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.......................................... FEBRUARY 2008
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................................... Tahuna Breaks ~ Reflections
Tahuna Breaks debut album see's them standing strong with regards to originality and style, add this to thier fluid improvisational talent and you have one of the most promising acts to breakthrough the NZ music scene in recent years. The title track is a a deeply captivating track that seemlessly blending drum & bass, soul, atmospheric rock and warm jazzed out saxophone solo's, which create a rich spacious backdrop for Marty Greentree's emotive tones. The rhythmic flow throughout the album is very solid due to Tim Gemmel's infecious grooves which provide the band with a solid backbone and a great base for their captivating freestyle sound. Voodoo's upbeat nu style dub/rock crossover oozes great energy due to its funked out wah guitar, lively beats, rich sax and solid bass grooves. Its contagious sound owes much to the guitars rhythms and melodies which intertwine perfectly throughout giving the track great depth and drive. There's also great diversity within the album coming from the slow groove Im Not Worthy and Crisis which have amazing fluidity within the instrumental work and are reminiscent of classic 60's style jam sessions.
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............................. Mavis Staples ~ We'll Never Turn Back
We'll Never Turn Back's a very stylish blend of old style funk, deep minor key blues, phsycadellia, soul and gospel. The depth of mood purveyed throughout many of the more upbeat songs on the album is highly intoxicating. This is all due to the well thought out composistion, quality old style instrumenation and Mavis Staples strong passionate vocal delivery. The opening track encapsulates all of this perfectly and has an incredible depth in sound that purveys the pure strength and soul within the music. Breaking out with thick vocal harmonies, rich bluesy guitar riffs that are soaked in warm distortion and a big beat before Mavis's stylish vocal melodies kick in. The album owes much to the inspirational blues guitarist Ry Cooder, not only for his ingenious playing styles but also for his well thought out production styles which give the album its classic sound. Other quality tracks within the album are 99 and 1/2, Eyes On The Prize and On My Way. With styles ranging from 99 and 1/2's heady brew of deep funk, blues, gospel and stoner rock, to the hypnotic vocal sound of On My Way, with Mavis's deep bassy tones creating a truly spellbinding sound.
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................................. Waldeck ~ Ballroom Stories
Ballroom Stories represents a big move for Waldeck due to a drastic deviation in style from his previous work. While his old material was heavily influenced by minor key trip hop, Ballroom Stories exchanges dark for light and breathes new life and energy into his sound. This works really well, while the music is a little simplistic in places it exudes great charecter, persona and sophistication. The new addition of vocalists Joy Malcolm's distinctive tones and Eva Schwärzler Engel warm sultry voice perfectly compliment the instrumentation and styles which makes for a classic sound. Despite the vibe of the album being very reminiscent of 1920's style swing its integration of deep groove, dub and soul adds a nu style twist giving it a fresh yet distinctive vibe. The diversity is also good with tracks ranging from the tango/funk/dub crossover Memories to the smooth flowing sampling and warm jazzy melodies of Why Did We Have To Fire That Gun to the energetic swing influenced So Black & Blues wild trumpet solo's, grooved out double bass and Brian Amos crazy vocal sound. Recommended for fans of Supreme Beings Of Leisure and Koop.
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................................. Big Bud ~ Late Night Blues
Light Night Blues is a highly intoxicating and deeply atmospheric album that integrates acoustic drum & bass with wide cinematic soundscapes, jazzy keys, hypnotic percussive rhythms and deep rolling basslines. Late Night Blues is without a doubt one of the finest alternative organic sounding drum & bass albums released to date. The sheer space in sound throughout the album creates a stunning environment which pulls the listener into a deep trance inducing journey through the lush multitextural soundscapes. Guest musician Weldon Irvine's fluid keys give the album great tonality and depth in melody and further gives the music a further lift in quality and style. He opens up the scene well with the most laid back track on the release, laying down some soft spoken word and subtle keys that delicatly shimmer around the deep bass drum and acoustic drums. Then the album breaks out ganing pace, depth and rhytym all while retaining a stunning fluidity. Late Night Blues spiritual sound and originality of cross genre styles is mainly due to synthetically sculpted cinematica, smooth subtone basslines, acoustic style drum & bass beats and breaks and subtle tribal influenced vocal chants. Very highly recommended.
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.............................. Little Dragon ~ Little Dragon
Little Dragons lack of fear with regards to experimentism this sets it well apart from the crowd. Which in turn gives the album a very alluring and appealing sound The main influences throughout the album are laid back unpretencious urban music and innovative electronica, which is all laced with subtle jazzy flecks, hazy pop melodies and quirky beats and breaks. Standout tracks come in the form of Twice, Test and Constant Suprizes. Twice is an extremely emotive and beautifully delicate soul soaked ballard, drawing together lighter shades of atmospherica, downtempo and classical. The genteel piano melodys, subtle strings and deep bassy tones work beautifully with Yukimi Nagano's wonderfully enchanting tone throughout forming an ultra evocative downbeat gem. Test's a warm bassy track that oozes originality. Its strong sound comes from thier innovative hybrid of offbeat funk, spoken word and the amazingly intrigiung synthetic wonderland they've created due to thier highly imaginative freeform style. Another track well worth checking out within the release is Scribble Paper. Its a beautifully slow paced jazz infused track that intergates the warm soulful sound of the double bass and pizzacato cello with light and airy minimalistic rhythms and subtle syths. All in all its a great debut and comes recommended to anyone into fresh, vibrant and experimental music styles.
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.......................... Wax Poetic 'feat' Norah Jones ~ Angels
Angels is possibly one of the most stunning downtempo tracks produced to date. The track breaks out with a memorizing tribal style vocal sample before bringing in an ultra deep flowing bassline, warm and subtle distorted rhodes keys before the soft emotive tones of Norah Jones drops in, floating in and out of the atmospheric samples, muted trumpet solo's and evocative french spoken word. Norah Jones shines strong throughout the track providing an intensely beautiful and highly emotive vocal delivery. Very highly recommended.
