Review: Franck Roger - Can U Believe EP (Vibe Me To The Moon Records)

I can't believe how prolific Franck Roger is and on his latest release on Vibe Me To The Moon Records, perhaps he's even questioning it now with the 'Can U Believe EP'.

Mr Roger has been producing and releasing house for over 20 years and there seems no end in sight as he appears on Vibe Me To The Moon for the first time.

The title track does seem more than appropriate as it's got that other worldly space synth and vocals going on as the deep house goes starts out on a  journey to deep space house.  

Instead of going down the remix route, there's three other tracks on the EP, 'In the Morning', a slo-mo funk groovers featuring the soulful vocals of Shawn Chapelle, 'Someone Now' that have elements of that NY underground house sound and pumpin' at the same time, it must be 'Franck From Paris' know how and 'New Balance' that comes close to that deep space dub if you believe it.

We're told that ‘Can U Believe’ is the first of many EPs to come on the U.S. label that was started up in 2017 by DJ Nighteppaz and has previous hosted the likes of Roland Clark, DJ Spinna, Huxley, Demakus Lewis and we believe his a big fan of Fred 'Love, Care, Kindness & Dubs' Everything; did someone say EPs?

BUY LINK: http://snd.click/vibe023 

Artist: Franck Roger 

Title:  Can U Believe EP

Release date: 21st March, 2025

Label : Vibe Me To The Moon Records

Catalog Number : TBC

Format:  Digital  

Review: Keita Sano & Sauce81 - Feeling Alright (Lovemonk)

Lovemonk latest single on 7" make us feel more than just alright as it's takes Keita Sano & Sauce81 to the now.

Japanese electonic music has a rich history and to find itself on the Spanish label outta Madrid is not such a cultural jump as what it once may have been.

In fact, these two producers have gone dancefloor ninja on their debut as a duo having separately released tracks on diverse labels as Cosmocites (France), Star Creature (Chicago), Eglo (London), Local Talk (Sweden) as well as their home country.

With the vocal and instrumental versions this is synth-boogie disco house for the big crowds.  The raw vocals might not be to everyone's taste but there's no doubt about it, there's a big 'Feeling Alright' dancefloor bounce to this.

This is quite a bit different.to previous Lovemonk releases we know, like Soulnaturals' 'Give Me The Strenght To Be Me' (see review HERE), but no less welcome.

Artist: Keita Sano & Sauce81 

Title: Feeling Alrightt

Release date: 28th March, 2025

Label: Lovemonk Records 

Cat. No: LMNKV119

Format:  7" Vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Drama On The Corner - Orixa [Single & Radio Edit] (Tangential Music)

Don't worry if you missed Rio Carnival this year as this single by Drama On The Corner will more than make up for it, get 'Orixa'.

Billed as 'UK bruk dynamism with the hip-snapping jazz-funk spirit of Azymuth' you don't expect it to come from a Paris based duo but that's what it is with great vocals sung in Portuguese by Adrien de Araujo with Gérald Portocallis on drum patterns, percussion and synths.

The 70s Azymuth sound is so big, sorry, BIG - even the artwork is more than OPA!  

This single is so different from 'Leaf' by Robert Burbridge ft. Andre Espeut (see review HERE) but if you follow Lee 'Tangential' Bright, you know that's how he rolls.

BUY LINK: Drama On The Corner - Orixa

Artist: Drama On The Corner

Title: Orixa

Release date: 28th March, 2025

Label : Tangential Music

Catalog Number : TBC

Format :  Digital 

Review: ANAN - Room (Space Echo Records)

Perfect for the weekend, this is 'Room' is an open house!

You may recall we got a bit excited about the single, 'Etna' / Back' (see review HERE) with the "outta-jazz dance Latin space vibes" of Cumbia dub us with ANAN (DJs Roberto Agosta and Massimo Napoli (Galathea).

The album 'Rooms' is much of the same - in a good way - with all sorts of psych, jazz, acid, dub, Afrobeat, Latin, soul rooms for us to get lost in.

It's like Jimi Tenor Philophon is the overseeer with flute gang dub 'Zoom', deep Afrohouse ('Naif'), deep space bossa dub ('Back' - Ed.this is so good) and the 'lost in space' soul-jazz dub, 'Lola'.

Three tracks come with The Invisible Sessions - 'Eden', 'Etna' and 'Call' which would be a very nice 'Jazz Version' 12": this version of 'Eden' is the garden spiritual you'd expect; Roy Ayers (RIP) would have loved it whilst 'Etna' goes a bit jazz-funkin' Lonnie Liston Smith in this format.  Add Ravi Shanker/the Coltranes and Sun Ra and there's 'Call' - is this the best album we're going to here this year?!?!

I love that the non-The Invisible Sessions version of 'Eden's just as good but it's all most Italian with echos of The Invisible Sessions on Schema.

'Room' is the first class carriage journey; very jazzy-beats-dance-dub so expect support from all DJ fans like Peterson, Forge, Beadle, Curtis, Parnell, Hill, Hectic and the like. 

Artist: ANAN  

Title: Room

Release date: 21st March, 2025

Label : Space Echo Records

Catalog Number: TBC   

Format: LP / Digital / Bandcamp

Produced by Massimo Napoli and Roberto Agosta
written, composed and produced by Massimo Napoli, Roberto Agosta and Salvatore Bruno

Salvo Bruno "Dub": programming, bass, piano and keyboards
Luciano Cantone: vibraphone on “Eden”, "Call and "Etna" / Fender Rhodes and Bongos on "Etna" - Acoustic Piano on "Call"
Kadi Koulibaly vocals on “Naif”
Gendrickson “Pucci” Mena: trumpet on “Eden”
Riccardo Onori: guitar on “Lola”
Mario Pappalardo: organ solo on “Lola”

Recorder in Nicolosi (Catania) at Studio Dub

Review: VA - Horse Meat Disco Presents Disco & Boogie from Brazil Vol.1 (Mr Bongo)

The fact that the title includes 'Horse Meat Disco Presents' and 'Brazil Vol. 1' should be enough to get everyone excited, to add 'Disco & Boogie' is just the icing on the cake, samba on the carnival, chips on the plate, etc.

The horse logo may not be as rampant as the early HMD Strut compilations, but many of these 16 tracks are 'hard' - no only in so much that us mere mortals won't hard the chance to find originals (as will welcome back Max from "his final week working in Rio"!) but even for disco/boogie standards, 'hard to find' is also edgy as the opener by the 'Harmony Cats' sets the tone.

Mr Bongo fans will recognise the name Jorge Ben and the summer-funk of 'Rio Babilônia' along with Marcos Valle's classic, 'Parabéns (Dança Do Daniel)' (one for the flute gang) and straight-up boogie-disco of Robson Jorge/Lincoln Olivetti's 'Suspira'.

No surprise that the HMD guys would go for the dust biting intro of 'Pássaro Selvagem' (Os Carbonos) that wanders into a rain forest or the heavy Earth, Wind & Fire horns of 'Sol De Verão' by the un-Brazilian sounding 'Lafayette'.

As you can gather, there's tracks that you won't have heard of but are influenced by the International sounds of the time but I can't pin down my current favourite, 'Venha (Remix)' by the mostly unknown Zé Carlos (Ed. could it be a Latin Edwin Collins?)

Much like the long awaiting Vol. 2 of ' The Original Sound of Mali' that came out last month (see review HERE), this compilation has taken 13 years since the quartet of James Hillard, Jim Stanton, Severino Panzetta and Luke Howard started this labour of love; Luke himself visiting Brazil for the first time in 2003, to context, a time of "four-to-the-floor bordom", which gave HMD themselves a leg up - see Rough Guide to Brazilian Electronica HERE).

Partly due to licencing issues and due to their own success (Ed. who remembers the Ponica roadblock appearance?) it's finally here in it's double LP glory this is a musical mix as vibrant as 70s World Cup squad!  "Goooooooooooooalllllllllllllllllll" as someone might say.

BUY LINK: https://www.mrbongo.com/collections/horse-meat-disco/products/horse-meat-disco-presents-disco-boogie-from-brazil-vol-1-vinyl-2lp-cd

Artist: Various Artists 

Title: Horse Meat Disco Presents Disco & Boogie from Brazil Vol.1 

Release date: 21st March, 2025

Label : Mr Bongo

Catalog Number : MRBCDLP302

Format :  2xLP Vinyl / CD / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Matteo Pastorino – Lightside (A.MA Records)

As a bass clarinetists, even in jazz, it's not the most common of instruments - even more chance of making a name for yourself then?

Normal clarinets ain't been a thing since Akker Bilk (Ed. ask your grandparents) or at the other extreme, the children's introduction to the orchestra with Prokofieve's 'Peter And The Wolf.

But there's non of that with Matteo's 'Lightside' who is joined by Domenico Sanna (piano), Dario Deidda (bass) and Armando Luongo (drums).

The opener. 'Gorèe' is a teaser as to how deep Matteo is whilst 'Coming Back' and the tiltle track, show a deep and spiritual vibe of the Bass Clarinet which multi-instrumentalist Alfred Weisberg-Roberts (aka Daedelus) used to draw up in his mulit-layed hip-hop electronic tapestry.

And talking tapestry, 'Les Annèes Folles' is like a weaving river flow with Matteo and Domenico setting the pace from the front whilst the 'best' example of the group's playing are 'Scarabocchio' and the closer, 'Marzo'.

Their 'Tigre' is a mellow jazzcat and 'Elvira' is no mistress of the dark; shadey but no mistress.

So a bit of an eye opener plus a solid jazz album that follows in the footsteps of Miloš Čolović's 'To The Beat of My Footsteps' (see review HERE), A.MA are not letting the grass grow under thier jazzy feet.

Artist: Matteo Pastorino 

Title: Lightside 

Release date: 21st March, 2025

Label : A.MA Records

Catalog Number : AMCO4

Format: CD / Digital / Bandcamp (Pre-Order on Bandcamp Friday, 14th March)

Review: Lorenzo Galardi - CYDONIA EP (EXODUS Recordings)

This is extraordinary from Exodus Recordings after Mr. X has given space travel such a bad name, Lorenzo Galardi re-imagines Ennio Morricone 'Mission to Mars'  as a four track EP, 'CYDONIA'.

Starting from the cover image of 'Monument House of the Bulgarian Communist Party, 1981, Bulgaria' to the pre-blast off opener 'Ignition', this is something a bit different as we go into 'Orbit' with communication radio waves getting warped and distorted. 

The title track is HSTT (High Speed Train Techno) with haunting space winds that's for long speed journeys; if Sun Ra did/does techno, this would be close to it.   

So when it comes to the remix, not surprising we get someone who is out-there (Ed. Argentina?) who had a EP out last year, Hakkon's 'Neural Petterns' (on Conceptio Hipnotico) that takes 'CYDONIA' into the testing phase of wind tunnel to bombard it with echo signals - and it passes the test.

Not sure if Ricardo Villalobos is still available for a minimal remix but this is fun in the meantime as Lorenzo Galardi is on a mission.

Artist:  Lorenzo Galardi 

Title: ICYDONIA EP

Release date: 21st March, 2025

Label : EXODUS Recordings

Catalog Number : EX09

Format: Digital / Bandcamp 

Review: Georgie Sweet - Smaller / All That We Were (First Word Records)

Georgie Sweet's debut on First Word Records is the single 'Smaller' / 'All That We Were' and although there are retrospective elements in the lyrics, there's more than future indications that all that they are will be growing bigger.

Whether that'll be bigger in terms of recognition, financial success, self-or any other yard stick that we tend to beat ourselves up with but I know that with the aid of Marc 'Heat' Rapson (who has supported her since day one with her debut album on Futuristica Music alond with DJ Simon S, Deborah Jordan and K15!)

I know the Futuristica Music team are excited that Georgie's singing and songwriting has developed and they'll be many more stories to share; where's the 'Gerry Hectic 7 Extension Edit' of 'Stories' I here you say?

The last time I saw Georgie in Bournemouth was just before she was off to London to check out some opportunites - it seems to be working out fine as she’s previously supplied vocals to 'Balance', the title track of the highly-acclaimed sophomore album by Children of Zeus, along with Akemi Fox. 

Watch 'Smaller' grow, that's all I'm saying.

P.S. the video is great!

BUY LINK: https://lnk.to/fw330

Artist: Georgie Sweet

Title: Smaller / All That We Were

Release date: 20th March, 2025

Label: First Word Records 

Cat. No: TBC

Format:  Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Various Artists - Partyfine Volume VII - Universalismo (Partyfine)

Yuksek's reputation means that he's got easy access to loads of dancefloor favourites that want to be a part of the most up-to-date Partyfine compilation series and No. 7 has a bumper collection so why not call it 'Universalismo'?

What fantastic artwork to accompli this 13 track compilation (Ed. is that you and Mrs Hectic?) that includes some of our favourites like Tigerbalm (remember 'Profunda Alma' - see review HERE), Partyfine's own Chilam Balam (see review HERE) and, of course, Yuksek himself (check out that video below!)

Yuksek is now known for being a bit of a maverik who loves anything from acid, disco, house, indie, house, Latin, leftfield, synth-pop, world and more.  You certainly get a taste of that in the first three tracks with Tigerbalm's 'Cumbia Calypso' featuring Jimena Angel, 'Ceasy' by Alex Blex and Claap!'s 'Caracas'. 

It's been 20-ish years since Yuksef started out and I remember thinking that his electro based releases on the flamboyant Relish Records were a bit different so you're in for a 'surprise' when he and Chilam Balam get on a Klub mix of Bertand Burgalat's 'Nuit Bleue' that's so 70s disco (with a bit of 'Ring My Bell'n'dub): this is dance music of the Lacey Lady, Room At The Top, Goldmine and Maison Royale 'Nite Club' all rolled into one.

Yuksek also features on the Juveniles' 'Roll With That', his track 'Hyprasesorial' featuring Voyou & Paula as remixed by Bellaire; well it is his label after all.

That said, if you ever get over 'Nuit Bleue', Weekend Affair's 'Promenons-Nous' (Klub Mix) is another Saturday night space boogie banger, like a Wang Chung protege.

The Mang Dynasty remix of Chilam Balam's 'Yaxuma' is a previously unreleased track (and it's black hole heavy!) and there's even time for some more Latin coolness with Invigo's 'Otxie Otxia', Jimena Ángel's 'Llegó La Luz' before finishing on more Claap! (and Destiino) 'Viiens' (set your phazers to 'Acid' and your "ga-ga" to "gou-gou") and chill out to 'Noix De Coco' by Tchiki Boum.

 

An "outstanding collection of tasty disco sounds" indeed but so much more, if you want to impress your friends at a party, fine - if you want to impress yourself, even better.

BUY LINK:: https://partyfine.bfan.link/partyfinevol7

Artist: Various Artists

Title: Partyfine Volume VII - Universalismo

Release date: 21st March, 2025

Label: Partyfine

Cat. No: TBC

Format: Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Various Artists - Ostowana Of Organic House Vol. 1 (Ostowana)

Consider this compilation a 'Best Of' if you will as it's got some great tracks on it, perhaps it's time to fully switch to organic?

Some people have trouble with the term/phrase 'organic house' or even the concept but when it comes of Ostowana they are the best when it comes to the traditional ethnic grooves from North African, Moroccan, Arabic and putting artists together. 

Not exactly a cast of 1000s but in these 10 tracks you've got the best of Aziz Ozouss, Blade SA, Cranky, DeDeXgErande, Desert Raven, Enam, Exit Onli, Hassan Tays, Hind Ennaira, Khalid Elhamri, Lilyass, Omary, Sabry, Salah Fafah, Seguya Sadam, The Black Types, The YONA, DJ SK.

Even so, it's hard to fault 'Nkosi Ya Wolo' (see review HERE) and 'Ayamargi', that came out late last year (see review HERE) but as a 'best of', it's all great especially if you like a bit of late night 'shopping' in 'The Kasbah' (Lilyass featuring DJ SK); definitely one for our man in Marrakesh (DJ Bob Hill, not Herbert Lom) or get lost on the camel train with those 'Desert Echoes' (Blade SA).

And if you need a 'companion' to last months' 'Ostowana Of Afro House Vol. 1' (see review HERE) you need not walk through the Saharan sands any further.

Artist: Various Artists

Title: Ostowana Of Afro House Vol. 1

Release date: 19th March, 2025

Label: Ostowana

Catalog Number: OST098

Format: Digital