REPOST: ALBUM REVIEW: V/A 'Secret Love 4' compiled by Alex Dallas and Jazzanova out now on Sonar Kollektiv

 Originally posted on Dec-4-07 11:03pm:

Following on from the findings of the forgotten cd pile as revealed on Monday with the fantastic Republic Of Loose album comes the not quite as good but still more than worthy of a mention 'Secret Love 4' compiled as ever by Jazzanova, joined this time by Alex Dallas.

I played this to my other half who is a Jazz connoisseur and she immediately said after, oh about two minutes of listening to the awesome 'Atlantic' by Roebeck "I love this cd, who is it by?" To which I replied "It's Secret Love 4, love." This delighted her as she is a big fan of the series. Her delight soon turned to raptures of rage and fury when I explained that the said cd had been misplaced and had lain dormant in a pile of albums for well over a month.

I was able to calm her down almost instantaneously by simply skipping the cd to the next delightfully chilled songs 'Africa Displaced' by A Race of Angels and 'Losing the will to Survive' by Findlay Brown. You see, if you haven't already guessed it, this is a compendium of cleverly selected songs to listen to on a Sunday, meditating or working on your mantra. It's fantastic boho nu-folk and soul (a bit like Speeka) for those who like to live life in the slow lane, well at least once in while.

4/5

CTZN V41N

REPOST: ALBUM REVIEW: Republic Of Loose ' AAAGH!' out now on Loaded Dice Records

Just found a nice little source of all our previous cached stuff from the first version of Vainzine. As you may know we already posted some of the later stuff that we were able to salvage but not all of the earlier articles were cached. So over the next few days / weeks / months - who knows, there will be some REPOST titles that are basically just the original articles being republished. We'll only REPOST music reviews that we still think are relevant or that you simply should not have missed out on.

Originally posted on Dec-3-07 10:13pm:

I got this album a few weeks ago and I didn't listen to it. I admit it, it got lost in a huge pile of Cd's that I just found - there's more of them to tell you about later.

Well I was blown away when I put this on the stereo tonight. 'Aaagh' is everything and nothing at the same time. There's elements of Cody Chesnut, Shakira, Prince, The Scissor Sisters, Santana, Andre 3000 and Timbaland all in play here.

I wish I had picked this up earlier, it completely lifted my winter blues with the warm summer party vibes On 'Comeback Girl' and the Latin twinged 'Break' followed by the old skool R&B soul hip hop melodious pop number 'All Mine' - the diamonds just did not stop falling from the sky m'Lucy.

5/5

CTZN V41N

ALBUM REVIEW: Alexandre Navarro 'Arcane' out now on SEM Label

Originally posted on 19 April 2008

I Found this guy on MySpace, or rather he found me.

I didn't know an awful lot about Alexandre Navarro so I had a look at his website and found that he has been releasing music since 2004.

So what is Arcane? It instantaneously reminded me of some of the greatest downtempo producers of recent times including Ulrich Schnauss. But without actually sounding like a copy cat artist.

Navarro is undeniably musically gifted and has a concise knowledge of what sounds go together and harmonise effectively and efficiently creating a textured, detailed, diverse yet minimal downtempo, electronic, chill out sound that will appeal to all and sooth the soul. The opener 'Time' is a perfect example of Navarro's ability to mix music with intellectual prowess.

4/5

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: The Big Freeze Vol. 2

CTZN V41N

ALBUM REVIEW: Digitonal 'Save Your Light For Darker Days' out 4 August on Just Music

Originally posted on 31 July 2008

Digitonal have somehow managed to avoid the Vainzine radar for many a year.

Their new album is simply mindblowing. It's a heady fusion of ambient electronica. Imagine classical meets digital, they get on well, settle down and the result is a kid called Digitonal.

This wonderful fusion of sounds is thanks to the five band members, some classically trained like Andy Dobson who - unsurprisingly when you hear such great tracks that are true works of art like 'Silver Poetry' - has worked on soundtracks previously.

The electronica vibe comes from Josh Docherty who ran the legendary tube parties in London that saw Digitonal perform alongside the likes of Aphex Twin, Goldfrapp and Funkstorung.

I have been looking for a record like this for a while now. Something has been missing from my life since Minotaur Shock and Telepopmusiks last releases. It's bold, fresh, mellow, emotive and the perfect soundtrack to those lazy summer days in the garden soaking up the rays.

5/5
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Alexandre Navarro

Gines De Passamonte

SINGLE REVIEW: Jon Hopkins 'Light Through The Veins' out now on Double Six

Originally posted on 1 May 2009:

Just released last Monday this is a real gem and one not to be missed, especially for you fans of quality chill out in the Digitonal (yes I know I am always harping on about him) ilk.

Ewan Pearson fans will be pleased to know that he is on remix duties with an epic 14 minute minimal / prog electro rework together with another slightly more upbeat than the original remix by David Holmes.

4.5/5

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Hatchback

Gines De Passamonte

ALBUM REVIEW: Jon Hopkins 'Insides' out now on Domino

Originally posted on 15 June 2009:

Once in a while a musical genius comes along and blows you away. Jon Hopkins is that genius. I haven't felt this way about an electronic album since, you've guessed it, Digitonal's 'Save Your Light For Darker Days, released last year.

Hopkins has a talent beyond words and his music deserves to be heard by a wider audience than has (probably) already been subjected to it's greatness.

There's a ethereal quality to his songs that are in the main instrumental. Check 'The Wider Sun' and 'Light Through The Veins' to hear him in his full glory.

5/5

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Digitonal

Gines De Passamonte

SINGLE REVIEW: Digitonal '93 Years On' out 6 October on Just Music

Originally posted on 30 September 2008:

Following on from the simply astounding album released recently and featured on Vainzine comes the first single release from the album.

If you have the album already then you will know just how monumental this single is without overshadowing the superb LP.

If you haven't yet heard of Digitonal then the single is a great introduction to the musician who is creating his own legend Andy Dobson.

For those of you who do have the album then fret not. The single comes equipped with two great remixes of other album tracks 'Ana Kata' - remixed by 65 Days Of Static and 'Nothing Left To Say' - remixed by Echaskech.

The Echaskech remix is fantastic. The opening few bars remind me of the soundtrack to that 02 commercial a few years ago from the See What You Can Do campaign. Thankfully it progresses on from there into what can only be described as liquid sonic ecstasy! when you hear the bassline kick in you will know what I'm talking about. If you don't then you are probably deaf.

The 65 Days Of Static remix is also good, but I found it to be a little OTT and rather self indulgent in parts and that did take the gloss off it a smidgen.

Overall this is an essential piece of kit for professionals and home listeners alike. It will tear the roof off if you crank up the volume which is how it should be listened to. Don't try and listen through your I-Pod as it's just not the same.

4/5

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Save Your Light For Darker Days

Gines De Passamonte

ALBUM REVIEW: Ali Love 'Love Music' Released on Columbia UK 24th September 2007

Originally posted 16 September 2007:

The opening bars of 'Secret Sunday Lover' - 'Girl the first time that I saw you, I was dancing with my friends, on a secret Sunday afternoon, where the party never ends' - should give you some idea of what to expect from Ali Love and his band should you venture out and catch them performing at Notting hill Arts Club next Thursday 20th September or the one after at Yo Yo. But don't be deceived this is not another run of the mill electro-dance, nu rave mash up, far from it actually. Ali has real musical ability, talent and a historical knowledge of pop through Motown that would make some of the most astute Dance acts around bite their front lips whilst thinking 'I wish I had come up with that sound'. And that really is they Key here. Ali has dipped into the past and come up with a modern interpretation in the most contemporary mash-up style producing songs that are perfect for the peak time dance floor of the trendiest Shoreditch nightspots whilst still being accessible to the less aloof pop home listener.

My favourite part of the album, after the awesome Secret Sunday Lover (video below) is the back-end where he drops 'Love Cliché', Vincent Brain' and 'Love Cliché'. If you know who Santana is then you will appreciate the Guitar Solo on 'Love Cliché'.

His beats are cool, modern and thoroughly danceable and whilst this may not be to everyone's' tastes - Beethoven lovers why are you here? - this will certainly appeal to the vast majority. It had me bouncing off the walls all weekend. Ali you really have 'Done the Dirty' on me!

5/5

CTZN V41N

SEE: The video to the awesome 'Secret Sunday Lover' here:

DOWNLOAD: Fenech Soler 'The Cult Of Romance (Alan Braxe Remix)' MP3

Originally posted 1 August 2009:

We reviewed the original one a while back but the remix is way better.

DOWNLOAD: Fenech Soler 'The Cult Of Romance (Alan Braxe Remix)'

DOWNLOAD: The Energies 'Born Again Runner (Fred Falke Remix) MP3 FREE DOWNLOAD

Originally posted 8 April 2009

The Energies is just this one guy from East London.

Found the awesome Fred Falke remix of debut single Born Again Runner on Thelemurblog. Download link below.

DOWNLOAD: The Energies 'Born Again Runner (Fred Falke Remix)

DOWNLOAD: Miami Horror 'Make You Mine (Fred Falke Remix) MP3

Originally posted 1 August 2009:

 

More funky stuff from the Falkster who is yet to hit the heights of the Whitest Boy Alive and The Energies remixes again but nevertheless still better than 90% of the stuff out there.

DOWNLOAD: Miami Horror 'Make You Mine (Fred Falke Remix)

DOWNLOAD: Fred Falke 'Chicago (Extended Mix) MP3

Originally posted 1 August 2009:

This may or may not be a sample of a Roy Ayers track. Awesome nonetheless.

DOWNLOAD: Fred Falke 'Chicago (Extended Mix)

DOWNLOAD: Hot Chip 'Colours' (Fred Falke Remix) MP3 FREE DOWNLOAD

Originally posted 1 May 2009:

Another diamond from Fred Falke. Download link below.

DOWNLOAD: Hot Chip 'Colours' (Fred Falke Remix)

ALBUM REVIEW: Henrik Schwarz 'Live' released November 5th 2007 on K7!

Originally posted 1 November 2007:

One of Henrik Schwarz's greatest talents is his ability to fuse together the freedom of Jazz, the emotional charge of soul and the relentless energy of Deep house and Techno and make it relevant to today's dancefloors.

Henrik recalled his musical Inspirations. "The acid Jazz era was really big for me, then suddenly there came this much bigger movement of techno and house. I didn't get it all the beginning until I heard Jeff Mills play. That was the moment I thought: Oh yeah! That's exactly what I want to do."

The 'Live' album features remixes of some uber famous artists including James Brown and Boy George and was recorded in clubs across the world and then sequenced in Berlin. It's this uniquely contemporary composition that not only gives the impression that you are listening to a live set in a club but also makes this one of the most accessible mix albums of the year.

For the trainspotters among you there are some extremely exciting songs on here that really justify buying the mix CD even if you may have already seen him play or bought his DJ kicks CD.

I was so happy to hear his awesome remix of Mai Boine 'Vuoi Vuoi' again after spinning it at Stars and Rockets earlier in the year. It's one of my favourite Deep House tracks of all time along with 'Imagination Limitation', 'Walk Music' and 'Earth Beats' for precisely the same reasons.

There are some nice Jazz numbers too from Sun Ra and Mr Schwarz to open and close the mix. If you like quality Dance music from across the globe, you know Jesse Rose, Chateau Flight, Kerri Chandler and the like then I shall say no more, you what to do.

5/5

CTZN V41N

GIG REVIEW: Beat Assailant @ Jazz Cafe, London 28 November 2008

Originally posted 4 December 2008:

After interviewing Beat Assailant before his show at Jazz Cafe, The Bitch caught the gig too. What a dedicated little trooper she is. Here's what she thought of it;

Mr Assailant made The Bitch go weak at the knees, so she decided to stay, see the show and top-up her now extremely low alcohol levels.

By the time Mr. Assailant hit the stage, The Bitch was well and truly smitten, for such a small guy Mr. Assailant has a massive amount of energy and presence. For those of you who are just reading this to look busy and important and have never heard of Beat Assailant, he is a hip-hop artist (you clearly weren't reading the interview if you didn't know that - go back and read it again!) who plays with a live nine piece band, including a DJ and saxophonists, trumpets, flutes, actually fairly reminiscent of a jazz band, but still maintaining the traditional hip-hop aesthetic, with a funky jazzy edge.

To pigeon hole him, The Bitch may disagree with the hip-hop genre and move him to something more along the lines of alternative indie, his sound reminds The Bitch of Amp Fiddler, TV on The Radio, or other similar bands along those lines, just more upbeat, fresher, funkier and edgier...

Beat Assailant played a great set, mostly tracks from Imperial Pressure, and a wicked medley of classic hip-hop tracks with a Beat Assailant twist, with amazing enthusiasm and an apparent disregard for the lack of crowd. The Bitch wishes to congratulate him on his fine ignoring of the embarrassing middle aged white man standing right at the front doing some sort of strange "hip-hop" finger point dance, and his equally strange and embarrassing "semi-goth" girlfriend who was doing some strange spinning impressionistic dance. The band performed well together, all the members putting in just as much as Beat Assailant himself, and all seeming to really enjoy themselves.

The venue was disappointingly quiet, there did not seem to be many who were here just to see Beat Assailant perform, the only real fans that The Bitch could pinpoint were a group of six girls who seemed to be celebrating a birthday party sitting on the mezzanine (their fashionable sky-scraper heels did not allow standing or dancing for long periods of time, so they were confined to the mezzanine with the seating area).

The Bitch even nearly got into a fight outside with a guy who was so drunk that he could barely string a sentence together, who was slagging the band off to his lady friend, who seemingly had not realised that prints made her look a hell of a lot wider than she actually was, saying that he and his mates were tighter and had energy when they just got together and jammed...Clearly he was wearing the beer-headphones when their so-called band got together, he probably bought them on a 2-4-1 deal when he bought the beer goggles he was wearing when he met his lady friend.

To sum up, Beat Assailant is a talented guy, he is constantly touring, and constantly promoting himself, with the aid of a really good management team, he could become highly successful, he has, in The Bitch's eyes mass appeal, those who are not into hip-hop could listen to his music and really enjoy it, I think Beat Assailants music could shock people, for rap, it is much more chilled out, than people may expect, this is truly Pop-Hop at its finest.

If you want to read the interview with Beat Assailant just click here.

The Bitch

INTERVIEW: Exclusive Vainzine Beat Assailant Interview!

Originally posted 4 December 2008:

The Bitch over at ConsumerBitch does not generally do nice things for people, but when they make offers she can't refuse.

She ends up at the Jazz Cafe, London at 11pm on a Friday night, with dangerously low alcohol levels, in a teeny-tiny changing room with Beat Assailant (and camera) for her good friends over at Vainzine. Before you start sending your complaints/requests in, we're not about to branch out into porn, The Bitch simply turned Journo Bitch for the night.

The Bitch: So...Mr Assailant, you are here promoting your new album Imperial Pressure
BA: Yeah, the new album Imperial Pressure came out in October here in the UK, so we yeah, godda liddle date lined up to rock for the people here in London.

The Bitch: And I hear that you were locked in a studio for a whole week to try and simulate the live sound
BA: Yeah, yeah, even longer really the recording lasted a week, we had a week straight lock out in the middle of the tour last summer, where we just took time off from the tour and you know just went in the studio and tried to mash it out...But even before then, we were in the studio, and we recorded the album already one time, without all the musicians, you know, more like track by track, more like a conventional hip-hop album, and then after the tour, and a couple of months of being on the road, we found some new things in the music playing together, so we decided to try re-create the vibe in the studio.

The Bitch: So were you properly stuck in the studio for a week? Or were you allowed to leave and stuff?
BA: Properly stuck, properly stuck - we couldn't leave so much, nononono!!!!!

The Bitch: What did you do for hygiene?!
BA: It got complicated, it got complicated - we had a little squat going!

Actually what we did was we had the studio and our hotel was across the street, so you could leave technically, but you couldn't go too far...so you could leave to eat and wash up a little, but then it was back to the studio!

The Bitch: I hear you started rhyming at like 13 - what sort of things did you rap about then? what sort of things were you doing and what was your inspiration?

Wow! Really funny and dumb stuff, just like you know kid stuff, middle school stuff at that time. To me now its funny to think back to my first raps, but at that time i really just looked up to the kids that were a couple years older than me, they were the ones who really brought hip hop around, doing their demos, so in the beginning i learnt everything from them, tried to copy their styles, just hanging around being in the cyphers just sticking my head in, just learning stuff step by step.

The Bitch: And what are you inspirations now? Everyday life?
BA: Yeah, everyday life, i mean it grows all the time, i think that as an artist I just try to talk about my life and about things that touch me, and things that influence me.

Some rappers get to be really good story tellers, me I just try to tell real stories...I think that when you try to keep it real the vibe comes across you can really touch people with your music, you can talk about the things that maybe don't go so well, as well as the things that go good in your life, I try to keep the stories human and just rock on the everyday life vibe.

The Bitch: Whilst you are here in London are you going to try and learn any cockney rhyming slang? Do you know any at all?
BA: Not really, not really...

The Bitch: Dog and Bone - phone?
BA: I'm learning step by step, i just learnt what is it - nack-id?

The Bitch: Knackered?
BA: Knackered! So I'm kinda knackered i just came back from Shanghai! So maybe I can incorporate that into a rhyme somewhere!

The Bitch: Gloria Gaynors Trainers?
BA: Gloria Gaynors Trainers! Hey that's not bad! I need to get me a good handful of phrases before I leave, so next time I'll have more to throw out!

The Bitch: How was China? What's the hip-hop crowd like out there?
BA: It was crazy! Every-time I travel and move to a new country, I'm just blown away at the global impact of hip-hop, to see that there are so many hip-hop heads all over the globe, people that are really thirsty to not only hear new hip-hop but also to practice all the different facets of the art-form. So it was really fun to go to a place like Forbidden City, like a big symphony hall, and bring a rap concert/hip-hop concert there and have people get out of their seats and start dancing - for me, in a communist country it was just crazy to see everybody just let it go and and let it all hang out, it was definitely a crazy feeling and one of our best shows!

The Bitch: So where's your favourite place to play in the whole entire world? Your favourite country to go to?
BA: Wow! There are so many I mean wow! There are so many, that we just try to rock every place we go, I mean Budapest was really crazy, we played there...But, Paris...Paris, I mean, that's were I live now, that's were I rap now, so Paris is always crazy for sure.

The Bitch: What about the French hip hop scene are you still enjoying that?
BA: Yeah yeah its cool, for me its really hard to get into, cus I don' t understand I'm starting to understand more and more the slang.

I'm just starting to get to the point where I can understand all the slang and nuances, and the rhyme, I'm starting to get more into it, but from a musical stand point, there's a lot of interesting things going on, like groups that are playing with musicians - like us, groups that are doing things with djs and multiple djs, there's a lot of crazy things going on...

The Bitch: Right, so we'll just wrap this up now, cus I am sure you are really busy, but before I go I have some silly questions for you...

The Bitch:What's your dirty music secret? What's the music that you listen to and don't tell anyone that you listen to? Like mine's Dolly Parton...
BA: Oh man! Er...I have to think...What would be a dirty secret?! I mean there's so much stuff that I like, but I like it, it's not even like a dirty secret to me. So i don't know.

The Bitch: Is it the Spice Girls?!
BA: Not so much the Spice Girls!

The Bitch: Come on everyone's got a terrible track!
BA: I can listen to Phil Collins sometimes..I don't know if that's a dirty secret or not...haha!

The Bitch: Do you say zucchini or courgette?
BA: Zucchini...Zucchini

The Bitch:What would your porn star name be?
BA: Ohhh ohhh!!! Ohhh!! Ohhh! If I was a porno star, I would be Young Slick hahahaha!

The Bitch: Well we've taken up enough of your time Mr. Assailant, it was very nice to meet you.
BA: Hope you guys enjoy the show!

The Bitch: We will do - hope you have a good gig, hope you enjoy it, do you think there'll be any French people here?
BA: Don't know, I mean, I hope so, if there are so French people here Bienvenue!

The Bitch: What kind of crowd you expecting?
BA: Hopefully there'll be some BA fans here, and hopefully there will be some people who will just be discovering what we do tonight.

To me either way its a pleasure, I like to share my music with people, so if people can come tonight and discover what we do that's great and if we can play for our real hardcore fans, that's even better so you know everybody's welcome tonight!

If you want to see what The Bitch thought of the show click here.

ALBUM REVIEW: Krazy Baldhead 'The B-Suite' out now on Ed Banger Records

Originally posted 29 April 2009:

Featuring some great colabs especially 'The End' with Beat Assailant, this is not one to be missed. Another fine release from the evergreen Ed Banger label.

This album sees a more experimental form of avant-garde hip hop and electronica being demonstrated by the label. KB certainly has an immense production talent and it's great to see new leftfield music in the Unkle ilk being championed.

3.5/5

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Beat Assailant

Sherman McCoy

MUSICAL INSPIRATIONS NO.9: Hana Hattori's Wacky Japanese Obsession!

Up and coming fashion designer Hana Hattori divulges her darkest musical secrets. She's at the front wearing the bunny ears and one of her own creations in the picture.
If you want to find out more about her clothes and where you can buy them then have a look at her website, but for now sit back and get ready for a whole new world of music that is about to open up right before your very eyes. Over to you Hana:

I work in my studio everyday either making new designs, patterns, samples or constructing a garment, which gives me all day to listen to music.

I love to sing along when I listen and work. Out of all the music I listen to everyday, the group that's been played heavily on my ipod would be Linda Yamamoto, Pink Lady, (pictured below, check out the music video at the end of the article too!) and Rebecca.

I tend to listen to lots of Japanese group and bands from 60's, 70's and 80's. Most people would find these music "wacky", even my mom and friends think it's weird that I love listening to those music! But the "wacky" definition goes with my personality and, the fun part of wackiness goes into my designs, and what those songs give to the listeners are somewhat like what I hope the wearers of my designs would feel in my clothes.

They are very fun to listen and sing along to. And the 60's, and 70's I feel, has so much hope and joy in the unreal world that listeners create in their heads. I love the era, and the clothes they wore - what we'd call today "vintage".

Listening to this music while working on dresses always put me in a good mood, and makes me very happy, which, again is the way I want people to feel in my creations!


SEE: Pink Lady 'UFO':

ALBUM REVIEW: Younger Brother ' Last Days Of Gravity' out now on Twisted Records UK

Originally posted on 8 November 2007:Younger Brother is a two person band consisting of a man called Simon Posford and another man called Benji Vaughan. Both from West London, the pair have been friends for over a decade creating numerous trance and techno tracks together before creating the Younger Brother band in 2001.

They claim to be heavily influenced by the psychedelic sounds of Pink Floyd, KLF, The Orb, Flaming Lips and Radiohead. All fairly boring and obvious choices as influences go, but 'Last Days Of Gravity' is anything but.

It's a melee of electronic and acoustic melodies that ooze hallucinogenic shroomy vibes in a big way. I really like 'Ribbon On A Branch', 'I Am A Freak' and 'Happy Pills'. You know I have a feeling we are going to hear at least one of the songs featured on the album on a Movie Soundtrack or TV advert in the very near future. It's simple but fun music, happy and uplifting and I love it.

4/5

CTZN V41N

EP REVIEW: Brendan Campbell 'Twilight Bird EP' out 16 June

Originally posted 29 May 2008:

25 year old Glaswegian Brendan Campbell cites Bob Dylan and Davie Graham among his influences. One thing is for sure that no matter whom he has been influenced by his sound is completely his own.

'Burgers And Murders' is a beautifully constructed work of folk art that simply secretes class from start to finish. If you like acoustic country folk then this will certainly appeal to you. It's hard to tell where exactly he comes from when you listen to his vocals, especially on 'Twilight Bird'. I couldn't tell where he was from but he certainly has his own style and he's easy to comprehend unlike many Glaswegians (just kidding, but no seriously).

So the EP is a success and is a nice blend between tradition and contemporary which should broaden his appeal even further. Another plus is Campbell's lack of self indulgence which has ruined many a fol song in the past.

3/5

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Kid Harpoon

Citizen Vain