Attempting to recreate the golden yesterdays of Jose Padilla’s White Isle sunsets with the tunes of today…

John Beltran / Sunrise And The Life We Live / Music For Dreams

A few weeks ago I met Music For Dreams founder, Kenneth Bager, for lunch in Tokyo. It was our first physical meeting, after way over a decade of corresponding. We talked of many things including, of course, recent releases. We both raved about John Beltran’s latest album, “Canada”, at which point Kenneth also shared that he had commissioned John to produce a follow up to his 1996 classic, “Ten Days Of Blue”. The first fruits of those sessions have now appeared in the shape of the single, “Sunrise And The Life We Live”. A chilled calm of chiming electronica constructed from computerised counterpoint, rippling repeats and loops, where synths sigh like ethereal angels, this is indeed a ringer for that seminal long-plater, and perfect for gazing out at clear blue, cloudless, cobalt horizons. 

Coastlines / Magic Tree

Flower Records alumni Coastlines went a bit quiet following their 2022 album, “Coastlines 2”. However, the duo, consisting of Masanori Ikeda and Takumi Kaneko, have recently returned to the studio. Their latest missive, titled “Magic Tree”, is characteristically lush, laidback and fusion-flavoured. Showcasing Kaneko’s virtuoso keys, which move between cascades, big dramatic chords and pretty plucked patterns, the composition, romantic and reflective, conjures a sense of wide, open spaces, such as that pictured on the single’s sleeve. 

Pye Corner Audio / The Cool Breeze At Sunset

Pye Corner Audio’s The Cool Breeze At Sunset is a new age-y synthscape with kosmische undercurrents. Warm and weightless, its circuitry mimicking birdsong, the sound of summer, while organic tabla touches push the track toward Cafe del Mar classic territory. 

Sounds Of Blackness / The Pressure Pt. 2 (Frankie Knuckles’ Lullaby)

Sounds Of Blackness released “The Pressure” in 1991, this mix, Frankie Knuckles’ “Lullaby”, however, was strictly a secret weapon that became a staple of Knuckles’ Sound Factory residency. It announces itself with big piano chords, stirring synths and strings, but is beatless, bar a few fretless bass runs. Knuckles singling out the soaring vocal improvisation, and spotlighting the lyrics that call for the strength to make it through the obstacles – inequality and injustices – that every day surround us, and also the empathy to understand that everybody has their own burden to carry. Spiritual, rousing and the sort of number that would have accompanied an old school, club-wide E peak / rush intake of breath, the record sleeve bills the 12 as part of “An atheist’s guide to gospel music” and importantly, in these testing times, reproduces the line “You can fight it. You can win.”

Virgo / Metasequoia / Mukatsuku

Nick Weston’s Mukatsuku have licensed 4 more gems from Yatsutaka Sato aka Virgo’s archive. All are high quality 90s, introspective techno. The warm, swirling “New Era” is clearly Detroit-influenced, but brighter, lighter in mood. Racing, uplifting, full of life, pumped with positivity, busy with intricate drum programming and bass motifs that nod toward Bernie Worrell’s Moog. The optimistic “The Art Roots” pits gentle bleeps and a wistful, whistling melody against slow, but boisterous beats. “Time Graphics” is deeper, less immediate, where jazzy chords caress chopped about battle breaks. The vibe, though, still chilled. “Metasequoia”, however, in my opinion, is the most Balearic treasure. Here, soothing, synthetic sighs, swells and twinkling, twilight tones – that approach The Gentle People’s futuristic E-Z listening – surf another break-derived beat, that’s like D&B cut at 45 but spun at 33. 

Fortunate enough to be in contact with Sato, he shared this really nice comment with me: “The songs on this EP hold very special memories. If I were to tell my younger self—back in my 20s—that these tracks would finally be released to the world after 28 years, I don’t think I would have believed it.”