Paraphrasing the Soul Sonic Force and sorting through today`s releases for tunes that could have graced Alfie & Leo’s Amnesia dance-floor…

…P.S. There will be a Part 2 this month, as loads of great stuff has just come through.

Chipen / Volao / Miss You

Chipen were a couple of Barcelona-based musicians, Johnny Tarradellas and Peret Reyes, who sought to fuse flamenco with disco and funk. Reyes was was the grandson of the legendary gitano Peret (Pedro Pubill Calaf), also known as “El Rey de la Rumba”, who in the late 1960s created the “Rumba Catalana”. In 1984, Chipen released  the song Volao – which translates as “I fly” or “I’m high”, on a now sought-after 45. Berlin’s Miss You have picked this up. It’s a cracking cut of catchy sing along Euro pop, full of clipped funky guitar, slapped bass, hand clapping, Spanish / Catalan vocals, and sunshine / summer holiday vibes. Picture the Gipsy Kings jamming with Elkin & Nelson, with the Gibson Brothers also joining in. There’s an extended mix which uses delay to dramatically double the guitar, and adds castanets to the breakdown. The 12 also features the tune Chirbiribi which is a lively, piano-led Latin groove.

Dominic Dawson / Dawning / Palms & Charms

Dominic Dawson continues to put down musical roots in his new hometown of Tokyo. He follows his recent Flower Records 45 with a digital release on Palms & Charms. Dawning finds Dominic once again joined by vocalist Miotina, who sang on his cool cover of Maze’s Twilight, and here provides more sweet mellow harmonies. The Moto mix of the track is beach / poolside boogie / sunset house, that’s showered with sound effects and shimmies somewhere between Cantoma and Faze Action, and those outfits various aliases (Noche Espanola, Andromeda Orchestra…). It’s topped off by a terrific trumpet solo, care of Palms & Charms boss, Samuel Bruce. The Woo Version is named after former Roy Ayers sideman Philip Woo, whose synthetic b-line gives the tune a heavier, chunkier, banging Derrick Carter-esque boompty-boomp, and whose sharp shape-shifting arpeggios swap for Sam’s horn.

Lou Hayter / Frequency  / Greco-Roman

 

The first time I met Lou Hayter I was having an afternoon beer with her brother Tim, Paul from Test Pressing, and Stuart “Chuggy” Leath – of Emotional Response / Rescue – in Brick Lane’s Cafe 1001. Phil Mison was DJing. Culture Beat’s Cherry Lips was spinning. I remember it vividly because Lou had tissue paper in her ears, which were bleeding from a gig that she’d played the night before. It freaked me right out. Some 20 years have passed since then, and I’ll tell you that I think her new single, Frequency is the best thing she’s done. Chugging, catchy electro-pop, influenced by the polished `80s sound of acts like Madame X and pioneering producers such as Bernadette Cooper, it boasts a Wally Badarou Echoes / Mambo-esque groove. Steamy and tropical, there’s machined marimba in there. Lou switching between singing and rhyming, while serenaded by sweltering Mediterranean sax.

Magic Words / Wabi Soba / Razor N Tape

Wabi Soba begins with a brief burst of birdsong and zen garden koto, before introducing its main, fluttering, feel-good disco loop. Its rhythm guitar subtly morphs into something more Spanish, and then moves back and forth with the koto, creating an almost Japanese jazz-funk vibe… however about midway through the totally summery flamenco flavour takes over. For a second I thought it had segued into William Pitt’s City Lights. 

There’s a dub, where the beats and bass are beefed up, and both sets of strings are only applied in washes. There’s also a Jexopolis remix which filters and floats the OG over a pitched up, pacy 4 / 4. As if someone pressed +8. The 12 contains an additional tune called Kissy Kiss, which is a dose of deviant dub disco / house, like The Idjut Boys meet Artwork’s More Amour project. An echoed vocal snippet and proto-house synths supplying the initial hook, until a nagging machined reed refrain threatens to drive dancers insane.

Not Branimir / Asquith Window / Bed Of Roses 

Armed with a TR-808, 303, and a Korg Kaossilator Byrd Out’s Stephen Vitkovitch assumes the pseudonym Not Branimir for an E.P. on Bed Of Roses. LBA and Gunmar’s Counsel are both minimal bass heavy analogue drum machine workouts. The former is slo mo, like house pressed at 45 but played at 33, urged on by robotic hand claps, sliced by shards of icy synth and tickled by acidic gurgling. The 303’s knobs twisted tighter and tighter. Barked voices echo Jesse Saunders’ Le Noiz joints on Trax. The latter races, while showered with spacy sound effects, that I suspect are the same “jingles” used on Andrew Weatherall and Hugo Nicolson’s remix of Primal Scream’s Come Together. Asquith Window is more of the same, but also comes with a chugging, throbbing Anatolian Weapons remix, that tames the 303 into rising and falling waves and ups the stripped back ante with African chants.

Quiet Village / Reunion / The Quiet Village

Matt Edwards and Joel Martin return as Quiet Village. Reborn, with a new label, and a new musical modus operandi, one no longer based around samples, but instead seasoned session musicians. Their first fresh single is appropriately titled, Reunion. Riding looped jazz syncopation, recalling Carl Craig’s seminal Bug In The Bass Bin, a tension is built, and then calmed by swells of sustained keys. Now calling to mind Carl’s remix of Directions’ Busted Trees… and his epic lick of Incognito’s Out Of The Storm. With a haunting horn and a pretty piano solo the piece brilliantly blurs the boundaries between house, jazz, and techno. As the track continues the sax really starts to soar, and it’s a cool summer moment, for sure. The package also contains a relaxing, rippling, beatless, piano and saxophone-led, sunset / sunrise reprise.

Studio Batsumi & Maxime Obadia / Cosmicomics / Studio Batsumi

Studio Batsumi is a new East London-based label, and Cosmicomics is their debut release. A collaboration between imprint co-founder Federico Bigonzetti and old University pal Maxime Obadia the 12 features 3 originals and a couple alternate mixes / remixes. The E.P. starts with Lizard, a nice slice of sleazy electro, that recalls the sexually-charged S&M freestyle of Beat Club’s Security. Its deep throbbing bass, a serious Sci-Fi squelching, and stark robotic rhythm, though, midway through breakdown into congas and Tinariwen-like Tuareg electric guitar. Its Snake Version is stripped back and echoed, with the fretwork swapped for a slinky marimba movement. Moonbath is faster, but still frugs with a strong NYC electro / freestyle influence. The melody is still Middle Eastern / North African flavoured, but played with a Chris Isaak  / Twin Peaks twang. The track’s electronics ping ponging through filtering and phasing. Jonny Rock’s remix combines a big breakbeat with a hefty 4 / 4 to create a very infectious, relentlessly rattling club stomp / march. Clouds Of Tobacco features the voice of Ayana Homma and is far lighter in tone. Cowbell clonk clearing away the sleaze, making way for galloping prog-y trance.