Various – Gilles Peterson Presents Brownswood Bubblers Five review

Artist: Various
Title: Gilles Peterson Presents Brownswood Bubblers Five
Label: Brownswood
Genre: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz
Format: CD, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records, Juno Download

Gilles Peterson has always remained committed to innovation, experimentation and new talent. His own Brownswood Recordings imprint has been the perfect platform for him to help who he terms as “unsung heroes and emerging talent” to get released and reach more people. The fifth instalment of the series, this mix compilation does exactly that whilst shifting across genres and styles seemingly with each track on a CD that highlights Peterson’s eclectic tastes further.

Although these are artists and tracks that Peterson has been using regularly in his live sets and radio shows, they will largely remain unknown to many. As such it is a great delight that on this offering, we get to hear the fragile and emotive soul-kissed electronica of Ragen Fykes’ “Love Life”, the slow and hazy jazz-house of Ron Basejam’s “Into My Life” and Michael Olatuja’s “Hold On” before moving on to the shy, fractured pop of Samuel & The Dragon’s “Rising Up” and the hip-hop infused breaks of “Happy” by Daru.

Some were released some time ago now and appear here as an attempt to reach more through this release’s attachment to the bigger name of Gilles Peterson. However, some are seeing the light of day for the very first time as exclusive tracks to this compilation. Artists include Ron Baejam, Daru & Rena and Electric Wire Hussle as Peterson explores music that harbours more interest than most other club music. Ranging from Soultronica to hip-hop and from jazz to nu-soul, there’s enough there to keep even the most eclectic music fan engaged from start to finish.

Review: Tom Jones