Alphonse

Review: Especial welcomes one Alphonse to the label. A true missing in action, last seen
by his crew dancing atop a bus, here literally forced him to give up the tape of
Same For Me. A peane to his life? Possi bly. Mixing techno beats and (proto)
rave breaks, all under his own unique and heartfelt message. Discovered on the outskirts of Letchlade, down the bottom of an abandoned traveller site in a
delapidated caravan with just the clothes he was in, while clutching an armful of reel-to-reels
masters, a pack of 20 B&H and 1 can of Strongbow, Alphonse's story is one of party obsessive
gone AWOL.
Mumbling periodically, words deciphered and names dropped. Frome, Stroud and whisper it,
Castlemorton, led to rehabitlation, a bath, shave and slowly enticing his musical knowledge
to share.
With a few scraps appearing here and there, including a micro(dot) of disco editing knowhow
given, here though he finally is able to share his experiences by looking back through making
music of the future.
Same For Me starts with Sterns intent, all hats, kick and fx to the max, a Fantazia of
expression, before toms and 808 snap and the sermon begins. But wait, where is the bass?
Boom! Subs squeeze ribs while flute lifts minds skywards. "A valuable tool in life.
Concentrate on something makes you happy..."
To bring this in to fold, the Junior family member is given the tapes to show what he can do.
The most subtle start lulls you in to a sense of is that it? There must be more. Building.
Building. Break and...hands to the Sunrise. "...Thank you. Same For Me. Same For Me."

Review: Especial is delighted to welcome Alphonse back to the label for a third EP to again show his deep knowledge of the past to make a future. After the debut dub-breaks-poem of Same For Me and success of his warrior afro-dance Smokey 12", Alphonse made new friends with acclaimed releases for Klasse Wrecks, Hypercolour and Black Orpheus, before here returning like a chosen one with four sun kissed blessings.

Before the fields of Letchlade, hills of Castlemorton or beaches of Skegness had witnessed Alphonse exploring the sounds of many a free party sunrise, summers were misspent travelling the "disco" buses of Europe, tripping the light fantastic from Spook to Amnesia, Disco Piu to Euritimia.

The music, shared experiences and inclusion all led to an acute understanding apparent in his production skills. Ambient dreamscapes, warm bass lines, 808 breaks, 909 kick, piano, flute and horn melodies atop all lift to the heavens. In Moan Up and White Pepper Alphonse takes, reshapes, rebuilds and rewrites to create anew, expanding minds and hearts like never before.

Long stories, short stores, a nod and wink, at its heart Stolen Sunrise is an EP of wonderful expression, a producer peaking, providing a soundtrack to share for those that look to the future horizons with love.