Search results: Ginger

Review: Warp continues to comb back through the landmark Artificial Intelligence series with this landmark record from Jochem Paap, aka Speedy J. Alongside a tandem reissue of Richie Hawtin's F.U.S.E. album Dimension Intrusion, this remastered edition of Ginger takes us back into the heart of early 90s techno innovation, when new ideas were developing globally at a rate of knots. Paap had already established himself in the harder end of the techno pool, but Ginger flipped the script with an immersive, meditative exploration of minimalism and melodic structure. Amongst the eternal classics are some dazzling miniatures deemed 'Fills' which make for some of the most compelling listening on this seminal slice of early 90s techno.

Review: New to Soundway Records comes this second edition of Ghana Special, a comprehensive compilation of '80s Ghanaian-diasporic highlife and its embrace of synthesiser and new wave elements. 20 years on from the first compilation in the series, which was released in 2009 and focused on modern and contemporary forms of highlife, this second volume focuses more on tracing the development of the sound as it took on increasingly synthetic forms. The scheme of things goes something like this: drum machines and synthesisers appeared alongside lilting guitar lines and punchy horns, and Ghanaian musicians began incorporating US disco and boogie, r&b, European new wave, and Caribbean zouk and soca into their music. A kind of socioeconomic history lesson conjoins this musicology: the eighties saw unrestricted migration policies in Western nations in the postcolonial era, which enabled new crossover industries to flourish. Thus the music you hear on this compilation was born, and thrived, and continues to thrive.

Review: Hi-Phonic Big 15's Hi-Phonics Hi-Phonics album is a real curio from 1979 that deep diggers have long fawned over. It is the only album from this outfit and it was once reissued on CD in 2004 but never before on vinyl. Musically it blends reggae, soul and jazz-funk into gloriously musical tracks with lavish arrangements and a golden soul for late-night lounge spaces. At times romantic, at others playful, it's as likely to be heard at a sundown session on the beach in Ibiza as it is at a listening bar in London or a street party in Leeds.

Review: Village Live has just put out a compilation to make the label's fifth anniversary. Sadly, it was the last project co-founder Joey Deez worked on before he passed away. Now the label serves up an album dedicated to his memory from Aver, who created the first draft of it between finding out about Joey's passing and attending his funeral. It features collages of conversations the two had next to previously unreleased material he made during lockdown with Doron Segal. The result is an album of catharsis and musical therapy, that features both light and dark, hope and despair. The finished album features cuts by Jazz T, Evil Ed and Omas, as well as additional voice messages donated by Kuartz and Matt Smith.

Review: Before becoming the multi-instrumentalist and producer extraordinaire behind most of Favorite Recordings' disco, boogie and jazz-funk flavoured releases, Bruno 'Patchworks' Hovart delivered one of the best revivalist funk albums of the 21st century, 2009's "The Empire Strikes Back", under the Uptown Funk Empire alias. Here he revisits the album, gathering together a bunch of killer cuts previously included on digital versions of the set but omitted from the vinyl release. As you'd expect, it's an authentic-sounding affair full of killer grooves, brilliant instrumental arrangements, fluid solos and dancefloor-ready workouts shot through with knowing references to 1970s black American music. There's one previously unheard gem - the righteous and celebratory "Party" - and a whole lot of insatiable good-time grooves.

Review: We're happy to report that the music on the 'Son of a Biscuit' EP from Kuwahara aka Mick Wilson and Scott Gray is every bit as colourfully eccentric as the title it bears. 'Ginger Cut' is dubbed up cloud of sound billowing over choppy hip-hop breaks, with an old skool female MC poking her head out of it to have her say every now and again. Rich Tea's edit of the track takes it into housier territory but, like one of those old Orb ambient singles singles on Wau Mr Modo, still gives plenty of work to the studio's echo chambers. 'Jaffa Quake' goes for snazzy, jazzy overtones and off kilter breaks, 'Kustard Cream' offers up reggae skank, again served up with plenty of sonic exotica, and there's even a more relaxed, Balearic bonus mix of 'Ginger Cut'. A thoroughly nutty record, but a genius one at the same time.