6.10.2006 von mk.

Simon Green aka Bonobo returns with his third album and the kind of quantum leap in quality that very few artists make. “Days To Come” has the feeling of a classic all over - a big, brooding, emotional and uplifting record that you can dance to, do the dishes to, or sit and really study.
Green has always been expert at welding together music dripping with atmosphere, combining his own musical and technical talents in such a way as to make utterly organic-sounding machine music. This is not just a knob-twiddling producer but a multi-instrumentalist at work, who writes, plays and then manipulates almost every note of music he releases. And “Days To Come” shows a new structural awareness growing from this, a feeling for the song form and the gradual build which raises it way above the work of many of his contemporaries and cries out for him to achieve the kind of mainstream success that has talent has long hinted at.
Rather than turning himself into a producer-for-hire on his own record and delivering a compilation album, Green found one main singer to work with, and her voice certainly adds that crucial edge to proceedings. Bajka (pronounced ‘Biker’) grew up as part of Embryo, a travelling music commune, whose journies took them through Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan. Now based in Germany she has released records on labels such as Ubiquity and Compost. A smokey, soulful singer, she sounds as at home on the big band soul-jazz of “Between The Lines” as on the more melancholic “Nightlite. Green is also joined by labelmate and fellow Brightonian Fink on the beautiful come-on “If You Stayed Over”, a gem of emotional pop that sees both of them at the top of their game.
Green hasn’t abandoned the instrumentals, though. “Ketto” arrives with a dreamlike intensity, “On Your Marks” hits with the all the force of early-era Shadow, while Part 2 of “Transmissions94″ is amongst the most beautiful and transcendent music that this quiet and self-effacing producer has yet crafted.

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6.10.2006 von mk.

The flood of folk compilations just keeps coming. And we are far from there being talk of any new trend set to take its place. JAZZANOVA have a relaxed attitude to the debate on folk ’cause they neither claim to be the founding fathers of the movement nor do they let themselves be pressurized into having to do anything word changing in the area. In most cases this is when the real magic starts to happen - precisely when you don’t try too hard. The proof that they have something worthwhile in the folk scene is that Secret Love, which is now on the third in the series, has progressed from being an insider-tip to an institution. Together with their buddy RESOUL who runs the Berlin record store Soultrade and TRUE BEATZ COLLEKTIVE, they have again searched out undiscovered jems of the folk scene.
In the folk section of most record stores you can find a very broad palette of varied music from rock, to electronic and brazilian tunes. The goal of this compilation is by no means to solve the puzzle of what is meant by the term “folk”, as many will upon listening to it ask what it has to do with folk-music. Similar to jazz and soul, the term is much more an attempt to try and pigeon hole that which cannot be catagorised. Its much more about bringing together the music that many DJs hear removed from the dance floor. „Secret Love“ is something of a mix tape for a loved one, even if there is no one particular person in mind. Still one or two anecdotes deserve mention. So for example, POLA are swiss friends of ALEX BARCK from JAZZANOVA’s neighbours. Other than writing the music for CHISTOPH SCHLINGENSIEF’s latest theater production they have also just made a really nice album which will unfortunately only be available in their homeland. THIEF already had a track on the first installment of Secret Love. “Does It Make Any Sense” is something to look forward to from their forthcoming album. Englishman FINK had a surprisingly good debut album “Biscuits” on COLDCUT’s Label Ninja Tune. For Secret Love he did an exclusive version of “Pretty Little Thing” which is only available on this compilation. Ninja Tune label colleagues MAX & HARRVEY contribute to the compilation with their track “Sleep” which was previously only available on 10″ and makes a good lullaby. ANDRE ZIMMA is the latest project from Sonar Kollektiv family members DANIEL PAUL & DJ HONESTY (also on swedish label Brandy) aka SLOPE. FUJIYA & MIYAGI proved with their album on Tirk that they go beyond the boundaries (though exactly which boundaries it is not clear) and it’s not always just about an electronic interpretation of camp-fire romantic. Following her recent more club orientated album “All I Can Provide”, CLARA HILL is now striving in a more acoustic orientated song writing direction. She delivers an exclusive preview with the track “Once I Know”. KIRK DEGIORGIO and his new project THE BEAUTY ROOM just couldn’t have been left out. Especially after he worked on “Holding On” with DEODATO, who has already arranged for FRANK SINATRA and ARETHA FRANKLIN.

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6.10.2006 von mk.

The success story of the two guys from Karlsruhe KRISTIAN BEYER and FRANK WIEDEMANN aka ÂME is showing no signs of waning. Having led the annual charts of Groove and De:Bug magazines, provided PETE TONG with a single of the month and even making a DJ mix for said DJs BBC show, the Essential Selection. Their hit Rej has been christened by LOUIE VEGA and DANNY KRAVIT (Masters At Work) as the “Plastic Dreams” of the new millenium…so here is their first official mix-compilation!
Their DJ sets are currently being celebrated everywhere from Miami to Paris and Helsinki, so it was only a matter of time until they immortalized one of their kicking mixes for home use on an official mix album.Sonar Kollektiv label bosses JAZZANOVA delivered the first in this “…Mixing” series and in so doing earned worldwide thanks for making one of their eclectic DJ sets available in digital format for the first time. The duo from Karlsruhe’s selection is no less varied as they switch from old to new, through house, disco, minimal and techno.Synth pioneer LAURIE SPIEGEL, who already presented a prototype of the Detroit Techno Sound in the 70s, sets things off with her Appalachian Grove 1 which was written in Fortran (an old computer programme, long before Basic or C). The unusual track 24 Hours From Culture II from 80s Dutch wave band NEW MUSIK is to this day a favourite of DJs like DANIELE BALDELLI and DJ HARVEY. He later also used the classic Woman Of The World by Swiss group FORMATION DOUBLE on his legendary Sarkastic Disco mix. Stand Up from NEXUS could easily be mistaken for a METRO AREA number. Besides ÂME another name that is often being mentioned with regards to the Deephouse Renaissance is HENRIK SCHWARZ. His most striking remix to date is also his most timeless. The way he accentuates the voice of ROBERT OWENS with opulent strings on COLDCUT’s Walk A Mile means it’ll still give you give you goose bumps in ten years.
BEN WESTBEECH is the star of GILLES PETERSONS new label BROWNSWOOD RECORDS. His track So Good Today unites the typical YORUBA style with analogue Chicago sounds. God of remixers, CARL CRAIG’s version of JONNY L’s This Time was previously only available as a promo so for some the search for this jazz, house and techno hybrid ends with this release. The latest addition to the Innervisions label which ÂME started with DIXON is GILB´R und I:CUBE aka CHATEAU FLIGHT. Their wide tune Baroque makes the perfect bridge to LUCIANO’s Stone Age which has been a central part of the ÂME DJ set for over two years so could not have been left out of this collection. Flashback 86 sounds, as the title suggest, as though it might have been made in the late 80s, however actually it is produced by JONATHAN BURNIP who can otherwise be found behind the counter of London’s SOUL JAZZ record store.
DERRICK MAY’s FUNTOPIA feat. JIMI POLO remix was also previously only available as a promo. It was given to ÂME by DOMINIC CAPELLO, manager of Glasgow’s SUB CLUB. Of course ÂME’s own breakthrough track, Nia, must be celebrated once more before it gets slightly quieter, although no less exciting, with JUMP CUTZ Deep Introspection #5. This track is another true classic and favourite of NEEDS CREW that has long been almost impossible to get. And as true MANUEL GÖTTSCHING fans ÂME of course had to include an ASHRA number in the mix. Their track Sunrain has been a big influence on the club music of today.
As a whole, ÂME’s “…Mixing” is not just a bridge between old and new, club and home stereo. It also serves as an interesting connection between various musical genres which are currently dominating the good metropolitan clubs.

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