[acid-jazz] reviews

From: Jon Freer (jon-freer_at_excite.com)
Date: 2003-10-27 13:30:58

  • Next message: Cantor, Steven: "[acid-jazz] rsl - anyone?"

    These aren't all 'acid-jazz', but they'll hopefully interest you. The Moonstar RMX on Exceptional is ace!!!

    Jon Freer’s Reviews. 25th October 2003.

    Thanks to Tammy at Magnum PR, Matthias Schaffhäuser and Margit at Ware, Bob & Tash at Exceptional, Manuel Perez and Sarah at Favouritizm for these…

    I’m going to be at the Southport Weekender this upcoming weekend for Keep On Magazine, so if anyone’s heading down & would like to meet up, let me know…

    Sean Smith – The Obscene EP (Classic)
    Cat No: CMC 25. Available Now. 12” single.
    Not as risqué or explicit as the title suggests, this offering from Sean is run-of-the-mill dancefloor pulsating grovesome House. “Latin Love” is a sensuous fling in the sun, with undescript percussion, jiving keys and dreamed strings. The Land Shark remix smoothes out the creases with some warm bass action, while “Insania” reminisces over acid house, with just some drunken keys and rough assed beats for company.

    Matthias Schaffhäuser – Truthology / De:tox-Re:tox (Ware)
    Cat No: WARE41. Available Now. 12” single.
    Matthias gets philosophical on this release, where the questions the existence of a supreme being. “Truthology” searches for the truth and ends up stuck on a dark techy dancefloor, where pounding beats, sharpened synths and a drawn out bass get down. “De:tox-Re:tox” is a musical description of hell, as breakneck speed sprinting breaks meet confusing synths and a grotesque bassline.

    Forces Of Nature – A Dark Nebula (Exceptional)
    Cat No: EXEC33. Available Now. 12” single.
    More inventive than the slightly pallid “Loopaddiction”, this cut sees KZA & DJ Kent beat their habit. To be fair, it’s the Moonstar Remix that’s the superior version, with spacified shuffly drumming, cosmic FX, jaw dropping keyed melody and misshapen synths. The original is still an inviting prospect, courtesy of some trippy keys, drum kit heaviness and ominous bass rumbles.

    Håkan Lidbo – Bad Clams (Lace)
    Cat No: LACE 003. Available Now. 12” single.
    Hakan furthers the Catalan-Scandinavian connection, with this wonderfully varied outing for Manuel Perez’s Lace imprint. “Bad Clams” is a pleasant enough strutting percussive ride, where stripped guitar strums combine with watery synths and a resourceful bass. “Boogiethon” grooves courtesy of a playful synth, whilst the real gem is the minimally minded jazzed out key frenzy of “Helsingborg”.

    Thunderball Vs Liftoff – Welcome Back Cooper (Eighteenth St. Lounge)
    Cat No: ESL 065. Available Now. 10” single.
    Drawing heavily on the crazy hallucinogenic world of 60’s psychedelica, this handy 10” sees Thunderball battle themselves, in the form of their Liftoff guise. The original takes sitar wobbles, indie styled guitar strummings and happy brass dances on a psychedelic journey. The Liftoff reinterpretation accents the retro vibes further and injects flower power with some varied drumming, synth slurs and a very addictive bass.

    Mama Razzi – Show Me Love (Richard Earnshaw Remixes) (suSU)
    Cat No: 12SUSU15P/X. Release Date: 27th October 2003. 12” single X2.
    Richard Earnshaw has done a commendable job here, transferring Mama Razzi, who sound like they’ve been named after an Italian pizza restaurant, from soulful rivers to housier waters. His vocal mix is a blemishless and possibly too clean re-rub, with perfect love keys, sweet hopeful vocals and string smiles. Groovefinder’s Vox is not a transparent undercover outing for a D&B master, but a slick key-led re-style from Richard and Barry Barnett, that embodies portions of a cut by a stylish Frenchman. Richard’s ‘Club Mix’ sees delicate guitar touches uplift the soul, as vocals finally convince you that the love is true.
               

    Jon Freer(jon.freer_at_wrongsteps.com)
    reviewer and writer for the following
    websites and magazines: Blues & Soul Magazine,
    FACT Magazine,littleplanet.net, City Life Magazine,
    XLR8R Magazine, Keep On Magazine, pitchadjust.com,
    beyondjazz.net, Store Records(Sheffield),
    cratertechnology.com, vybemuzik.com, Steel Press,
    deephousenetwork.com, offitsface.com, Sandman mag,
    breakevencrew.com, overloadmedia.co.uk, funk-me.com,
    Vanguard online, quadrastate.co.uk, spaced.co.uk,
    beats.to, housecollective.org, capitolvibes.com,
    www.selekta.com, djriri.com, universalsource.co.uk,
    Inner Loop Magazine, housemuziq.com, undergroundhouse.net, worlddj.com,
    mosoul.co.uk, discotribe.net, flygarictracks.com,
    skansen.no, nwdnb.co.uk
    planetsoulnetwork.com
    allaboutdj.com
    mundovibes.com...
    Writer for:
    Brique Rouge, Exceptional Records,
    Foreplay Recordings,
    Robsoul Recordings, Dust Traxx,
    Spiritual Life Music and more...

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