International Feel Uruguay レコード& CD

Review: Globetrotting producer Mark Barrott has been creatively reinvigorated since moving from Uruguay to Ibiza a few years back. Here, the exiled Sheffielder serves up a second helping of Sketches From An Island, once again proving that his Balearic instincts are as sharp as ever. As with the first volume, Barrott focuses on sun-kissed positivity, variously blending head-nodding hip-hop beats, jazzy guitars, dreamy synths, hazy trumpet solos, Jose Padilla influences, Reichian marimba patterns, and a variety of knowing global influences. This is music to soundtrack sunsets, sunrises, lazy afternoons by the pool, and humid evenings supping ice-cold cocktails. In truth, few do it better than Barrott.

Review: Despite a career in electronic music that stretches right back to the mid 1990s, this album marks the first time that International Feel boss Mark Barrott has released music under his own name. That's a surprise, but then the whole project - quickly recorded and mixed during a period spent living in Ibiza - has a delightfully spontaneous feel about it. Exotic, humid, atmospheric and richly immersive, Sketches From An Island sees Barrott in full on Balearic mode, laying down a series of instrumental soundscapes variously influenced by Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Peter Green and the Orb. It's pretty darn good, too, sounding like a sassier, more cultured version of his 2007 Future Loop Foundation set Memories From A Fading Room.

Review: International Feel's recently launched mini album series continues, with long-serving downtempo producer CFCF delivering his vision of a lazy Balearic holiday. Sitting somewhere between Jose Padilla, Joan Bibiloni, and Gigi Masin's collaborations with Templehof, the extended player's eight tracks bristle with authentic live instrumentation, most notably jazzy guitars, soft-focus acoustics, reflective pianos and humid accordions. These are effortlessly blended with subtle electronics to create sun-kissed, early morning mood pieces that undoubtedly define the Balearic, after-hours experience. What's most striking about On Vacation, though, is just how beautiful it is. At times, it's breathtakingly stunning.

Review: International Feel has been away on what it calls an 'extended meditation' but now, happily, makes a welcome return. And what an album to come back with - Charlie Charlie is the work of Gabriella Borbely, alias Bella Boo, and Jens Resch, better known as Chords. They hail from Stockholm but dreamt this one up in Southern California. And so the music is steeped in hippie sounds, counter culture dreams and beauty pop that transports you to that world immediately. Dreamy and beautiful tracks come thing and fast from the downtempo sounds of 'Nothing Here But You & Me' to innocent Balearic ditties like 'Save Us.'

Review: The album format suits some artists more than others. On this evidence, it's a snug fit for producer Ben Williams' Gatto Fritto project. Like his previous exemplary 12" singles for Dissident, Electric Minds and International Feel, this self-titled debut album quietly tiptoes between claustrophobic paranoia and dream-like bliss - on some occasions even within the same track (the calming and uneasy "Solar Flares Burn You"). These central themes underpin a beautiful and occasionally unsettling mix of tracks that draws on everything from Radiophgonic Workshop synth-experimentation, classic Balearica and evocative ambience to smacked-out pop (see "The Curse" and "Lucifer Morning Star"), evocative ambience and groggy new wave disco.

Review: Following his limited edition tape debut on SFV, Scott Gilmore makes an even deeper mark on the mighty International Feel. Once again a blurred collage is revealed where references to library music, kosmiche and psychedelia all play key roles in his unique music narrative; his more hands-on experimental rock side is subtly shown on "Flight Through Grey" while clear parallels are made with Gainsbourg on the title track and other moments such as the touching closer "Walking Underground". Elsewhere we're dazzled by Balearica on "E70 No 01" and blindsided by ambient introspection on "Lady Street Racer". Beautiful, heavily layered and continually revealing more; this is an immaculate piece of work from all concerned.

Review: Dan Whitford, Mirko Vogel and Mike Gamwell make up the ambient electronica trio Hypernatural, who present their debut LP here on limited vinyl. By any interpretation - from 'Spirit Walk' to 'Valley' - this self titled bit is a mini-album of sultry, monsoon-season builders, drawing on two trips the group made to the Scottish coast and highlands respectively - intentionally traversing its wilderness to find inspiration. The stark beauty of Scotland's pines and valleys seems to coalesce with the promise of future tech (the group mention 5G as an inspiration), as a rich pastoral picture, reminiscent of the work of Rival Consoles or Bonobo, is painted with cleanly rounded depth.

Review: Pop on your space suit and lock in for an intergalactic Balearic ride at the hands of Luca, whose new Terra LP is a terrific trip through the cosmos. This is a second full length from the artist born Francesco De Bellis and it follows on swiftly from his well received Venus EP early in 2022. It's a fr-reaching musical journey with retro-future synths glistening in the solar rays, loose and jumbled drums suspending you amongst the stars and pieces like 'Capitolo 2 Coscienza' with its spoken word elements contouring up the feeling of some mystic ritual dance.

Review: International Feel have called on a stellar cast of producers for their mini-LP series so far, with Len Leise and CFCF setting a laid back tone. When the label first announced their plans, we were particularly excited by the mooted inclusion of Themes For Great Cities and Salon Des Amateurs regular Jan 'Wolf Muller' Schulte. This was primarily because the Dusseldorf artist was yet to extend himself creatively beyond the 12" format across his various projects to date. The Sound Of Glades sees Schulte step up, working with fellow German artist Cass, who was previously seen contributing to the closing SchleiBen installment on Emotional Response. The five sublime tracks were laid down at Schulte's self-styled Wolf Muller Flanger Studio Dusseldorf, between October 2015 and February 2016, with the pair offering up an aural love story to some of their closet new age and ambient influences. It's a delight from start to end.

Review: There was a sense of inevitability when Mark Barrott's International Feel label revealed plans to issue a new album from Ibizan legend Jose Padilla, the pair go together like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. What makes So Many Colours particularly special is the fact Padilla got the chance to work with Barrott, Running Back affiliate Telephones, Australian producer Tornado Wallace and Jan 'Wolf Muller' Schulte, a list of artists that share a common approach to the idea and concept of being Balearic. As you would expect, copious amounts of fluttering beats, Spanish guitar strumming and deep throbbing arpeggiated basslines feature throughout So Many Colours and it's really a pleasure from beginning to end!

Review: Shelter began his production career re-editing quirky cuts of a Balearic persuasion, before dropping a fine collection of original tracks on Uber last autumn. That set of woozy, horizontal gems clearly impressed International Feel boss Mark Barrott, as he's decided to release the French producer's debut album. Zon Zon Zon is arguably a little more varied than some may expect, with Shelter combining his usual new age inspired melodies and tropical flavours with nods to rubbery, post-disco pop, dub, woozy ambient and the kind of fluid, sun-baked electronica that defies easy categorization. However you describe it, Zon Zon Zon is mightily impressive, delivering a near perfect blend of electronic and acoustric instrumentation.

Review: V.S. and Studiogruppe 1 are influenced by '80s bands like Tangerine Dream, Vangelis or Manuel Gottsching, and as Mark Barrot's International Feel best described "manage to capture widescreen emotional flash points without the need for celluloid, or barely any visual aid, for that matter." It's also good for polishing up on your German; whether it's the the neon-lit soundtrack of 'Erinnerungen', the gloomy frozen lake at dusk vibe of 'Wenn Der Tiefe Schlaf Kommt' or the cosmic reductions of 'Spahren Am Strand' - they're just just some of the highlights.