Les Rythmes Ruban レコード& CD

Review: It's been a minute since we heard from Blackjoy, Jerome Caron's flagship project of mellow, jazz-minded compositions and beatdowns. His last long player Erotis dropped in 2010, no less. Now he returns on Les Rythmes Ruban with a sumptuous new excursion into downtempo pastures which picks up the thread of nostalgic French lounge refinement associated with acts like Air. Just soak up the melancholic chord progressions of 'Michel Chevalet' and you'll find yourself taken away to somewhere very pleasant indeed. There are sweet vocal cuts like 'Clouds' and much more besides on this rich and fulsome record from a seasoned pro.

Review: RECOMMENDED
Radio Nova programmer Max Guiget steps out under his well established Blundetto guise for another masterclass in mechanical dub-funk stuff, this time to provide a soundtrack to Canal+'s series VTC. Centred on a night driver for a ride share company, Nora, and her addiction to amphetamines, the show presents the mess that has become her life in all its vivid and uncomfortable details. Debts, divorce, and a bed on the backseat of the car she uses to pick customers up.

Faced with this kind of quietly disturbing realism, and a world that exists predominantly as a nocturnal realm, Guiget's work is steeped in brooding atmospheres, but rather than simply looking to build feelings through long refrains and deep dive ambience, there's often a slow but definite, forward-motion rhythm to what's here, with tracks like 'La Chapelle' an eerie yet groovy case in point.

Review: Max Guiget under his well-established Blundetto guise is one of France's more soulful producers. He dropped a great soundtrack back in February and now returns with the second volume of his superbly emotive dub work. It is infused with all sorts of knowing references from jazz funk and soul to the best of Italian Library music. 'Count Duke' opens with horizontal sounds, 'Mama Genso' is a playful and flute-led jaunt, 'Capuche' has a darker soul to its mellifluous chords and rolling drums and 'West Highland' is the most spaced out of the lot.