LEN LEISE レコード& CD

Review: More balearic goodness from Melbourne's Len Leise on his General Purpose imprint. The International Feel affiliated producer delivers sun-kissed island dream aesthetics, by way of celestial FM synth tones and neon-lit analogue synths on these three wonderful offerings. From the hypnotic bounce of "TFTC", the tropical polrhythmic bliss of "MITD" or the tunnelling "STTS" calling to mind George Thompson's Karamika project on ESP Institute.

Review: After a brief dovetail into clubbier territory with the luvved up Talamanca System project with Gerd Janson and Lauer, Mark Barrott's International Feel label returns to calmer waters with this record from the unheralded Len Leise. According to the label Len Leise is an old artist whose work was discovered on a dusty cassette tape whilst Barrott was record digging throughout Paris, but given his propensity for conjuring up aliases for many of the records issued in the earliest days of Intl Feel it's hard to fully believe such a story. There is however no faulting the level of production on display here which will appeal to fans of Antinote's calmer releases.

Review: General Purpose boys Len Leise and Salvador Ricardo have decided to launch their own re-edit series. For the first Also Known as Edits 12", Leise has decided to raid his own archive, offering up two tasty reworks first featured on his 2015 LL Edits EP (a 12" that now goes for silly money online). These brilliant reworks - the dreamy Brazilian Balearica of "Stars for Jorge" and equally starry, horizontal jazz-funk flex of "Desperado Dining" - can be found on the A-side, with the flip reserved for previously unheard rubs. There's "Conerto de Chasse", a heavily percussive, deep Afro-house edit from General Purpose that's also blessed with seriously tactile melodies, and Salvador Ricardo's "Cha Cha Flamongo", a Flamenco-goes-cha-cha cut that's as glassy-eyed and positive as it is loved-up and Balearic.