Panorama Bar 02 – Pt. 1 – Basic Soul Unit/Lerosa

It’s hard to tell if Tama Sumo’s upcoming Panorama Bar mix CD will follow strongly in the footsteps of Cassy. Judging by the preview 12″ featuring 2 tracks off the mix it may not live up to the bar set by its predecessor. Basic Soul Unit build off a Larry Heard-esque bassline, laying down a complimentary synth melody and soaring strings to build a decent house track. But for some reason it all seems rote and derivative, never going beyond influences and therefore failing to even achieve anything more than what will likely be a footnote in the ‘09 house yearbook. Lerosa’s contribution is “Plesso” and is the type of Spartan deep house genre shifter that he’s been getting known for the last few years. He admits to shaping this on the “eerie atmospheres” tip and actually namechecks Stasis which I found intriguing. This is certainly a rhythm and mood track and really achieves an atmosphere of cinematic quality while maintaining complex rhythm changes. And although there’s not as much melodic structuring per se the drunken drum breaks, synth slivers and haunting choral harmonies that weave in and out do show touches of Pickton’s FromTheOldToTheNew album. With a Pt. 2 planned soon we’ll see if the next ingredients Sumo has to offer will lead to a final product that can cut the mustard.

Agore – Behold, I Make All Things New (4lux)

Alex Agore takes the title of his new release, Behold, I Make All Things New (and consequently the preacher sample used on the title track) from Revelation 21:2-7, however the statement isn’t directed to the heavens but rather towards a rebirth of a sound that may have strayed from the ‘house of god.’ That message being that while deep house may be in vogue you need to go back to the roots to discover the real soul again. Agore is a relative newcomer based in Berlin but with no real ties to any scene there nor with any real desire to be either. He has managed to produce 2 full length albums and 2 singles in the past year with sounds that range from melodic techno to jazz tempered electronic but with little acclaim. Agore is one of those artists that may be too talented for his own good, a producer that sticks to what’s true to his heart and lovingly churns beautiful music but without the backing of the right PR or trendsetting web coverage. But I believe that is all about to change for him. Behold, I Make All Things New is house music so good that it should be turning heads, setting ears on fire and sending asses jiggling. And maybe most of all, making you wonder where Agore has been all your life, or at least the last year.

Getting back to my original point, what makes Behold, I Make All Things New so strong is that these 4 tracks get to digging the dirt sole of jazz and graft it to beats that bump. At a high level, this is music that may bring to mind early KDJ or Theo Parrish’s more conventional grooves, as Agore twists jazz and funk samples in a way that is reverential of the source material while re-arranging it to extract maximum dance floor pleasure. On “Memories,” the bassline and soulful vocal are filtered before bringing the beat to bear and then dropping a moody chord progression. It’s rare to find music that can reflect a party-like atmosphere and the feeling of heartbreak at the same. “Cafe Au Lait” sounds like it’s being channeled through an old 78 stylus as it’s powered by fundamental jazz elements including a filthy stand up bass, a driving horn sample and layers of be-bop piano melodies, along with a gorgeous keyboard melody. And on the title track, Agore uses the aforementioned preacher’s words to lend some context  to what is essentially a spiritual journey distilled into deep house. The arching trumpet line and urgent female harmonies sound melancholy, but are buoyed by solid percussion and a change up 3/4 of the way in that sends the track down a more straightforward path of galloping beats and moody keyboard, and a female vocal singing and inviting you to “jack your soul.” This may be Agore’s first bona fide house release and may give him  well deserved exposure but I wouldn’t count on him pumping out this stuff. When music is this well crafted it will last to whatever comes next from him and well beyond.

Energy Flash May09 Chart

Looks like this chart business is harder to keep up with than I first anticipated. Here is what’s getting maximum rotation on the Energy Flash decks this month.

Ican – Make It Hot (Ican Productions)
This is one of the tracks off the El Quinto EP that seems to have gone under the radar, despite its raw energy and broad appeal potential. “Make It Hot” is fueled by a swirling organ pattern and tight bassline that create a hypnotic flow, but it’s how they break that flow with a quick pause and syncopation beatdown that makes this track’s groove so compelling. “Make It Hot” is bolstered by vocal samples from Midway’s “Set It Out,” with pleas to “really make it hot” and “don’t you ever stop” that give this track a sense of urgency and referential history. Oh, and did I mention the funk keyboard solo about 4 1/2 minutes in? What more can I say, this track lives up to its name.

The Florian Muller Project – The Fire Under The Ice (Logos)
Taken from upcoming album Blessing, this track is one of several that stand out. This unknown French artist takes his cue from jazz and funk imparting his music with grand melodic gestures and this track is no exception. Grounded with a protracted 3 note bassline the strings start to build, the pads layer over growing keyboard lines before the sky opens up with an epic synth progression that rises with every chord turn. Techno to get lost in.

Orlando Voorn – Power of Beauty-Tribute to mix (Divine Karma)
What turns out to be the planned first release on Voorn’s new label is also a perfect piece of deep house that he admits is an homage to the masters of the sound (Larry Heard, Frankie Knuckles, etc.) and is calling “soulfulmindmusic.” I’m not sure what style of music OV hasn’t tried his hand at and not hit out of the ballpark. Looks like the classic “Love Break,” his collaboration with Blake Baxter will also share pressing space on the A side with a few remixes.

The Moderator – Bump! (Eevonext)
I’m really not that familiar with The Moderator’s work even though judging by the fact he’s had releases on Eevolute and DJax from back in 96-97 and an EP or two on DownLow I really should be. So it took me awhile, but here I find myself falling for the gorgeously funky update of the Eindhoeven techno sound.

Marvin Belton – Feelin Good – SF Dub (Ferrispark)
Scott Ferguson has been kind enough to get some repress action going on with his Ferrispark label. The Bleed To Be Free EP from 2002 features Marvin Belton’s strong soulful pleads, channeling Marvin Gaye on the title track, but it’s Ferguson’s own dub of “Feelin Good” that gets me in the mood. Coming on like a Ron and Chez KMS joint, this is house music that is both deep without losing the dance floor direction. Look for the Dump Days EP repress as well.

John Carpenter – The President Is Gone (BBE)
One helluva slice of tension setting mood music, Carpenter’s short piece taken from his 1981 film Escape From New York, features on Ame, Henrick Schwarz, Ame and Dixon’s Grandfather Paradox compilation as well. I can remember being 9 years old and seeing this in the theater and just being mesmerized by the concept of NYC turned into a maximum security prison, Isaac Hayes as the Duke of NY driving a caddy with chandliers, and mines on the Brooklyn bridge. Plus Snake Plissken kicked ass. 

John Tejada – Better Days (Palette)
Good to see Tejada coming at music with the same stance that endeared him to me back when I first heard the Ebonics EP. Melodically rich, funky stabs and chunky bass, and ever advancing sound design. You can’t keep a good artist down.

Sheharzad - Yalla Yalla -Panoptikum Remix (Fine Art)
This remix takes the original, an acoustic middle-eastern song, ditches the vocals, infuses arpeggio bass and digital trills while hanging on tightly to the multiple string harmonies. Reminiscent of Kelley Polar’s string laden neo-disco-isms.

Cobblestone Jazz – Traffic Jam (Wagon Repair/K7)
Coming on less restrained and subtle than some of this trio’s previous work and with a more straight-on groove locked in, this track’s strength is in the group’s renowned rhythm swing with a thick layering of mutating bass curls driving it in a direction that seems like anything but rush hour traffic. But they still manage to interject their jazz chops with a sporadic keyboard riff that cements this tune’s place in many a set to come.

James Kumo – Space Dancer review

A little while back I was singing the praises of James Kumo’s recent release on Delsin sub-label, Ann Aimee. It was solid straight up techno perfect for rockin’ in the mix. Following quick on the heels, Kumo’s latest single, Space Dancer (on Dan Curtin’s revived Metamorphic label), only his 3rd to date, reveals more techno goodness but with a few surprises. The lead track, “Space Dancer” benefits from a blanket of warm chord modulations and digital sundries but really kicks off when Kumo introduces the bongo percussion and ups the thump with a thick 808 kick. Curtin himself dusts off his Planetary guise for a remix of this same track, slowing down the tempo a tad, adding more rhythmic layering, and building on the original’s chords by adding a new melody line (is that flute I hear?),  which pushes it towards house territory. The release is rounded out with “The Deep,” a building hypnotic techno mover: rising howls of synthesis overlayed hypnotic analog bass pulses and spontaneous claps bursts in the vein of Redshape or Raudive. If this is the shape of things to come for both Kumo and Metamorphic, excitement is justified.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com