Okay, so this has been around for a few months now and I should have reviewed it much earlier. On the positive side, this has given me the chance to live with the album for a while and really listen to it for pleasure and not because I have to. So, I can honestly say that this latest offering from the UK’s Mark Pritchard – now based in Sydney – is really quite brilliant. Imagine Dilla composing the score to the classic ‘80s movie Tron and you’ve got a fairly good idea of the sound and style of “When Machines…”. Purely synthetic – not unlike Dorian Concept’s material – with huge, growling, Dub-influenced bass-lines and Donkey Kong-esque early video game effects, the tracks are haunting, Sci-Fi sound-scapes with the swagger and swing of Detroit Hip-Hop. This is captured most perfectly in ‘Battlestar’ featuring Dilla’s former collaborators Phat Kat and Elzhi (the ever impressive Steve Spacek contributes elsewhere on the album). If you haven’t checked this out yet then you absolutely must, particularly if you’re a fan of next generation, Beat Dimensions type Hip-Hop.

Tom Breslin

This is the fifth full-length album from the Viennese duo of Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber and it marks a return to the classic Tosca sound after 2005’s more exuberant and club-friendly “J.A.C.”. As the title suggests, “No Hassle” represents an effort to create an hour of pure relaxation and musical escapism, free of the mounting pressures and hassles of everyday life. “Boring”, “yawn”, I hear you cry, “I’ve heard it all before”. Well, in a sense, you probably have, for there is nothing particularly new or earth shattering here, and these days we have ambient, chill-out music up the wazoo. But, let’s not forget that these guys really are the pioneers of modern down tempo electronic music and that they have been honing and mastering this sound together for at least 15 years. And my word have they mastered it. So skilled are they at crafting lush, slow burning, spacious grooves that you just sit back, relax and never once reach for that ‘Skip’ button. Sometimes more of the same can be a good thing, if the “same” is something wonderful.

Tom Breslin

This album quite simply defies categorisation. So much so that it’s going to be easier for me to start by telling you what it isn’t, than to steam straight into flailing around in vain trying to describe what it actually is.  It’s not easy listening, that’s for sure. Well, not at first anyway. Although, after a short while, you do find yourself drifting off into a kind of head-nodding, groove-induced coma. It certainly isn’t organic, in the sense that the sounds and effects used have never been within 100 miles of, say, a guitar or a trumpet, or any other kind of acoustic instrument for that matter. And, most importantly, it sure as hell isn’t to be ignored. For, the music of Viennese beat-meister Dorian Concept is unashamedly synthetic, electronic and beat-driven, and yet (because of the man’s evident talent with a keyboard and his supreme production skills) it is so very, very musical. It isn’t just a neck-snapping beat here and a random squelch there; it is all intricately woven harmonies and textured grooves, crafted with a deft touch and full of a delightfully wonky jazziness. And, the balance is just right. You could just as easily find this music reverberating from within a blacked-out Hummer as you could in a contemporary Jazz nerd’s cans. Everyone should give this polished gem a try, but, for simplicity’s sake, fans of Harmonic 313, Dabrye and Kindred Spirits’ ‘Beat Dimensions’ collection should not sleep on this.

Tom Breslin

Liquid Spirits are an 8-piece band, consisting of drums, guitar, bass, keys and four vocalists, and, under the stewardship of producers Manuel Hugas and Wilboud Burkens, they make pure, unadulterated Soul music of the highest order. There is something of Kindred The Family Soul in their sound, as well as a touch of Acid Jazz along the lines of The Brand New Heavies, but there are no scratches, no samples, no drum machines; just real people singing and playing instruments. Even when Phonte, of Little Brother fame, pops up on the wonderful, Tribe-like ‘If You Don’t Love Me’, the grooves are understated and organic, but always, always funky. Elsewhere, Leon Ware adds to the feeling of overall authenticity with a performance truly befitting a legendary vocal veteran of his calibre. The album’s not quite perfect, for it displays a tendency to occasionally stray into syrupy, lounge territory, but to complain here would be to split hairs. Any Soul fan worth their salt will definitely want to give this a whirl and I’m guessing that most will be extremely pleased that they did.

Tom Breslin

So, hopefully you’ve read the interview and now you’re prepped, ready and just waiting for the album to drop. Well, you’ll be glad to know that you certainly won’t be disappointed, for Phlash and his mates have produced a tight, powerful collection of ten songs, which individually stand strong on their own, but which also make sense collectively as a coherent whole. Such a balance is an all too rare occurrence in the world of House music, where ‘albums’ often represent anthologies of an artist’s most recent work, rather than focused projects. Not here. Asher manages, despite the impressive number of cooks involved, to perfect the broth and get everyone working towards the same deep and electronic, but also very soulful, sound. Everyone will have their own favourites, depending on personal tastes, but the standout, for me, is the raw and bass-heavy, Shalamar inspired “Do It Up”, a co-production with Benji B that features trade mark cosmic funk vocals from Sa-Ra’s Ommas. Honourable mentions also go to “Minefield”; an atmospheric and industrial instrumental produced with 4 Hero’s Dego, and “Jungle Orchidz”, a tough, Soca driven vocal from the glorious Alma Horton.

Tom Breslin

This digital release is the first in a quarterly series from Coopr8, the latest incarnation of the much-loved Co-Op spirit, and it’s all pretty straight forward really. It’s a collection of premium quality music from some of the most talented and dedicated proponents of the broken beat sound around, including Ayro, Simbad, Bugz, Domu, Karizma, Colonel Red, Restless Soul and Marc Mac. That’s quite a line-up I’m sure you’ll agree, and for anyone who, like me, was beginning to feel rather depressed about the gaping chasm that’s been left in club land by the end of the bi-weekly Co-Op party, this is truly essential listening. I defy you not to be warmed and heartened by the supreme quality of these broken grooves.

Tom Breslin

This is the third solo long player from former member of Rockers Hi-Fi, Biggabush, following on from 2002’s Best 7 release, “Studio Don”. The bulk of this album may have been recorded in Bigga’s farmhouse studio in the south-west of England, but don’t be fooled, for the music here is a beautiful fusion (in the nicest sense of the word) of skanking dub-reggae, JBs era funk, bass-heavy electronica, Hi-Life, Afro-beat and the other West African sounds about which Biggabush is so passionate. A hybrid approach on this scale can often produce such insipid, disappointing results, but not under the stewardship of a master craftsman like Biggabush, who somehow appears to be forever shredding up the blueprint and yet, at the same time, treating the music with an unquestionable integrity. This is one of the albums of the year and its music speaks for itself. Miss it at your peril.

Tom Breslin

Will Holland (a.k.a. Quantic) is nothing if not prolific and, as we all know, in music, quantity very often leads to an inevitable dip in quality that simply proves the famous mantra. Holland, though, likes to buck the trend and in “Death of the Revolution” he has managed to up the ante and deliver an album of undeniable quality. Inspired and produced in Columbia, recorded in the brand spanking new studio at Holland’s South American base, this is possibly my favourite Quantic-related album. It’s not complicated or fancy, or even particularly original in concept, it’s just plain, old-fashioned, good, easy listening music. Largely instrumentals, the tracks are all developments on a laid back, dub-reggae theme, decorated with welcome Latin flourishes. Holland himself plays piano, guitar and whatever else he can lay his hands on here, whilst being ably supported by the talented locals who are now members of the Quantic touring party. All in all, the grooves are infectious, there’s funk in abundance and there’s never any need for the ‘skip’ button.

Tom Breslin

Daniel Judd is better known as Sorcerer and Sam Grawe is better known as Hatchback and when their mesmeric musical powers combine they make up the exciting, San Francisco based duo, Windsurf. “Coastlines” is the first fruit of their collaborative labour and anyone who has had the pleasure of hearing “Surfing At Midnight”, the first Sorcerer 12 inch released on the UK’s Tirk record label, will kind of know what to expect. Comparisons with Prins Thomas, Morgan Geist and Erland Oye, whilst thoroughly deserved, don’t quite say enough, for Windsurf have their own thing going on, and that thing is perfect, poppy, Nu Disco-ish, electronica that, with wave after wave of washing synthesizer and its lolloping, laidback guitar strum, will have you yearning for long, lazy days by the sea. “Bird of Paradise” is the jewel in the crown, a wondrous, hum-along, vocoder-backed vocal that evokes synth-pop comparisons with Air at their Moon Safari best.

Tom Breslin

Crazy P have been established in the dance music space for quite some time now (albeit with a slightly more risqué and genital inspired moniker) and, although their oeuvre undoubtedly includes some top quality 12 inches and remixes, when it comes to their albums I have, on occasion, been left a touch under whelmed. So, upon hearing the opening salvo of “Stop Space Return”, the title track of this (their fourth) album, I was convinced that the tide must have turned and that we were on to a real winner here. “Stop Space Return” is a tough, dirty, disco-squelcher with a perfectly executed vocal from Danielle Moore (now a permanent member of the band), just choc full of attitude and primed for the dance floor. This, however, is the high point and it all goes slightly weird from here on in. “Caught Up” and “Love on the Line”, for example, just seem to be a bit ‘cheesy Saturday night dance anthem’, whilst some of the other songs appear to be aiming for Scissor Sisters-esque pop territory. Granted, this is not necessarily a bad thing and the record is certainly more commercially viable as a result, but just not quite what I was expecting or hoping for.

Tom Breslin