaked, sub-heavy jack-track that is the 'Mate mix'; and a nostalgic, hands-raised acid house take courtesy of Paula Tape. Elsewhere, he opts for weighty sub-bass, looped stabs and vintage turn-of-the-90s deep house vibes on 'Mind Over Mate' and reaches for sparse electro-not-electro beats on the early morning brilliance of 'Not Of This World'.
Review: Rhythm Section boss Bradley Zero has long been championing the work of Jimmy Wallace, a producer of ten years standing who has only just started releasing music. It makes perfect sense, then, that Zero has decided to showcase some of Wallace's killer cuts on his label. 'Riples' is a genuinely impressive mini-album all told, with Wallace confidently striding between bold, sub-heavy peak-time house ('Breaking Up'), rave-igniting, near techno-tempo insanity (the sweat-soaked excellence of 'Room 1'), UK bass-influenced early morning hedonism ('Pump Up The Volume'), tech-tinged, melody-rich dancefloor minimalism (the bright and breezy 'Cenotes'), ultra-deep haziness ('Shanghai Street') and new age ambient bliss ('Rain').
Review: Brighton-formed but now South London-based duo Saul - keyboardist Jack Stephenson-Oliver (also of Vels Trio) and producer Barney 'Footshooter' Whitaker - return to Rhythm Section with what's only their second-ever release, following in the footsteps of 2019's 'Murmurations' EP. With seven tracks to choose from there's a fair degree of stylistic variety, but to these ears 'Can't Wait' stands out - think "proper jazz" inflected with a lil' UKG-ish swing - closely followed by the haunting 'Lifted', while rap/poetry fans should head for the Lex Amor and Natty Wylah collabs, which tread a more experimental path.
Review: Session Victim popping up on Rhythm Section International may be unexpected, but it does make sense - after all, their warming, musically expansive deep house sound frequently offers nods to jazz, soul and disco as well as Balearic beats. All of those inspirations are evident across the five tracks that make up Basic Instinct, with the German pair bouncing between funk-flecked, piano-rich loveliness (the bluesy and atmospheric 'Trying to Make it Home'), locked-in loop-house haziness (the sampled South Asian percussion and warming riffs of 'In & Out', ultra-deep dancefloor melancholia ('Orbits of Dust'), languid and deep jazz breaks (EP highlight '5AM Continental') and sunrise-ready breakbeat lusciousness ('SFC (Hommage Mix)').
Review: There's been enough variety and musical detail across Prequel's EPs for Local Talk, Distant Hawaii and Rhythm Section International to suggest that the Aussie artist would be capable of delivering a devastatingly good album or two. Love Or (I Heard You Like Outbreak), his first attempt at a full-length excursion, largely delivers on that promise, delivering an attractive blend of dusty samples, dreamy instrumentation, immaculate beat programming (think hip-hop, deep house, Latin beats, bruk, dancefloor jazz and low-slung disco-funk) and plenty of vivid aural colour. It's a winning combination, with highlights including the peak-time disco-jazz of 'I Tried To Tell Him', the ultra-deep jazz-house epic 'And That's The Story of Their Love', the Latin-bruk haziness of 'Love Is' and the thickset jazz-meets-dancefloor hip-hop flex of 'I'll Never Stop Loving You'.
Review: During the UK's first lockdown earlier in the year, Jordan Rakei decided to don his occasional Dan Kye alias - used once previously, for an EP of dancefloor-focused cuts on Rhythm Section International back in 2016 - and create a sparkling set that would cheer everyone up. He;'s certainly achieved that with Small Moments, an eight-track set of loose-limbed, inventive and atmospheric club cuts that variously joins the dots between deep house, techno, broken beat, jazz-funk, Latin grooves, jazz-house and his usual effortlessly soulful flavours. It may well be winter, but it's one of the most sun-kissed releases we've heard all year - a brilliant collection of immaculately produced, vividly imagined workouts with real clarity, atmospheric and depth. Do yourself a favour and check it out ASAP!
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