Looking For The Balearic Beat
Paraphrasing the Soul Sonic Force and sorting through today`s releases for tunes that could have graced Alfie & Leo’s Amnesia dance-floor…
Martin Buscaglia / Cerebro, Orgasmo, Envidia & Sofía (Bosq Remix) / Lovemonk
Bosq beefs up Martin Buscaglia’s 2006 song, Cerebro, Orgasmo, Envidia & Sofía. To be honest, the original track is pretty bonkers, leaping between rapped lyrics, pounding piano, group chants, and bulbous bass, and if anything Bosq kinda tames it a tad. Streamlining it slightly into a bouncing, buoyant Latin groove. A little less manic but still bubbly, a bit bonkers, and definitely party-starting. Cowbell clonk competing with mad Moog-y squelches, and flashes of razor sharp rhythm guitar. Percussion shakes like rattlesnake tails, while the brass blasts sound like crazy kazoos.
DJ Yoda / Roxbury (Double Dee & Steinski Remix) / Lewis Recordings
UK, London, hip hop hero DJ Yoda has his 2019 single, Roxbury, remixed by US, New York hip hip royalty, in the shape of Double Dee & Steinski. The “cut & paste” kings, creators of the landmark series of Lessons collages set the track to loops “borrowed” from Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wildside – a la the very, very Balearic Boilerhouse version of A Tribe Called Quest’s Can I Kick It? Flashing back to the optimism of De La Soul’s D.A.I.S.Y age, they then stuff this with samples from motivational, self-help tapes and broadcasts. Some snippets might be parodies – such as “Nothing succeeds like success” – but nonetheless collectively they pack a whole lot of positivity. Scratched in snatches of suitable rap hits further compliment Boston MC Ed O.G.’s empowering rhymes. They also squeeze in a self-referential, “Say children, what does it all mean?”
ddwy / Spinning Stones / Public Possession
ddwy have a new tribal drum-driven E.P. forthcoming on Public Possession. The opener, Spinning Stones, picks up where their previous tune, Orchard, left off. Jumping, thumping, happy, joyful, with sequences spiralling over uptempo tom toms. Lively, Latin, and Afro-Cuban, while the vocals are whispered ethereal sighs. Surangini is similar. Ecstatic exclamations echoing around congas and a crashing beat. Concrete Riviera, though, is slower, a stomping mix of organics and electronics. Recalling Wolf Mueller’s early records – which really felt like a breath of fresh air at the time – plugged-in percussion twitters about a big bass drum. The vibe is that of some stoned ritual. A sampled voice booms, I think, “Voodoo.” The closing, Theme oh the PCCP, is a short chill out room sketch, that starts by rotating backwards, before introducing pastoral kosmische keys and a laidback funky break. The result is reminiscent of Wax O’Paradiso, OK EG and Hybrid Man’s wonderful modern “ambient house” stuff.
Joe Harvey / Movin On Acid / Kurtz Records
Bristol’s Joe Harvey has two tracks out on Kurtz Records. Recall puts looped rock guitar riffing with stamping, stomping 21st Century Italo. A kind of “Goa trance” groove with a snatch of spooky vocal.The pumping, pulsing, throbbing, Movin On Acid mixes more guitar with motivational lyrics – “I know it’s hard but keep going…” – laser blasts, cowbell and a TB-303. Label founders, PBR Streetgang, remix the latter, pitching it down, stretching / spacing it out, creating a little more room between the manipulated beats and samples. Giving the tune time to build as it spins through freaky filters. Adding dubbed out delay washes, emphasising the track’s trippiness and accentuating the acidic undulations. Mercilessly twisting the knobs on Roland’s silver box. A brilliant bit of mind-bending dancefloor gear, cinematic synths bring a sense of euphoric epiphany and seal its epic status.
Last month Bless You released a 12 by Juan Ramos, and now they have a new one from Juan’s long-standing collaborator Luca Trentini (the two friends work together as Greenvision). Disco 3 is Luca aka Trent’s third E.P. for the Berlin-based label, and it contains a trio of cosmic dance floor cuts. Intergalactic Disco Patrol chops up percussion over an Italo bass-line and showers both with sinister voices, police sirens and other sound effects. Its synths are melodramatic and it drops a little acid toward the end. So High! comes across like a collage of post-punk-funk loops. More percussive and rougher round the edges. The Dragon, The Tiger And The Phoenix sounds like the other two, if they were spun at 33 not 45. Drums tumble and a grungy b-line rumbles. Fuzz guitars further colouring the slow, but big, Burundi bashing, while its wild wildlife samples – of monkeys squabbling and screeching – and growling voices made me think of Bob Chance’s cult classic, and Andrew Weatherall favourite,
