Space DJz associate Bissmire launches the first title for this concept label. Old-school East Coast-style acid loops chirp and bounce behind a high-pitched kick and a clap on four. With a floor-pummeling lead phased to perfection, this is surely a label to follow.
Holgi Star Starwars
This installation marks the first artist album from this Berlin-based loop trickster. From funky live acoustic textures to tauntingly twisted vocals, Holgi Star deftly covers all the boundaries of a techno club music. Prepare your X-Wing fighter.
Veer Lideskape
Despite the glut of click/glitch-house albums emerging from Germany each month, few manage to reveal something unique and enthralling like this debut from Frankfurt’s Ole Schulte (a.k.a. Veer). Initial comparisons come from the expansive, dub-drenched minimalism of Luomo and Basic Channel, but with one important distinction: heaps of funk. Old-fashioned funk, not the butchered-sample variety popularized recently by the likes of Akufen (or Todd Edwards, for that matter), but juicy, arms-flailing, waistline-contorting funk. When coupled with fragmented, abstract edges, these syncopated grooves offer a precise balance between brain and booty that makes Lideskape excellent for repeated listening and dancing.
Trüby Trio Elevator Music
Although its title initially brings to mind less-than-stellar thoughts, further inspection of Trüby Trio’s debut album reveals its true meaning lies in elevation. Munich-based nu-jazz gods Trüby, Prommer and Appel have birthed a work infused with positivity and sun-drenched good times, trading in the limitations of the genre they helped create for solid musicianship and vitality. Jazz, Latin and soul influences abound, along with a host of guests that provide the jelly for Trüby & Co.’s peanut-butter production-most notably vocalist Wunmi, who brings urgency and grounding to the broken “Runnin'” and the even funkier “Make A Move.” But opening tracks like the smooth disco of “Love To The World” and quirky “New Music” kick things off fairly tamely, postponing any major strides until halfway through, when “A Festa”‘s loose Brazil & bass rhythm gives the album the edge it was sorely lacking. From then on, though, the only way is up.
Various Artists Jazz BizNiz 3
Jake Behnan serves up an array of raw, gutsy jazz and cosmic underground disco treats on this compilation, whose artists take their rightful place alongside commercially renowned jazz and soul pioneers. Ola Butterfly Woods contributes “If We Do Nothing,” a proactive wake up call to the people, with sweet-breathed cinematic brass and chilled, fill-laden percussion. Deep Sensation swap deep house grooves for heartfelt dancefloor jazz on “Harlem & 42nd” via luscious jazzical keys, mesmerizing sax and rustling cymbal percussion. Counterpoint has once again come up with the goods.
Seba Producer 06
Scandinavian electronic music aficionado Seba is a multi-genre master of all things melodic and emotional. Producer 06 focuses on the pick of smooth d&b gems he cooked up for Good Looking. “Remedy” takes healing power from a rapturous transforming synth that is draped over natural breaks and wide-eyed keys. “Soul 2000” sees kaleidoscope keys and firing beats underpin a grandiose string section. Seba calls on sometime-production partner Lotek for “So Long,” where vocals agonize, heavenly keys soothe and a twisting bass engulfs all. If Seba is a forgotten man of the scene, this should act as an excellent memory-jogger.
Various Artists Juke Joint
Carefully thought out and seamlessly programmed, Juke Joint is a musical map of Boozoo Bajou’s influences. All the artists featured here have something in common-a tangible love and burning passion for the sounds they create. “Ordinary Joe” by Terry Callier takes full-of-life dancing keys, muted brass and a magical organic guitar to produce a deeply touching serenade. Bazoo Bajou’s own “Second To None” is a supremely tender expression of emotion, its fascinating keys and bewitching organ steal the show. Boozoo Bajou should be proud of Juke Joint, which has unearthed a myriad of wonderful long-lost gems.
3 Generations Walking
3 Generations’ Walking blends jazzy vocals, a bit of house, and an instrumental bag of tricks (cello, congas, kalimba, and violin) to achieve a pleasantly celestial album. Granola house or jamband jazz? Not quite either. Cellist Erin Snider provides a sense of spiritual depth to most tracks, while vocalist Christiane D. reaches for the sky on virtually every track. While track titles such as “Glory,” “Believe,” “Meditation” and “Love Always Love” almost always inevitably lead down a saccharine path best left untraveled, 3GW manages to pull back from the brink, especially on “Love Always Love,” a slightly funky surprise.
Ollo Sleeper
I have one party trick: I’m good at picking up dialects. Not your obvious Cockneys or Alabama twangs-I’m also good at musical dialects. Or so I thought until I heard the Swedish band, Ollo, two DJ production partners named Alex and Lars. Sleeper is atmospheric, with a slight pop sensibility and a heady dose of jazz-a bit of moonless night with a touch of sun glinting off the snow. Imagine my surprise when I discover that Ollo is not Swedish, but rather the darling of Australian radio, and is currently producing an audio/visual installation for a youth/music/culture show for Australian TV. Try as I might, I couldn’t find-through the intelligent glitch, media samples, and cleverly produced game-show synth sequences-a single shred of Aussie expansiveness. Maybe I should go back to that cherry stem thing. Or perhaps I should take Ollo to the next party…they’re much more clever and fun than I.
Little Brother The Listening
Maybe now North Kakalaka will cease being just another shout-out via Little Brother’s laidback indie hip-hop in the Native Tongue groove. With a lyrical delivery nestled between Q-Tip and Common-nasally, mellow flows expounding on fake hoes and false rappers-and lilting production that grooves with soulful samples and funk-laden loops, The Listening relies on a proven formula that keeps it simple and funky. But packing in 18 tracks is unnecessary for proven formulas, leaving the album teetering too close to monotony and falling victim to what the title track despises-aural wallpaper.
