Review: Epic summer balearic haze, blaze and beats amid a mirage of finely tuned melodies and 3D bass from Afterlife. Always at home on Subatomic, this is a most impressive Afterlife record yet! Combining Pantha Du Prince-like percussion with the hippy-ness of new age pan pipes in "Jolly Up", find thrumming 808 drum machine sequences that give maximum weight and pulse to the low end nostalgia and deep seated, dusty percussion funk in "Into The Heat". A quality EP of new age dub that should appeal to fans of Fantastic Man, Tornado Wallace and Running Back, with DJ Rocca's Dark Art mix to "Si Si Si" offering an ambient, broken beat, and exotic breaks alternative to this EP's thick island vibe. Get ya hammock!
Review: Steve Miller's Subatomic label returns this week with a new one by the label chief under his Afterlife alias. The result is the deeply hypnotic tribal house of "Mahalo" which will entrance you from the first beat. Also included is the nu-disco journey "Sundrops" awash in a rich tapestry of sublime melodies, as well as the dramatic atmosphere of "Liberty Cap" underpinned by chilled, swing-infused beats, and closing it out with the poolside bliss of "Morning Dub" - the perfect sound of balearica served best before sunset.
Review: Steve Miller has been serving up Ibiza-inspired downtempo, chill out and Balearic tracks since the mid 1990s, so you'd expect his new album - titled 'Modern Balearic' in a nod to its contents - to be assured, atmospheric and expertly crafted. He begins via the densely layered ambient dub psychedelia of 'Rubadub', before drifting between stretched-out classic chill-out soundscapes ('Kya'), extra-percussive shroom-house ('Hallucinomat'), dubby nu-disco ('Sugarfoot', the bubbly beauty of 'Natural Causes'), saucer-eyed sunrise deepness ('Tiger Child', 'Bufo'), low-slung deep house haziness ('All I Wanted'), breakbeat-driven Balearic nu-jazz (the sub-heavy excellence of 'One Fine Day'), and acid-flecked, trance-inducing dancefloor bliss ('Big Ship').
Review: Long-time Ibiza resident Steve Miller has been making sparkling, White Isle-inspired music - especially languid chill-out and Balearic fare - since the mid 1990s, though his productivity has naturally cooled a little in recent years. There's much to admire on his second Afterlife EP of 2022, from the sustained synth-strings, electronic marimba melodies, ultra-dreamy chords and tactile digi-dub grooves of title track 'Mother Nature Land', to the slow-motion, sunrise-ready ambient dub brilliant of 'Ibango Dub', a collaboration with fellow Ibiza resident Ken Fan. Sandwiched in between you'll find a glistening, afternoon-ready deep house mix of 'Rising Up' courtesy of pal James Bright, and the immersive textures, bubbly TB-303 acid lines and organic beats of 'Unity Gain'.
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