Shall Not Fade レコード& CD

Review: Given that Tom "Contours" Burford has spent much of the last year making collaborative cuts for Banana Hill that draw on tropical rhythms and native African musicianship, it's probably unsurprising that his return to Shall Not Fade should also feature some of the same influences. It's nominally a deep house EP, but the set's three original tracks are much more nuanced and open-minded than that. Check, for example, the layered hand percussion and polyrhythmic instrumentation on the jazz-funk influenced deep house brilliance of "Lisbon" and the tropical-tinged, intergalactic sci-fi house of "5th Planet". The B-side boasts two versions of "North West": the lilting horns, music box melodies and soft-touch percussion of Burford's original, and the Herbie Hancock inspired bruk-up business of Kaidi Tatham's superb revision.

Review: Shall Not Fade regular Felipe Gordon joins forces with Cody Currie for what is their first ever collaborative record. Atlantic Exchanges Vol. 1 is perfectly jazz infused house music of the highest order. Opener 'Better Days' immediately takes you to a steamy basement with lush broken beats and golden chords. 'Cold Nights' is more straight up but with rare musicality in the synths and 'I'm On Fire' then brings a rueful vocal house groove in which to get lost. The second half is just as high class with the elegant synths bringing real soul and heart.