Category Archives: Reviews

There’s not enough space here to document all the accomplishments of Zed Bias. Let’s just say that the man has produced and performed remixes. For many artists worldwide. So it’s nice to finally have a disc under his own name. “Experiments In Biasonics” has a little bit of everything from hip-hip, house and broken beat. There’s also a handful of guests that we’re all familiar with. “Smile Within” is a soulful blissful house track that features the lovely voice of Fyza. Known for their work together with Phuturistix, they recreate some of that magic here. “Secondary Power” is a high energy broken beat gem that features Pete Simpson & Jenna G. Mark De Clive Lowe contributes stellar synthesizer work on the equally heart pounding “Cottonmouth”. If I have one complaint it would be the annoying interludes of Zed Bias the Mad Scientist. Fortunately there aren’t many and they appear mainly at the beginning. That being said, “Experiments In Biasonics” provides plenty of pulsating beats and lush vocals from beginning to end. An exciting journey into the world of one of the most talented producers on the scene today.

Reg Dancy

www.facebook.com/reg.dancy

Life has taken a rather different turn for the Detroit native musician, DJ and producer since stepping into the world of house since 2001. Original creations for labels Jellybean, Restricted Access, Shelter, Strictly Rhythm and NRK along with faultless club mixes of Donnie’s ‘Rocketship’ and ‘Cloud 9’ to ‘Let’s Be Young’ amongst others has catapulted him into the international house forum as a main player for sometime now. Considered a star of deeper, definitive raw-edged and sometimes evocative house remixes and productions – he’s the man with the know how in turning out dance floor gems when it comes to R & B too. Quentin’s prior schooling as a trumpeter session player for Aretha Franklin by the time he was 20, preceded by an apprenticeship in his own formed MC troupe Da Bio Chemist with the then unknown members of D12, Slum Village and Eminem, later rounded off by a relocation to New York, to handle work with his group The Masterminds; stints that lead to his venture to step into remix work. An India Irie remix proved to be the break for him that gave him a major promotion by default, an opportunity like no other. Thanks to Timmy Regisford, he then became the resident DJ with him at the renowned Club Shelter. Moving on, finding time in his rather pressing schedule, 2007 was the year Quentin felt to launch his own night ‘Kiss My Black A**’. According to him it is a vision declaring confidently “I feel music is something that brings people together”. All sorts of “club kids” venture through the doors – his own homosexual leanings attract the straight one’s too, costumes freaks and party go-getters alike. They’re there for the music and to have fun. Expressing that vibe on vinyl/CD, King Street Sounds who are celebrating their 15th anniversary this year decided to take advantage of his brassy attitude by enlisting Quentin’s musical talents to add his signature stamp to the label’s 17th instalment of MTV. A great move in the right direction for house music, this mix is truly too hot to handle. Non stop is the energy, as each track represents a chapter of a story book; your gripped from the start, taken to a climax and with an ending that any diva worth her lyrical weight in words would proudly ask ‘don’t you want some more?’ The resultant project is a gritty, soul combo that is typically indicative of underground house – some long gone. Altogether, its vibe rewound me to an era of the nineties house sounds that emanated from many a London club, Feel Real being a good example. Gospel stoked songs ‘Heal My Heart’ by Kerri Chandler or the organ derived ‘Show Me’ by Urban Soul are just of the two tracks expressing deliverance – good for those caught up in the seedy murky world that club land has at times become. To work your mind into overdrive the darker, sublime repetitive driving beats and patterned template of cuts like Muzzaik Productions’s ‘Reflex’, or the hypnotic techno rhythmical slap of ‘P 2 DA J’s by Dennis Ferrer becomes sweetly entwined with Johnny Dangerous’s poem ‘Only Yourself’. Thankfully, one’s mind is renewed afresh from any likely moodiness with Carol Sylvan’s ‘Closer’ classic – the fierce bounce and groovy Dub mix from Mood II Swing became a wow highlight for me. As is KC’s ‘Hallelujah’ nugget, in addition to modern anthem ‘Touched The Sky’ which beautifully work as one in a seamless mix. It’s an inviting prelude to the mind of his forthcoming UK licensing of his highly anticipated long player ‘No Politics’.

Marcia Carr

Spirituality runs deep in the music of Build An Ark. Their previous cd, “Peace With Every Step” embodied elements of folk and jazz with excellent results. With their new cd “Dawn”, they take it up another level. “Dawn” is a wonderful record that appears to be inspired by the impulse recordings of Pharoah Sanders. Incorporating elements of Indian and African music to create what is known as Spiritual Jazz. Where Pharoah had Leon Thomas on vocals, Carlos Nino has the talented Dwight Twible by his side. “Love Sweet Like Sugar Cane” is a folk inspired song that is uplifting and melodic. “Morning Glory” is the kind of record that evokes all sorts of positive vibes not found every day in music. This is the kind of disc that nurtures the heart, mind and soul. Simply a listening pleasure that shouldn’t be missed.

Reg Dancy

www.facebook.com/reg.dancy

The Stance Brothers are brothers Isiah (vibes/keys) and Dwayne Stance (bass/guitar) plus drummer/percussionist Byron Breaks. Produced by Teppo ‘Teddy Rok’ Makynen (Teddy Rok Seven/The Five Corners Quintet/Nuspirit Helsinki), ‘Kind Soul’ is the trio’s debut album and features a fine selection of funky jazz cuts. ‘Steve McQueen’, ‘Jay’s Lament’ and ‘Roll Call’ from the singles are included but better in my opinion are the string laced boogie flavoured ‘Bright Moments’, the conga driven ‘Upside The Head’ and the cosmic Roy Ayers influenced ‘Mean Spirit’.

Andy Allen

Spoonface’s velvet tonsils have graced numerous productions over the past few years from house and broken-beat to R&B. His debut album follows a slightly different path though, focusing largely on acoustic folk orientated material. Of which ‘We Don’t Need To’, with its’ Spanish guitar flurries works particularly well but also check the mellow digital soul cut ‘It’s All Love’.

Andy Allen

Percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett follows up his superb ‘River Drum’ album (Premier Cru 2005) with the equally impressive ‘Outer Zone’. As with ‘River Drum’ this set combines deep/avant-garde jazz with elements of Latin. It kicks off with the spaced-out intro ‘Space Chord’, a theme he returns to throughout the album, before moving into masterpieces such as the fierce ‘Saints Of Congo Square’, ‘PaLos Mayores’, a tough fusion excursion and the mellower ‘La Lu Banche’. Releases on Premier Cru are not always easy to come by but do some digging and your efforts will be greatly rewarded!

Andy Allen

Rob Gallagher (Earl Zinger/Galliano), Dillip Harris (Demus) and the crew are back with their third album as Two Banks Of Four. As with previous releases ‘Junkyard Gods’ fuses deep jazz sensibilities with modern production techniques to create a twisted yet beautiful soundscape. Valerie Etienne is on hand to provide her gorgeous vocal tones on delights such as ‘Queen Of Crows’, the spiritual ‘Shadowlands’ and the waltz ‘Dead Afternoon’. With other strong moments including ‘Go’ and ‘Flags & Words’ this makes for an unmissable and innovative album.

Andy Allen

Following her recent guest appearance on Quasimode’s ‘The Land Of Freedom’ the great jazz vocalist Carmen Lundy is back with her ninth album to date. ‘Come Home’ is a stunning collection of, other than a version of ‘Nature Boy’, original compositions and features players of the caliber of Geri Allen on keys, percussionist Mayra Casales and of course her brother Curtis Lundy on bass. From the opening magical moments of ‘Lost In San Rafael’ Ms Lundy takes you on a journey of emotions with dancers such as ‘Gossip’, the uplifting title track and funky Fender Rhodes workouts on ‘Lil’ Lu’ through to brooding numbers such as ‘My Wedding Vow’. A new Carmen Lundy release is always something to behold and ‘Come Home’ is certainly no different!

Andy Allen

Macedonian native and New York resident, Vladimir Cedkar is a guitarist, vocalist, composer, arranger and producer whose debut studio album ‘We Will Never End’ is pure class. He cites George Benson and Earth Wind & Fire amongst his influences and it shines through the up-tempo feel-good grooves ‘All For You’, ‘Born For The Screen’ plus the string laced jazz-funk cuts ‘The Open Space’ and the title track. How this guy hasn’t been picked up by a major label I’ll never know! 

Andy Allen

After wetting our appetite with the brilliant single ‘Honey’ Erykah Badu’s much anticipated 4th studio album is finally here. Ms Badu’s music has always been innovative and on ‘New Amerykah’ she pushes the neo soul boundaries further with the help of The Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Madlib, 9th Wonder (Little Brother) and James Poyser on production duties. The set opens with ‘Amerykahn Promise’ which is essentially Erykah’s remix/replay of Ramp’s ‘The American Promise’ and ends with ‘Honey’, included here as a bonus track. In between we’re treated to killer tracks such as ‘Soldier’ and ‘Master Teacher’, two low slung bumpers, the Roy Ayers influenced ‘The Cell’, ‘Me’, a dreamy cut with subtle trumpet undercurrents from Roy Hargrove and the gorgeous ‘Telephone’. ‘New Amerykah Pt.2’ is due later this year!

Andy Allen

To pinpoint the essence of any musical genre is always difficult and in the case of nu jazz it’s pointless even trying when Jazzanova have done it so well on this compilation. ‘Neu Jazz’ includes some of the best tracks of recent times from some of the scene’s leading players such as Dalindeo’s ‘Solifer Lento’, ‘Wind’ from Sleep Walker featuring Yukimi Nagano, Soulstance’s ‘Lead The Way’, ‘Carrousel’ by Hipnosis and ‘Last Nine Days’ from Quasimode. There’s also some tasty exclusives in the shape of ‘Queen Of Crows’ from the forthcoming Two Banks Of Four album and Jazzanova’s own ‘That Night’ featuring Bembe Segue, which is a new version of a track they originally recorded with Vikter Duplaix and later with Clara Hill on their Belle Et Fou project. Plus there’s ‘Simple Timeless’ by Fertile Ground which I was unfamiliar with but is apparently from a Chico Hamilton tribute compilation.

Andy Allen

Natalie Gardiner returns with the follow up to her 2004 self-titled debut set. Overall ‘California’ is a more accomplished album and features eleven down-tempo soul tracks which showcase Natalie’s smoky vocals to great effect. The acoustic ‘Bittersweet’, ‘Summer Rain’ and the jazzy ‘Let’s Not Worry About Tomorrow’ work particularly well and are beautiful in their simplicity.

Andy Allen

‘Homenaje’ is the debut album from the Austin, Texas based eight piece band Brownout. Their sound is most definitely rooted in funk but with plenty of Latin and Afro-beat influences thrown in for good measure. The majority of the tracks here are aimed directly at the dance-floor but my personal favourites are the mellower cuts particularly the string laced psychedelic soul of ‘Brown Wind And Fire’.

Andy Allen

The cream of the UK’s soul and funk musicians, most notably Snowboy, Jean Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick and Jan Kincaid and Simon Bartholomew of The Brand New Heavies, have joined forces to create The Super-Phonics. ‘Interstellar’ opens with the appropriately titled ‘P.A.R.T.Y’ which perfectly sums up this set of feel-good disco/boogie cuts. There’s really not a bad track throughout but pay special attention to the Chic influenced ‘Dial L For Love’, ‘Better Try And See’ and a great version of Linda Williams’ classic ‘Elevate Our Minds’. If you like Joey Negro’s The Sunburst Band then this is for you.

Andy Allen

Since the early days of house music Robert Owens has been an ever present force and his distinctive vocals have graced some of the genre’s most defining moments. His latest full length project is packed with deep house delights and features quality productions from the likes of Jimpster "Inside My World", Simbad "New World", Wahoo "Happy" and Atjazz "Now I Know". Quite simply, house music doesn’t get any better than this!

Andy Allen