Yearly Archives: 2008

Jazzy Sport is now synonymous with cool as you like, under the radar beats in all forms and the ‘Pound for Pound 2’ compilation is a simple, no messing demonstration of exactly why that is. We’re treated to new Soul, Latin-Jazz Funk, mid-tempo Detroit House, Tech-House, and lashings of Hip-Hop (some in English, some in Japanese and some purely instrumental), from the likes of Ras G, Cro-Magnon, Ta’raach, Gagle, DJ Mitsu, Grooveman Spot and Jazztronik (whose wonky, electro-Samba stormer, ‘Warp’ is just superb). My highlight comes in the shape of ‘The Digital Church’, a groovy, head-nodding soul number from London’s very own Leon King (this man deserves to be a star) that sounds like Jazzy Jeff producing Dwele at his best. All in all then, a great collection that manages to maintain the quality of the first ‘Pound for Pound’ set, released back in 2006.

Tom Breslin

Holy cow! That’s right folks, stop rubbing your eyes, it’s a new album from Goldie. That part-time Bond villain, original metal head and all round Drum ‘n’ Bass don is back. And with some vengeance too! You might expect that he has mellowed in his slightly older age, turning away from kidney-bursting bass and ear-drum-shattering high hats, but not so. Oh no, Sine Tempus revives the iconic, industrial Metalheadz sound without reservation and tracks like ‘Something About You’, ‘Inside Your Soul’ and ‘Say You Love Me’ will render junglists old and new positively bugging in their bass bins. Of course, Goldie’s penchant for meandering orchestral moments is also indulged, but this is not necessarily to be sniffed at. For me, the true joys on this album (originally produced in 2004) come when a more melodic, happy medium is achieved, and ‘Invisible’ and ‘Chances’ are two perfect examples of that uplifting and jazzy, yet still tough and rolling D’n’B sound that is all too rare these days. Note, this album is a digital release, available through the Metalheadz website only.

Tom Breslin

This is Black Grass’s third album on Brighton’s Catskills record label and, as usual, his productions skills are crisp, clean and tight, like a tiger. The man’s versatility knows no bounds and he takes his core Hip-Hop approach and applies it, on ‘Three’, to Reggae, Funk, Boogie, Latin vibes and all things in between. Whatever the variation though, the Black Grass sound essentially always has the feel-good factor at its heart and, although this is no bad thing, I have to confess to finding the boppy, twanging, Jurassic 5-esque Hip-Hop style (that is so eagerly embraced in the UK) a little tired. The real standouts on ‘Three’ all seem to appear whenever Dionne Charles turns up on vocal duties. ‘Without Your Love’ cuts a fine figure of a freestyle boogie number that would slot seamlessly into a classic Unabombers DJ set, whilst ‘How Much Can You Take’ and ‘Hold Fire’ are two prime cuts of soulful Funk that respect the authentic ingredients and shy away from any semblance of ‘fusion’.

Tom Breslin

The idea behind “Single Minded” belongs Adrian Gibson, head of London’s popular Jazz Café and founder of Freestyle records. Adrian is celebrating the labels fifth year anniversary with a bunch of 12” singles that were only available on vinyl. Adrian has compiled an eclectic collection of hip hop, disco, Afrobeat, latin and soul music spread across a two disc set. Among the many highlights include Sleeve’s “Get It On”, a funky uptempo number aided by the sampling of Funkadelic’s “Knee Deep”. Afrodizz delivers an electrifying afrobeat jam entitled “Kalakuta Show”. You can never go wrong when you include a track by the underrated soul crooner Lewis Taylor. His falsetto voice sounds wonderful on “When will I ever Learn”. There are other prime cuts on the second disc like Lanu’s “Mosquito Coast, a delightful samba tune. Los Cabrones provides some enjoyable Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz with the sensational “Hola Que Tal”. Adrian Gibson once again demonstrates his love for all flavors of music. His knack for uncovering underground hits and forgotten gems proves to be essential listening. This is one of many quality recordings to emerge from the Freestyle roster this year that shouldn’t be missed.

Reg Dancy

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Lars Bartkuhn is a musician, a producer and a dj from Frankfurt who has built a strong reputation creating soulful deep house music on his own and with the group Needs. Before that group he was a jazz musician at heart, taking up the guitar as a teenager. He returns to his roots on “The New Continent”, a project based on electronic and acoustic orchestrated compositions. The opening track “Goodbye Dancing Hello God” is an ambient tune with wonderful chord changes that conjures images of long drives on lazy afternoons along the countryside. A favorite of mine is “In Harmony With The Elements”, a cinematic gem that’s filled with dreamy soundscapes. ”Prayer Dance Into The Sun” is filled with floating guitar solos and synths. I love how this track starts off in a melancholy mood then builds intensity towards the end. In summary this is a wonderful record from Lars Bartkuhn. The entire disc is a delightful listen. You can hear the influences from the likes of established artists like guitarists Marc Johnson, Pat Metheny and pianist Lyle Mays. Kudos to Sonar Kollektiv. They continue to fill their roster with exceptional artists making beautiful music.

Reg Dancy

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Dublin born Stee Downes debut “All In A Day” is an amalgamation of harmonious 60’s pop, soul and funk. After ten years as a dj and performing live shows with the likes of Amp Fiddler and Bugz In The Attic, Stee hooked up with friend and musical confidant Ishfaq to work on his record. The result is a laidback feel good record that is warm and melodic. Highlights include “Asunder”, a mid tempo tune with simple lyrics to sing along to (“You could fill my dreams with Asunder”). “What’s Wrong with Groovin’” employs the same format with the exception of the samba like breaks filled with cool percussion work and strings. “What I’m Feeling” might be my favorite, a gorgeous bossa nova beat with slick guitar licks and funky horns. Stee Downes may not be known to most but “All In A Day” will make everyone get familiar with him. His voice isn’t overpowering but he doesn’t try to do what he can’t do. What he can do is create quality music with warm harmonic arrangements. This is an impressive debut by Stee Downes and is certainly worth checking out.

Reg Dancy

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The presence of the rnb soul group has become a dying breed in today’s music playing field. So when a group comes along with a back to basics approach to their music you have to lean back and take notice. Say hello to Soul:Id whose debut cd “Sex, Love & Philosophy” has been making noise ever since they hit the scene back in 2005. One of the strengths of Soul-Id is the diversity of musical talent they bring to the table. Three quarters of the group originate from Africa (Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda) and the fourth member, producer Urban Deep from Belgium. Soul:Id brings an array of musical styles to the table. One of the qualities that stand out is the soulful harmonies from each member that filters throughout each song. Highlights include “Believe” a soulful track that features Dad’D on vocals. “Is This Love” features the soothing soulful voice of Tchai’, the lone female of the group. “Whatcha Looking For” finds Dad’D and Tchai’ trading verses on the funky hip hop flavored beat. I generally frown upon a disc that has as many as seventeen tracks but there’s no filler here. Just sixty minutes of enjoyable soulful music that will keep your body movin’. This is exceptional work by Soul:ID and it would be shameful for you to pass it up.

Reg Dancy

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Tru-thoughts has a new songbird on their roster and her name is Lizzy Parks. The promise that Lizzy displayed on her 2005 release “Watching Space” is shining through on “Raising The Roof”. With production from Ben Lamdin of Nostalgia 77, you know that the musicianship here is top notch. In addition, Riaan Vosloo does masterful job on string arrangements. As for Ms Parks, she displays a sultry voice and flawless phrasing on this eleven track disc. The disc starts out with the title track, what immediately stands out is the synergy that exists within Lizzy and the trio, particularly the crisp playing on double bass and the sparse drum beat. On a great sound system you would think you were at a live concert. Lizzy shows that she can groove on the soul jazz tune “All That”, a swinging tune that is aided by the funky riffs of the Hammond B-3 organ. On “Prayer”, Lizzy’s voice is so tender and yet so powerful as she weaves through an orchestral aesthetic of wonderful soundscapes. This is a climatic ending for a wonderful record that should catapult Lizzy to star status. Highly recommended.

Reg Dancy

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Just when I thought I had heard everything, along comes a disc out of nowhere to truly mess my head up. The music I’m referring to is Blaktropolis Vol 1 from Deepblak recordings. This compilation features futuristic soul in an array of styles from house, spiritual jazz, tribal and broken beat that will have you asking yourself, “Where did these guys come from?” Well mostly from Oakland where Deepblak is based. There are a number of contributors here that make this record a huge success. Let’s start with the opening track “Valentina”, a downtempo ethereal gem that sounds as if the African rhythms and the deep moaning voice are swirling around you and pulling you inside the music. The Aybee remix of Dozie’s “Sensuality” gives this track the total package, lush vocals combined with deep and soulful grooves. “Track II” by Trinidadian Deep is a deep house dish with gorgeous chords and soothing synths. There are other prime cuts by the likes of the Black Jazz Consortium, Mattski and Erik Rico that make “Blaktropolis” cutting edge future soul with deep grooves that you’ll find irresistible. This is not to be missed.

Reg Dancy

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As Nottingham’s answer to Flying Lotus, Lone is an expert in the field of surreal, off kilter, wonky-tonk Hip Hop beats and with song titles like ‘Green Sea Pageant’, ‘Sea Spray’ and ‘Buried Coral Banks’ it is hardly a major surprise that much of his work evokes a warm and unmistakably oceanic feeling. Every sound has been tweaked, compressed and manipulated to within an inch of its life, creating the slightly unnerving, but nevertheless very welcome, sensation that the music (without wanting to borrow too heavily from Alan Partridge’s ‘Deep Bath’ metaphor) really is just washing over you. You get the idea. This is top-drawer ambient, electronic music and the initial comparisons with Boards of Canada are altogether justified.

Tom Breslin

Lulu Rouge consists of Danish DJs Buda and T.O.M., long-time cohorts of Denmark’s other well-known House-master, Trentemoller, who contributes here on ‘Lulu’s Theme’.  Unsurprisingly then, the music on ‘Bless You’ is, for the most part, techy, minimal (in the meaningful sense of the word) House music, under-pinned by big, reverberating bass-lines that are the result of a strong Dub Reggae influence. ‘Melankoli’, with vocals from Alice Carreri, is much like Eva Be’s Best7 productions, whilst the aforementioned ‘Lulu’s Theme’ has a definite Basic Channel meets Get Physical vibe about it. ‘Bless You’ certainly isn’t happy, sunshine music; it’s haunting, eerie music for the night, but, with Winter well and truly on its way, this could be just what you’re after.

Tom Breslin

In the world of Drawbar the Hammond organ is undoubtedly king. For the humble Hammond is the musical centrifuge around which every one of the eleven tracks on ‘Flight of the Tempest’ rotates and that, as it happens, is no bad thing. Admittedly, I wasn’t immediately taken with the Drawbar sound – thinking that I had heard it all somewhere before – but I can now say that it’s a definite grower. It’s a simmering stew of soul, jazz, a little Hip-Hop and a lot of funk that’s been bought to the boil under the heady influence of film scores and library music. Not at all bad for a crew of organ fanatics from Hastings!

Tom Breslin

‘A Life of Consummate Ease’ comes to us on ATIC Records, the label set up by Andy Turner (better known as Aim) upon leaving Grand Central, and the influence of both Aim and the wider Grand Central stable is heard throughout Gripper’s music. This is to say that there is a plethora of styles and sounds at work on this album and you never quite know what’s coming next. ‘The Interpreter’, for example, is a frantic trumpet blast of Latin Jazz, whilst ‘Zombie’ is a bouncing, Trackmode-esque slab of synth-house and ‘Backwater Prophet’ takes up Rae & Christian’s instrumental Hip-Hop mantle. Amazingly, though, the quality is consistent right across the board and so it is this impressive variety that is the making of this album. For me, the high point is the return of Niko, another Grand Central stalwart, putting in a powerful performance when providing vocals on ‘The Daddy’.

Tom Breslin

For some bands it can take years to develop cohesion, when several members become one unit. The Hi-Fly Orchestra have been together since 2005 but the chemistry that exists between them on “Mambo Atomico” suggest a much longer union. Throughout the nine track disc the six member band flawlessly performs danceable Latin jazz tunes and a couple of slow tracks as well. The opening tune, “Afro-Boo” finds the band swinging hard right out the gate. The sweet horn soloing by Johannes Herrlich on Trombone dances over the percussion work of Norbert Kupper and sounds superb. “Chove Chuva” is a wonderful bossa tune features the soothing voice of Miriam Aida, who also sings on “Polonesa”. “Mrs Shing-A-Ling” is a nice mid tempo samba tune that finds the group locked in the groove and having a good time without showing off. They’re just simply creating quality music that you can dance to or just kick back and nod your head to. “Mambo Atomico” is an impressive record by a band that is firing on all cylinders. If you like Latin jazz you certainly enjoy the music of the Hi-Fly Orchestra.

Reg Dancy

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When you think of DJ Marky, you immediately think of drum n bass. “Influences” provides a view of the music that helped shape the career of the mix master from Sao Paulo. DJ Marky has dug into his crates and has pulled out some gems like the old school hip hop classic “It’s All In Mr Magic’s Wand” by Whodini, just to name a few. As you might expect, there are many Brazilian influences here like drummer Ronald Mesquita’s “Balanca Pema”. “Adeus Maria Fulo” by Os Mutantes is another highlight. A pleasant surprise for me was to hear “Thousand Fingered Man” by Candido. This percussion laden Cuban jazz hit has been a staple on dance floors for three decades and still sounds fresh today. We couldn’t possibly listen to this disc without hearing a couple of drum n bass tracks. There are two here that really standout. “Casino Royale” by DJ Zinc is pure fire with its pulsating beats and melodic synths. “You Held My Hand” by Manix just explodes through the speakers with stunning energy. “Influences” is a very entertaining disc that allows us to see where DJ Marky has been and offers a glimpse of where he’s going. Come along and enjoy the journey.

Reg Dancy

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