Another nice track from Still Parade, AKA Niklas Kramer, whom I featured back in March. Both tracks come from the Fields EP, out now and available from Amazon [affiliate link].
review
EP Review: Just Come To Me - Joost Kumtome
Joost Kumtome (pronounced "Just come to me" apparently... See what they did there?) are a pair of electronic producers who are currently keeping their identity a mystery. The Just Come To Me EP marks their debut release, out on ALiVE on 12 May.
The concepts surrounding the release feel about as tired as the EP format itself - a stunted and meaningless name, purported anonymity likely to conceal little beyond names most people won't have heard of anyway...
Yet the music itself deserves ears. Everyone Knows opens the EP with a rough bass line led track that melds bruised vocal inflections with rave-y electronics and reverb drenched drum patterns. Better Believe It is the biggest track here - piano scattered across more heavy bass, synth strings and soulful vocal hooks like shady afternoons dappled with sunshine. Final track Release Valve follows a straight up deep house template, sounding like early 90s Masters At Work via the London orbital.
It feels like an insistent and catch-up collaboration between basement London and bumping loft parties in New York... Just Come To Me is enjoyable when consumed without the baggage that comes with the EP's desire to differentiate - you are better off just enjoying it for what it is.
Just Come To Me is release through ALiVE Recordings on 12 May, purchase the MP3 on Amazon.co.uk or preview the EP on Soundcloud above.
EP Review: Dimension E.P. - Paji
This new EP from Germany's Paji sees him teaming up with Kitt Ball's Juliet Sikora and the pair create an approachable, refined take on house.
That title track is polished and refined, both Paji and Sikora's production styles demonstrating an attention to detail in the snap and crack of the drum patterns. Electronic chords give the track a deep, moody sound and the vocal sparring lends the track a sassy edge. Dimention is minimal-esque in, the tough and slow sound cool but eminently accessible.
Lacerta backs the release and represents a solo production for Paji. A guitar lick gives the track a lightness that contrasts with some heavy beat work... And whenever I hear guitars in dance music like this I can never understand why they are so rare. Sexy as hell.
Dimension E.P. is out through Kittball now.
Lockah
Album Review: Yahoo Or The Highway - Lockah
in album review, review
The second full-length album release from the Donky Pitch stable feels like an altogether different beast to the experimental beguiling and at times beautiful Nonfiction from The Range. The debut album from Lockah, Yahoo Or The Highway, is thoroughly irreverent in comparison to Nonfiction, and whilst both feel thoroughly contemporary Lockah clearly filters his sound through the lenses of someone reared on 80s pop and 90s R&B
Much of the album appears to be delivered with tongue firmly in cheek, as demonstrated by several of the track titles (Some Velvet Evening and If loving U Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Wrong). In other words, you can't accuse Yahoo Or The Highway of taking itself too seriously. It knows how to have a good time though - 44-minutes whip past in a frenzy of melodic synth stabs, chaotic rattling percussion and scattergun samples.
The melodic heart of this record beats to the sound of 80s movie and TV soundtracks yet Lockah splices his pieces together to create something that is generally fresh and unique. His music is unashamedly populist - tracks like the insistent Summer Jorts (Some Cats Still Do) scream for attention and Lockah's album cares not for restraint. It is the layered approach to production that keeps things interesting though - tracks like Ayyo Tricknology, whilst not new to this release, still feels cacophonous and rapturous in equal measure. This seemingly intricately planned messiness rapidly seems to be Donky Pitch's calling card and Lockah is at his best when he manages to control his own vision, as on the fantastic Contact High Wit Big Lockah.
Yahoo Or The Highway feels a little like a sugar high. It is an undeniable pleasure, but a slightly guilty one. With all the bells and whistles Lockah occasionally pushes against the boundaries of taste and decency, but much of this record is a joy - so who cares?
Yahoo Or The Highway is out now on Donky Pitch, available to order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link]. Listen on Spotify below:
EP Review: Handprints / Glitterall - Eagles For Hands
Brighton's James Ross appears to have a bit of momentum, having already remixed the likes of Laura Mvula and Naughty Boy. Last summer he released two free EPs (Hot Telescope and Lisbon) but this double A-side represents his first official release, and it is an absolute gem.
Handprints is a glorious celebratory slab of percussive electronic music that layers vocals samples together to create hypnotic melodies. There is a lightness to the production, crisp drums and hollow bass giving the track a warm, inclusive feel.
Glitterall contrasts with a moodier soundscape, synths and crashing chords creating a more dramatic sense of scale. In contrast to the short-skirted pleasure of Handprints it feels epic, but it remains tasteful and restrained all the same.
Handprints / Glitterall has the unmissable sense of now that marks out The Range's best work. More please.
Handprints / Glitterall is out now on Space + Time Records, order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].