Back catalogue: Balearic/Downtempo

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


The Avidya label arrives with a bold new concept that sees it push itself to "step out of comfort zones to release a series of EPs of broad, challenging and deep music." The first affair is a fine one from four artists, the first of which is Lyon based procure A Strange Wedding from the Worst label. His slow trance locks you in and then Gothenburg trio Datasal come through with a prog rock and post funk and dance fusion. 84PC's contribution is peak time gold and Barcelona's Iro Aka arrive with another debut to round out this fine offering.

Review: Yasushi Ide has a storied career reaching back into the 80s club scene in Japan, and he's worked with many a legend in his time. He originally released 'A Place In The Sun' as a Japan-only track on his 2012 LP Late Night Blues, and now the track has been revived by NYC label Love Injection. The track which led to this release was in fact a limited dubplate mix of 'A Place In The Sun' by Kaoru Inoue, which the Love Injection founders Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele found while on tour in Japan. In this remixed form on the A-side, or the dub version of the original on the flip, it's a resplendent slice of downtempo bathed in exquisite musicianship, not least Nobuyuki Nakajima's gorgeous Rhodes and Jamaican legend Ernest Ranglin's unmistakable guitar lines.

Review: Relative newcomers Infradisco blend a Balearic sound of disco and house for the Italian label Archeo Recordings. Aqua Cheta is a blend of proper electronic examples of Balearic and chill out influences. 'Caduca' (Hear & Now remix) is ideal for the late-night scene with a blend a perfect blend of 80s and 90s but still sounding futuristic. Manu Archeo's remix of 'Dulcis' is a beautiful laid back downtempo jam that shimmers like a hazy day on the beach. We think you will like the organic and mystical 'Fluminea' as well. This EP couldn't finish any better than on the ambient tip with a soul warming float on the marina remix by Ocean Moon. Fans of Balearic, Cafe Del Mar and chill out music will treasure this EP no doubt. This 12" comes with a CD as well.

Review: Ahead of their European tour, Turkish electronic group Islandman share their EP 'Popsicle Obstacle', the new material on which tracks a heady musical pathway from archaic folk traditions and regional acoustics right through to the modern-day tonic-sonics of the electronic sequencer. Having made headway from the spiritualist dream of primitive past to the glossy utopia of a digital future, Islandman's core members are multi-instrumentalist & producer Tolga Boyuk, Eralp Guven (percussion) and Erdem Baser (guitars). The title is a misnomer, if not for the fact that the six tracks here are hardly obstacles at all; rather, they're hugely well-produced, flavoursome treats, chief among which has to be the incredible track 'Simple Man', which - take it from us - just gets cooler and cooler, timbrally and tastefully.

Review: Oceanvs Orientalis and Ilhan Ersahin first entered each other's orbits by chance at a performance at Turkey's Cappadox Festival in 2018. Orientalis is renowned for his fusion of Eastern musical motifs and traditions with cutting-edge electronica, while Ilhan Ersahin has long plowed a unique path uniting assorted musical strains from around the world via an exploratory jazz-improv sensibility. Following two tracks ('Mesta' and 'Pire') co-written by Ilhan and OvO and released as collaborations, as well as two more Ersahin / OvO co-writes ('Revenge Of The Wankers' and 'Television') released under OvO's name alone, a fresh and exciting new song, '1980', now heralds a full-length collaboration slated to land in Spring 2024. The track's title hints at a certain nostalgic bent, all while still keeping its gaze firmly fixed on the future as it evokes sun-drenched, bygone good times. The 10" edition adds several extra versions, one of which spotlights the multi-instrumental mastery of Darkside's Dave Harrington, and the other the mesmerizing vocal stylings of Gaye Su Akyol.

Review: Cult English electronic duo I Monster aka Sheffield based record producers Dean Honer and Jarrod Gosling dropped Neveroddoreven, their second studio album, on 21 July 2003. A little later than first planned, it now gets a special 20th Anniversary re-issue on CD as well as this double gatefold. It incudes the original album plus three new singles and the much loved acoustic version of 'Daydream in Blue' which even if you don't think you know, you will, because ti has been rather ubiquitous in ad campaigns for brands including Ford and Magnum Ice Cream. Also helping to keep this band relevant after all these years was their single 'Who Is She' going viral on TikTok in 2023 and picking up 290M Spotify streams.

Review: Following up on their highly acclaimed debut release from 2020, raster presents Il Quadro di Troisi's Remixes album, an eclectic collection of reinterpretations of eight of the group's tracks. By inviting fellow label artists as well as friends and long-term collaborators to contribute, Remixes flaunts a broad spectrum, from colorful, loop-based renditions by Toulouse Low Trax and Tropicantesimo, to (Italo)-disco-inspired versions by Daniele Baldelli & Marco Dionigi and Chloe, to more rhythmical and functional tracks by AtomTM, Dasha Rush and Front de Cadeaux. The album also includes a dub-infused reinterpretation of the original album 'Il giudizio' by the artists themselves; all tracks amount to womping, texturologic electro-dub-outs, and dazzle with their no-wavey, muted sophistication.