season submersion

The greenery is finally out in full bloom here in Philadelphia. In the spirit of the season's lushness, this post concerns itself with three tracks full of deep, balearic sounds.

The first comes off of the Morpheus 12" of 2003 from Hallucinator. On Basic Channel's Chain Reaction sub-label, the record is an adventure in truly deep techno-dub. While its four tracks are all stellar, the standout of the record is "Reverie (Edit II)," a hypnotic, Indian-flavored number. While the sitar and tabla samples are intoxicating enough, the heavy dub beat thuds with stomach-churning power. If an MC spat some lines over it, it would be blasting out sub-woofers and rattling windows in no time. What's more, the high-frequency washes toward the track's end lend it a sublime and beach-like feel. Can almost feel the sand between your toes, right?

If you're a fan of Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound and have not been introduced to the fantastic stuff on Chain Reaction, I highly recommend downloading this track (mastered by Moritz von Oswald himself) and looking into some Fluxion, Substance, as well as more Hallucinator. All of it is available here.

Hallucinator- Reverie (Edit II)



A few months back, I was browsing around Halcyon, and one of their friendly workers handed me a Japanese Synchro System record called A Day in the Life. Having never heard of the group, I put it in my enormous 'to-be-listened-to' pile. Almost immediately after dropping the needle on the 12", I took it off and put the record in the 'definite purchase' pile-- it sounded so good, I didn't need to hear any more of it in the store. Since then, the record has been a constant on my decks. Its melancholy organ loop, jazzy piano and high-frequency synth twistings caress and ride up the spine. The undeniably sexy male vocals, slow-bumping deep house beat, and delayed flute make the track even more narcotizing. Not for the dancefloor, to be certain, but unbeatable for a spring afternoon or a nap (or the evocation of such).

Worth mentioning that "A Day in the Life" (on Life Line Records) is not emblematic of the Japanese Synchro System sound. In fact, finding a definite 'sound' of JSS is quite difficult: Kazuyuki Shimizu and Kiyoaki Fukagawa, the dudes behind JSS, are extraordinarily eclectic in their productions. Their first full-length is freakishly lush Detroit-style techno, and their newest has everything from cosmic bangers to a loungey, synth-drenched cover of "I'm on Fire." Fukagawa and Shimizu definitely deserve more renown, a fact made more apparent in their beautiful website. Check out the audio samples to hear what I'm saying.

Japanese Synchro System- A Day in the Life



The last track of this post is another mystery along the lines of Villa Savoye (see first post below). Who are Groove 2? Sure, they put out a single record on the urban/deep house label Strictly Rhythm in the early 90s, but alas, no other information on the production is available. The track posted below, an instrumental mix of the horrifying vocal house of "Originality," sounds almost like a Jan Hammer production-- if you close your eyes, you can see Don Johnson making the moves on some hot Miami babe on his boat deck. The smooth jazz sax is theatrical to the utmost, and the pan-flute samples that eventually harmonize with the sax are rich and quite high in the mix. It goes without saying that the bass-line is cool, simple and resolved to get some action.

Yeah, the sound is a bit dated, but no matter: the beat and the synths are darkly sexy, and there is a muggy catchiness to the track that render it as irresistable as a cocktail on a warm evening. Speaking of which...

Groove 2- Originality (Rolling Around to a Sax Sound Mix)