Ksoze – Wobble Jazz

Sorry there were no blog reviews yesterday… spent most of the day climbing a download mountain and by the time I finished that, I'd kinda lost the will to do much else. But anyway here we are back once again…

And we'll start with a nice easy one. Easy cos there's only the two mixes; easy because it's pretty 'easy' in the sense of being laidback, mellow, easy on the ear etc; and easy because, well, if you know the kind of dusty, downtempo vibes that Cold Busted trade in, then there's not a lot that I can tell you about Wobble Jazz that the title doesn't! Except that the remix comes from Vitamin D, but to be honest even that doesn't do huge amounts different.

But don't let either the lack of mix variety or my shoddy, half-arsed review put you off… if it's lazy, Sunday afternoon grooves you're after, this is gonna delight.

Out: Wednesday (June 20)

About: This comes, as I just suggested, on Denver's Cold Busted. Find 'em at their blog, on Facebook or on Soundcloud.

Vitamin D - Love May Come

For someone who's not usually a fan of dusty hip-hop and lo-fi sample epics, I seem to be reviewing a few on here lately, mostly courtesy of Cold Busted. And here's another f'rinstance, a two-tracker from the label boss himself.

Love May Come is a scratch n' paste affair, fusing 70s soul and Hawaiian (well, steel guitar and birdsong) flavas into a lazy, sun-drenched loper perfect for Sunday sessions and summer chillage. Over on the B, Work Week Creep is a moodier, breaksier affair. If Norman Jay played the former, then Shadow or Tobin might play the latter – not that I'd presume to second-guess any of those respected turntablists but you get the idea!

Good stuff, basically, and a nice change of tempo for TIWWD. Gotta be done sometimes.

Out: This week

About: As I've mentioned several times lately, Cold Busted are based in Denver, Colorado and can be found on that there Big World-Conquering Book Of Face

ALBUM Mister T - Gentle Music

Because it was before Xmas it seems like ages now, but it was actually a mere 24 days ago that I reviewed the album Seven Wonders by Mojo Rising, saying that not a lot of such downtempo, dusty kinda vibes make it onto TIWWD. Well, here we are 24 days later and here's another album of mellow, funk-fuelled goodness from the same stable, Denver's Cold Busted.

Mister T hails from Athens, Greece and Gentle Music is his debut full-length. Within its grooves you'll find raw retro funk (Everything Is Wah, Rastas Funky Well), quirky electronic lounge vibes (Cocktails, Memories) and lo-fi near-instrumental hip/trip-hop (Hip Soul, Lazy Sound, Back To Bristol), ending with the scratchy, vibraphone-laden Living Room. I can think of no better way of describing it further, than to say that I'm writing this on a Sunday afternoon and that's probably the perfect time to hear this album, as well.

Perfect lazy, laidback vibes for sofa-surfers and lounge lizards everywhere, then. And the second winner on the bounce from Cold Busted.

Out: This week

About: If you dig your downtempo funk/trip-hop/lo-fi grooves then Cold Busted have plenty more where this one came from. Check out their radio show as well.

ALBUM Mojo Rising – Seven Wonders

Here's an album from a label I don't think have featured on here before, Denver's Cold Busted.

Cold Busted specialise (from what I've heard to date, anyway) in leftfield electronica, dusty Shadow-esque lo-fi hip-hop and other such esoteric thrills, but to me this album is a bit more accessible than some of their stuff, and all the better for it. They're calling it "a worldly and texture palette of funk, dub and electronic music", which kinda works; think a more party-oriented Ninja Tune and you're somewhere in the ballpark of the general vibe here.

Opener Stonehenge samples both The Specials (A Message To You Rudy, to be precise) and James Brown, The Lighthouse is a lounge-tastic shuffler with a xylophone (!) to the fore, The Tomb is a thoughtful, slightly melancholic downtempo trip, Catacombs is a slab of hip hop-inflected downtempo funk, Hanging Gardens is a bit like The Orb doing Italo and… well, there's more but you get the idea.

Quirky, experimental genre-mashing's all very well, but it often just isn't that much FUN. Seven Wonders, on the other hand, is. There's a reason not a lot of downtempo/experimental albums make it onto TIWWD… the fact this one has should tell you all you need to know.

Oh yeah… and loving that cover, too!

Out: This week

About: Find out more about Cold Busted by hitting up their Facebook page, radio station or blog.