Tomi Chair – Warm Seasons – TC White

NEVER cared much for U2. Their stadium-rock posturing and Bono’s holier-than-thou pontificating has never been my cup of char. As for their declaration that it – whatever it might be – is Even Better Than The Real Thing never washed with me.

Let’s take the latest release from Japanese rising star Tomi Chair [who also produces under his real name Tominori Hosoya]. It’s been quite a couple of years for the artist whose work has appeared on the likes of deepArtSounds, Minuendo, Soul Print Recordings and TH Pressing, the label he launched in 2014.

Now he’s gone and started up the TC White imprint as a vehicle for his own music debuting with the first-rate Warm Seasons EP.

It’s an originals versus the remixes affair with the latter taking over the A side of this five-track package. Even better than the real thing though? They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or ear in this case, so I guess you pays your money and you takes your choice. But here’s my two penneth.

Pascal Viscardi [Saft/Traxx Underground] with his Mystic Juno mixx [sic] does a fine job in giving Spring a touch of old-school bounce, burble and brawn, a real departure from the original and a tasty cut in its own right. Tackling Summer head on is Nick Anthony [aka Simoncino of Finale Sessions, Mathematics, Quintessentials and many more] with his African Morning mix. It’s a powerful and evocative drum-driven production that again takes the original into new territory giving it a life all of its own.

As accomplished as both interpretations are though – and they really are – it is on the flipside where the two original tracks plus another from Hosoya and the real beauty reside. All three are right up my alley.

Hosoya’s version of Spring has a light and deft touch. There is little in the way of urgency or indeed kick but it is much the better for that. It’s a classy little number for sure.

Summer, by contrast, is bolder, brighter and brimming with optimism. Soulful and sassy, it is deep house with purpose and attitude as well as the pick of this fine collection.

Rounding off proceedings is the exquisite and deeply-satisfying Morning Bird, a delicate breed with more in common with Spring than Summer.

Check out:

Buy Warm Seasons @ Juno

Zarenzeit – Black Inside – DeepArtSounds

WE lost more than one Prince this year.

Not so high profile yet striking a more personal note for me was the passing of Prince Be, one half of hippie-rap combo P.M. Dawn. He was one of the more colourful and charismatic characters to emerge during the early nineties and the band’s take on pop, hip hop and the industry of music was more blissful, inspiring and curious than most. 

I was reminded of him again recently on hearing this album. Not in a musical way as such, although they do share an era and certain sense of soulfulness, but because as I sat back and wallowed in its glory I was Set Adrift On Memory Bliss.

Black Inside is in many ways an unashamed nostalgia trip. Even the cover photography harks back to the time that made these tracks. It’s a past that is clearly held dear to its creator George Boutopoulos [aka George Btp], co-founder of Zurich-based label deepArtSounds. Indeed, Black Inside is imbued with such intense warmth, comfort and sincerity that on each listen I find myself transported back to another time and place too when soul was the music of love and house still in its early years.

Although technically a collaborative project involving Boutopoulos’s label partner Roberto Pistolese [aka Robert P], indeed the pair formed the band as a live act in 1993, Zarenzeit’s debut album has got Btp’s fingerprints all over it. Even the name, which means era of the Tsars, was inspired by an article he read during one of many musical and cultural trips to Berlin during his formative years in the early-to-late nineties.

And despite many other quality releases as Dan Piu and Allstarr Motomusic, given the style, substance and context of Black Inside – the clue is in the title, innit? – coupled with the fact that Boutopoulos penned or co-wrote every track, you get the feeling that this time it’s personal.

Because not only is Black Inside the culmination of a project that started more than 20 years ago, which in itself must be deeply personal and satisfying, musically it is the autobiography of a soul boy who, amongst many other things no doubt, discovered house and Larry Heard. Much like me.

With the entire album sharing a musical DNA, it’s near impossible to pick stand out tracks. They all stand out.

Melodious and moreish instrumentals such as opening cut Time Travel, the perky Grown In The Bird Hood and slightly melancholic Junkietown clearly share a certain je ne sais quoi, whilst the title track and There, But Here As Well are tributes to Zarenzeit’s house and jazz roots respectively. The gorgeous-yet-brief Let Them Think They Won, meanwhile, evokes shades of the incomparable Mr Fingers himself more than any other number on here; deep, soulful and wondrous.

Regular collaborator Sarignia Bonfà, surely one of the best house vocalists to emerge of late, shares credits and lends her talents to the sensuous Love Mood and gospel-inspired Talk About A Child. On a different tack, the soft, spoken-word delivery of guest vocalist and writer Debra Jones-Davis, director at the superb Altered Moods, is simply sublime on 2souls, 1heart, her own heartfelt tribute to the other Prince. Oh Ms Jones, where have you been all my life?

Black Inside resonates deeply with this old soul boy turned househead. It’s sweet, as we used to say, a debut of impressive proportions for the Zarenzeit vehicle that may even prove to be Boutopoulos’s magnum opus.

Check out:
deepArtSounds
deepArtSounds @ Juno
Black Inside @ SoundCloud

Fuminori Kagajo – Chase Down – Roots Underground Records

PERHAPS it is because I am hopelessly out of touch, tragically unhip or even subconsciously jealous that I am so uncool to carry it off with any conviction, but I have an inherent distrust of anyone who describes other folk as ‘cats’.

It seems to belong to another time and place, when roll-necks, wide lapels and wild Afros ruled the world. And I would undoubtedly be chased from my local Wetherspoon by burly men in cheap sportswear for talking such jive.

Yet cats is the term I keep returning to when pondering the dudes behind vinyl release number two from Italy’s beautifully burgeoning label Roots Underground. Because for the excellent four-track trip – and it is a trip – that is the Chase Down EP, Sapporo-based Fuminori Kagajo [King Street Sounds/Slip‘N’Slide/Fatsouls Records] has surrounded himself with a gaggle of accomplished musicians who sound like they may have served their apprenticeships with Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters.

The title track is a funky-ass journey back to the seventies; soulful, sassy and seriously groovy, it couldn’t be cooler if it were sporting a leather trench coat and mirrored shades. And that is in large part due to the outrageously sharp keyboard skills of the super-talented Takuto Kudo. His fingers are working overtime too on the stunning Aggregation, a wonderfully deep and driving number that irresistibly works both the head and feet to maximum effect.

Over on the flipside there is no sign of slowing down. Indeed, if anything the joyous The Tropics takes the pace up a notch or two, albeit this time with an Afro-Latin lilt. And despite more sterling keyboard gymnastics from Mr Kudo, it is in fact the brass section that takes centre stage with a twisted and frenetic contribution.

Closing track Depths Of The Forest is much more contemporary house territory. There’s still a delightful and uplifting keyboard solo on parade but this time married to a deep house sensibility and kick. It’s a heady brew.

Buy here.

Check out:

Roots Underground @ SoundCloud
Roots Underground @ Bandcamp

Andy Vaz – House Warming Remixes – Yore

NEVER one to rest on his laurels, Andy Vaz is back with a trio of tip-top remixes to celebrate this year’s earlier release of the essential House Warming, his first album in four years.

And as you might expect from the Yore Records head honcho, with quality control foremost as always, the resulting House Warming EP is every bit as must-have as the long-player of the same name.

A self-confessed lover of the golden era of funk, house and soul from the seventies to nineties, it’s little wonder that eclectic German producer Damiano von Erckert, head of AVA. Records, opted to tackle the soulful jack of Want U Back. His Chicago mix is a sterling effort, a groovier and chunkier take on an already fine track with, of course, a significant nod to the Windy City house pioneers.

Nobody featuring the vocal talents of Eva Soul is without doubt one of the highlights of Vaz’s full-length. Broad musical shoulders were needed to tackle it head on. Step up Detroit’s Patrice Scott who turns in a glorious, slow burning, heads-down classic, the After Dark mix, which builds and builds to a delightfully soulful finale.

The boss man Vaz’s instrumental re-working of the same track is just as satisfying, a seriously uplifting head and feet mover to warm the soul.

Check out:
House Warming Remixes @ Juno

Various Artists – The Electronica Sound Of Planet Earth Volume 1 – Xenology Records

HE’S reinvented himself more times than Madonna has that there John Morrison. Black Jack, or even BlackJack, Mr. Man, Submorphosis, it’s hard to keep up at times with the experienced DJ and producer, a stalwart of the Scottish underground electronic scene. Now you can add to the list ‘label boss’ as, in cahoots with DJ partner Jace Syntax, he’s gone and launched his own imprint, Xenology Records.

It’s quite a debut for the label too, a staggering 20-track compilation of fresh techno gems culled from an eye-catching roster of well-known and well-respected artists including Derrick Thompson (aka Drivetrain and owner of Soiree Records International), Derek Carr (For Those That Knoe) and Rennie Foster (F Communications/Rebirth), not to mention Morrison and Syntax too. And why not, it is their label after all.

Between them they know their way round a techno track this lot and, boy, does it show with one super production following relentlessly after another, a mouth-watering and value-for-money two hours plus of intelligent, high-quality techno.

Standouts abound. Cliché it may be, but there really is something for everyone depending on your musical bent. There’s the rapturous and futuristic uplifting techno of the aforementioned Carr’s simply-titled X, Hughes Giboulay’s Variable, J Garcia’s Moon Roof and Jules Wells’ magnificent arms-in-the-air number You Are. And how could I not mention Stevie B Brown’s catchy piano-driven stormer Dirty Soul [piano mix, of course]?

For something more ethereal and intergalactic take EBE’s sumptuous and aptly-named Spacely, Mark Ryal’s deeply Rough and the charming Light Side from Andron Electron. The head honcho’s are no makeweights either. Syntax’s Alien Biology is a melodic and trippy little affair, whilst the sprightly and hypnotic Separate Entity showcases perfectly the ability of Mr. Morrison, who has long-standing and deeply-rooted connections within the Detroit underground electronic scene. He’s a busy boy too these days with fingers in numerous pies including a forthcoming release on a project close to my heart. Stay tuned.

For now though Morrison and the Xenology crew should bask in the credit of a job done well and a debut that promises even more good things to come. Full marks.

Check out:

Xenology Records

The Electronica Sound Of Planet Earth Volume 1 @ Juno

Gregor Yan – Jazz City Mini LP – Deep Explorer

WITH the big four-oh – releases not years that is – just a record away, Spanish label Deep Explorer appears to be in no mood to play safe or rest on its rather excellent laurels.

Having journeyed during its 12-year existence from minimal and tech grooves through to the grown-up deep house canon it has become synonymous with, the Madrid-based imprint has gone and flipped the script by conjuring up what almost amounts to a jazz concept album.

Of course there are significant elements of house music and the usual high-quality Deepex deepness thrown in there, we would expect nothing less, but the carefully curated six-track selection from Gregor Yan – a new name round here – is imbued and styled overwhelmingly by this thing called jazz.

Opening up the album is the languid title-track, a percussion and piano driven number with a cool-as-fuck male vocal and more than just a faint air of low-budget film about it.

The long player kicks on with Take #2, which has been reshaped by the New Jazz Fakers, aka Yan and the incomparable label boss Dubbyman. Still dominated by the jazz vibe naturally but with a house beat and purpose, it’s one of those tracks that reminds you just why God made us phunky.

Both About Love and Take #7 mine that same hi hat and sparkly keys late-night jazz club seam to great effect, whilst Loud Silence is a beautiful and wistful unhurried journey that brings the album to a perfectly fitting close.

Sandwiched between these and worth the cover price alone, however, is the majestic Strange Emotion. It’s straight-up, honest-to-goodness deep house dripping in soul, power and, of course, emotion. Bundles of it.

Individual moments of brilliance notwithstanding, a holistic approach is perhaps the best way to experience Jazz City; a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Close your eyes tightly though and I swear you can make out Dubbyman, a striking figure with fedora strategically tilted to one side, gliding contentedly and with purpose through some smoky dive bar or other. And that’s got to be a very good thing.

Check out:

Deep Explorer

Gregor Yan

Jazz City Mini LP @ Juno

Marc Cotterell feat. Doreen Younglove – Deepinside – Minuendo

FOR one very frightening, sweat-inducing split second my eyes failed me and I was convinced that the new release on Minuendo was a deep house version of the camp classic I Am What I Am. I should have gone to Specsavers.

Panic over and normal service resumed, it turns out I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Because instead of an updated homage to dressing up in drag, the latest offering from the wonderful Madrid-based imprint is in fact a rather-tasty label debut for the much-experienced DJ and producer Marc Cotterell, owner of Plastik People Recordings.

Featuring three juicy value-for-money takes on the same cut, I’am featuring the powerful and potent vocal talents of Doreen Younglove, the Deepinside EP is Minuendo at its very soulful best. The classic vocal mix is precisely that, a soaring and uplifting cut with its heart and soul rooted in the finest traditions of proper deep house.

We love the sartorially-splendid Chris Gray round here [I picked up his equally-splendid release on yet another formidable Spanish label, Pulp, only last week]. His own Deep4Life imprint has achieved an almost mythical status and his work is constantly challenging and brilliant in equal measure. His Deep4Life dub here is everything you would want from a remix of his, turning the original upside down, putting his stamp all over it and taking the track firmly underground into dark room, bass-thumping, late-night territory. Hats off to Senor Gray.

Version three is the divine 5am Get Laid mix. It’s a little more chilled than the original, a touch deeper and more laidback. One for the heads no doubt and certainly excited these ears.

Nestled between this appetising selection is another naughty little number, Into The Light. Deep, vocal-driven house once again but with much more of a heads-down vibe to it. Music for grown-ups.

Check out:

Minuendo

Plastik People Recordings

Deep4Life

Doreen Younglove

Deepinside EP @ Juno