Review: Rising Goa, India producer Greenage comes to Tale & Tone with four prime examples of Balearica at its best - the kind that remembers the dancefloor should never be TOO far away. The EP opens with the floaty (but still pleasingly beefy) prog-tinged vibes of 'Tear Drop On Fire', where the piano ebbs and flows like the tide. We then move on to 'Sands Of Goa' itself, a textbook Balearic affair with Eastern vocal snips and swooning strings, followed by 'Beauty Of The Past', an Afro-flavoured headnodder, before the similarly flavoured 'River Of Joys' plays us out. It's 'Tear Drop...' that takes the gold, though.
Review: More dreamy deep house courtesy of Lee Burridge's ever reliable Tale + Tone here, this time by Mariano Mellino (Warung/Darkroom Dubs) & John Cosani (Plaisirs Sonores/Timeless Moment) on the Storytellers EP. The title track with its evocative arrangement underpinned by elaborate polyrhythms is a deep dive into the exotic. Prepare to venture further into ecstasy on the mesmerising energy of "Hal" which sees Mellino fly solo, as does Cosani up next on the sexy mood music of "Sumeria".
Review: Tale & Tone's latest is nominally an EP, but at seven dancefloor-length tracks deep, we should probably consider it a compilation. Either way, it's another strong offering from the label, packed to the rafters with melodious, atmsospheric and ear-pleasing blends of deep house and tech-house. Highlights include the dreamy, string-laden headiness of Lucefora and Facundo Losrado's 'Spirits of the Sound', the sparkling, loved-up, sunrise-ready warmth of 'Passage' by Irdi Imrak, the more melancholic and percussively dense contribution from Mariano Montori ('Reflection') and the slowly building deep tech-house shuffle of Debelu and Eduardo McGreggor's 'Sunset in Yucatan', where drowsy pads, foreboding electronics and gaseous chords catch the ear.
Review: Following fine releases on SUBBEAT and All Day I Dream, Paul Deep pitches up on the similarly minded Tale & Tone label. The Argentine is known for the atmospheric and melodic nature of his productions, and all four tracks here continue in this vein. He first wraps slowly falling melodies and ghostly chords around shaker-heavy drums and chunky bass on 'Genbu', before employing picturesque melodies, sunny motifs and a similarly thickset groove (crunchy beats, weighty bass) on 'Filira'. 'Fudo' is arguably the prettiest track of the lot, with extended, spine-tingling breakdowns sandwiched between chunky, bass-heavy house grooves, while the Greenage remix of 'Genbu' is a sparkling, morning-fresh slice of sunrise-ready dancefloor bliss that sits somewhere between deep house and tech-house.
Review: Melodious deep house/progressive house fusionist Nicolas Rada has previously impressed via releases on Balance Music, Or Two Strangers and The Soundgarden, so it's fair to say that he's a good fit with the fast-rising Tale & Tone label. That much is proved by EP opener 'Alter Ego', where glistening, yearning electronic lead lines, bubbly synthesizer motifs and dreamy chords dance atop a shaker-heavy tech-house groove. Further proof arrives in the shape of the more spacey, and even deeper 'Sonder', whose wayward synthesizer melodies are a genuine delight, and the pitched down ambient/deep breaks fusion of classy closing cut 'Her Thoughts'.
Review: While 'melodic' house is bigger than it's ever been right now, the emphasis tends to be on swirling, instrumental synth epics - but here Hoj/Newman take us back to an earlier era of prog, when floaty, dreamy Balearic vibes topped with sugar-sweet female vocals were the order du jour. Lead cut 'Want To Run Away' gets away with this slightly anachronistic approach, though, thanks largely to the two-pronged attack of a seriously phat bassline and a sultry vocal performance from Amega. 'Listening Close' operates in similar territory musically but sports a delicate male vocal courtesy of Aaron Percy, while a dub and radio edit of 'Want To Run Away' complete the package.
Review: Rising star Somelee has already appeared on such labels as Dawn Til Dusk, Akbal Music, Telematique, All Day I Dream, Recovery Tech and TOR. Here the producer joins the growing Tale & Tone roster of artists via a rock-solid four-tracker. He kicks off proceedings with a stirring slab of warming summer bliss ('Opus', with its ethereal female vocal samples, sweeping chords and bubbly lead lines), before opting for a chunkier, kick-drum driven groove, bolder riffs and echoing spoken word samples on 'Wrong Side'. 'Mellifluous' is even more heart-aching thanks to bittersweet strings, twinkling pianos and rising and falling lead lines, while 'Secret in a Paper Box' sees him smother a hypnotic tech-house groove in weighty analogue bass, clipped vocal snippets and all manner of attractive melodic elements.
Review: NuKreative are Jamesen Re and Danny Bonnici, a duo who hail originally from Melbourne, Australia but are now based in Los Angeles, and here they come to Lee Burridge's Tale & Tone with a three-track/four-mix EP from the organic/melodic house school of thought. Amega's trance-style female vocal on the title track - available in unhurried and dreamy Original or beefed-up Hoj Remix forms - may be a little too pop for some but will doubtless go down a storm with daisy-crowned girls at Burning Man or Coachella; elsewhere 'Senerade' is epic and meditative, while 'Melodia' adds a hint of tribal rhythms.
Review: London based Rashid Ajami is up next on Tale + Tone with the deeply meditative polyrhythms of "You Don't Know Me" which is perfect soundtracking for Sunday afternoon rooftop parties in the summertime. We must say that Madraas remix up next is really the standout track here, with its glassy-eyed and bittersweet vibe, followed by another ethereal and sensual offering titled "The Day We Never Met".
Review: Athens label Tale & Tone bring us a three-track EP from fellow Greek producer Plecta, with all three cuts coming from that place where deep and progressive/melodic house start to blur into one. 'Magnolia' itself is a lilting, Balearic-leaning cut with rolling drums, sweeping pads and monastic chanting - file under "rather lovely" or "a bit polite" according to taste! - while 'Abala' ploughs a druggier, more hypnotic furrow with Eastern flourishes. Neither, though, prepares you for 'Chrysalis' - eight epic minutes of deep, hazy, proggy psychedelic wonderfulness with Spanish guitars that cut through like a knife, and utterly essential.
Review: The latest missive on Lee Burridge and Hoj's popular Tale & Tone label comes courtesy of Vite, a label debutant with few previous releases to his or her name. By the sounds of it though, the producer has already developed a trademark style - one that adds melodious and atmospheric deep house musicality to tight and occasionally tough, tech-tinged grooves. This sound can be heard on excellent opener 'Pleasure', where moody bass and subtle acid lines mingle with drowsy chords, and the melancholic, slow-burn release of 'P.a.t.y'. Elsewhere, Hole Box hook-up 'Soul Seekers' is a little more positive and gently sun-kissed, while Jesus Nava collaboration 'Galaxy Counters' is quietly spacey and deliciously hypnotic.
Nightmare Walking (Facundo Mohrr Back To School remix) - (8:42) 122 BPM
Review: Scene newcomer Luis Daniel's influences come from his old vinyl collection from the '90s - '00s and esteemed producers from his home city of Miami over the years. The legendary Lee Burridge has recently been a fan of his releases, so therefore it's fitting that he was tapped for the next release on Tale + Tone. The 'Nightmare Walking' EP features four tracks perfectly aligned with the label's sonic aesthetic: from the slinky and evocative title track and its Todd Terry influence, which later receives a rework by Argentinian upstart Facundo Mohrr which takes the track deep into the exotic, and the deeply cavernous dub techno vibe of "No Need". Luis Daniel's star continues to rise.
Review: Since launching in 2017, Lee Burridge and HOJ's Tale + Tone label has carved a niche as the preferred home for artists whose ultra-melodic, evocative music sits somewhere between deep house, tech-house and progressive house. On this EP they add another fitting name to the roster: sometime Stil Vor Talent artist Raw Main. Check first the gently rising and falling tech house/deep house fusion of sparkling opener "Le Chat Noir", before admiring the hypnotic, late-night grooves and gently undulating synthesizer lead lines of "Pigalle". Listeners who love the rich musicality and slow-burn positivity of progressive house will love "Garden of Eden", the EP's most expansive and musically intricate moment, while "Montrematre" is a fine fusion of rolling tech-house drums, opaque chords, squelchy bass and intoxicating additional percussion.
Review: The Iranian-born, California-based DJ Hoj returns on Tale + Tone, the label he runs with legend Lee Burridge, with the 'You Are A Wonder' EP - featuring five tracks of groove driven melodic house. This release is a tribute to the electronic dance music community: friends, family and supporters that have made things so special for him over the years, and are now so sorely missed due to the current pandemic. From the amazing exotics of opener 'Sweet Verse" with its live instrumentation, the deep, sensual and low-slung mood music of "Feel That?" or the utterly evocative dancefloor drama of "You Are A Wonder" which receives a remix by label staple Newman. This is the typically mesmerising and sunkissed Sunday groove you've come to expect from this much loved label.
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