Producers Neil Sanford and Endeavour roll some downtempo acoustic cinematic jazz for that azz. “Half Man, Half Dead”‘s twinkling vibes, sinewy bass and acoustic guitar spell sheer anxiety, as does the calm military funk of “Official Business,” while “Silhouette City” skirts spaghetti-western territory without going corny, and “A Siders Touch” keeps the Schifrin vibe rollin’ into dimly lit streets.
Browntempo Homage
Eighteenth St. Lounge associate Desmond Williams and Avatars of Dub’s Philip Brooks launch their DC-based Rhythm and Culture imprint with two smoking Latin jams. “Homage” runs a deadly downtempo rhythm under the salsa, while “Querida Vida” goes the percussive uptempo route with solid results. An auspicious debut.
J Mage Crazy Heart
San Francisco keyboardist Jeremy Mage lines up some formidable local talent to bust on some jazzmatic uptempo breakbeat jams. The solid rocks here are drummers Eric Garland, Valentino Pellizzer-Selgado and Marivaldo Dos Santos, who provide the backbone for some cool, seriously horny dubwise arrangements.
Tom Noble S/t
One hopes the non-mainstream dance music scene isn’t too awash in bullshit quotidian business concerns to recognize a talent like Tom Noble when he’s in its face. On this debut released by the erstwhile nu-jazz imprint Laws of Motion, the 25-year-old producer has fully fleshed out a uniquely catholic aesthetic, folding modern Brazilian, South Asian and broken beat flavors in a dubwise ideology that enhances rather than dilutes the context of each. But Noble’s skilled arrangements make this far more than a conceptual hybrid orgy; check the gorgeous flute lines on “Rajj Dub,” the Jobim-esque guitar accents on “Kind in the Night,” and the massive dub version of Midnight Starr’s “Midas Touch” for proof. And the vocal help Noble gets from the likes of West London’s Izzi Dunn and the Euro-Brazilian Nina Miranda do zero harm. A revelation.
Tony Senghore The Music EP
San Diego’s fledgling F4 imprint offers its second platter, letting your boy Senghore set the tone for summer. A vocal sample from cool ruler Gregory Isaacs floats over chunky beats, bright key chords and lovely, unobtusive strings in anticipation of a nicely twisted breakdown. Sunscreen on, hands up.
False Eslaf
After a good string of releases for Ghostly International and Spectral Sounds, Ann Arbor’s Matthew Dear brings a full-length of next-school minimal Detroit techno for Mr. Hawtin’s Plus 8 venture. Hovering over the smacking claps, smeared voices and soda-bottle percussion that litter Dear’s alternately burbling, murmuring and snappy arrangements is a potent, surround-sound bass sensibility that departs from the standard clipped low-end that minimalism usually offers up. Along with the slivered-sample approach he subtly integrates, Dear’s bass-ic concerns bring a necessary, almost committed warmth to the proceedings in Eslaf, making it far more than decent driving music.
Baron Effortless Chic
Oxford’s Baron unleashes another scorcher in this title track, which dances old-school analog chaos-computer bleeps over a hard, funky rhythm and simplified bassline. The flip’s “School Disco” offers buzzy synths over another sharp beat without getting sloppy, making this one a double-A killer.
Blaze Feat. Amira I Think of You
This is what I’m talkin’ about. Jersey house legends hand over their 4/4 downtempo soul spotlight with la chanteuse Amira to Phil Asher’s Restless Soul project for a funky quiet-storm remix, and Sweden’s Redtop for a fierce ’80s-soul rub. Magic. When will these guys finally be huge in the US?
!!! Me and Guliani Down By the Schoolyard (A True Story)
This eight-piece Gang of Explanation Marks knows exactly where to take that stomach-churning urge for self-aware, No-Wave-tinged, Caucasoid post-punk-funk-to the motherfuckin’ bridge, y’all! Long, intriguing jams both, “Me…” and the flipside’s eye-rollingly named Sunracapellectroshit Mix of “Intensifieder” comprise a refreshingly groovy flame put to nu-synth-pop’s oversprayed hairdo.
Melinda Let Me Know
This Viennese imprint launches with the Marylin McCoo-evoking Hungarian singer Melinda Barcoczy in front of the keyboard-based jazz-disco flavors of trio The Pepita Project. “Let Me Know” is that smooth, langourous kind of house that simply makes you want to kick off your shoes, light up a spliff and grind witchya baby on the dancefloor.
