Back catalogue: Balearic/Downtempo

Review: Midnight Riot help the listener carve out their own personal Balearic headspaces with their new compilation Balearic Headspace, likening the "experience" of Balearic not just to a sound, but an affect, one that cannot be experienced without specific records or specific times and places. Do we believe it to be true? We may or may not, but that doesn't distract from the whopping curation job here, with most tunes on offer consisting of both total newness and reworks/revisions by the Midnight Riot crew; this 12" is a four-track selection of a wider 19-track digital comp. Our highlight has to be the ultra-smeary Tom Moulton mix of 'This Is Caribbean Disco' by Fsq, which floats atop a serious floe of stretched-out axe bubble and echoing crosstick, as its lyrics deal in word-painted themes of being held underwater. As mindfully, cognitively Balearic as it gets!

Review: When it first landed on Leng in 2018, Fernando Pulichino's 'Search of Indigo' delivered a typically attractive blend of dub disco, nu-disco, Balearica and stylish lead vocals from Luca Gaspirini. Six years on, the track returns in remixed form. The Argentinian producer and multi-instrumentalist kicks things off with his own 'AM Mix', a deliciously low-slung and psychedelic chugger propelled forwards by raw, restless TB-303 acid lines, low-slung bass guitar and the dreamiest of pads. Luca Trevisi AKA LTJ Experience handles the rest of the EP, delivering a trio of hazy, slow motion and pleasingly dubbed-out revisions. His A-side remix, in which echoing vocal snippets and jangly guitars catch the ear, is followed by the superbly squelchy, acid-flecked 'Dirty Mix' and the more immersive and hazy dancefloor 'Dub'.

Review: Lumberjacks in Hell reunites with LYMA for a new release featuring two tracks which are both rooted in a decade-old origin story. Initially conceived years ago, these songs were revisited and reimagined by LYMA who incorporated the skills and experiences gained over the past ten years. They explore themes of heartbreak and unreciprocated love and 'Mist (Mistified)' carries a Jai Paul-inspired swagger while 'The Fool Ain't Me' delivers a left-field indie disco groove. The release also includes two remixes by Ray Mang, which are typically refined.

Review: Eli Cohen's New York label Alliance Upholstery is back for the first time in a long while with a new outing in the form of a reissue of 'Ethereal' by Beijing band Nova Heart, which originally came as part of their debut CD album back in 2012. The track is a collaboration between singer-songwriter Helen Feng and Roman DJ and producer Rodion and channels 80s synth-pop with a mid-tempo electronic tribal beat and a digital bassline which evokes Anna's 'Systems Breaking Down'. Remixes include Italomatic's uptempo, bass-driven twist, Ivan Berko's percussion-heavy rave and the late boss in his Magic Words guise making homage to William Orbit's 80s 'Torch Song' work.

Review: Roggtrax is the latest of many alter-egoic endeavours by Matthieu Roggwiller (aka. Mattrogg) since 2020. His latest 12", 'The Docksides Boy', is a minimal, surfy disco wave-braving - an instrumental dance project homing in on the defined edges of early '80s "Anglo-Saxon disco, blended with sub-Saharan African disco, new wave and art pop of the time. Building off its own coinage - 'electropical' ambience - the sonic palette here is smooth, rhythmical and oded to the guitar, with casual disco hookers like 'Strato' and 'Finger' both in name and in content recalling the image of fingerstyling while overlooking a Mediterranean sundown.

Review: The finger-click-clap is a staple of nu-disco, and doesn't Turbotito flaunt it on their latest EP. The artist has been dubbed an electronic-slow-disco artist, never swooning to the indulgent high of a tempo above, say, 120bpm. This approach allows the categoric glitz and sparkle of disco extra time to shine through; 'Time Starts Moving Slow' kicks off the EP as a sort of slow-disco manifesto, seeding ideas of a phonic slow food movement; high-pitched synth plucks and pickled, finger-picked guitars come clearly apiece, as the artist sings, untethered to any effect save for long-tailed reverb, on top. 'Breaking 84' contrasts with a talkboxing groove which soars past the A's establisher tempo, but still, necessarily, goes steady.

Review: Wrekin Havoc does just that with its second release from the artist of the same name. After a big first EP that really announced the label's arrival in style this one is another tasty disco collection. 'Heavy Breathing' has toting old school chords and Italo drums and 'Work It' bring glossy vocals, crashing hits and a libidinous vocal. Things get slow and seated but just as steamy on the flipside cut 'Dirty Devil' then last of all is the glorious bit of exotic and tropical, boogie tinged disco freshness that is 'That Is The Question.'

Review: ANOTR turn the page on a bold new chapter with their second album, now out via their No Art imprint. Stepping out from their club-rooted origins, the duo now embrace a genre-spanning sound, weaving through shimmering disco, hypnotic alt-soul, raw post-punk, kosmische, and uplifter indie dance. Ahead of a global tour, the duo took refuge in psychedelic retreats in Ibiza, LA and the Netherlands, channelling the freedom unlocked in the act of microdosing psilocybin mushrooms. The revelations hereinafter steered them to using live instrumentation, as well as their first ever recorded vocals on key tracks like 'Set It On Fire', 'Care For You', 'Bad Trip' and 'Living In A Dream.'

Review: Exotic Illusions marks the debut album of Sydney-based duo D.D. Mirage, delivering a multifaceted blend of global sounds through a distinctly antipodean lens. Drawing from their background in the indie-psyche and punk scenes, Josh Dives and Disky Dee have crafted a record that is as much about atmosphere as it is about movement. From the opening track, 'Exotic Illusions (Feat Hotel)', the duo's signature approach to Balearic, disco, and funk takes shapeiits infectious rhythms paired with tropical melodies evoke the feeling of both familiarity and foreignness. The Neapolitan funk influences are most evident on 'So Hot', where the rhythm section, recorded with the help of Daniel Monaco and Andrea De Fazio, drives the track forward with a punchy, danceable groove. Meanwhile, 'Piranesi' infuses a South American shuffle into boogie, layering it with smooth percussion and fluid synths. The collaboration on 'Antenna (Feat Jofi)' channels '80s drum machine bossa nova with a certain European elegance, while 'Feel It' pulls the listener into a laid-back, sunset-driven groove that gradually shifts into the lighter, more experimental textures of 'Cat's Cradle (Feat Jermango Dreaming)'. On tracks like 'Livin' Upside Down' and 'Night Time (Feat Private Joy)', D.D. Mirage explore an Aussie flavour within the sonic blend. 'Night Time', with Private Joy's smooth street soul vocals, delivers nocturnal warmth, demonstrating the duo's uncanny ability to merge genres and influences into a distinctive whole. The album's diverse set of tracks highlights not just their broad musical influences but also their nuanced ability to make each track an immersive journey.

Review: Following a run of quietly impressive singles on Boitte Music, Nicolas Saavedra brought his Kabinett project to Internasjonal back in 2022. A couple of EPs later and the Bogota-based DJ/producer is ready to deliver his debut album. Taking cues from fellow Colombian Felipe Gordon, the tracks on offer blend vintage and contemporary synth sounds, electric piano motifs, MPC-driven lo-fi beats, a few choice samples and his own vocals to create a set of tracks that variously draw inspiration from deep house, lo-fi pop, jazz-funk and space disco. Highlights include dreamy pop number 'Volatile Love', the Prins Thomas-esque 'Owl Disco', the decidedly psychedelic and hard chugging title track, and stellar cosmic funk head-nodder 'Don't Rush'. An album that's well worth your time and money.

Review: Kartell's debut album Everything Is Here melds French electronic accessibility with r&b and disco grooves while also drawing on prog rock's esoteric elements and introspective psychedelia. Nostalgic yet forward-looking, it expands on his EPs with dream pop aesthetics and the futuristic allure of the 60s and 70s. Space rock's nebulous textures and ethereal sounds permeate throughout as tracks are anchored by minor-key grooves. The dense, cinematic production weaves a vivid tapestry, integrating live bass, drums, and guitars amid hazy effects and synths to leave you lost in sound.

Review: Pacifico is the debut album from Italian-born, LA-based multi-instrumentalist Francesco Perini under the Pearz guise. It tracks a five-year sonic journey through Florence, London and Los Angeles and takes in all the sounds of those places so blends disco, electro, nu-jazz and Japanese City Pop into a rich, genre-spanning sound. True to its name (Pacifico means "peaceful" in Italian) the album captures the reflective calm of travel's end and has collaborations with artists like Kuntessa, VANBASTEN, Natalie Findlay, Jules Apollinaire and others bringing their own depth to the project. The result is a multicultural tapestry of sound that is full of warmth, groove and introspection.

Review: Glaswegian outfit Pleasure Pool - a collaboration between producer/synth player Finn O'Hare, vocalist Andrew Robertson and a rotating cast of guest musicians from the local scene - delight in creating hard-to-pigeonhole music that combines club-friendly elements with live performance, the addictive accessibility of pop and nods to a wide variety of sonic styles. 'Love Without Illusion', their debut album, is an exemplary exploration of this approach, offering aural attractiveness and a string of highlights. Our picks of a very strong bunch include the slipped breakbeats, stirring synth-strings, New Jersey organ stabs and analogue bass of 'Modern Nature', the wayward electro-dub eccentricity of 'Sell Your Stuff', the Balearic synth-pop colour of opener 'Open Hours' and the humid, immersive, sunrise-ready deep psychedelia of 'Love Without Illusion'.

Review: DJ Soulist and Fulgeance aka Souleance are a formidable French pair who serve up their impressive new album here on First Word Records in collaboration with Heavenly Sweetness. Beautiful is an apt title, too, because that describes their particular take on disco sounds with plenty of lush synth lines and sophisticated melodies all accompanied by a range of influences from jazz to Afro to funk. Some killer basslines define the likes of 'A Onda' and guests heighten grooves like the summery and laidback 'Out Of Touch' (feat Kit Sebastian) and shimmering broken beats of 'Lightweight' (feat Jenny Penkin).