Equinox Vinyl & CDs

Review: Following his standout 'Just A Flute Thing' single last time out, DJ Scientist returns with 'The Baku Files', a limited release that's an immediate crate-digger's dream. Side-A delivers a hypnotic, jazzy boom-bap instrumental built from rare Soviet-era Azeri jazz samples layered with gritty vocal chops from vintage rap records. It's a brilliant cross-cultural collage that feels at once nostalgic and fresh. Flip to side-B for 'To See You,' a slick, DJ-friendly rework of a Murat Kashlaev composition originally reissued on Spasibo Records and packed with head-nodding grooves, old-school flavour and new-school execution.

Review: Mariana Zwarg is an accomplished Brazilian flutist and saxophonist who presented her Universal Sexteto group in 2020 with the Nascentes album. Released on CD by Scubidu Music, it's now getting a vinyl pressing thanks to Equinox in Australia, getting the music further afield, which it thoroughly deserves. Zwarg's group deals in a modern, sprightly kind of jazz led by her own joyous vocals and flute flurries, but there's also a sense of the deep heritage of Brazilian jazz hanging behind everything she does. It's a vibrant album bursting with kinetic energy - just the kind of revitalising tonic to lift the spirits through long winter months in the Northern hemisphere.