Dougie Wardrop and Paul Davey, the Bush Chemists, serve up some Baba Root with this one. Dub so potent and organic, if you didn‘t know it was edited on a computer you would think it came from the genre‘s golden age. A practical tribute to all that is dubby, “Higher Heights” reaches for Mt. Zion and makes it, while “Oriental Style” recalls the best of Lee “Scratch” Perry and “Symphony Of Dub” contains faithful flourishes of Aswad‘s “Love/Dub Fire.
Blackbird Bird‘s Eye View
Trite but true, this isn‘t rap music-it‘s poetry plus sound, and we‘re not talking just beats. Paris Zax‘s backing tracks earn him the front cover credit, as his own instrumental “High Plains Drifter ” surprisingly breathes new life into the Ennio Morricone sample. With the mise en scène, Blackbird delivers a succession of stellar performances: from a Tom Waits scruff to the Blaxploitation version of “Travis Bickle.” On “Lessons,” Blackbird slips Bambaataa an Ambien for the “zzz‘s” and then proceeds to pontificate with a proliferation of P‘s-and it sure packs a punch.
Various Artists Joey Negro & Sean P: Destination: Boogie-Classic Eighties Boogie, Soul, & Electro-Funk Nuggets
The wedgie on the cover girl‘s fanny says it all: had you been funkadelically inclined a few decades ago, you would‘ve rollerskated your tuchus off to any of these post-disco or boogie” ditties. (It‘s worth noting that you undoubtedly would‘ve also been rollerskating to “Another One Bites The Dust” by Queen). Some of the rare joints assembled on this compilation are pretty near priceless; WAGB Band‘s deliciously swaggering “I Can Get You Over” might be the ultimate funk collector‘s anthem, while Mid Air‘s electronic hand-clapper “Ease Out” cuts a clear evolutionary path for house music.
The Timewriter Paintbox
In 2002, Jean F. Cochois (a.k.a. The Timewriter) produced a lush, stirring masterpiece, the oft-overlooked Diary of a Lonely Sailor. But Cochois‘ fourth LP for Plastic City offers what he‘s better known for: the deep, atmospheric tech-house that has come to define that label‘s sound. The club-oriented Paintbox doesn‘t really compare to Diary‘s emotional scope, but it‘s enjoyable in its own right. “Reachin‘ Out,” souped up with Cochois‘ bouncy synth licks, is a love letter to early ‘90s deep house, while “Room of a Million Rainbows” sounds like a throaty ‘80s pop ballad that could inspire serious tongue-jousting sessions.
B. Fleischmann The Humbucking Coil
The mighty Morr imprint has easily wiggled into that tricky nexus between ambient, rock, and electronica, and Bernhard Fleischmann has emerged as one of its definitive artists. Fleischmann‘s talent lies in his ability to craft sweeping songs; you can feel his rich, melodic creations pulsing and breathing quietly on their own, making them fit just as snugly under a starry night or on a Spacemen 3 remix album. A tremendous loneliness floods The Humbucking Coil, from the clean, simple lines on “Sonic Grat” to the whispering “Cain,” which pairs coarse textures with melancholy guitar twangs and soft, broken vocals.”
Various Artists Joris Voorn: Fuse Presents
Who is the best Dutch DJ? Not Tiësto, fool! It‘s Joris Voorn, and he proves it again on this stunning mix of almost 40 tracks. Voorn, the producer behind the outstanding Lost Memories 12″s, grabs a double-fisted handful of techno from past and present and gets all Ableton Live on its ass; there are only four tracks on here that get spun by themselves. Everyone else gets at least one partner, from Matthew Dear‘s “Plinko” burning alongside “Phylps Track #2” by Phylps to Sleeparchive‘s “Research” cozying up to Carl Craig‘s “Sandstorm” and Dan Bell‘s “Squirrel Bait.” Mind-boggling and ass shaking, this is some truly futuristic shit-even when the tracks are 10 years old.
Jukka Eskola Jukka Eskola
This is jazz on the cool-out tip-but when you grab your pipe and slippers, make sure your kicks won‘t slip on the dancefloor. Five Corner‘s Quintet/Nu Spirit Helsinki/Teddy Rok 7 trumpet man Jukka Eskola steps up center stage with a debut long-player of choice club jazz. Joints like “1974,” with its finger-snapping melody, and the rim-shot bumping “Buttercup,” with its rootsy Rhodes and upright bass interplay, work equally well for cocktail swillers on the prowl or lounge lizards lurking in the living room. Whatever the locale, Eskola‘s fine horn work shines through, from dark and smoky on “Last Breath” to bright and wild on the funky “Duudamdej.”
Various Artists Fabriclive 25: High Contrast
If you want pumping, melodic drum & bass, look no further-the man with the wispy brown afro is here to save the day. Hospital Records hotshot High Contrast follows up 2004‘s High Society with yet another stellar mix in the Fabriclive series. Much like High Contrast‘s own music, this set is at turns dramatic (London Elekticity‘s “Power Ballad”), uplifting (Logistic‘s “Life Rhythm”), and hands-in-the-air danceable (Danny Byrd‘s “Soul Function”). Thankfully, HC also gets down and dirty, with the breaks of Cyantific‘s “Ghetto Blaster” and the dissonant synths of Artificial Intelligence‘s “The Big Picture” nicely cutting the sweet, housey style of many tracks. Topping things off with rolling basslines from Blame and crisply chopped drums from Logistix, it‘s hard not to call this mix a classic.
Junk Science Feeding Einstein
As evidenced by the track “House Wigger”-on which Baje One announces, with his self-effacing tongue firmly in cheek, “Blah-blah-blah/Mike is a wigger/I‘m just trying to make my worldview a little bigger”-the MC has a scope that defies any stereotype of white rappers. On Feeding Einstein, the Brooklynite‘s fluid rhymes seamlessly fit DJ Snafu‘s earthy production, a style that has the nose of a crate digger yet sticks to the traditional kick-snare thunk. “The Blaze-O” fades out with sublime porch-lit funk while “Speaking (Same Ol‘ Same)” flows on a fine, 3 a.m. jazz tip. Despite their tacky cover art and an album title that screams camp, Junk Science comes correct with a no-bullshit attitude.
DJ Olive Heaps As, Live in Tasmania
In his CD‘s inner sleeve, Gregor Asch features portraits of faces smeared on dirty walls that all resemble those of clubgoers one might quickly encounter in a crowd yet never see again. As DJ Olive, he captures that situation with a recording of his May 2005 Australian performances. The tracks stick to his sunlit Bodega formula of fusing dub, Latin funk, rocksteady, and hip-hop, and the results suit any basement party with no breathing space. “Heaps As” has a Latin-jazz piano melody that chases the ghosts of past loves in the streets. “Sub Bass Commandante” deftly scrambles the “Funky Drummer” break with an ace riddim. Despite its fun, the music grows rather monotonous over an hour. Best drunk one shot at a time.
