VA - What A Fine Mess We Made

label: Affine
releasedate: April 11 2011
cat #: aff 006

JSBL – the band comprised of Dorian Concept, Cid Rim, The Clonious and Willi Rosner – is featured twice on this collection. They open with their signature sound in Big Kariba, and return in Project Mayham Sandwich for another slice of live played bombastic electrofunk. Incomparable, highly effective. What Sixtus Preiss & The Clonious do next in Specimen From Springbing is pure magic: uptempo beats underlining a plethora of otherworldly synths in a spaced out arrangement. Or something. The Clonious returns twice more, for his off the hook remix for Dorian Concept’s keyboard extravaganza Tropical Hands and the crunktastical monster Alter-Ego-Cate complete with haunting cut up vocal loops. If you haven’t heard his debut album on Ubiquity, what are you waiting for?!

Next up are Ogris Debris, the Austrian house duo that first caught my attention with their G-thong back in 2008. Sexy Chair reminds me a bit of Henrik Schwarz, and their remix of Trilingual Dance Sexperience is a 10-minute musical journey of epic proportions, blending Underworld, Henrik Schwarz and Dorian Concept. Of course there’s plenty of room as well for the guy it all started with for Affine, Dorian Concept: two shorter tracks where Oliver really explores his experimental side.
Cid Rim is the last one getting two tracks to do his thing. And what a ride his Dark Cide Rymbal is, a big crowd on a summer festival would totally go crazy for this peaktime distortion scorcher. His remix for The Clonious’ Earringer on the other hand is a welcome downtempo banger.

There’s some time left for other/newer talent too, with new signees Zanshin and Krts delivering solid tunes. The Ubiquitous Cosmin TRG finally is present as well with a very deep and dope rendition of Orgis Debris’ Light Aery.

It all sounds unlike anything I’ve heard before, and it kicks major ass. We warned for these guys before, and this label compilation confirms our worst fears: you’ll be seriously hooked.

Spaven - Spaven's 5

label: Jazz Re:freshed
releasedate: December 6, 2010
style: Future Jazz

Maybe you’ve never heard the name Richard Spaven before, but chances are big you’ve heard the man play, maybe even live. He’s been a household drummer for so many artists: Mark de Clive-Lowe, José James, The Cinematic Orchestra, GURU, 4hero, … the list goes on. But now that the good cats at Jazz Re:freshed have kickstarted a new series of mini-albums called 5ive’s, it’s time for Richard to step out of the shadow and deliver his first proper release. He is accompanied by a few great guests though: José James and Dj DooWop on vocals, Brotherly’s Robin Mullarkey on bass, Flowrider’s Vincent Helbers on keys, and many more.

The result is amazing. The drumming of course is fingerlicking good, but the intricate jazz arrangements, quirky time signatures and modern electronic production are top notch as well. Give these 6 tracks a few spins and you’ll be hooked. From the hypnotizing Rockers Round Window to the enchanting ballad Maz and the headnodding jazzhop of Zeebra III. The mysterious and slightly discomforting Network could have been on Two Pages, or a Domu album. And 1759 finally is the perfect closing track – mesmerizing and soothing. This is future jazz, people. Give this man a 5-album contract!

Check this Youtube video of Richard introducing the album.

Cid Rim vs The Clonious - Full Nelson EP

label: Affine
releasedate: December 1, 2010
cat #: AFF 005

Onto another fantastic debut, from Vienna this time. Cid Rim is the drummer of the JSBL band (together with The Clonious, Dorian Concept and Willi Rosner) but here he has three tracks to prove his solo worth. Opener Jerome could very well be played on more adventurous radio stations, as it sports a quite poppy sound and a straightforward verse/chorus progression. Nice, but then things start to get crazy – as in crazy good. Chop Suey Cide Step has a driving midtempo beat and a bumpy acid bassline like Luke Vibert likes them. On Bear Hug Love Cid Rim pulls open all registers, with squelchy synths, bleeps and stabs on a ruff dubstep riddim. Madness!

On the flip The Clonious takes his turn. He released his (excellent) debut album on Ubiquity last year, and here takes a similar approach to side A: one catchy vocal tune and two tunes-gone-wild. The vocal is courtesy of Paul Randolph, who turns Truth into a bit of an anthem that will work well on dancefloors. Earringer is the counterpart to Cid Rim’s Bear Hug Love: frantic, agitated and just plain crazy. The final track called Paul’s Suite is a bit more balanced, where The Clonious paints an intricate musical story with otherworldly synths and stuttering beats.

Another excellent release by Austria’s Affine label – fans of Dorian Concept and the like: don’t sleep!

Erdbeerschnitzel - Suave EP

label: 4lux
releasedate: December 2010
cat #: 4LUX010-01
style: Midtempo synth house groovers

Erdbeerschnitzel (German for “a slice of strawberry”) aka Tim Keiling usually produces house/electro music, but for this EP on the 4lux label he went for a midtempo approach. The sound in these three tracks reminds a lot of Floating Points, but label boss Gerd assured me that Suave for example was recorded two years ago. So what you get is three great arrangements with funky midtempo house grooves and several layers of playful synths and filtered samples. The Suave EP will have you nodding your head frantically!

Krystal Klear - Tried For Your Love EP

label: All CIty
releasedate: December 2010
cat #: ACKK12x1
style: Disco Boogie madness

Hailing from Manchester comes Krystal Klear with the new disco sound! With Boogie Wan and Dekryptic you get two perfectly produced slices of electronic boogie, but the main dish here is Tried For Your Love, and even more the Hudson Mohawke remix. The original is a lovely dreamy synth adventure reminiscent of Dâm-Funk – although a bit cleaner – while Hud Mo completely transforms this and mutates it into a ridiculously effective new jack swing revival! Our limbs are busting down in all kinds of uncontrollable moves to these killer piano stabs, sax loops, hard claps and jaw dropping breakdowns! Look for this remix in my 2010 favorites chart.

Samples at the All City website.

Jo Stance - Jo Stance

label: Ricky-Tick
releasedate: October 13, 2010
cat #: RTCD019

Back in 2007 Ricky-Tick Records introduced Stance Brothers and their album Kind Soul, a gritty instrumental soul / funk setting masterminded by and fully canned by Teddy Rok at his home studio.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we are blessed with a magnificient new album from ”A Magnificient New Talent” (as declared on the cover). A singer by the name of Jo Stance.

Although Jo Stance is a standalone project, not meant to be a straight continuation to what made the Stance Brothers, the connection is evident in more ways than just the name. The album is recorded in pretty much the same manner, at home using analog multitracks, with the duo responsible of nearly all the sounds, only helped out by friends on horns, Jukka Eskola and Timo Lassy – or should we call him Diamond T. Sparks (remember him?) on this occasion?

In fact I’m told that this session would not be without Mr. Sparks, who initally drove Teddy Rok to produce some of Jo’s album, which later on took the current form.

I’m so very glad it turned out this way, because the result is astounding. Last summer many top clubs and various DJs picked up the 45, ”Hey Girl!”, making it a bit-of-a-hit for afficionados from Helsinki to Brooklyn, NY. The tune’s laid-back, vibraphone driven melody was ideal for the summer breeze, alright, but I was still caught off-guard when I first listened to the whole set.

I knew Jo could sing the Soul, she had done so on the background of the great Finnish soulman Tuomo, and Huba, to name but a few, but to step out into the spotlight is something very different. I feel the singers in Finland usually tend to be a bit wary, as if a bit excusing to be on the mic. But that can’t happen singing soul. You have to lay it all on the table so as to tell you’re the star.

This is where I think Jo Stance succeeds with flying colors. Whether she is in-your-face raw and powerful – the way you know I love it – like in ”Sticky” (an absolute future classic), ”Treated” or ”Changes”, or heart-warmingly mellow as in ”Me and You” or ”No More Tears”, she feels real, the songs feel really close to her.

This is the one of the most significant records out of Finland this year (there is still one gem waiting at the Ricky-Tick HQ…) and the best Finnish Soul album since 2006′s ”Keep Reaching Up” by The Soul Investigators. The album is a homerun for Jo Stance as a singer, for Teddy Rok invading new territories as a soul producer, as well as Ricky-Tick for expanding their release range into soul music.

5/5 by Janski Arnimaa

CD/LP + mp3/ Digital out in Finland now, with international release to follow (will elaborate on the dates later)

http://www.jostance.com/

http://www.myspace.com/jostance

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jo-Stance/156441657708658

Webstore with international shipping options @ http://www.recordshopx.com/

2009 was a great year for music again, and with the year end traditionally comes a plethora of ‘best of’ lists. But rather than simply drop a bland enumeration of the 10 best records of the year, we decided to broaden the scope and list the best things to happen in music in 2009, and write a line or two about each. First up is Lensco’s selection:

• Best tunes of the year – Joy Orbison: Mr. Orbison single-handedly injected a much needed boost of musicality into the dubstep genre. While they’re not rockit-science his tracks effectively moved people, on the dancefloor as well in the living room sofa.
• Phlash & Friends – Deep Electronic Sound: No silly downtempo tracks or interlude filler, but more than a dozen excellent straight up house tunes where the guests actually matter.
• Trend of the year – Dubstep maturing: It really became a proper genre with a wide spectrum of interesting branches. Also, the Dutch dudes 2562 and Martyn came, saw and won the dubstep match, big time.
• Tortoise – Beacons Of Ancestorship: I presumed them dead, but fusing their old post rock style with Ammoncontact like beats, these lads made one the most interesting albums of the year.
• The Cinematic Orchestra – The Crimson Wing: Mystery Of The Flamingos: Utterly beautiful nature documentary score, with a unique take on classical music from Swinscoe and the boys.
• Best podcast – Bopstar Radio Sessions: Excellent house, bruk, soul and jazz, with plenty of exclusives and previews. That show makes me lookup and buy tunes.
• Nicolay – City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya: An album like they don’t make ‘em a lot these days, one where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The styles and genres don’t matter, Shibuya is about a story, impressions and athmosphere.
• Best producer – Atjazz: Be it remixing or producing original tracks, Martin had a consistent high quality output in the past twelve months, with beats and sounds to die for.
• Best music related movie – Still Bill: So maybe I’ve seen very few music related movies last year, this one is still a beauty. If you not only want to learn about the music but also about the personality of Bill Withers, watch this gem.
• Also: great albums by Little Dragon, Kira Neris, Zero 7, Tosca, Black Jazz Consortium, Aybee, Clara Moreno, Emanative, Tuomo, the B12 Records Archives, …

Timo Lassy - Round Two

label: Ricky-Tick
releasedate: November 27th, 2009
cat #: RTCD014/RT033
style: Jazz

Finland’s central sax titan Timo Lassy is here with his second go solo, on the promptly titled ‘Round Two’ album. Interesting jazz albums from Finland have been in good supply over the recent years *duh, I hear you say*, and there is no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

Personally, Lassy’s fist album, “The Soul & Jazz of” had an enormous impact on me, and I don’t exaggerate by saying it’s my favourite of the whole, hyped Ricky-Tick catalogue, and thus perhaps the whole of Finnish jazz output in the past decade. So, it’s obvious that reaching those heights would be anything but easy.

The very core of what made “The Soul & Jazz of” great, is still in place. “Round Two” is again produced by Teppo “Teddy Rok” Mäkynen, this time in co-operation with Lassy himself. Lassy also takes a step towards self-efficacy on the material, as all of the tunes are composed by him. The proven-well band has remained the same, with the addition of Ari Jokelainen to the reeds section.

Some evolution in sound can be heard. The most evident of course is the addition of José James flying in from NY to feature on two vocal tracks (the whole lot was recorded 100% direct in a studio in Helsinki, over three days). The collaboration between the two began on the Nicola Conte album “Rituals” and became incarnate on the Nicola Conte Jazz Combo live setup later.

José James is every bit as solid as his reputation on the opener “The More I Look at You”, which was also released as a 7″, and then he lets even more loose on “Ya Dig”, which some of you might notice to be the instrumental tune of the flipside of that very same single.

Secondly, Timo Lassy steps out of the hard bop idiom to knock on the doors of older and lighter styles on pieces “Fooling Rosetta” and “Buzz Beater Stomp”. This variation is welcome to the overall sound, further proving that he has a voice that is well outside that of TFCQ’s. Even though it’s “swingy”, it still cooks. “Stomp” ends the album with a bang, quite literally.

The rest of “Round Two”, clocking at 42 minutes, is more in the vein of the compositions of the first album. There is the latin-tinged “Shifting Winds” that’s a highlight – “Deeper Into” is on the spiritual side, and then the lone ballad, “Some Love”. The solo spotlight is much locked on Lassy throughout, while the other horns settle to fill.

After listening to this album many times and letting it grow on me, I’m not sure if I recognise the instant hit potential of, say, “Timber Yard”, “Early Move”, or “Skinny Dipping” from TFCQ‘s “Hot Corner”. Only the club dance floors around the world will tell, eventually.

Over the continuing span of success of Ricky-Tick Records and everyone around the phenomenon, much has been discussed about the right of modern jazz’s accessibility rooted on tradition to excel, without always trying to push the limits or be somewhat enigmatic. Even the liner notes address the question. I don’t think we need to be asking this anymore. It’s like what I kept saying to the doubters back in 2005, these guys will hit big. Rosetta may get fooled, but nobody else. Lassy & co. at Ricky-Tick have now, at the latest, proven to the toughest of public that one’s nod to the past isn’t showing one’s rear end to the future. Boy was I glad to be right!

Timo Lassy – Round Two from Ricky-Tick Records on Vimeo.

• Tracklist: The More I Look At You (ft. José James) / Shifting Winds / Ya Dig (ft. José James) / Some Love / Deeper Into / Fooling Rosetta / Backyard Puma / Buzz Beater Stomp
• CD / LP (includes download) / download available through Nov 27th worldwide
• More info: http://www.timolassy.com/new-lp-round-two/

by -Janski- for beyondjazz.net

The new LP is a move forward to more electro-robotic sound but without loosing their intimate soulfulness. Yukimi Nagano is as magical as ever and now the edgy, uptempo beats are providing great context to her hypnotic voice. Each new track can be taken as a gem, though Feather (this will be the first official single), Looking Glass or Thunder Love purely radiate out of the whole. Fortune and Blinking Pigs have already been released on a single earlier this year. The album cover is designed by the Japenese artist Hideyuki Katsumata who also made the animation for LD’s nice Fortune video last year.

Tracklist: 1. A New 2. Looking Glass 3. My Step 4. Feather 5. Thunder Love 6. Never Never 7. Runabout 8. Swimming 9. Blingking Pigs 10. Come Home 11. Fortune (free official dl)

Here is a tasty live video of the new song Never Never from their worldwide album tour. (thanks to pathanapong)

Machine Dreams is out 31, August on Peacefrog Records. Buy on sight!

Official Website: www.little-dragon.se

You can already listen to some of the new songs BlackMagic, Lay it Down, Beauty or Save Your Love for Me (a cover of Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderly version) on his myspace page or alternatively on Beyondjazz radioshow here. The Black Magic got the remix treatments from Simbad and an up & coming UK talent Joy Orbinson. The latter is heavily played by mr Gilles Peterson.

Saxophonist Timo Lassy out of Finland has also teamed up with Jose for his forthcoming single The More I Look At You, check the lovely preview at  www.myspace.com/rickytickrecords His seven-inch will be out in July.

The Friends We Love project shares a special live video here with JJ showcasing his previous and forthcoming stuff:

José James is currently on tour and will be performing live at Gent Jazz Festival tomorrow.