Review: Q-Burns Abstract Message - QBAM RMX1 (Colour and Pitch)

The Colour & Pitch label has been a go-to source for ultra high quality melodic deep house since its inception, but their latest release steps things up a good couple of notches...and then some.

Having slowly developed an excellent relationship with self described “shadowy figure” Q-Burns Abstract Message, following his remix of their first release, the label’s gentle persistence in seeking new music from the Orlando based producer has paid off in fine style with this package of previously unreleased and unavailable re-works from Q-BAM’s elusive back catalogue.

After months of work tracking down artists and rights holders all of these previously hidden gems are now fully cleared, and have been newly remastered for this release – and there’s not a duff note in any of them.

First up is an excellent atmospheric and dubby rework of Church Williams’ “Touch The Sun” – sped up considerably from the original and ditching most of the vocal and piano, what we have here is a naggingly hypnotic piece that is hard to categorise (although it sounds like Summer) but very easy to love.

Track 2 is a deep and delicious rework of The Antirealist’s “Abscence” that is somehow brings elements as disparate as a classic reggae drum hit, Johnny Marr style shimmering guitars, analog synths and steel pan sounds together, binding them with a powerful but lazy bass line to create something that is – in my worthless opinion at least – nothing short of magical. Be careful what you’re smoking when you listen to this – you might not come back.

The wonderfully named Japanese Insanity’s track “The Lobster” is next for the Q-BAM treatment. I have no idea what the original sounded like, but this version is another hypnotic delight. Layers of sound coalesce to create another mini-masterpiece, with an arpeggiated key line providing an unavoidable brain-hook that will either entice you to dance or drive you insane – your call. Dubby explosions and sudden stops add to / release the tension as required. Brilliant.

Robert McCoy’s “Damascus” follows. It’s got a darker, deeper and more intense feel than the tunes that precede it, but with recognisably Q-BAM touches. Perfectly crafted, it sounds like 6am in the dark to me and it’s all the better for it, and the ethereal whispered vocals definitely help edge it towards creep out territory. Which is never a bad thing.

Mathew Scot’s “Trauma” as re-imagined here is a wonderful piece of work. Deep and just the right side of dark, it’s atmospheric, enveloping and twisted just enough to slightly mess with your head – in a nice way of course. A late night / early morning gem that sounds like you’ve known it forever, and one you'll be playing for the foreseeable.

So there you have it – a frankly excellent 5 tracker from an excellent label that is well worth your time and money. Please give both freely.

Review: Fae Simon - Outrospective (BBE Records)

This is one of those albums that, even in these globalized times, could’ve only been made in the UK with its distinctive musical melting-pot.  From the first track, we’re given a taste of Fae’s diverse influences : her own vocals reminiscent of a hundred lovers rock singers from the early ‘80s, but also bringing to mind left-field artists from the ‘90s like Nicolette, while the underlying rhythm also combines  an organic, roots reggae vibe with those dark, stoned trip-hop gestures that were such a feature of the musical landscape of her native London twenty years ago.  Other tracks veer towards hip-hop, and there’s even a little jazz feel on track five, where you can really feel  the interplay between singer and musicians.

If none of that sounds like anything exactly new, then, yes, you’re right –this is perhaps not the most adventurous, forward-thinking album the very eclectic BBE label have put ever out. What it is, is a solid set which they might find it difficult to fit into contemporary music marketing categories, but which will definitely find a home with some of the more open-minded and inquisitive music-lovers out there.

This is definitely an album put together by and for someone who feels she has something to say, both socially and musically. ‘Outropective’ suggests she is looking out at the world rather than inside her own head.  Let’s hope the world is similarly inclined to notice her. Both classically and jazz-trained, according to the press release that came with our copy of this album, there needs to be a place for the Fae Simons of this world in an era when most music is put together through a computer programme.

Outrospective is available now via iTunes

Review: Vursatyl - Super feat. Dion (BBE Music)

It’s really a pity that in the Abrahamic tradition (i.e., Judaism, Christianity and Islam,) that the snake got a bad reputation.  In the Native American and African tribal legends, the snake was revered for its changing skin, a symbol of rebirth or renewal rather than being the bad guy in the legends of Abraham’s descendants.  Its counterpart in ancient Egypt is Osiris and the Norse had Baldr—both gods who were regularly reborn.  Hip hop music seems to be shedding its skin at the moment, maybe doing a bit of soul-searching.  It started out as a Bronx thing, spread all over NYC, then the East Coast and then all over the USA and Caribbean before leaping across oceans to first infuse and then reproduce itself in the UK, Japan, the European continent and beyond…  It was underground, then crossed over before eating whole, then redefining mainstream music. 

Hip hop music has been pretty busy since the late 70s spreading its message of… 
…Well, that depends on how you were introduced to it.  Initially it was party music, then it got more sophisticated and realized there was more to be talked about—such as social issues.  There was Black Nationalism and the rise of violent gangs on the West Coast. Back in NYC (and the East Coast in general,) Black Nationalism gave way to Afro-Centrism and a particular strain of Islam (“5% Nation,” later known as “Nation of Gods & Earths.”) The 90s brought us jazzy beats & rhymes, paeans to Mary Jane, “Thug Life” and “conscious rap.”  Another equally important, yet understated development was the abstract and sometimes instrumental output of the Solesides (later called Quannum) collective, which included Latyrx (Lateef the Truth Speaker and Asia/Lyrics Born,) Blackalicious (Chief Xcel & Gift of Gab) and, most famously, DJ Shadow.  Although they weren’t major label talents, they were licensed in the UK by a very influential label: Mo’Wax.  DJ Shadow has gone on to be a hiphop legend based on his revered instrumental album, Entroducing, which really works as a long-form piece.  While Blackalicious never reached the stardom of Shadow, they have a lot of artistic capital.  Fortunately for us, they used some of that to back a group from the hip hop non-mecca of Portland, Oregon known as The Lifesavas. 

From this group, comes the MC Vursatyl, whose “Super” sounds a bit like J-Live produced by J-Dilla.  Dion’s vocals play the proper support role, yet stick in your head (isn’t that why it’s called a “hook?”) In place of J-Live’s “Gods & Earths” we get a quick reference to Vursatyl’s Christianity, “…the Messiah was on the cross between two crooks.”  Despite this, braggadocio is still on full “…You’re trying to reach your potential, but I keep raising the bar.” His delivery is confident and his flow dances around the beat, making him a joy to listen to.  He’s had a few years on stage going toe-to-toe with Gift of Gab and it really shows.  Rolling Stone tapped Lifesavas as “a group to watch” a number of years ago and they were onto something.  “Super” should be bumping in everyone’s car, iPod, home or what/wherever they dig on music.  I’m sure there’s more to come and I, for one, can’t wait to see where Vursatyl goes with Hip hop wearing its new skin…

'Super' is out now on iTunes and all major download stores.

Review: DJ Spinna - The Sound Beyond Stars: The Essential Remixes (BBE Music)

Spinna was an icon of the indie hip-hop scene who switched rides on an early lap some way round the course of his DJ/production career, and, if he hasn’t yet reached the finishing-line, has accumulated trophies already in the form of some sizeable dance hits. The biggest of those, his mix of Shaun Escoffery’s ‘Days Like These’ is inexplicably not on either of the two lavish double albums (one track per side apart from LP 1, side C, which has two) this comes as, though it IS found on the CD. That early release (and its immediate predecessor, ‘Space Rider’ which was particularly big in New York) immediately put Spinna up there with the big boys in the world of house, and he’s stayed there pretty much ever since. If there’s a better vocal record in the last few years, I’d like to hear it (and please post it to me via this site)!
 
A high proportion of the material here is also vocal, but there are a couple of deeper, techier instrumental  tracks to spice up the vibes (and one of those, his Acid Power mix of Karizma ‘The power’ seems to be exclusive to the vinyl). Anyone who likes their house music rooted in the black American tradition will find much to enjoy here, but don’t expect four sides of gospel-style wailing. The original material is quite disparate, but there’s a marked tendency for Spinna to work with bands, and tracks that start out more ‘musical’ in the first place. A Spinna sound, grooving and funky, but never ‘hard’,  unites all the material here. A few personal favourites: Louie Vega with Raul Midon ‘A Better Day’, like sounding like a 21st century Jose Feliciano.; Fertile Ground, ‘Live In The Light’ –fierce, spiritual – and Tortured Soul ‘Why’, deep and dark. This is a well-deserved first retrospective for someone that’s helping to keep alive a vital strain of our dance music heritage.

The Sound Beyond Stars is available on vinyl, CD and MP3 directly from BBE
Or via iTunes

Preview: Onur Ozman - Room To Dance EP (Onethirty Recordings)

The brilliant Onethirty Recordings are off to a flying start in this, their 10th year in existence, with a rather lovely release from Istanbul native Onur Özman.

As label boss Jevne puts it:

"Onur has been a sold player in Onethirty family since his first release "Not Enough" back in 2010, followed by "Hold On" in 2011 and "Broken Dreams" in 2012. His music has helped shape the Onethirty sound for years now! "Room To Dance" does not disappoint in staying true to both Onur's & Onethity's vibe! We are very excited to have this EP kick off the ten year anniversary, these are truly amazing tracks."

The package comprises three typically clean, bright slices of bouncy house music, plus a very pleasant moody remix of "Never Can Say Good Bye" from Fil Lavin.

The Room To Dance EP is out today exclusively on Beatport, and across all other stores on February 2nd.

Grab a preview here:

Review: Vipul - Evolve (Wind Horse Records)

At the forefront of the emerging deep house scene in India, Wind Horse Records has consistently impressed from day one. This latest release features both Vipul & Hamza, the two producers who most represent the label's unique sound.

Vipul's title track 'Evolve' is a typically dreamy, spiritual slice of house music, full of emotional twists and turns.

Ross Couch's remix moves the track toward the dancefloor with a bouncey swagger, however the breakdown takes us into achingly beautiful, cinematic territory.

Label owner Hamza's version retains many elements from the original track, adding low slung beats, basslines and sublime piano chords.

Dutchie Music boss Juan Mejia takes control for the final remix, taking the original into even deeper waters, full of melodic fragments and dreamy arpeggios.

As the label notes say: "Overall, this evocative offering from Vipul shows his transformation isn’t merely ensuring survival as an artist, but rather gaining him higher ground with each new rung on the
hierarchical ladder. "

'Evolve' is available now on Beatport and all other major download stores.

Review: Finest Wear - Distant Memories (Colour and Pitch)

The second release on Brighton-based label Colour & Pitch, "Distant Memories" makes it clear that the name of the label is more than just two words that look good alongside each other; this collection is full of vivid sonic colors and knows its musical pitches but doesn't take that as a point of pride.  The arrangements are well thought-out and interesting in a genre where that's not necessarily required anymore. In much house music these days a decent groove and a fat kick drum will usually suffice.

The term "intelligent dance music" was always silly-sounding, but the idea behind it was one worth aspiring to: tracks that still hold up as music when you're no longer in a dance environment. Finest Wear's work hits this target easily and without sacrificing any club "thump."

The opener, "The Storm" has the aforementioned elements and features spoken word describing the female vocalist's lover as the titular storm. This is followed by "For The Love" with dubbed-out vocal snippets reminiscent of a memory just beyond the point of clarity--yet definitely not forgotten.  "The Tribute" is up next and is probably the moodiest of all of the tracks with a full minute of strings and pads before any drum appears.  When the bass shows up in the arrangement almost 2 minutes into the track, the vibe is already pretty thick with pads and drums. Also at this point one may find involuntary bodily movement has commenced (also known as "grooving.") About halfway thru this number it begins to feel like a house party that has made that mysterious shift from beginning to "happening."

The closer is Sumsuch's refashion of the opening track, "The Storm."  Sumsuch moves the track in a jazzier direction--not any less rhythmic, just more complex harmonies and a bit more electric piano. There are also some subtle tech touches--just enough to sound slightly futuristic without going balls-out electro and balance out the jazz elements.

Folks looking to enjoy some butt-shaking and others looking for beautiful, yet bouncy electronic music have much to enjoy here.

'Distant Memories' is available now on Beatport , Traxsource , iTunes & Juno

Preview: Never Knows feat. Qzen - Untitled 26 (Untitled & After)

An absolute treat of a single here from little-known San Francisco imprint 'Untitled & After'. Industrial electronic sounds with tinges of techno are the order of the day here, coupled with a beautiful vocal courtesy of Qzen, a singer whose credits include collaborations with John Tejada, 40 Thieves and many others. As with all the best tracks, 'Untitled 26' defies any kind of genre tag except our favourite one: 'damn good music'.

Japanese producer 'Birdcage' supplies the remix here; and it really is stunner. Simple emotive chords, scratchy percussion & wonderful use of the vocal makes this version ooze quality with every twist and turn. This is the first I've heard of 'Birdcage', and it's immediately inspired me to hunt down more of his work.

As the label notes so eloquently say: "If this single is the soundtrack to never seeing the sun then lots of people could be easily persuaded into signing up for this suspended in time experiment."

'Untitled 26' is released on all major download stores on November 5th.

Album: Red Hot + Fela (Knitting Factory Records)

Fela Kuti lives on. AIDS awareness organization Red Hot has partnered with cross-genre collaborators representing rock, hip-hop, Americana, and classical for the release of Fela Kuti compositions on Red Hot + Fela. The album features classic Fela anthems like "Lady" recorded by tUnE-yArDs, Questlove, Angelique Kidjo, and Akua Naru, "ITT" by Superhuman Happiness, "No Buredi" reimagined as an electro-house track by Nneka, Sinkane, Amayo, and "Afrodisco Beat 2013" by Tony Allen, M1 + Baloji. It also includes cover versions by Spoek Mathambo, Brittany Howard (from Alabama Shakes), the Kronos Quartet along with TV On The Radios' Kyp Malone and Tunde Adembimpe, and many more.

Buy the LP

Download the incredible 'Buy Africa' for FREE

Preview: pothOles - Hooni (Oh! Records Stockholm)

Fresh from his recent release on Roberto Rodriguez's 'Seranades' label, talented Finnish producer pothOles is back on Oh! Records with a pair of brand new tracks.

We've been fans of the mysterious Finn since day one, so it's fantastic to hear his sound developing in leaps and bounds. Title track 'Hooni' is a typically restrained, chilled slice of Suomi deep house, while 'Hatari' introduces a more insistent bassline and hypnotic groove.

With rumours of his own label launching soon, as well as tales of him recently being voted Helsinki's second sexiest man, one thing is for sure: watch out for pothOles!

The release is available now, exclusively on Beatport. Grab it HERE

Preview: Mesake feat. Indre Ju - Red (DeepWit Recordings)

We return from a long break between posts with a label who have had rather a long break between releases. Denmark's Deepwit Recordings are a favourite of ours here at You and The Music, so we are extremely excited to see them releasing new music again.

We're happy to report that their upcoming release by Lithuanian newcomer Mesake is completely and utterly true to form. Full of sublime atmospheric touches, sweet chords and delicate vocals from Indre Ju, the original version sounds like sunset on another planet...

Of the remixes, the ever reliable tONKPROJECT's version stands out a mile for us, jammed full of musical invention and emotion as per usual.

The release is out now on all major download stores- grab your copy here

Preview: Shade - All I Need to Know (RvS)

A brand new treat, coming soon on Reverberations' newly- rebranded incarnation, RvS. No frills here, just a proper emotive slice of deep house goodness from Barcelona- based producer Shade. The track is getting a well deserved vinyl release, alongside a trio of excellent remixes from Asadinho, Joshua Iz & Silver Team. The Joshua Iz mix is particularly outstanding to our ears, full of energy and invention. Get a preview of the release below. and be sure to grab this record as soon as it drops!

Formats / release dates:
Vinyl             18/02/2013
Digital             18/03/2013

RvS002 - Shade - All I Need To Know (inc. remixes by Asadinho / Jek K & Alex Murak / Joshua Iz) by RvS Music

Preview: Rocco - Selfish People

We can't get enough of this incredibly emotional and moving piece of music from French super-producer Rocco.

We've been fans of his for many years now, but this track really is something special.

Enjoy!

Review: Adnan Sharif - WeR1 (Uniting Souls Music)

Seattle's Uniting Souls Music have impressed me greatly with their last few releases. It's a label which doesn't fall into the trap of releasing safe, generic tracks like so many others these days, and this policy really makes it stand out from the crowd. The latest release is certainly no exception, featuring a spiritual call to the dancefloor from veteran DJ and producer Adnan Sharif, as well as remixes by Pezzner & Michael Manahan. Musically, the package is perfectly balanced. The original version is a completely unique tune; dark, delicate and soulful in equal measure, with a gorgeous vocal drop from Light Searcher. Pezzner's remix meanwhile is nothing less than a deep house dancefloor behemoth, with all the darkness, twists, turns and squelches we've come to expect from him. Finally, Michael Manahan's version takes on a much lighter mood and a real hypnotic sense of musicality, making it ideal for the terrace. A fantastic EP overall, highly recommended.

WeR1 is released on April 3rd 2012 on all major download stores.

Adnan Sharif - WeR1 (Uniting Souls Music) by 8DPromo