Posted by Budgie at May 13, 2005 05:42 PM

As Ice Cube once said, "Today was a good day"...

I don't know what it's like where you are today, but the sun is blazing here in this normally wet part of Scotland that I live in.

Sunny days deserve sunny music, so get downloading before the rain kicks in.

Track : CHRIS BRANN - "JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE"

Chris Brann. A man of many names. The Ananda Project, P'Taah, The Wamdue Project, Wambonix, Wamdue Kidz and Wamdue Productions! (Wamdue is short for "What I'm Gonna Do")

Many names, but one thing links them all. Top quality house music.

"Journey To The Centre" is a fine example. A 9 minute multi-layered slice of real instrumentation going up against Brann's deep, soulful chords and electronic ambience. Hypnotic, soothing and full of bliss. Shut out what's going on around about you, get the headphones on and let this track seep into your head...

Track : JAZZTRONIK - "SAMURAI"

"Samurai" has been kicking about for around 18 months or so now and why this never made a bigger splash last year was beyond me. It's a great summer record.

Ryota Nozaki, the maestro of Jazztronik, first caught my ears when his stuff started to appear over here on compilations by fellow new Jazz influenced experimentalists Truby Trio and Faze Action. His stuff was always good and memorable but it was "Samurai" that blew me away. He raised the bar with this track.

It starts off with a great slice of broken beat and a subtle piano line and slowly adds tiny snippets of vocals and a daft siren noise. The piano keeps the mood grounded amongst the madness, and this isn't some sample, this sounds like Noyaki improvising over the top of the laid down beat. By the 3.30 minute mark a new melody line is added and Noyaki just lets the whole vibe of the track pass through him and onto those keys, all the while those sirens and effects are firing off all over it..

A stunning record for a sunny day.

Go Visit : Jazztronik

Go Buy : Chris Brann - Deep Fall
Go Buy : Jazztronik - Samurai

Feel free to leave a comment about these tracks in The Pipe section of the forum

Ta,
Budgie.