Music Reviews
Various Artists - John Morales - The M&M Mixes
BBE RecordsIt’s easy to lose sight of all the quality remixes that emerged during the eighties. After all, a new 12” inch seemingly dropped daily or whenever we frequented our favorite clubs from back in the day. We would rush to our local record shop humming a tune we heard the night before as the top DJ’s were making their mark remixing future dance classics. Thanks to John Morales, we have an opportunity to relive some of those moments with “The M&M Mixes. It’s only fitting since many of those dance classics were mixed by John himself. The “M&M Mixes” is an excellent collection of some of his greatest remixes that were beloved by the dance music community. The disc starts out with “Weekend” a huge club hit mixed by John and also produced by the legendary producer Patrick Adams. Another pleasant surprise and no doubt a worthy addition to this disc is “I want you all tonight” by the late Curtis Hairston. And any compilation that highlights classic club tracks would be shamed if it didn’t include Inner Life’s “Ain’t No Mountain High enough”, which features the great Jocelyn Brown. The ten minute dance floor filler still sounds superb twenty years later. The M&M mixes is a tremendous time travel through a important period in the culture of dance music. The dance music that you love today owes a debt of gratitude to John Morales and the rest of the pioneers that laid it down before them. This compilation will enhance your appreciation as well as keep your body moving. After a self-imposed exile that has lasted nearly ten years, it’s great to have John back blessing us with his timeless music.
PermalinkReg Dancy, 02/10
Various Artists - Karen P ...Broadcasting
Sonar KollektivThe name Karen P may not be familiar to many at first but listeners of Gilles Peterson’s worldwide show on Radio 1 will certainly make the connection. Karen is not only contributing to the third installment of Sonar Kollektiv’s broadcasting series but she has also produced two tracks here with Si Begg. Karen has assembled this disc to play out like an actual radio show and it certainly works. She has definitely learned the art of “connecting the dots” as Gilles is known for. Broadcasting starts out with the eclectic “Pikku Myyn Laulu” by Moomin Voices. The first half then settles into a folk vibe. A definite highlight would include Jamie Woon’s acoustic “Robots” from his 2007 ep. The bluesy “BlueJay” by Owusu and Hannibal is another favorite that fits in well with the first half of the disc which immediately shifts gears with Tettory Bad’s “Unite”, a hip hop flavored track that features the soulful vocals of Fatima. The second half of the disc continues to groove thanks to the sophisticated soul of Jimi Tenor’s “Spell”. Aaron Jerome’s “Brighter Days” feat Andreya Triana is a definite club banger. This track and Stereotyp’s “Take The Weight” are light soulful house tracks that are pure heat. Karen P shows she has a great ear for quality music of all flavors. Thanks to her, “Broadcasting” is a winner that provides definite satisfaction.
Reg Dancy, 07/08
Various Artists - Kings Of Drum & Bass compiled by 4Hero & DJ Marky
BBE RecordsYou would be hard pressed to find 2 more influential contributors to the world of drum n bass than Dego and DJ Marky. Obviously the good folks at BBE had similar thoughts and decided to combine their talents in one package. “The Kings of drum n bass” is really two cd’s in one with Dego and MJ Marky each delivering over 60 minutes of uninterrupted music. Dego, known for his ground breaking work as one half of 4Hero brings along that soulful element that is so prevalent in their musical catalogue while Marky’s signature hardcore edgy style is a nice change of pace and is sure to keep your body moving. This is essential listening for drum n bass lovers
Reg Dancy, 02/10
Various Artists - Leeds By Example
Knocked Off RecordsHere is the launch of Leeds' first Hip-hop compilation which brings local, up and coming artists in a bid to bring them to the masses. As I have lived in Leeds for over fourteen years, it is great to see such a positive project finally coming to fruition and there is some real quality here. Listening to lyrics that are relevant to the city where I live and hearing their point of view is great. Established artists like Breaking The Illusion and Junkyard Tactics feature but many of the other artists are in the same league with good productions and lyrics. I hope people learn from this project and start digging for other artists and musical styles in their own city, because there's always quality music to be found. Roll on Volume 2.
Simon Harrison, 04/06
Various Artists - Maiden Voyage (A Journey Into The World Of Soul And Boogie)
Compost RecordsCompiled by Rainer Truby, Theo Thoennessen and Roland Appel, the hosts of Munich's long standing club night Maiden Voyage, this set focuses on some of the classic soul and boogie cuts which have been favourites at the night. It kicks off with 'Lihue' a tropical 2 stepper from Hawaiian songstress Nohelani Cypriano, before moving through gems such as Raw Soul Express' 'The Way We Live', Diana Ross' 'Tenderness, Cameo's 'Love You Anyway', 'She's Gone' from Norman Connors, 'Very Special' by Debra Laws and her brother, Hubert Laws' 'Land Of Passion'. As if that wasn't enough there's also James Mason's 'I Want Your Love', Alicia Myers' 'I Want To Thank You', the original and best version of 'Georgy Porgy' from Toto, and the irresistible 'Love Is On The One' by Xavier'. Many of these tracks are what got me into the scene initially and it's an absolute pleasure to hear them put together on this excellent compilation.
Andy Allen, 06/07
Various Artists - Masters Of Funk, Soul & Blues present A Soulful Tale Of Two Cities
Soul Renaissance'A Soulful Tale Of Two Cities' is a two disc package which brings together a whole host of legendary Philadelphia and Detroit soul artists and sees them covering classic tracks from the Philadelphia International and Motown songbooks. Disc one features the Philly artists taking on the Motown hits whereas disc two is all about the Detroit artists getting their chops around the PIR evergreens. Although the production is a touch smooth for my tastes there's no denying the talent on show with artists such as Bunny Sigler, Major Harris, Barbara Mason, Vincent Montana Jr, George Clinton, Freda Payne, Carolyn Crawford and Bobby Taylor. The better tracks include Jean Carne's version of 'Higher Ground', 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now from Ali 'Ollie' Woodson and Lamont Dozier's take on 'Close The Door'.
Andy Allen, 02/07
Various Artists - Merdeka
Dancing Turtle RecordsMusicians from 17 countries including Italy (Amycanbe) Brazil (New Samba Jazz) and Malta (Tribali!) uniting to support the ongoing struggle for independence for the people of West Papua. There's a good old mix of styles going on here with tracks from Romania's superb Shukar Collective through to tribal recordings from the Illaga Village People. Very good Check out www.freewestpapua.org.
Graham Radley, 06/07
Various Artists - Misch Masch mixed by Radio Slave
Fine/Four MusicHot on the heels of the DJ Hell volume comes this collection of 21 tracks, compiled and mixed by Radio Slave, undoubtedly one of the UK's most in demand producers and DJs. As we have come to expect from the Misch Masch series, which is inspired by the massively successful club night of the same name (run by Germany's Tiefschwarz), the fare is House music of a tough, minimal, bleepy variety, a la Ricardo Villalobos, Get Physical, and Radio Slave himself. Vocals are few and far between, but squelching synth stabs and growling bass lines are in abundance, so if that's to your liking, then this CD is definitely for you. As ever with this series, the quality is high, and they even throw in a bonus CD of unreleased or 'hard to come by' Radio Slave remixes for your trouble.
Tom Breslin, 05/07
Various Artists - Moonstarr Remixes
Public Transit RecordingsSince 1998 Moonstarr has been pushing all things broken out in Toronto, Canada. More and more djs spotted this talent and he's been a favourite with all the big names ever since. Here are some of Moonstarr's best re-works and a few you may not have heard before. Re-works to take note of are Povo's 'Uam Uam', Recloose's 'Processional', Jazzanova's 'Another New Day' and Greed's remix of Moonstarr, which is one I certainly missed. Moonstarr certainly has his own sound and style and it would be a shame for you to miss out on this fine selection.
Simon Harrison, 04/06
Various Artists - Museum Of Future Sound
Flogsta DanshallThings have certainly changed with the internet and swapping music is affecting the music industry in many way, but on this occasion it worked for me. A friend sent me a few of the early releases on Flogsta Danshall, a name which meant nothing to me at the time but once I'd heard them, I was straight on the web hunting down copies of all their 7" releases: five in total. The quality continues with this compilation with some of the funkiest, dirtiest beats you'll here with year, with plenty of nostalgic Commodore 64 samples to keep the beat diggers and retro fanatics happy. I'd be very impressed if you've heard of any of the artists featured and it seems like most of the artists are based in Scandinavia, but I'm struggling to get more information. Of course it makes no difference where these tracks are made because they all just need to be played.
Simon Harrison, 04/07