Wednesday 13 April 2016

Owen Jay & Melchior Sultana – Contrasts featuring Mykle Anthony (Deep Explorer remixes) – Batti Batti


SIBLING rivalry, eh. Don’t you just love it? My sister kicked me in the face once when we were kids. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was wearing roller skates at the time. It was an accident of course. Well I think it was.

I bet the Brothers Alvarez [aka Above Smoke and Dubbyman] wouldn’t kick each other in the face even if they were arguing over who could knock out the best remix. And I’m not about to call it either. Because what you do get for your money, on a slice of tremendous 10” vinyl no less, on the latest from the ever-wondrous Batti Batti label is a pair of achingly-beautiful versions of Owen Jay and Melchior Sultana’s already-stunning Contrasts, featuring the vocal talents of Mykle Anthony. It’s win win really.

Having said all that, it still behoves me as a reviewer to throw in my two-penneth [I have no idea what that is in new money or Euros]. The original first appeared on the Maltese imprint’s Kiss The Sun EP a couple of years back. Now label head Jay has commissioned the Deep Explorer pair to work their magic on the track for this the first in a series of 10” releases. And work their magic they do.

Above Smoke is something of an unsung hero. Noted for his excellent mastering skills and The Hole Of The Dub studio, it is sometimes forgotten what a great producer he is too. Not by those that know of course and certainly not by me. If you are not already familiar with gems such as Burning, Jazzt Me and Inner Vibe then make them your best friends right now.

Here he takes the uber-laidback, chilled out, Mediterranean charm of the original and adds a pacier undercurrent, enhancing the velvet-smooth vocals and losing none of its satisfyingly-warm glow.

Dubbyman, meanwhile, opts for the slow, sexy and sultry route. And boy does it work. Wrapped up in those summery vibes we’ve come to know and love from Deep Explorer, it’s a mesmerising and gorgeous piece of work. Which is best though? You choose.

Check out:
The Hole Of The Dub studio
Contrasts @ Juno

No comments:

Post a Comment