Review: South African Warrick Sony is a ground breaking composer who was behind the Kalahari Surfers project which now gets a vital spotlight courtesy of Emotional Rescue. This compilation shows how effortlessly eclectic his sound was, from jive rhythms to jazz, tabla to political speeches and much more in between. A Hindu pacifist who was once conscripted into the South African Defense Force, he founded this group as a way out getting his ides out there, calling on other musicians as and when he needed them. It was the first radical white anti-apartheid pop in South Africa and as this vital collection shows it explored polyrhythms, slow motorik, dub sound collage and even a goofy cover of Nancy Sinatra.
Review: If you're worried about producers spending too long in their studios and not getting enough fresh air, or producers inappropriately dressing for an occasion, then save those thoughts for another artist as Agro is most definitely okay: he's currently out on the piste and he's most definitely wearing the correct gear as 'Ski Mask' will get those cheeks nice and warm with every slope-bound slap. Elsewhere 'Murk Nothing' wriggles and rants with the energy and mischief of a young Tyke, 'Porridge' will heat you up with its sludge, warm oaty vibes while 'Scum' closes on an ice cold vibe. Wrap up warm from face to foot.
Review: Long-serving producer Disco Tech has released more edits and reworks over the years than we've had hot dinners. Remarkably, he still continues to deliver on-point revisions - as this second volume in his ongoing 'Reworks' EP series proves. There's much to admire across the six tracks on show, from the atmospheric, slow-burn excellence of AOR disco revision 'Stars In The Ghetto' and the dub-funk wonder that is the James Brown-sampling 'Boss', to the peak-time '80s disco sing-along 'Take Time' and the on-point Clash dub disco revision 'Magnificent'. We also recommend 'Be With You', a deliciously groovy, dubbed-out take on a Doc Severinsen track that has long been a DJ Harvey favourite.
Review: Calling all 90s RnB and hip-hop heads! Following amazing deep dives into the works of Keith Sweat and scores of films like Friday, US jungle OG 6Blocc continues to writhe in Cali chams of BT&H with this second volume of Amen flips. Maintaining the soulful flavours and feels of the originals, while giving them a good old gully boost, highlights include the slick funk and golden grooves of 'Thuggish' the big disco feels of 'BNK' and the biggie fronted finale 'Notorious Thugs'. What a collection!
Review: A bit of a curveball here from Mathmos as he explores slightly tuffer, darker styles than we're used to hearing from him. So it's testament to his production prowess that these four cuts work just as well, in their own way, as the groovier, more melodic sounds that are his usual stock-in-trade. 'My Name Is Snake' is a driving, mid-paced cut with techno overtones and chunks of dialogue from 'Escape To New York', 'Techno Duke' also (unsurprisingly) leans towards techno, while 'Street Inferno' drops the tempo and ventures into leftfield electronica territory. 'Plissken Prologue (Raw Mix)' then completes the EP by revisiting the title track's vocal samples in hallucinogenic, extended interlude form.
Review: With 17 tracks on offer there's no room here to list the source material for every track on this latest re-edits selection from the ever-busy Alkalino, even if we could identify them all - which we can't, because it's fair to say he's dug really deep here to find some gems. No guilty 80s pop pleasures here, just obscure disco, Italo and boogie nuggets expertly repolished to suit modern dancefloors, the arguable exception to that rule being an excellent take on the Detroit Emeralds' 1972 soul/funk classic "Baby Let You Take Me (In My Arms)", here reinvented as "Let Me Kiss You". Other highlights include the lazy, sensual "Feel The Music" and the dreamy jazz-fusion of "Ghetto Blues".
Review: Australia-based Italian slo-mo don Dave Mathmos returns with a new single-track offering, albeit that one track is presented in two quite different mixes - both of which do pretty much exactly what they say on the tin. The Balearic Mix is a lilting, reggae/tropical-infused affair with a sing-song French vocal, fluttering Spanish guitars and, as we near the end, just a hint of bubblin' acid. The Dubbosa Mix, unsurprisingly, is a more dub-wise pass that brings the reggae backbeat to the fore and then gets a fair bit heavier and synthier over the top. One for the warm-up and one for the 5am gurners, then.
Review: This is the fourth volume in the series, so you should have the idea by now: Audaz boss Alkalino revisits his youth by taking on pop hits (mostly) from the late 70s and 80s, often reworking the most unlikely source material into dancefloor gold. This time out, though, he's cast his net a little wider, with sources including Jimmy Soul's 1963 calypso hit 'If You Wanna Be Happy', The Chordettes' 'Mr Sandman' from 1954 (an unexpected standout), Sixto Rodiquez's 'Sugar Man' from 1970 and Johnny Cash's 'I Walk The Line' from 1956, as well as the more par-for-the-course likes of The Clash's 'Guns Of Brixton', Stan Ridgway's 'Camouflage', M's 'Pop Muzik' and Paul Hardcastle's '19'.
Review: Serbian disco fruit from Tonbe, a producer releasing candy-heeled dance wares for some 15 years now. For Disco Fruit yet again he brings the heat, with the title track kicking off heavy and deep before those righteous chords roll in. Heavier and dubbed out still is "Weekend Fever" with its thick filters and French house sampling twist. Funkier numbers come from "Too Far Away" next to a minimal '70s electro cuts in "Robot Drivel" and '90s R&B via "Groupie Love". Get your west coast sh*t from "Turn It Up" next to the solid states of "Unchained". When life gives you lemons make lemonade.
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