Review: Peter Matson - Hotel PM (Bastard Jazz Recordings)

We knew this album would be good, but it gets a full 5 star Hotel rating for PM, AM and all the bits inbetween!

Fans of Hotel Inspector, 4-In-A-Bed and all those other shows know that after you've booked in, you've got to go digging for the dirt, stains and long hairs.  Well, there ain't no bad bits on this 10 track debut solo album of  the Brooklyn based musician/producer/DJ and co-leader of the band Underground System

We were pretty excited a couple of months ago when we heard Peter Matson's 'White Noise' together with his collaboration with Toribio on 'S.Y.G' (see review HERE) so he's more than delivered with thit bastardized jazz with groove and funk and boogie and disco and Balearics and even synth-pop.

'Alien' is typical of the bright disco vibe the underpins the album with with lots of electronic twiddling big strings whilst for a 'solo' album, he ropes in his mates Pahua (on 'Melancolía', she also check out the new JKriv EP, 'Intuition' - see review HERE), Kendra Morris ('White Noise'), members of The Rapture and Poolside [lovetempo is so hot right now] plus Ibibio Sound Machine which gives it a 'live' sound. 

Phenomenal Handclap Band (another JKriv favourite) feature on 'Never Know' whilst 'Shaky Escalator' (featuring Underground System) ain't going to get much in the way of many radio plays in this form as a clean edit/instrumental/dub might be a good idea.

Talking of instrumentals and no ideas, where's 'Lew Beach'? (Ed. or is it a person?) Even so, you'll want to spend you're summer there and it's one of three instrumental tracks that stand-out like the dubby jazz horn on 'Lobby Call'.

'Alien' is one of the hit tracks with super lush strings and it's summer ready beach appeal and I'll challenge you to not have it as a bed fellow to lovetempo this year (check out 'But I Do' remixes HERE)

'Hotel PM' is a bit like a chain in that is was recorded across cities like London, New York, and Mexico and has different room themes but all are variants of dancefloor, from the opener 'Lobby Call' or the closer, '18th Floor'.

Can't say enough good stuff about this album that'll definitely feature in the 'Best Of' 2025 list!

BUY LINK: https://ffm.to/hotelpm.GC

Artist: Peter Matson

Title: Hotel PM

Release date: 4th April, 2025

Label : Bastard Jazz Recordings

Catalog Number :  TBC

Format: Vinyl (pre-order) / Digital / Bandcamp  

Review: Peter Matson - White Noise ft. Kendra Morris (Bastard Jazz Recordings)

Peter Matson's 'White Noise' is the first single from Brooklyn-based musician/producer Peter Matson (co-leader of Underground System) with debut solo LP, 'Hotel PM'

It's been nearly a year since F.I.D.E.L's 'Out Of Sight' (see review HERE) and Buscrates' 'Control Centre' (see review HERE), Simon Mavin's 'Good Hair Day / Only You & Me' (see review HERE) and Casa Bonita (see review HERE) so, even as fans of the label, is it any wonder that a new release is quality?

If you're in the Razor-N-Tape, lovetempo, Star Creature post-disco envelope this is a monster for you!  No surprise that Peter knows all the local big heads having worked with JKriv and Ibibio Sound Machine in the past whilst Kendra Morris has connections with Cinema/TV and the hip-hop scene including MF DOOM (Ed. she'll be a fan of the MF Teen 'tribute' - see review HERE).

Not only that, fans of 'Daylight' (see review HERE) and friends of Toribio joined together with Peter on 'S.Y.G' - check it out below.

This 'White Noise' is nothing like BBC's Radiophonic Workshop's experimental 'White Noise'  but I hope we get an instrumental/disco-dub remix to go along with this as it's far too short (4:21) with all those lucious strings.

 

Artist: Peter Matson

Title: White Noise

Release date: 7th Februaty, 2025

Label : Bastard Jazz Recordings

Catalog Number :  TBC

Format: Vinyl (pre-order) / Digital / Bandcamp  

 

Review: F.I.D.E.L. – Out Of Sight (Bastard Jazz Recordings)

F.I.D.E.L.'s new ablum 'Out Of Sight' is so typical of a Bastard Jazz Recordings' release - Jazz Not Jazz, Bastard Not Bastard or, in other words, just what you need.

It's been a little while since Buscrates' 'Control Centre' (see reveiw HERE) and Simon Mavin's 'Good Hair Day / Only You & Me' (see review HERE) but this is the disco to your Casa Bonita (see review HERE) the funk to your boogie as 'Odd Things (Parts 1 & 2)' is current post-Azymuth track of the year so far; especially as it's over eight minutes long. 

Is it any wonder when we find out the F.I.D.E.L is a collaboration of 'leader' Dilouya, UK legend, John Turrell (50% of Smoove & Turrell; who's album last year 'Red Ellen' featured a track with Ronnie Foster on it!- see review HERE) and Hip-Hop/Soul major force, Sly Johnson (BBE, Heavenly Sweetness, Blue Note and also a member of the French hip-hop group, Saïan Supa Crew).

But this is no 'one-track' album as the spirit of Prince runs through this album, particulary on 'Star 51', brackets "we love America".and a slimmed down version of The Pointer Sisters.  Then, at times, such as the title track, there seems like an odd hybrid a of Sa-Ra Creative Partners with Sly & The Family Stone/Bootsy/Isley Brothers in a 80s night club in Newcastle Market Street (aka Tuxedo Junction).

This all sounds good to me and it'd be easy to keep 'Star 51' and 'Odd Things (Parts 1 & 2)' on repeat but you gotta smile at 'All Of This Is Fake' and '(I Don't Give At Sh*t about) Summertime'.

There are other guests like Noraa ('Out Of Sight, 'Heartbeat') and DKO Records' front man Larry Houl on 'Odd Things' (and as good as the combined Parts 1 & 2 are, where's the dub Part3?) whilst I do hope that there's a live performance/summer festival band to support this release. 

P.S. It's flute gang friendly too!

Artist: F.I.D.E.L. 

Title: Out Of Sight

Release date: 8th March, 2024

Label : Bastard Jazz Recordings

Catalog Number :  TBC

Format: Vinyl (pre-order) / Digital / Bandcamp  

Review: Simon Mavin - Good Hair Day / Only You & Me (Bastard Jazz Recordings)

Can you have a good hair day in a musical spaceship?  You can if you're Simon Mavin as he launches his latest EP on Bastard Jazz.

If you're a fan of the first wave of current Aussie/Melbourne jazz-funk-hip-hop-soul-bruksters, Hiatus Kaiyote, you'll note Simon is the keyboard whiz, co-produer & co-writer in the band.

He definitely had a 'Good Hair Day' when he produced this track and fellow Meburnian(?), Harvey Sutherland, upped the pace and added more synths on the remix (and a reminder to dig out Sutherland's last album 'Boy' that featured that funkster, "Commander" DāM-FunK).

And talking of out there funk mission, 'Only You & Me' is very jazz-funk-Roger(and out there) with another great remix, this time by Aussie duo, Close Counters that ups the broken beat.

The label is increasingly our 'Leftfield of the Year' at this rate as this EP closely follows BusCrates album, 'Control Centre' (see review HERE) and this EP is ideal get ready to party tunes.

Artist: Simon Mavin 

Title: Good Hair Day / Only You & Me EP

Release date: 30th June, 2023

Label : Bastard Jazz Recordings

Catalog Number :  Digital / Bandcamp  

Review: BusCrates - Control Center (Bastard Jazz)

So we know Bastard Jazz are deep diggers but BusCrates is doing his retro take on deep soul funk hip-hop now, and it's all from the 'Control Center'.

Billed as "a balancing act between vintage 80s synths" and "90s boom bap" in a melodic soul envelope, these tracks are the instrumental funk; like that Dâm Funk can produce but more jazzy.

'Get It Going' is a perfect example and if you want to funk up your imaginary summer city park Ryuichi Sakamoto theme, try 'Internal Dialogue'. 

The title track and  'Clarity' are proper uptempo bouncers, if you wanna to go all Radio Saturn/old skool Daedelus, there's sweet hybrid in 'Prisms' and another one that caused some NY noise is 'Buckin'' that features DJ Epik.

And talking of DJs, DJ Spinna is a mutual friend of Peter Franks (Futuristica Music - new album review HERE) and BusCrates (which may or not  been the reason for the BusCrates Remix of 'Sirens') but it shows another knob twist to his musical synth/keys expertise.

The one for the radio playlist is 'On My Way' that features the vocals of Soraya Watti that so Capital Gold (but in a more than good way).

Bastard Jazz have gone the full steel mill mile with this release with vinyl LP and 7" ('Internal Dialogue') and t-shirt options.  This is so different to their other recent release on the label, the equally brilliant and diverse, Captain Plant's 'Sounds Like Home LP' they are going to have a busy summer.

Artist: BusCrates

Title: Control Center 

Release date: 27th January, 2023

Label : Bastard Jazz Recordings

Catalog Number : LP / Digital / Bandcamp