Medeski Martin & Wood - Radiolarians 1 - kentandrew
Medeski Martin & Wood brew up some jams not unlike Herbie Hancock or Donald Byrd. The basic components of the group are: a jazz drummer, an upright bass player, and an organist. There is not a single vocal on the recording.
Strong on elements of funk, the trio improvises their way through lengthy workouts. Having worked with producers like the ill-bient We™, The Dust Brothers, & Dan the Automator, Medeski Martin & Wood foray into acid jazz, experimental, as well as hip hop on some releases, but not here. Based on the material on Radiolarians 1, the listener’s impression is most likely that this band sounds better when they play live.
Radiolarians are a kind of plankton, depicted on the cover of the album, which is part 1 of a trilogy. As for the individual tracks, Cloud wars is fairly good. Although beat-less and ambient in style, I found Hidden moon to be my dark-horse through repeated listening.
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Frankie Jay (2) - Gitano - benjamin.heathcote
This is an awesome house track. It seems to be a reworking of Rene & Gaston's Vallee Des Larmes and for so many reasons it is better. Not the least of which is the massively infectious bassline that bounces in the breakdown like an elasitic bound sonic marshmallow or something. Anyway Vallee Des Larmes sounded like the Thomas The Tank Engine theme music a bit but Gitano is a fun stompy house number to slap your fave accapellas over. |
Various - Club Saturn EP - XavierNC
I'll have to say that "Nights" is actually the stand-out track on this EP -- really smoooooth '96 drumfunk from the one Paradox; classically chilled d'n'b vibes to make your mind wander. Well done.
I'm a huge fan of Remarc, and I honestly only bought the record for "Virtua Cop"; unfortunately, it sounds kinda half-baked to me, and didn't get a proper mixdown IMHO. It IS a decent amen-driven track on that late-'95 gangsta junglist tip (sirens n gunshots, etc.), but it just doesn't express like his other work. Tweaking the levels helps very little.
On the flip, B1 and B2 are both pretty forgettable, just run of the mill repetitive '96-style steppers. Not a whole lot of creativity there (:YAWN:)
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Asian Mushroom - New Wave - BarnyardOrbit
Well the dynamic man Shige behind it all returns with a new mixture of electronic moods. A toss up of moods: down-tempo, techno and even ambient, the tracks flow along very smoothly. It makes me feel that the creator is paying homage to such classics artist as YMO, Vangelis and even Kraftwerk. It has many layers of synthesizer riffs and lots of old sounding beats. Call it an electronic love fest just waiting to explode. Tracks like High Dry and Toys March with its mind bending sounds really set the mood. Worth having your own copy to enjoy and explore. |
Fresh (2) - Dum-Dum - DaJacker
There were three different label pressings for this release. The first and also the rarest of all three was on a yellow label with brown print. The second more common pressing was on a black label with white print and the last pressing was on a red label with white print. All three of the releases were pressed from the same master plates as seen by the matrix inscription on the dead wax run out groove. |
Various - Chomp! - Yaekerman
I couldn't agree more. I'm so glad I found this excellent album back in 2000. It has been the back drop to many very cool, mellow evenings with good friends. It is a uniquely fluid collection of down tempo and jazz laced tracks that pleases again and again. It's one of those rare special CDs that transports the listener back to the first time they heard it.
I tend to gravitate towards this album and others like it in the fall when the days get shorter and darker.
This one is a real winner. |
Karl Dread - Never Give Up - u-man
New signature on Down The Bush Records, Karl Dread, a mysterious Jamaican kungo dread based producer
(as far as we know he actually lives on the hills of the famous blue Mountains with the fierce desire of never coming down),
delivers an up-lifting EP with the ever eclectic spirit of Down the Bush.
With this release, a true mastermind blend of dub, broken beats, house and afrobeat, electronic music goes global like never before.
Anbuley originated from Ghana, and Vienna based singer (works also with Makossa and Megablast)
adds her vocals and afro vibes on the main track.
When Jamaica meets Africa, a heat wave hits the dance floors!!! |
C.O.D. - Uphill (Peace Of Mind) - freddyfresh
Source of the faed Here We Go Again sample, this is a completely different vibe the In the Bottle as it lacks Man Parrish on production but nonetheless this is an amazing jam which has some severe energy. Breakdancers love this jam for the throbbing manic bassline and also the huge beats that literally shake the club. Definitely worth hunting down a copy if you like electro, breaks and huge beats. Doesn't have as clean a production as In the Bottle but is great |
C.O.D. - In The Bottle - freddyfresh
Its another travesty of electronic music journalism is that one of the holy grails of electronic music sits here with no review. This is Man Parrish (hello) along with Raul Rodriguez in what has to be one of the most incredible electro moments in all of musical history. The instrumental on this is absolutely stunning, I spoke with Man Parrish and he told me they used a Sequential Circuits Pro 1, 808 etc.. on this stellar jam. This also featured on my BBC Radio One Essential Mix never dissapoints at any turn and if you like Hip Hop Be Bop then this is a needed piece in your collection. All Electro, Techno, Breaks fiends will lose their minds over this and if they don't then they no zero about dance grooves. One of the holy grails of all electro music. |
International Music System - Nonline - freddyfresh
In all my digging, working in record stores, DJing etc.. I have rarely been so impressed by an electro jam as I have been by the International Music System's - Nonline this group hails from Italy and this 12" is light years ahead of its time. The fact that you can find this for $39 on Discogs is ridiculous considering I listed mine at over $900 not that anyone would part with almost a grand for what has to be one of the top 10 electro jams of all time, as featured on my Essential Mix. In all my years of digging I have only veer seen this two times possibly the most difficult 12 on this label and well worth having as its that amazing. |
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