Searching / Don't Reach vinyl

To regard Lord of the Isles as merely a producer of contemporary disco would be doing him a great disservice, as those who indulged in the smattering of sold out releases on Unthank, Ene, Adult Contemporary and Tusk Wax would attest. Arising on Cocktail D'Amour for the Berlin label's fourth release, his variety of production is in abundance across these four tracks. Piano laden ambience fills the strains of the opening track "I Remember", its pensive tonalities offering a moment of delicate calm before proceedings veer into the horizon setting balearic house of "Let Me Feel This Way." A real highlight here, it's the way endless streams of sonic texture arrive and are cast off that ensures your mind is constantly captivated as the thick drums drive things forward. The tempo is pushed further forwards, as is the stylistic envelope, on the subsequent "Don't Reach" which is rightfully compared to Carl Craig by the label, though again it's the ever spiralling sonic elements that hypnotise. "Searching" ends this release in new territory, veering into the kind of emotion laden electronic music that might feature on a Kompakt Pop Ambient compilation.

Justin Miller, Ron Like Hell, Jay Shepheard, Aihki, San LAURENTINO, Ben La Desh