EP Review: Pillowtalk - Feyorz

More hotness from the pretty much always brilliant DhARMA and this time it's totally free. Feyorz is Russian producer lya Bodrov and there's a clear love of hip-hop, soul, funk and r&b that comes through on this release.

The EP opens with the hypnotic looping funk of 'Need4u' featuring Gillespy. It feels like a heavy love affair with nineties r&b, a slick track full of polished guitars set against a fuzzy bass that feels like an extended take on the sort of joint J Dilla would often through away on an interlude. 'Nevaleav', featuring Boho Fau, takes a similar musical approach but lays some soulful crooning and a rap to it and this time it's actually little more than an interlude at just two-and-a-half-minutes long, but great all the same.

The title track is a lush laid-back deeply sensual with heavy funky bass patterns and a softly sung vocal lifted from the original 1973 soul track, 'Pillow Talk', by American singer Sylvia. Bodrov does a good job of updating it whilst keep a lovely dusty feel and playing up the soft-core vibes.

'Until I Luv U' drops a slightly glitchy electronic beat, a smattering of guitar and some sax that continues the oversexed atmosphere. The EP is closed with the jazzy and dreamy hip-hop of 'Wake Up, Bitch', which slots lounge piano in amongst layers of warm, dubby bass and some more soulful vocals.

This is a processor to some more hip-hop material coming soon on DhARMA - since it's free I'd thoroughly recommend you check it out.

As we are all about the love at DhARMA we are opening our summer creations with the first in a series of free releases. A nostalgic hip-hop treat from Russian lya Bodrov- also known as Feyorz , sets the clogs in motion.

EP Review: Tahiti Love EP - Phil Gerus

Another slice of winning alternative electronic melodies courtesy of DhARMA, this time from latest signing, classically trained musician Phil Gerus.

Phil Gerus' Tahiti Love EP is a trippy kind of love. Filled with loops and dubs and chill wave shoe gazing, it's both melodic and textural.

The title track rides heavy, looped hip-hop sounding drums whilst sunny eighties synths slice back and forth. The opening section, roughly a minute-and-a-half long, is perched halfway between one thing and the other. It's only when the melodic keys come through that the track feels at ease, a glimpsed slice of paradise sandwiched between smart urbane cool.

Second track Have To Say Goodbye is thick and slow like treacle, caramelized bass poured over the vocals, smothering them in opaque, cloudy dreams. It's the sound of being incommunicado - voices held at bay through the sheer density of the substance surrounding them. It's an explanation of departure that feels like it never quite got through.

Polpette provides a dreamy remix of Have To Say Goodbye to close the EP. It's considerably less thick, but punctuated with shuffling, fuzzy percussion and staccato melodies that maintain the theme but acts as a counterpoint to the slower origin.

​The Tahiti Love EP is out on 15 March through DhARMA, check it out via Soundcloud below:

EP Review: The Hatch Series - Various Artists

The Hatch Series is the first in a planned annual compilation series from DhARMA, a new label that has already impressed with a couple of their releases this year.

Made up of five tracks from five different artists it's a relatively eclectic set showcasing DhARMA's progressive approach to A&R. The EP opens with a blues-influenced IDM track from Kyson. There is a little hint of Nicolas Jaar to 'Drifting On By', with a soulful vocal and a slow, textured feel to the production work.

Atiko Misaki's 'Do You Remember Me' is all gentle piano chords and relaxed trumpet, pleasingly jazzy and left-field and even slower than the EP's opening. In contrast 'Midnight Travellers' by Tibalt is a little more upbeat, a striking gothic-electro-prog-opera piece. It may be a little less universal than Misaki's track but the pounding drum-set snares and eighties synths aren't without their charms.

Next up is Silly Rabbit with 'Subsonic Sunset'. It is a mildly Germanic glitch-pop piece, full of big ambient noises and synthetic drums but it never quite seems to get to its destination for me..

The EP is rounded out with 'Beta' by Skai Nine, and it's a pretty good summary of where DhARMA ultimately seem to have their heads as a label. It's experimental electronic music that manages to be greater than the sum of its parts, a whirling cacophony of gentle sounds that comes together to create a softly stuttering pop record. It concludes a short, interesting statement of intent with the first two tracks proving particularly enduring.

The Hatch Series is released on 1 October through DhARMA. Preview the release below through Soundcloud or pre-order from DhARMA here.

EP Review / Stream: Glass Cities - Mitch Murder

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​Glass Cities - Mitch Murder

​DhARMA's third release comes hot on the heals of my review of their debut one, Kelly Paven's excellent Alone In The Storm, and they seem to be a little determined to establish some form.

Mitch Murder's Glass Cities is an EP is eighties-inspired instrumental soft-rock and MOR electronics. Listening to this in the same week as Tony Scott's tragic suicide feels more than a little poignant. This whole EP sounds like it could be the soundtrack to Top Gun.

There are plenty of eighties synths then, but it also has the kind of heightened and headstrong emotion you would expect of an eighties Tony Scott movie. Several of the songs are cut through with samples of dialogues from films but it is the music that is largely left to do the talking.

Unusual as it is to hear 80s rock without vocals - the soundtrack is almost as reminiscent of a video game soundtrack as a movie one - but the melodies hold their own. The squealing guitar on 'Best Of The Best' dominates the first half of the track and the synths knock the remaining minutes out of the park. On 'Heading South' the vocal samples and motorbikes create more feeling than a vocal ever could - and anything more would be overkill.

In addition to the five original tracks there are also two remixes - one by Sylvester and the other Nite Sprite - and refreshly both embrace to atmosphere of the originals, sounding like products of the eighties themselves.

Glass Cities is released on 1 September through DhARMA. Stream it below via Soundcloud or pre-order it on Bandcamp:​

EP Review: Alone In The Storm - Kelly Pavan

This new EP from French producer Kelly Pavan on DhARMA is one of the best releases to cross my path in a while. It took a couple of listens to really ingrain itself in my mind but stick it on and turn it up and you can't really help but be won over by its glitchy, syrupy melodies and swooping folk influenced electronica.

There are three original tracks from Pavan here and the EP opens with the title track's gently strummed acoustic guitar and a male-female duet. Pavan's production is always there but subtle enough to stand back and let his music stand front and centre.

'Are You There (No I'm Not)’ is dreamlike - wispy and dazed whilst a thick drum beat gives it a sense of momentum and a more electronic feel than 'Alone In The Storm'. The combination recalls the chill wave of early Toro y Moi but nothing there felt quite as pretty as Pavan's sunny day dreams and folk influenced vocals.

The final track, 'Psychedelik Happiness' takes things further still, starting relatively gently before adding crunchy drums and layers of distorted bass and tweaking melodies. It feels distinctively French and yet incredibly fresh - a whole new French take on disco.

The EP is rounded off with a fabulous remix of 'Are You There (No I'm Not)' by live duo Of Norway, who give the original a laid back, organic feeling that plays to both the track's and the duo's strengths. Featuring loose bass, gentler drums and a melody of warm synths it's pure Balearia. And in case you didn't know, that's right up my street.

In Kelly Pavan DhARMA appear to have struck gold - he is definitely one to watch.

Stream and buy Alone In The Storm via bandcamp below: