Author Archives: Tom Breslin

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

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

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

Nick Van Gelder, former Jamiroquai drummer and key mover and shaker during London’s Acid Jazz heyday, clearly knows a thing or two about making soulful, funky records. Which is why I can’t help but feel a little disappointed upon listening to ‘Choose Music’ (especially given that it’s released through BBE, a consistently brilliant label). The songs are written, produced and, for the most part, played by Van Gelder himself, with vocals from Akwaaba People’s Mazen, and the style is an unashamedly straightforward brand of ‘soulful’, jazzy house music. Many people will undoubtedly love this record – fans of the likes of Reel People, in particular – but to me it is underwhelming and unmemorable. It’s destined to be successful as a piece of inoffensive, background bar Muzak, but a man of Van Gelder’s talent surely has more to give.

Tom Breslin

There’s little of note to be said about The Ipanemas that hasn’t already been said before. Essentially, all you really need to know is that, having formed in the 1950s, their experience and pedigree is unrivalled within Brazilian music and that there are no finer proponents of the afro-bossa nova sound (that they so lovingly pioneered and perfected) alive today. This, their fifth album, is quite simply wonderful. There is no gimmicky concept or technological trickery, just sublime, timeless music.

Tom Breslin

Unbelievably, this is the first solo long-player from Roland Appel, who has already achieved much success as one half of Fauna Flash (with Christian Prommer being the other), one third of Truby Trio, and co-producer of G-Stone’s Voom:Voom project. His 2007 single, ‘Dark Soldier’, was a slow burning hit, gaining support from just about every DJ worth their salt, and the rest of the album pretty much picks up where that left off. Electronic house of varying tempos is the order of the day, so uncompromising big room drum loops and bold, building synth chords (think Ame’s ‘Nia’) play the major part, with the occasional female vocalist in a supporting role. Granted, this isn’t really anything new, in terms of an original style, and in some places feels like a definite nod to our ‘progressive house’ past, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, if you like a tougher shade of brilliantly produced, dance floor driven house music – and let’s face it, many people do – then this is all rather good news.

Tom Breslin

Upon its original release back in 1973, ‘Listen Of’ sold more than 150,000 copies in Bryan’s native Brazil alone, but as time passed the record’s status became that of a hidden treasure, buried away in the depths of dusty emporiums and known only to the most astute of diggers. It is therefore with a justified air of excitement and anticipation that music lovers are greeting its glorious release back into the wild, courtesy of a reissue on Jazzanova’s Sonar Kollektiv label. As befits a man who went onto work with Roberto Carlos, Gilberto Gil and Tim Maia, as well as fellow blind musician Stevie Wonder, Paul Bryan (real name Sérgio Sá) has a style that is clearly influenced by both golden era Motown soul and classic Brazilian song writing, and what we have here is a beautiful collection of calming, softly-spoken Folk ballads, full of understated guitar plucks and breezy, Jobim-inspired string arrangements, that has truly stood the test of time. What greater commendation is there than that?

Tom Breslin

If ever the term ‘world music’ could apply to a band, then it’s here. Seckou Keita SKQ is a quintet, consisting of Senegal’s Keita on the kora (a 21 string harp/lute like instrument from West Africa, played using only the thumbs and index fingers), accompanied by an Italian double/electric bassist, an Egyptian violinist, and a percussionist and vocalist both hailing from The Gambia. But don’t let that scare you; this isn’t some kind of hideous concept fusion group (the stuff of politically correct, right-on musical nightmares). Far from it. This is genuinely beautiful and uplifting music that requires little or no explanation. The focus is on Keita’s crisp, clean and impeccable playing of established West African roots sounds, with sympathetic support from the accomplished musicians around him, adding little tweaks of Arabic or flamenco rhythm here and there. A wonderful album that had me engrossed and that played all the way through twice before I even touched the controls.

Tom Breslin

Treble O began life as a digital label back in 2006, with the intention being that it would provide a kind of general outlet for Domu’s multifarious musical projects and monikers. Things soon evolved though, and the label quickly became a home to other artists and producers, covering a broad range of styles and sounds. ‘Here Comes Treble O’ then is effectively a showcase of their output to date, with contributions coming from the likes of Simbad (with Philly’s Rich Medina), Daedelus, Probe DMS and, of course, the tireless Domu himself. The music comes in the form of some excellent Detroit House (Rondenion’s mix of DJ Marin’s ‘Love Fantasy’ is quite superb), some high quality Hip Hop, Broken Beat and Nu-Jazz, and a smattering of soul, which lets the side down a little by sounding somewhat dated.

Tom Breslin

Oh yes, now this is a project worth getting excited about! A collaboration between Hip-Hop’s most prolific producer and all-round beat junkie, Madlib (Otis Jackson, Jr.) and Ivan "Mamão" Conti, percussionist with much-loved Brazilian band, Azymuth. The music consists of new interpretations of classics by artists like Chico Buarque, Joao Donato, Baden and Vinicius, Marcos Valle, Dom Um Romao and Airto, as well as some original material from Madlib himself, and the fruits of this creative labour are, as could be expected, meandering, Jazz-heavy workouts, in a Yesterday’s New Quintet style, beefed-up with some seriously funky percussion. And, basically, that’s it! What more is there to say? If you like the idea, then you’ll like the results, and if you don’t like the idea, then…well, you know.

Tom Breslin

‘Gea’ is the seventh album from Californian, Mia Doi Todd, which, coming at the age of only 32, is pretty impressive. For those unfamiliar with her work, she is somewhat of a musical renaissance woman, a self-proclaimed singer-songwriter-guitarist-poet-painter-dancer. With her career to date representing a nomadic journey, both geographically and in terms of record labels worked with, this album was self-produced in collaboration with Carlos Nino (one half of Ammon Contact) & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and recorded in Todd’s native Los Angeles. The music is very much organic, one woman-and-her-guitar, story-telling Folk, accompanied only, if at all, by some ultra light bongo tapping. But the truth is that it’s really rather good and never ventures into tedious or twee territory, which is always an inherent risk. Certainly worth seeking out, particularly if you’re a fan of the likes of Juana Molina.

Tom Breslin

The hype and hope surrounding Quiet Village’s long player has been building ever since their rare-as-hen’s-teeth singles started appearing on New York’s ultra hip Whatever We Want label about 3 years ago. Consisting of Joel Martin and Matt Edwards (better known as DJ and House music star Radio Slave), Quiet Village has garnered an enviable reputation for creating – for want of a less obvious description – surreal, dreamy, mid-tempo music that quite simply soothes the ears. As the title suggests, ‘Silent Movie’ is heavily indebted to the influence of film scores, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is just another ambient, chill-out, Balearic record to play in the background. This is much more than that, and when the Grace Jones-esque, tropical disco-dub of ‘Too High to Move’ is washing over you for the tenth time in a row, you’ll realise why. An excellent album.

Tom Breslin

Soulphiction, a.k.a. Stuttgart’s Michel Baumann, the man behind Philpot Records and one third of Manmadescience, is not a guy to be pigeonholed. Despite the tendency in his music to just chug along, lulling you into a groove-induced state of hypnosis, there are so many styles and influences crammed into his productions that he always has you on the hook, just as, say, Moodymann or Theo Parrish might. This whole album is one big tip of the hat to those dons of Detroit, with its scene-setting chords and jazzy, techno sound-scapes intertwining beautifully with twisted disco samples and Afro vocal snippets. Granted, this is not for everyone, but for many – myself included – this will be one of 2008’s real gems.

Tom Breslin

This is the second volume in what should, hopefully, become an established series and the focus this time is not on the pioneering producers of the ‘80s, but on the contemporary electronic music most directly influenced by those flag-planting disco forefathers. Selected once again by Running Back head honcho Gerd Janson, but left unmixed, the music comes from the cream of the Nu-disco crop in the form of Todd Terje, Prins Thomas, Maurice Fulton, Ray Mang et al. You know the score; 100 – 110 well placed beats per minute, dominated by firm bass-lines and awash with dreamy synths and weird effects. This is a great collection and the inclusion of Mark E’s ‘Fighter’ – an exclusive to this CD – is the worth the money alone.

Tom Breslin

Hot 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