Tunes and Things - Ear and eye candy

Choose your tunes

Please select below from the currently featured albums:

• Royksopp: Melody AM
• Various Artists: The Berlin Lounge
• Hed Kandi: Beach House Vol. 2
• Rae and Christian: Blazin' the Crop

Royksopp: Melody AM

Label: Wall of Sound
Cat. No.:WALLCD027
Visit:www.royksopp.com

This debut from Norwegian Duo Royksopp recieved more Album of the week/month awards (from magazines including DJ, Mixmag, Muzik and The Big Issue among many others) than you can shake a stick at...but this doesn't always necessarily make it a good listen.
However in the case of Melody AM, the critics are spot on. The laid back, down beat electronica obviously reflects what its like living in a wind swept country where its often dark for 24 hours at a time, but this isnt to say that the albums miserable.
Tracks such as Sparks are achingly beautiful...as the title of the album suggests, this is ideally listened to at 3 in the morning. However its not all blissed out...the jaunty electro bubble of Eple (often heard on Radio 1) can't fail to raise your spirits. while Poor Leno suggests slightly more 4/4 dancefloor leanings.
Overall the charm of this album is that although itmay not seem like anything too special on intial listening, repeat plays only serve to endear you to the rich sounds, until you realise that, as the magazines said, its a classic!

Track list:

Various Artists: The Berlin Lounge

Label: Wagram
Cat. No.:3072362

Like its Gaelic cousin, Paris Lounge, Berlin Lougne brings together the best in leftfield dance music that the titular city has to offer. Unlike the Paris excursion however, this collection draws more from nu-jazz, drum and bass and downtempo rather than french house, and is all the better for it.
Split over two CDs (Night and Day), the collection paints a very attractive musical pictute of a city not exactly reknown for its tunes.
Berlin by day is pleasent enough, featuring a selection of familiar (Jazzanova) and not so familiar (lots!) names, and gives quite a bright feel over the course of the 16 tracks. However, this is only a warm-up for the beaut that is Berlin by Night.
The Second CD is a far more smokey affair, and by the time you reach the forth track (Megashiras excellent At Last) youre ready to pack your bags and book your flight. The Always crackin' Truby Trio follow with A Go Go, and the CD doesn't let up until all 80 minutes have left you with a sizable smile
Be warned...if this goes in the stereo on a Sunday morning, all youre gonna be doin' is loungin' till Monday.

Hed Kandi: Beach House Vol. 2

Label:Hed Kandi
Visit:www.hedkandi.com

Up until Summer 2000, Hed Kandis staple diet had been the endless production of perfectly selected (and package) chill out compilation albums - not the usual Now Thats What I Call Chill Out 101 sort of thing seen in recent years - but handpicked tunes which made you feel like the Jason Brooks illustrations adorning the cd covers.
Summer 2000 however, saw the introduction of Beach House, which brung together a mixture of vocal and latin deep house that was ideal for an afternnon by the pool.
With Beach House Vol. 2, the template reains the same, but the tunes get better. Panyards In the sand kicks off the first disc in superb vocal style which carrys on other the following 10 tracks, which include the Karen Ramirez varsion of Looking For Love, and the welcome inclusion of Naked Musics Miguel Migs. The entire first disc has a strong latin flavour pumping through its viens, setting you up nicely for the second helping.
Disc two gets underway with Alma Horton providing excellent vocals on King Britts Happiness, and theres nothing you can do to stop yourself from agreeing with her. Things keep on getting better wuith vocal cuts, peaking around tracks 4, 5, 6 and 7, before Fac 15 chill us right back out with Twisted by the pool. Finally Do it now ends the album on a 10 minute high, really leaving you begging for more.
This must be (along with Cafe Del Mar Vol 5) the perfect soundtrack to a terraced-based sunset...we can only hope that theres a Vol 3 in the pipeline for 2002!

Rae and Christian: Blazin' the Crop

Label:MixMag/DMC
Cat. No.: MMLCD030

Grand Central Records have long (in my opinion) been the home of UK Hip Hop, with Aim, Only Child and Rae and Christian releasing some of the best instrument Hip Hop and Soul albums of recent years.
Here, Mark and Steve (of Rae and Christian fame) bring together some of the Grand Central stables finest along with some crakni Ninja Tunes and a few top class US MCs to produce a definitive run through of all you need to know in the world of funky hip hop.
Starting out with a smooth mix of Play On from their own debut, R&C don't let up the pace for a minute, and the opening bars of each new track that is seemlessly introduced into the mix delights. The addition of MCs adds weight to the already weighty tracks from Aim, and the inclusion of the ever-excellent blues-soaked joy of Mr Scruffs Get a move on is the icin on the cake.
The opening piano bars of Young and Holtful are an ideal soulful coda to this trans-Atlantic, trans-genre masterpiece.

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