Sometimes you’ve got to take a victory lap. Nothing wrong with that — especially if you’ve been pumping out Body & Soul and providing Shelter for dancers young and old like musclecars have been. The defacto torchbearers for a traditional yet vital and very much alive strain of New York City house; Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield have put in the work through beautiful productions, cathartic DJ sets, and their regular party turned stand out record label Coloring Lessons. It’s hard to believe the two made their production debut less than a year ago with toucan sounds’ fantastic “Don’t Go” alongside powerhouse vocalist Brandon Markell Holmes. Returning to the source with this new deluxe edition of their beautiful debut Street Dreams EP, musclecars and toucan sounds present a joyful and realized companion piece that further proves they’re here to stay.

Anchored by the massive “She Raised Us In Sunset Park;” this three track package of smartly curated remixes and spiritual sequels is bursting with the life and emotion of a city in its reawakening. Perhaps the duo’s finest moment yet, “She Raised Us In Sunset Park” is an everything-in-its-right-place hand percussion latin jazz house groover that takes Pink Flamingo Rhythm Revue’s Eric Mendelsohn’s lush guitar tone from EP standout “The Man Who Kept Bedstuy Warm” and pushes it to the floor with a searing solo drenched in reverb and power. Percussionist Jimmy Lopez steals the show with a flurry of shaker, congas, and a fiery timbale solo. It’s like an early Santana cut and I want to hear it played loud on the streets of New York every day this summer.

An international array of remixers seal the deal including well executed mixes from London’s K15 and Tokyo’s beloved Dazzle Drums. The sound of birds mesh with the cool whisper of vocalist Tiff Ortiz, twinkling grand piano notes, and beautifully mixed deep house percussion laid on top of an irresistible bass line for K15’s take on “Sol.” Hopeful and curious; this is a track you can easily melt into. Another Tiff Ortiz featuring track “Sun Track I,” Dazzle Drums balance meditative calm with lounge dub deepness with craft filled intentionality. All together — Street Dreams (Deluxe) is a natural expansion and well needed victory lap for a group that is just getting started.

Pre-order.

Cet article Musclecars – She Raised Us In Sunset Park [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

A1 opens up with its most prominent instrument, the balafon, creating a hypnotic vibe in which keys and broken beat intertwine creating a swinging rhythm. The second track, Batterie, slows down the groove and allows plenty of space for the keys to lay over the depth of bass-heavy drum pattern.

The flip side of the record pitches up the tempo and sees layers of Latin infused rhythms mix with London scene defining broken beat riffs, synths and melodies. The record finishes up with a remix from one of the London underground scene’s key contemporary figures, K15, adding a darker tone to the flow of the track while upping the dancefloor energy of the groove.

Cet article Contours – Returning [ANMA Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Cet article Nejrup – Calm Cacophony [Creak Inc.] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

As a sidekick to our Times and Tunes interview with K15 planned next week, the founder and keys player of jazz quintet, Culross Close, we’re thrilled to premiere the eponymous track of the band’s LP, Forgotten Ones.

Only Esencia’s third release, this one is due out next week on March 15, and we strongly recommend putting aside 30minutes to do nothing but listen to the full six tracks in succession, because this album is a bonafide manifestation of top class musicianship. It’s an album of two distinct halves: the first is deep, melancholic, brooding and beautiful, while the second is lively and up-beat. A half for thinking and a half for dancing.

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/” /]
Ambient-jazz is how one could feasibly describe the opener, Fractured. Three minutes of swirling textures move around the listener’s head, coming close then moving away until seamlessly sliding into our premiere, Forgotten Ones. Our favourite on the record, this track shows off Culross Close’s top-class instrumentation. They all come together – the drums, the bass, the keys, the vocals – as tight and synergetic as you’re likely to find after digging for an hour for today’s best and freshest jazz. Acceptance is similar, but happier to put K15’s keys in the spotlight for much of it.

And the contrast really is striking when track four, Mood, begins. The LP’s chaotic outlier, just over a minute of dissonant strings and frantic drums will wake you back up if you, understandably, slipped deep into daydream during the album’s first half. Then, some convention is restored: it’s by no means textbook stuff with The Tiniest Lights Still Shine’s 5/4 rhythms or the rogue synthesiser of the closing track, Healing, but it’s clear that the album’s close could lure listeners of various tastes to a dancefloor.

Culross Close:
Bass – Eli Emmanuel 
Keys – Anthony Kieron 
Drums – May Goode
Synthesizers – Nathaniel Jiddu
Percussion & Incense – Hasani

Jacob

Cet article Culross Close (K15) – Forgotten Ones [Esencia] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

WotNot Music is a London-based record label putting out “music for the open minded”. With over thirty releases under their belt they have been home to many a producer, with certain names such as Glenn Astro, K15 and Soccer96 being particular standouts. Transcending traditional genre boundaries, their output sees influences from all ends of the sonic spectrum where jazz, broken beat, house and others are equally at home. Release number 32 comes from Danvers (soundcloud), who can now be considered a regular on the label as this is his second EP and third release overall for WotNot.

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/danvers-1997-warren-xclnce-remix-ft-joe-armon-jones” /]
The “Interludes” EP features three originals and two remixes of the B1 cut. Starting off the EP is Mason, an off-beat heater with delectable jazzy flavours and some easily recognized vocal chops from none other than Puff Daddy. Aye Ata is the big room pick of the bunch, packed full of thumping, broken beat kicks, heavily reverbed percussion and just the right amount of pulsing chord stabs. 1997 perhaps takes a more recognizable approach with a 4×4 rhythm, heavy sub and pulsing chords while Diddy’s voice makes another appearance, this time giving an almost eerie feel to the composition. Frits Wentink gives us his take on 1997 with his familiar wonky and lo-fi sound, turning the original into an almost unrecognizable lo-fi groover.

The final remix and our premiere today comes from fellow Londoner Warren Xclnce (soundcloud) and features rising musician Joe Armon-Jones (soundcloud) on keyboard duties. This cut was a surprise gift rework from Warren to his 38 East studio partner, Danvers. The chords from 1997 are retained but the natural sounding shuffling and pattering percussion give the track a completely different feel. Joe Armon-Jones sprinkles quite a bit of his jazzy magic around them, noodling on the ever familiar yet always pleasing Rhodes piano, which transforms this composition into a deep and mesmerizing gem.

Igor

Cet article Danvers – 1997 (Warren Xclnce Remix ft. Joe Armon-Jones) [WotNot Music] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Drifting somewhere in space between r&b, jazz and garage, William Florelle’s (soundcloud) 7 track debut EP Two & Three journeys through the sonic cosmos with gritty and distorted rhodes loops, soulful fragments and dreamlike garage vocals transcending genre strict 4×4 formats. Florelle goes beyond traditional dance rituals to fathom a truly original EP. Label WotNot previously enlisted K15 and Glenn Astro for artist Eps and Florelle joins illustrious company in fine form.

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/william-florelle-follow-stefan-ringer-remix”/]

We’re delighted to share Atlanta’s Stefan Ringer’s remix, a shuffling percussive groove that centers around Lua’s sumptuous vocals and hoarse broken chords which zone in and out throughout as the bass stutters in the spaces between. A groove crafted for summer days, which DJs can call on anywhere between house, garage and r&b. Out the 31th march. Atwork by www.raimundwong.com/

Sameed

Cet article PREMIERE : William Florelle – Follow (Stefan Ringer Remix) est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.