Downtempo / Balearic Recommendations September 2014

Review: The second release from the Fools & Fables label comes from Closed Paradise, aka Mathieu Cle, and follows Maricopa's recent debut, an artist that first debuted on Tusk Wax in 2012. Closed Paradise keeps the beats, groove and vibe of "Jungle Goddess" so laid back it become the type of music you dance to while lying down, with chugging house beats mixed with sounds of nature and ambient piano keys. On the flip there's "Get Your Bearings" which is slightly more upbeat thanks to some light African rhythms and sensual Rhodes playing. Good times.

Review: dBridge and Kid Drama's Heart Drive rose from the ashes of Autonomic and Instra:Mental. First as a podcast, now as a production outfit and, albeit with a different name, as a label, too... Pleasure District are launching with three beautiful pieces of vinyl and this is the first. "Automated Love" oozes as much emotion as it does soundtrack dynamic, rich synths and a great sense of suspense that as it does romance. Flip for "When Droids Cry". Tapping into the more upbeat sectors in the artists' creative coding, it's a slimline steppy number coated with breath-taking chords that breath heavily and mournfully. A touching way to ignite a new label.

Review: Tying down Spanish duo Pig & Dan to one particular style has always been tough. Since first appearing on Submission Records in 2003, they've gleefully flitted between tribal, tech-house, progressive house, progressive trance and techno. Here, they pop up with a double album for Bedrock - their third full-length in total - that harks back to the glory days of baked downtempo grooves. Sure, there are dancefloor excursions - see the dub house of "Magic Wake Up Call" and "Positive Vibrations" - but these are few and far between. Instead, they focus on hazy grooves, dub, ambient, sun-backed trip-hop, humid hip-hop, nu-jazz, ambient and deep breaks, with surprisingly impressive results.