Saturday 14 April 2012

Some albums, quickly (part 2)

Last weekend I promised you there'd be another quick round-up of recent full-lengths that, for one reason or another, didn't get a review when they came out. So here it is…

Evil Needle – Cirrostratus
Cold Busted, 29 Mar
More of Cold Busted's trademark dusty, lo-fi downtempo grooves here, served up with dollops of funk and a twist of soul. Loungin' and Summer Blap stand out for me but come the summer, the album as a whole will make the perfect soundtrack for BBQ's and lazy sunny afternoons.
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Mighty Mouse – Disco Circus Vol 3
Bears Eat Fish, 12 Mar

The third in the series, with more an emphasis this time around on contemporary artists. There's a few too many 80s/indie/electropop-style vocals for me personally, but then I'm not a side-parted 20-something in skinny jeans so what do I know?
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Screaming Soul – Ghost Inna Dub
Emerging Species, Feb

The original version of Screaming Soul's Ghost In A Shell album came out last year… you can hear it here but if you're feeling lazy, just imagine Stereo MCs jamming with Massive Attack and you're somewhere in the ballpark. Here, though, the whole album gets handed over to two legends of dub: veteran Adrian Sherwood and contemporary hero Prince Fatty. The results are as good musically as you'd expect – even it's still a little rap-heavy for me.
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Tazz – Adventures Of Tazz EP
Tsuba, 22 Mar

This one should really have had a full review at the time of its release three weeks ago, I just never got round to it… suffice to say the grooves contained herein are up to the high standard we've come to expect from Kevin Griffiths' label. 'Forward-thinking, analogue-heavy and slightly leftfield tech-house with a cinematic, soundscape-y feel here, a techno twist there and the occasional dose of old-skool Chicago squelch for good measure' will have to do as the York Notes version of the review.
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Various – Eternal Music 14
Eternal Music, 8 Mar

Russian progressive label Eternal serve up another album-length sampler 'EP'. As is par for the course for this series, some of it's a bit too shiny/electro/
trance-y for TIWWD's tastes, but there are a few deeper gems waiting to be discovered, too…
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Various – Nu Breeds 02
Spring Tube, 20 Feb

And speaking of Russian progressive house… here's another sampler thereof, this one coming from US-based but Russian-owned Spring Tube and leaning more towards the floaty/Balearic/deeper end of the prog spectrum. For some reason, this kind of music makes most sense to me when you're flying (actually flying on an aeroplane, I mean, not 'flying' as a euphemism for 'off your head') and you can just shut your eyes and lose yourself in it.
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Various – Twisted Artists Vol 1
Gartenhaus, 28 Mar
Yet another label sampler, this one coming from Danish imprint Gartenhaus. Deep and tech house is the general order of the day but the tracks contained herein do vary quite a lot stylistically, from the Spanish guitar-flecked chill-out vibes of Jacob Gurevitsch's Lovers In Paris, to Gforty's However You Want It with its echoes of early Guerrilla-style prog. Well worth checking.
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