EP Review / Stream: Fauve - Floral Fauna

Written and produced by Floral Fauna. Release Date: February 10th, 2014

Fauve is the new release out next week through Better On Foot that features duo Floral Fauna. Formed in Baltimore last September after street musician Ony teamed up with Rhodes player Rob Fontana.

With a focus on improvisation Floral Fauna produce tracks inspired by disco and jazz. The EP's name, Fauve, is a reference to Fauvism, a period of expressionism within art where artists took to vibrant strokes and colours to convey feelings rather than realism.

Fauve is a fitting description for this EP that paints more in mood than in the literal medium of lyrics. The vocals on Visions sound like they have been gently placed atop the music rather than imprinted on it - the improvised sense of this music suggests the moments, rhythm and melody are more important than the contents.

Lift It is similarly casual, the vocals reverberating around a staggered chord sequence that gives the track a gentle tumbling sensation. Final track Mysteries plays with heavy vibes whilst the vocals take the foreground for once, the hook detailing a timid lover struggling to come forth and declare his affection.

There is a relaxed playful experimentation to this music that reminds me of a more soulful and disco-influenced version of Cody Chestnutt's cult classic debut album The Headphone Masterpiece. In other words, there is a lo-fi, sexy effortlessness to Fauve that is hard to resist. Particularly on that last track.

Kevin Yost has been a supported and so the EP includes a deep house remix of Visions. Textually Yost takes the track to a wholly different place, the record full of ambience and shuffling beats in place of the original's raw sass, but it provides a crisp reimagining that fits with the mood of the EP.

Fauve is released on 24 February through Better On Foot and is available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link]. Listen to Visions on Soundcloud above.

EP Review: If Loving U Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Wrong - Lockah

Fresh off of the back of releasing one of last year's best albums (Nonfiction by The Range), Donky Pitch kick start their 2014 with this storming EP from Lockah. The ironically titled If Loving U Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Wrong presents two original tracks as a prelude to Lockah's forthcoming album Yahoo or the Highway, and it follows up on last year's Only Built 4 Neon Nites EP.

Both the original tracks are presented in Lockah's usual style - a smear of pop across a grimey background of Miami bass. There are plenty of his usual rave-antics packed into this EP and it is suitably starry-eyed and uplifting.

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Lockah, credit: Dean Gray

The EP's title track is a flurry of pitched vocals, rave piano and old school drum patterns that come together to create something totally in love with the optimism of early 90s dance but still noticeably contemporary. Ayyo Tricknology is similarly positive but focuses on a little bit of a more up-to-date, bass orientated sound, with plenty of echo and bounce creating a chunky rhythmic track.

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If Loving U Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Wrong - Lockah

Both tracks come with a dub version. If Dubbing U Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Wrong loses the pitched vocal and instead focuses on tight drum patterns and scratching to create a track for the beat heads. Ayyo Bonus Beats is similarly rhythm obsessed, stripping out the synths to create a tightly wound drum track.

It is all further evidence that Nonfiction was no fluke - thankfully we only need to wait until April to hear their next full length offering.

If Loving U Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Wrong is out on 17 February through Donky Pitch. It will be available through Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link]. Listen to the title track on Soundcloud below:

Listen to Lockah - If Loving U Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Wrong (12" Edit) by Lockah | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.

EP Review: Utopia - Me Giorgio - Giorgio Moroder vs. I-Robots

2013 was a bit of a renaissance year for Giorgio Moroder, his production influence highlighted as a result of a massive hat tip courtesy of Daft Punk and some excellent coverage in the mainstream media.

Moroder is without doubt a musical genius - a multi-instrumentalist and visionary producer, much of his work of the late-70s and 80s is staggering. I Feel Love is frankly better than most artists achieve in a whole lifetime.

None of this gives us anything new to devour though - whilst Moroder still creates music it can be hit and miss... The Daft Punk collaboration is pretty great (even if you do hate the intro), but his remix of Haim's Forever is, frankly, dog shit (and it's his fault, not Haim's).

I'd argue we don't need anything else, anything new... Just stick I Feel Love on again and gurn your way through another 16-minutes of pleasure. Still, into this flabby modern wasteland come I-Robots' re-constructions of Utopia.

I-Robots' aim was simple - take the partially mixed track that appeared on Moroder's From Here To Eternity and create longer stand-alone versions. And that they do, successfully. All three versions are very true to the originals (re-edits more than remixes to be honest) - cleaned and extended but little else.

The 1977 Reconstruction extends the track from 3:23 to almost seven minutes. The 2014 Tape Reconstruction is created based on a dream of the remixer in which they found an old lost Moroder tape, using it to give the track a slightly fuller mix and a slight cassette fuzziness. Finally the 2014 Reconstruction is a cleaner version of the Tape Reconstruction, the tech-house beat giving it a more contemporary feel.

The three mixes are similar enough that this is really aimed at real Moroder fans and to be honest, the greatest appeal is likely to be in the availability of the track on a standalone 12-inch for the first time (without the 2014 Reconstruction). The 1977 Reconstruction does the job though, and I'd happily spin that all day every day provided it meant I never had to hear that dreadful Haim remix again. Shame on you Giorgio.

Utopia - Me Giorgio is released through Deeplay Digital and Opilec Music on 28 February.

EP Review: Relish EP V - Various

This new release from Rob Insinna aka Headman's Relish Recordings pulls together four remixes of three classic and influential tracks, giving them  the opportunity to be shared all over again. All three tracks are cult classics and the remixes are all pretty sympathetic to the originals.

Relish EP V opens with a Headman remix of Masimbabele from The Unknown Cases. The original came out on Rough Trade 25 years ago, marrying the work of Cologne residents and Can collaborators and disciples Helmut Zerlett and Stefan Kracthen with African percussionist Rebop Kwaku Baah to create an Afrobeat classic. Headman's mix retains an Afrobeat vibe and the raw electro edge suits his production style.

The Units saw something of a revival back in 2009 when their back catalogue was re-released and it's impact on the wider synth punk scene was re-evaluated. High Pressure Days remains their best track and included here the acidic synth melodies here shine as ever, glittering against the foreground of a song that details the more-relevant-than-ever mounting anxiety of modern living. Headman's dub is light in touch, reigning in the vocals and giving the track a little more room.

Concluding the EP are two mixes of Gina X's No G.D.M., one from Red Axes (it's their favourite ever track apparently) and one once again from Headman. The track mines a similar vein to some significantly more successful acts that followed, including Soft Cell, the Human League and much of the Electroclash movement of the early 2000s - expect plenty of vamping and androgyny. The Red Axes mix is loose and funky with a dubby undercurrent and spiky guitars whilst Headman's version is a little more straight... Bass guitar on lead and trademark Headman drums giving it much more pace.

There is no arguing with the three tracks here and whilst it is a shame to not get the originals included they are all under-exposed enough to warrant the revisit.

Relish EP V is released through Relish on 20 January. Preview Masimbabele and High Pressure Days through Soundcloud below:

Release Date: 20th January 2014 Cat No: Format: RR070 Format: Vinyl + Digital A1 The Unknown Cases: Masimbabele (Robi Insinna/Headman Rework) A2 The Units: High Pressure days (Headman Dub) B1 Gina X: No G.D.M. (Red Axes Remix) B2 Gina X: No G.D.M.

EP Review: Change My Life - Hackman

Following on from his recent Bruh Jackman collaboration with production partner Jabru this debut release for Futureboogie treads a familiar path, blending soulful house and deep chunky rhythms.

Title track Change My Life is full of soft Rhodes and glittering soulful vocals, providing a warmth that rubs up against the techy, robotic bass work. It creates an uplifting and laid back modern disco record, the vocals arguably generic but functional in their determined optimistic independence. It's hazy disco music for dusk, and suitably lovely.

The tracks that follow are a little deeper. Lost From Me has a more delicate and distinctive vocal but innevitably isn't quite as instantly catchy. The simple drum patterns and rumbling bass lines build a heavy and more intense backing that feels like the moment just before a storm breaks.

Final track We Make Delicious is more techno influenced, thick drum patterns and menacing bass stabs create a stripped back, more minimal feel against which a sultry vocal dances along. 

Change My Life is released through Futureboogie on 9 December on vinyl and 5 Jan on MP3 [affiliate links]. Preview the title track on Soundcloud:

FBR023 - Hackman - Change My Life EP Out 9th December - pre order now http://www.phonicarecords.com/product/view/118356 www.futureboogie.com