Review: Is there a more iconic modern disco duo that Lindstom and Prins Thomas? The superb Scandic-pair link up here to great effect on a six track record for Smalltown Supersound. As ever the references are far and wide, from world music to deep house, cosmic ambience to synth music. The tracks are stuffed with subtle details and a rich overarching musicality that makes them as good for focussed headphone listening as it does an early evening dance. 'Oranges' is achingly gorgeous, 'Harmonia' is awash in lush arps and 'Small Stream' is dreamy bliss. Once again these maestros have come through with the goods.
Review: Having thrilled dusty-fingered crate diggers with a reissue of Denis Mpunga and Paul K's impossible-to-find mid-'80s cassette album Criola - an unusual but rather fine combination of post-punk and traditional Congolese music - Music from Memory has decided to give some of the tracks the remix treatment. As you'd expect, there's many more hits than misses. Dutch rising star Dazion delivers a wonderfully cosmic revision of "Intermezzo B" full of fluttering new age synth lines and drum machine polyrhythms, while Tolouse Low Trax turns "Veronika" into a woozy and dreamy chunk of dub-flecked, loved-up downtempo bliss. Late night dancefloor thrills are provided by Interstellar Funk's intergalactic tribal techno take on "Intermezzo 2" and Prins Emmanuel's tactile take on "KWEI!", which sits somewhere between dub disco, boogie and proto-house.
Review: In most cases, a World Of Hassle is certainly not something you want, but we're sure you'll make an exception for this debut solo album by Alan Palomo, best known as the leader of the synth-pop band Neon Indian. Thoroughly on-brand for Palomo, this surprise LP flaunts just ten swanky, funky vocal disco cuts, tinged with the legacy of glam and jazz, and glimmering with the overzealous egoism of history's most volcaninc rockstars. Alan's versatile voice and neon-strobed production skills remaining present as ever, though despite the throughlines, the album marks a departure from his previous work with Neon Indian, which was more experimental and lo-fi.
Review: For this sublime release, legendary Italian label Best Record has raided the archives of 'private recordings' by multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Pino Presti. Sharade was apparently inspired by the work of painter Tania Cantone and features Presti alongside keyboardist Claudop Calzolari, his son Andrea, bassist Andrea Verardi and organist Guido Mazzella. The results are colourful, sonically vivid and musically rich, with the quintet variously blurring the boundaries between ambient, jazz-funk, Balearic, Mediterranean deep house, downtempo, library music, cinematic soundtracks and slow-motion leftfield pop. It's hard to accurately pigeonhole, but that's no bad thing - especially as the album's varied tracks are united by a classiness and a wholeheartedly enjoyable sun-baked mood.
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