Mojuba Germany Vinilo y CD

Review: February & Mars are a "West Coast duo" that blends yacht rock, synth-pop, Balearic and analogue disco influences into a tactile, huggable style they call "spaced-out soul". This is their debut album, following a solitary 12" release way back in 2010. It's a predictably enjoyable debut, with the duo also touching on blue-eyed soul ("Jump City"), Claremont 56-ish nu-Balearica ("Lick The Bag"), and dewy-eyed Italo-disco ("Desert Winds") as well as their openly discussed influences. Their impassioned, often melancholic vocals dreamily flit in and out of the mix throughout, frequently rubbing shoulders with tumbling guitar solos, enveloping synthesizer chords and shirtless, muscular arpeggios.

Review: East German producer Karten Kaufman dons his Nick Sole hat to deliver a first full-length for the Mojuba label. Sole has been around the deep house scene since the mid 2000s, but has little more than a handful of 12" singles to his name. Clearly, he's a perfectionist. This attention to detail is evident on Flowers For You, which offers clean, atmospheric deep house with all the warming breeziness of a Mediterranean sea breeze. There are, of course, more muggy moments - see the double bass and twinkling chords of "Money" or the chunky "Deep Sundown" - but the overriding feel is relentlessly sunny.

Review: Following a scattering of 12" singles for Mojuba, overlooked Japanese deep house boffin Stereociti (aka Ken Sumitani) unveils his debut album. For those who have yet to succumb to the delightful charms his delicious productions, this album is a smart place to start. Sumitani's take on deep house is inspired as much by Japanese ambient and electronica as German dub techno and minimal, yet his productions are always rich, full and lightly melodic. It's a sound that that lends itself well to the album format. Kawasaki beautifully meanders along, sounding at times alien and otherworldly ("Kawasaki", "Expanses"), warm and quietly comforting ("A Day"), and blissfully dubbed-out and introspective (the dub wise "Klass").

Review: The masterful Sven Weisemann returns to the album format with Inner Motions, his second long player of a storied career as a producer of supple, genteel house music. It's released, naturally, on the Mojuba label whose sound has been defined by Weisemann and compatriot Nick Sole, and offers an extensive demonstration of the Berlin based producer's capacity to combine heart wrenching musicality with the crisp dynamism needed for club play. Arriving in some typically luxuriant packaging from Mojuba, Inner Motions is apparently "inspired by electronic music's classic and timeless albums of the early and mid 90s" and its 12 tracks form part of a greater whole. As intoxicating a listening experience it is, Weisemann has still ensured some of the music here can be equally powerful out of the collective context with "Rejection" and "Evolver" notable highlights.