Re Face Italy レコード& CD

Review: Here comes Costin Robert Popescu, Bucharest beatsmith pushing some of the sprightliest minimal tech house to emerge from the Romanian capital in recent times. Following recent drops for Pleasure Zone, Kiria and Hubble, he shores up on Re Face for the Ahead Of Time EP. Things kick off with the pinging synth flourishes and mellow demeanour of 'Finally Found' before sliding into the positively cheeky workout 'Why'. 'Morning Droids' rounds things off with the funkiest of the bunch, where the bass slinks around the drums and the melodic parts come unshackled in the right places for a surefire dancefloor bomb.

Review: Italian newcomer Adam Oubkou aka Direkt is sure to turn plenty of heads with this new EP on RE.FACE's limited edition vinyl series. He soon licks you in with the lovely dubby vibes and horizonless chords of 'Way Back' then get you more upright with the silky smooth loops and far-sighted chords of 'Kaleidoscope.' The flip side opens with 'Groove 2' which is another one to get your head amongst distant planets and soft-focus chords. Closer 'Lent' is a much more tense groove with lumpy drums and jumbled rhythms run through with freaky sci-fi sounds and muttered vocals.

Review: Maimi troupe Imbue continue their free-spirited sonic spree, this time on Re:Face. As always, it's a very fluid affair; washing our souls with their delicate fusion of live instrumentation, analogue wizardry and hypnotic groovemanship. Over four tracks we explore their full palette. Electro feels inform the opening track 'Boy With Apple' while the title track 'Overlook' bumps with more of an essence of funky house. Meanwhile on the B it's all-out funk affair. 'Model 29' is a party waiting to happen while 'Dawn' shrouds us in a big old cosmic cloak. Bottoms up.