Franc Spangler’s liquid funk provokes the kind of reaction all good dance music really should do. Its rhythms glow and groove, while the music lets expectation run riot as emotive chords only add to the impact. Next To You succeeds in doing all of the above, plus there’s the welcome addition of soulful vocals adding the human touch. The wonderfully Jazzy, Somewhere Else follows suggesting different possibilities as smooth keys and free-flowing synth lines create a world of their own. The frankly excellent, Dreamworld then completes via a breathy sensation of funky inflections perfectly attuned to the sunshine and more, producing the kind of response only reserved for a few rare moments.
Even if Amirali played the opening: The Harmonious Song and then left the building you would still be stunned by the collective beauty of the notes spread across the Rhodes. Thankfully the long player continues to revolve developing its journeys through hypnosis that somehow fits the month of May perfectly – at least from where I’m sitting. The playing is never less than outstanding, as is the production, while this collision of ideas appeals to heartwarming melancholy as much as it invigorates the spirit on tracks like the imaginary, Just An Illusion. Love the way expectations are then thrown to the wind as Painting On A Canvas follows on proudly down- tempo while tastefully placing art back where it belongs in music. In fact each track provides its own unique surprise spiraling in directions from the dancefloor to the horizontal with Amirali’s mesmerizing vocals adapting perfectly throughout. And it all sounds so easy… 9
Hurt Russell Queensbridge Jams EP Vol 1 ILFONX Records
This excellent EP from Belfast based Ilfonx Records opens with the ridiculously good, Soul Kestrel which sounds like choice Jazz and Deep House rolled into an excitable experiment that pays off big time. Love the way all the disparate elements work for position, and that they almost don’t quite sit at ease with each other – that’s Jazz for you – but I highly rate this production for that very reason. And just to prove the diversity, I Can t Go On slows right down to cope with its unfeasibly funky bassline and infectious chopped-up vocals. The equally impressive, Piano Saved My Life finishes off by deepening the mood with sassy percussion and booming beats. Next please. 9
Guess you could say that the opening track, Go With The Flow has it all: crisp, pulsating beats; haunting, energising synths: lots of cool fx and vocal; plus last but never least, a killer bassline. So, yes I love this, and strongly suspect you will too. Climbers aka Jay Blakk and Kiko Deal then proceed to explore more in the way deeply invigorating music with the next three productions, which all develop similar bass infused rhythms over the course of the release – the choice is then yours. 8
Second excellent release out of Belfast this week and city stalwarts Extended Play once again do themselves proud. That Girl, opens with fierce, pulsating electro-beats and then gets nasty with classic heavy-duty stabs that are destined to be played out LOUD, but if that doesn’t seem like enough by the time the full vocal hits this is so obviously peak-time business. Feed Those Hoes, turns up the heat further with explosive Detroit bass lines played against crisp hats and percussion, but while I can’t say the Rap works for me the instrumental is original House heaven. Bubba and T-Bone’s tasty FTH remix thinks along similar lines by stripping back the vocal and adding shimmering electronics to the equation, proving to be yet another notable version from the duo. 8
Three new tracks from Issac Christopher which get back to Madhouse basics and aim straight for the dancefloor. The aptly titled Shake That kicks off with booming beats, shake that body vocals, and brutal basslines all playing like they were made for each other. Been Thru The House, keeps the relentless tempo but adds funkier percussion and imaginative electronics, while I Need You is the deeper of the three with warmer vibes and retro piano all feeling like summertime. 7
More thought provoking music as DJ W!ild sets upon us with his second album opening with sound effects warning: please mind the gap between the train and the platform. Dirty then proceeds to play between ambient sequences that lull you into security such as Apres La Plage, and then pulverize you with heavy-duty Kicks on the likes of Voyage (complete with sampled spiritual guidance). If dirty refers to anything in particular then the one thing that’s consistently so throughout are those trademark and edgy beats – although perhaps the answer also lies within the title tracks’ explicit voice over too, with imaginative samples appearing consistently throughout giving the album warmth and colour. Eventually it all reaches an acid drenched climax on Remember and the album contains more than its fair share of dancefloor gems e.g. the hypnotic bassline driven, In Love. 8
Session Victim The Haunted House Of House Delusions Of Grandeur
Don’t be fooled by the Vincent Price styled title or indeed by the name of the first track, Dark Sienna – which just so happens to be one of the better Disco sampling records I’ve heard in a while – into thinking this is something sinister. What rapidly strikes you here is the liberal use of cut-up which gives it all a reassuringly familiar feel, that of course and the inherent joyous qualities of those time-scales that are best executed on Zoinks and said title track. Despite the possible limitations that very reliance may suggest the album wisely plays with intriguing moods and tempo working particularly on Bison. However, the up-tempo numbers suit best with the funk fuelled, Good Intentions proving to be a particular favourite with many. While this isn’t challenging or pushing at boundaries in the way the above albums could be said to do, its none the less always welcome at parties. 7
release Date: May 14 (Vinyl/CD) / June 11 (Digital)
And so to the ever reliable soulful-funkiness of Jazzanova who are now captured ‘live’ with this selection of old and new music recorded as played in their studio. Great organic feel to the album which grooves and leans in the right direction all along. The musicianship is exactly of the standard we’ve learnt to love but then how could you really go wrong with titles such as Jazz-Funk epic, Theme From Belle Et Fou and I Human. Slow burners such as No Use and the beautiful lyrics and piano of Little Bird vie for attention along with the more dance floor orientated material but quality is, as always, rest assured. 9
Following on from XXX Jimmy Edgar begins Majenta with a bang, and then keeps on banging. From the opening Kraftwerk referencing, Too Shy you’re immediately captured by the sheer funkiness of it all but with the arrival of Punk attitude declaring itself: This One’s For The Children, all hell breaks loose. Tempos continue to lift and drop as the machine-funk proceeds to probe different moods and agendas, feeling sometimes dangerously sleazy, sometimes joyus and uplifting. The one thing that is patently apparent is that this simply gets better with each consecutive listen. And so to highlight the diversity the warmth generated by R&B flavoured, Touch Yr Body and Hrt Real Good is equally offset by the cosmic discotheque of Heartkey. While the albums finale: In Deep draws together such a far reaching set of musical ideas that they are probably too long to list here, but which combine – like everything else – to feel very much like, Jimmy Edgar. 8
Geddes presents Mulletover: The Story So Far 2004-2012
Murmur
You could say: hotly anticipated, but then that would be somewhat of an understatement. And even if you haven’t made it to London’s premier installation, then the story so far plays like the best excuse to indulge yourself in Geddes first rate selection of deeply involving music. Featuring productions that expand the possibilities from Maya Jane Coles stunning, Dubchild through to Delusions Of Grandeur’s quietly immense, Don’t Sleep the party never seems to end. That realization of course also comes care off Okain’s very sublime, Scream and via the Murk classic, If You Really Love Someone. The journey through the timeline smoothly twists together the lows and highs of everything worthwhile, yet feels every bit about the here and now. 9
Deniz Kurtel & The Marcy All-Stars
The Way We Live – The singles
Wolf + Lamb
Just ahead of the June release of, The Way We Live album alongside The Marcy All-Stars comes this stunning set of three singles. Worked in collaboration, with firstly, Tanner Ross on the very divine, I Knew This Would Happen featuring Pillow Talk, which sequences together gorgeously haunting pads and expertly played bass along with Jazzy attitudes and heavenly treated voices to produce what is simply sublime music. The Jazzy notation follows on, The Beat Drops with Tanner Ross again and Jules Born developing a Saxophone theme across pulsating electro-beats and moody vocals. Leaving, Thunder Clap complete with thunderous fx and Voices Of Black to deliver P-Funk inspired funkiness to entice you further into the cosmos. 9
Featuring features two tracks: Harder (with Jaw) and Timeline (with Francesco Tristano). The former works Jaw’s detuned vocal over bubbling synthesisers and consequently feels tastefully sinister yet bizarrely funky. Reaching almost twelve minutes long the arrangement delivers aural surprises along the way, not least of all the way the bassline climaxes the into a fizzy contortion. Timeless, is almost conventional in comparison, although while acclaimed pianist Francesco Tristano challenges you with abrupt, improvised notes it never-the-less makes sense via the engaging technological rhythm section and its familiarizing repetition. 7
You get the feeling that you don’t know where this is going to end up – which I like – as the opening title track unnerves you with its brooding beats and dark electronics, despite LK’s unsettling voice telling you to conversely relax in the process. Never less than interesting this creative production always holds your attention even right down to the very ending at almost eleven minutes. What Where, continues in a similar vein though rewards you funkier percussion and bass, with the tINI remix of Lonber Attract sounding excellent with imaginative drum programming and further carefully- crafted hypnotic atmospheres. 8
Nikola Gala’s relentless production doesn’t indulge much in the way of subtlties but does dive headlong into pulverizing beats coupled with classic House stabs and vocal edits for quality measure. Indeed, the kick drum is soo harsh it makes everything else seem like light relief - which I guess of course is the whole point – with the resulting experience being uplifting almost despite itself. Ryan Elliot plays with an altogether different beat and indulges in mood enhancing pads and funky hi-hat fuelled percussion to provide a sassy alternative. 7
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