MAX ESSA レコード& CD

Review: If Max Essa's Won Ton Sunrise album was an exercise in gentle Balearic revivalism - admittedly with a side order of hazy dancefloor chug - then this companion album, Won Ton Sunset, is an attempt to get the party started. Packed with alternative versions, dubs and extended remixes, it fixes the original's wide-eyed, sun-kissed melodies, 80s AOR-inspired grooves and jangling acoustic guitars to Italo-influenced rhythms, nu-disco beats and slo-mo house basslines. It's a simple idea, executed well. Highlights are plentiful, from the synthesizer chug and twinkling melodies of "Trust The Wind (Long Version)" and strutting bump of "Stupid Smile (Sunset Party Dub)", to the bluesy, dance-rock bagginess of "Asleep at the Wheel (Sunset Mix)".

Review: Steve Kotey's Bear Funk once again plays host to an album of delicately delicious contemporary Balearics from Japan based multi instrumentalist Max Essa. White Shoes Blue Dreams is Essa's second album and gives a lot more prominence to his own dulcet tones, which feature on the majority of tracks here. There's a woozy almost narcotic haze to the opening track "Moonlight & A New Direction" thanks in no small part to the additional vocal harmonies from Kazuko Kawabe. the title track follows and is vintage Essa; a chugging groove steeped in sunshine feeling, all funky guitar licks, melodic synth flourishes complemented by his yacht rock vocals. Across the twelve tracks a languid, near horizontal pace is maintained with the vocals broken up nicely by the smattering of instrumental grooves. Indeed it's two of these that perhaps impress the most in "Glass Bottom Boats" and "Saturation (dub)" with the former delighting via the lolloping beat and silky guitar riff phasing whilst the latter wraps warm bass tones around crisp electronic drum programming.

Review: 2016 sees Coyote arrive at a decade of posing the question Is It Balearic? Replicating the compilation shaped celebrations surrounding their fifth anniversary, the landmark is noted with this fine 2CD collection. The compiling skills of Balearic chieftain Max Essa are called on for the first disc selections, with Coyote taking care of business on the second for a fine horizontally-minded celebration of all things Balearic encompassing 22 tracks. Tempos nudge back and forth, different vibes coming to the fore along the way as a dash of steel drum is replaced by forthright synth glistens and upright basslines. Legends mingle alongside future heroes, Foolish Felix and Baldelli impressing as much as Last Waltz and Clandestino. As the end nears, up pops Prins Thomas's classic Diskomiks of Downtown Party Network. Here's to another ten years Is it Balearic?