http://www.utahjazz.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/utahjazz

Origine du Groupe : U.K
Style : Drum & Bass , Downtempo , Electro-Jazz
Sortie : 2008

Featuring on various 12"s and compilations from well respected labels, including Hospital and Innerground, Utah Jazz has tended to target quality and substance rather than focusing on the quantity of output or capitalising on popular trends. Releasing his debut artist album, "It's A Jazz Thing", on Bryan G's V-Recordings offshoot Liquid V, Utah Jazz has cemented his position as one of highest calibre producers that would currently be categorized under the ever-broadening umbrella of liquid funk. Whilst several highly credible drum and bass albums have been released in recent months, to a greater extent than has been accomplished so far this year, Utah Jazz has achieved a balance between conveying a cohesive theme and displaying an uncompromising attitude towards diversity and character. The consequence is a collection of complementary tracks that are likely to be on rotation at home or in the car for longer than is usual for drum and bass.

Whilst other influences are apparent, the core of the 12 full tracks and 3 interludes that comprise It's A Jazz Thing is highly reminiscent the raw original sound of disco. Setting the tone, "Feeling Inside" begins the album with spoken word snippets and layered vocal samples, the powerful tight breaks highlighting the fact that not all modern soulful drum and bass is necessarily "liquid". Raising the energy levels with a full vocal, intensifying build up and a drop that releases a catchy hook, the album's second track "Back in Time" has been popular with DJs whilst receiving significant airplay on BBC 1Xtra. Following on, "Mesmerize" is the album's first subtle roller and the deep jazz sound it encompasses is found again later in the likes of the reggae tinged "Riddim Track".

"Piano Interlude" is one of three interludes that divide up what is a well-structured album. Whilst they do a job, they are perhaps generic and typical of a dnb producer working at a lower bpm. Additionally, there are tracks on the album that, whilst not distracting from the overall quality, are not executed as effectively as others. Unfortunately the final track, "Acoustic Jam", sounds less atmospheric and slightly immature when compared to many of the others. Leaving the end of the album isolated to a degree, it was also slightly disappointing that the collaboration with Atlantic Connection, "River Track", was not more arresting considering the strength and originality of Atlantic Connection's recent releases.

The deep, soulful and more euphoric aspects of early house are also smoothly captured. "Runaway", a previous single, features a familiar sounding warm 80s soul style vocal and the stripped down "The Message" is reminiscent of original New York or Chicago house. In contrast, the pitched up "head in the clouds" sample gives "Cloud 9" a uniquely UK feel. In leaving the vocal quite exposed alongside an understated bassline Utah Jazz avoids creating what could have been a more disposable peak time single whilst guaranteeing an instant reaction from fans of old skool hardcore.

It is, however, in the recreation of the sound of funk and original disco that gives "It's a Jazz Thing" its character. "The Only One" encapsulates the album's mood more than any other track and will probably be recognised as classic in years to come. An ideal summer anthem with each element, including an uplifting vocal, complementing the other perfectly, this is a sultry yet emotive 6 minutes evocative of idealisations of Detroit or New Orleans. With characteristically effective percussion, the more relaxed "La Cinta" continues this theme and is as fitting for Sunday mornings at home as it is in the car or as the soundtrack to evening at a beachside bar. "Funkless Life", produced alongside Soulmatic, is slightly sweeter and is comparable to several tracks that have been released on V since Marky and his counterparts exploded on to the scene in 2001.

With "It's a Jazz Thing" Utah Jazz has provided enough soulful energy to please summer ravers and enough depth and diversity to please more dedicated dnb fans. It is the intrinsic underground nature of drum and bass that often results in the potential of a particular style not being fully explored or perfected due to producers consistently seeking originality or aiming to balance a recent period of one style's dominance by taking the music in the opposite direction. What Utah Jazz has proven is that, although this album may not appear as original as those in recent years by Commix, Matrix and Futurebound or others, sometimes using a particular sound in a slightly different format, or crafting songs so that a style's potential is fully realised, can be just as innovative as more obvious attempts to create something fresh.

Most importantly however, and a rarity in drum and bass, he has produced a textured and themed album that is more that a collection of 12"s. The execution of the ideas behind the album, its influences, and overall quality, provide it with the potential to be a critical success outside of drum and bass. As vinyl sales fall it is vital to gain support from people who have diverse tastes and do most of their listening at home, from the people who bought Timeless and New Forms. Utah Jazz has the product right, the marketing and PR may be more difficult.

by  rob
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Tracklist :
1. Feeling Inside 5:38
2. Back In Time 5:14
3. Mesmerize 5:56
4. Piano Interlude 1:05
5. The Message 6:39
6. Cloud Nine 5:41
7. Funkless Life ft. Soulmatic 6:39
8. Atmosphere Interlude 1:12
9. The Only One 5:59
10. Riddim Track 5:54
11. La Cinta 5:00
12. Sultry Interlude 1:12
13. Runaway 7:01
14. River Theme ft. Atlantic Connection 5:54
15. Acoustic Jam 4:29

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Note :

http://www.mourah.com

http://www.myspace.com/mourah

From Myspace :
By the end of 2003, Mourah starts his musical carreer with the release of his debut album FROM ONE HUMAN BEING TO ANOTHER. It is a fine and pure piece of work that finds its centre in a raw blend of acoustic and electronic sonorities.

Author composer arranger and performer, he brings us here an ensemble of diverse themes in their intensity and style: «It is not a homogeneous album with tracks following a logical sonority in order to set a scene in the listener’s imagination. It is rather a kind of collection of my first (serious) musical attempts as a composer exploring different fields such as trip-hop and drum’n’bass amongst others…Therefore there is no main connecting thread running through the tracks, here what links them is the rupture from one to another. It is not an one-hour single journey but rather eleven journeys of five minutes each».

In sum, it reflects shared experiences first with a funk band called Anticlockwise in Geneva (1995) and later with his friend Dj Kmi (co-founder of Geneva collective Audioactivity) in the quest of the art of djing by mainly mixing drum’n’bass and breakbeat tunes.

It would finally be the Portuguese independent label Nova Zona/ Zona Musica to give him the first chance of showing his skills. Aware of his lack of experience they bet, nevertheless, on the one hand on his sensitivity and on the other hand on the cultural richness an early immigration to switzerland might have given him. It is in some sense, on a personal level a return to his roots, to an unknown country after his father's death. A page is now turned and many more are about to be written. To our concern, musical ones.

FROM ONE HUMAN BEING TO ANOTHER was nominated for best national album 2003, at the Dance-Club Music Awards, rewarding alternative and electronic music both Portuguese and international. For him the highest point of a global acknowledgment by the media and specialized press.

 

Origine du Groupe : Portugal
Style : Electro Drum & Bass , Trip Hop , Downtempo
Sortie : 2003

Tracklist :
1 – A bow
2 – J. Butterfly
3 – Let it slow flow
4 – Lisbon underground Genova
5 – World in peace
6 – Moonlit
7 – Os mudos da vale
8 – I did not know
9 – Heavylightness
10- Higher love (Dub Version)
11- Silence

 

Note : ++

http://www.paradoxmusic.com

‘Seba & Paradox Beats Me’ features 12 tracks of Deep, Melodic and truly Timeless Drum and Bass. The Vocal talents of New York resident Robert Manos are present throughout the cd; in tracks such as DJ Fabio’s favorite ‘Cant Let Go’, DJ Flights top 2005 track of the year ‘Stone Cold’ and the awesome and emotional ‘Last Goodbye’. The tracklisting really shows both of the labels diversity with the Source Direct-esque ‘Its Not a Dream’ and ‘No Words Can De-scribe It’ right through to the 1970’s Funk grain of Paradox’s ‘Futures Extinction’ and the dark vision’s of Seba’s ‘External reality’. In all, this is a CD that will never gather dust on the shelf. Too much of today’s Drum and Bass doesn’t have that shelf life that can be played for years to come. Identity is everything in music. This IS Seba & Paradox at their very best. Enjoy!.

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Origine du Groupe : U.K
Style : Drum & Bass , Electro
Sortie : 2006

Tracklist :
01. Paradox - Future's Extinction 6:24
02. Seba & Paradox - Stone Cold 6:02
03. Seba - Shapeshifter 5:45
04. Seba - External Reality 5:29
05. Seba & Paradox - It's All Love 5:18
06. Seba & Paradox - Last Goodbye 5:40
07. Seba & Paradox - Remembrance 6:13
08. Seba & Paradox - Can't Let Go 6:34
09. Seba & Paradox - No Words Can Describe It 5:40
10. Seba & Paradox - Wakeup Call 5:17
11. Seba & Paradox - You Didn't See It, Did You? 5:29
12. Seba & Paradox - It's Not A Dream 5:39

 

Note : ++

http://telepathemusic.com

http://www.myspace.com/telepathe

"Dance Mother" est un premier disque qui tient ses promesses mais nous laisse un peu dubitatif. Il faut dire qu’à l’origine, Telepathe est un duo dont le premier EP se voulait assez noisy. Alors quand on s’aperçoit que Busy Gangnes et Shahin Motia ont choisi d’abandonner les expérimentations bruyantes et autres distorsions pour se tourner vers les voies de l’électronica, on est un peu surpris par l’aridité de l’ensemble.

Difficile de dégager un sentiment plutôt qu’un autre dans la musique de Telepathe tant les compositions semblent traverser notre époque avec un sentiment de détachement quasi salutaire. Dès les premières notes de So Fine, l’électro minimaliste de Telepathe nous plonge immédiatement dans une ambiance froide qui nous rappelle les balbutiements de la New Wave. Mais l’humeur des deux filles de Telepathe ne semble pas être à l’hédonisme tant leur musique sonne comme un lendemain de fête trop difficile. Dans ces conditions, on a du mal à accrocher à l’electro-clash de Chrome’s On It, seule ombre au tableau de ce disque austère.

Mais au milieu de cette ascèse, on retrouve certains éléments de style de TV On The Radio – David Sitek a produit "Dance Mother" - sur In Your Line, tant le morceau pourrait sonner comme une chute de studio du groupe. Batterie tribale, synthétiseur vaguement réverbéré et voix distanciées sont au cœur de ce titre qui constitue indéniablement la réussite de ce disque en demi-teinte. Parmi ces atmosphères sobres on gardera aussi Lights Go Down dont les blips concassés tentent une sortie progressive de ces ambiances glaciales. Cette touche de concupiscence sera de courte durée, le reste du disque retombera rapidement dans sa distance ultra raisonnable.

Ce premier disque d’une nouvelle sensation de ce début d’année est plutôt bien ficelé, malgré un ton impassible qui risque de se finir aussi par une distance de notre part. Gageons qu’au delà de la performance technique, Telepathe saura mettre une touche de sensualité dans son prochain album.

Par Mathieu

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Origine du Groupe : North America

Style : Electro Pop , Drum & Bass , Psychedelic

Sortie : 2009

Tracklist :

01. So Fine
02. Chrome's on It
03. Devil's Trident
04. In Your Line
05. Lights Go Down
06. Can't Stand It
07. Michaël
08. Trilogy : Breath Of Life, Crimes And Killings, Threads And Knives
09. Drugged

Note :

http://www.jazzsteppa.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/jazzsteppa

Origine du Groupe : U.K

Style : Dubstep , Electro , Drum & Bass

Sortie : 2009

Tracklist :

01 - One
02 - It Was A Train
03 - AmeriCa B
04 - Five / Zippyshare
05 - Alpha / Zippyshare
06 - Taylor Rain
07 - 3 Gun Crime
08 - Big Swing SounD
09 - Big Swing DuB
10 - Outro

JazZsTePpa est un collectif formé en 2006.
Initié par Gal‐Bar‐Adon et Mathieu Pe (UK), et rapidemment rejoint par Katalze, BarbZ et ShmueL! (deux musiciens de Jazz), le groupe évolue dans un style musicale fusionnant le Dubstep, la Drum 'n Bass et le Nu-Jazz (Jazzstep?).

Leur premier album, sortie sur leur propre label (après plusieurs maxis sur MG77, Hot Flush ou Studio Rockers) fin décembre, est donc le résultat d'une alchimie parfaitement maitrisée entre la puissance et la profondeur d'un Dubstep aux basslines bien lourdes accouplée à la sensualité des instruments à cuivres et des percussions Jazz.

Bien que composé a 70 % de morceaux tirés de précédentes releases, ce premier Lp reste une bonne claque de fraicheur britannique (euphémisme).

Par David

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