Back catalogue: Balearic/Downtempo

Review: More quality grooves from Washington DC label specializing in reissuing obscure and unknown 70s and 80s dance music. This time around is Dreamcast who are Davon Bryant in conjunction with Swedish guy Sasac aka King Al. "Liquid Deep" is sexy late night deep funk the way it was always intended and Bryant's smooth as silk vocals are just like... Wow! So with Dreamcast on the vocals and Sasac on the beat, we are hoping there's more things on the way from this trans coastal duo in 2017.

Review: Who can deny anything Roy Ayers, really? Japanese pianist and electronic music producer Kan Sano reworks the American soul, funk and jazz legend's infamous hit "Everybody Loves The Sunshine". He breaks down the sugar-dusted original into something freeform, downtempo and acid jazz leaning, while on the flip, "Music Overflow", sounds exactly like a production you would make after being inspired by sunshine, soul, Roy Ayers and a room full of drum machines and synthesisers.

Review: This is the third installment in the Local Sugar Diggers Series from Scruniversal in which old and rare records from the label head's friend's collections get reworked and edited. This one is a collab between ScruScru and an equally passionate digger from Cyprus known as Dwaal. Both tunes offer quite different looks but with great results. The first is the steamy and loose-limbed 'Destination? Funk!' with its squelchy bass and neat guitar riffs, while the flipside is a super deep and lush downtempo jam, 'Camelot Chill'. This one has romantic sax notes and gentle grooves with jazzy keys finishing it in style.

Review: 'Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair' has origins as a black folk ballard that was associated with colonial workers across the United States. It has distinctive melodies and a mournful and melancholic feel and has been covered by man artists, but none quite as powerful as the late great Nina Simone. Taken from her Nine Simone at Town Hall album recorded in 1959, it became a staple of her sets which is what in part helped to increase the song's popularity throughout the late 20th century. Here it is presented as a mash up with 'A Hymn' for a beautifully moody new take.

Review: If you don't know William Dorey already then chances are you're about to realise you've been missing out on quite the artist. Working as Skinshape, he's managed to garner a quiet cult following for his relatively quiet music, designed to unwind to, allow worries of the day to unwind, and dissipate into a concoction of psychedelic pop, downtempo electronica and dubby grooves.
Turn Away, a two-track single featuring titular piece and 'Dreams of Panama' is the latest case in point. Sublime melodies and deceptively advanced acoustic guitar work set to lackadaisical rhythms and beat patterns, soothing brass and synthesised strings helping capture a real mood. Which, specifically, is all about slowing down, and taking time to appreciate the moment. Designed to transport you to far away places, real and imagined, it sounds reductive to say these are bonafide travelling tunes but they are. The real joy is they also sound incredible when standing still.

Review: The Nunorthern Soul label heads into its second decade of operation and does so by welcoming back label regular Benjamin J Smith. He's a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer whose sound tick all of the textbook Balearic boxes but with a little extra magic. He shows that again here with 'Marina Del Rey', a gloriously sunny sound with lavish and lush strings and gently swaying grooves with a mix of 60s and Library vibes. On the flip is the even more horizontal 'Big Sur' with its romantic melodic breeze and intoxicating instrumental leads all backed by rich vocals.