The ever-smooth Folamour should be a known commodity now for fans of deep disco and midtempo house music. The Lyon-based beatsmith has been prolific in 2016, with EP releases on Make Believe Disco, Noire et Blanche, Moonrise Hill Material (which he co-runs with his buddies Ethyène, Kaffe Crème and Okwa), and now his own imprint, FHUO Records. FHUO, which stands for For Heaven Use Only, continues the laid-back and delightful sample-heavy stylings of Moonrise Hill. The imprint formally announced its arrival with a four track V/A release that is absolutely delectable. Some P&D delays have prohibited wanting heads from getting their paws on it for the time being, and some of you might recall that we premiered Kaffe Crème’s elegant “Baciami Subito” off the EP some months ago. Enough about FHUO001, though! We’re here to talk about 002!
FHUO’s sophomore EP moves from a quartet format to a split EP between the bossman and the Paris-based Parviz, who makes his vinyl debut on the release. The record starts off with Folamour’s “Very First Touch”. A live clap and crowd sample opens the doors for a hazy build of pads and jazz licks to come through. Parviz then makes his appearance via “100 Crown Bills” a more up-tempo house track that places groovy piano and guitar riffs and a mean flute over a bouncy bass and drum kit. On the B-Side, Parviz’ “L’Estaque” lays some buttery jazz-funk loops down over another dancefloor-oriented beat. Finally, serving as the bottom layer of this EP’s Folamour-Parviz sandwich is our premiere track, “Alerte à Babylone”.
[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/premiere-folamour-alerte-a-babylone”/]
The cut reclines the mood slightly at first, starting things off with a fluttering, French-touch style sample build before fully asserting the groove. A funky-ass bassline keeps the feet moving while the rhythm is in swing, until the b-line hits and the track erupts into its French House-inspired climax; filters, stutter-samples and all. It’s a nice little change-up that adds an interesting flair to Folamour’s always on-point sample-based disco aesthetic. As a whole, the EP is slightly more uptempo at times than what we’re used to seeing on Moonrise Hill, but the inclination of the imprint is apparent from the first two releases. Ethereal and cool jazz and jazz-funk samples are often the foundational pieces for the arrangements, which seek to establish a pensive yet playful mood on the listener.
FHUO002 is set for a release in early February, so keep those eyes peeled. And be watchful for the still-impending first EP as well!
Folamour: soundcloud
FHUO: soundcloud
Martín Miguel
