@@@ Whatever the Weather: 17 C (Ghostly, 2022) This is the new project of UK dancefloor musician Lorraine James. I’m hopeful on this record after hearing her last record as I really enjoyed the sounds but didn’t love the singers/tunes as much and I think this is gonna be an instrumental record. The track below is medium percolating, now more than medium percolating with hints of drum and bass, multiple synths and some glitch sauce and a generally stylish vibe. James really is a talented arranger/producer, lots of discipline and focus on display here. The middle of this track she brings it down and really pulls you into the experience of these sounds before she reinflates the groove and takes you home. I’m checking out the next track and it opens with the same electro framework but some washed out piano so while I will check out more this looks set to be a mixed bag for me.
@@@ Fachada: Mundos Secretos (Electric Cowbell, 2022) I got to this Latin fusion record via the WRIR weekly email but one from January. I’m really enjoying the drummer here and the unconventional synth sounds from the keyboard player. Unconventional in terms of Latin jazz, these are spacier and weirder than what you would expect from a high end Latin jazz thing. The record has a pleasantly janky feel to it, there are a million ways to put these sounds together. The loose feel and super organic flow works for me though younger listeners might find it disorienting and unusual. This is what humans sound like when they play music. Not all the times but sometimes and it’s cool.
Deep In the Music 