Heavenly Sweetness France Vinilo y CD

Review: The latest release on ever-crucial French jazz outpost Heavenly Sweetness welcomes the work of Bardainne Jaumet, a collaboration between accomplished French saxophonist Laurent Bardainne and Versatile regular Etienne Jaumet for four musically rich excursions into cosmic disco, Library music and the golden age of European synthesiser exploration. This is perhaps not what you might expect from the pairing of these two artists, or indeed the label, but the sheer compositional power and production of these two is simply undeniable. Grandiose statement pieces from two incredibly talented minds meeting on the same astral plane with a well-appointed studio as a vessel.

Review: "The dampness of the rainforest, the hostility of the mangrove ultimately did not suit him. So he left his natural environment for the tranquillity of a freshwater body". So goes the (translated) back story of this new EP from Laurent Bardainne. The 'he' in question is a Tiger who ventured across Europe, Asia and America and apparently picked up various musical styles along the way. Whatever you make of that, the tracks here are gold: "Marvin" is smooth jazz fusion with percolating drums, "Porsche 944" has a joyous lead sax and more crisp boom bap drums, while "Aout" is a soaring bit of heartfelt soul Daptone might put out. The Drop Vibes rework of "Porsche 944" features a vocal roller and closes things in fine fashion.

Review: Recorded between France and the volcanic island of La Reunion , beaten by the air of the Indian Ocean, the album, in the words as in the notes, transforms the French song into Creole succulence. On the spot, it is surrounded by musical figures of the island that the duet offered itself of the tasty subtlilities of the sega and the mayola. The notes of accordion of Rene Lacaille, the father of Oriane, the voice of Danyel Waro.

Review: Piloted by Ibiza-based producer Guts and Los Angeles' crate-digger Mambo, the Beach Diggin' series gleefully gathers together sun lounger-friendly cuts from around the World. While there's always a lazy, sun-ready feel to their selections, they stick closer to soul, funk, disco and boogie than many other like-minded collections. This fourth volume in the series is packed with more obscure, horizontally inclined material from the likes of Sue Barker (not the former tennis player, obviously), Alex Khaoli (the talk box-sporting, electrofunk-era jazz-funk beauty of "Cross Lines"), Brooski (the close-dance sweetness of "This Love"), and Jemaa (the reggae-soul shuffle of "Bob Marley").