NOW PLAYING

Here are a short summary of some of the good music thatīs been in the air for the last couple of weeks.

RAPHAEL SAADIQ & Q-TIP / SY SMITH
Get Involved / What I Am
(Hollywood Records)
The two tracks on this 12" are from the PJīs soundtrack. Get Invloved is built on a soft piano loop from The Intruders Iīll Always Love You Mama and a slow hip hop beat. Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest fame delivers a couple of laidback rhymes and Tony Toni Toneīs frontman Rapahel Saadiq is singing like a young Stevie Wonder about love and desire. Good music.

Could very welll turn out to be the soundtrack of the summer of ī99. Warm, sexy and close to soul heaven. Donīt sleep on this one!

Flipside is a decent cover of Edie Brickellīs What I Am.

NATURAL RHYTHM
The Jive EP and The Contrast In Nature LP
(Earthtones Records)
Two 12" from the Los Angeles crew Natural Rhythm and the new 12" by Alex Delano has been on repeat for the last 6 weeks. It took considerable time for the first three releases on Earthones Records to reach this remote part of the world.

The Jive EP opens with a fast beat, Brazil tinged Fender Rhodes chords and a repeated bass ostinato that builds the first remix of The Original Jive to perfection. The Fender chords could be from an old Chick Corea composition, circa 1972, from the album Light As A Feather, featuring Flora Purim on vocals.

Natural Rhythmīs The Jive EP is excellent deep house music, somewhere close to Moodyman in expression. We get three completely different remixes and one ambience track called Earthtone 001 with sampled animal sounds from the jungle. The jungle noise track might drive your neighbors nuts, but in the chill out room it is a bliss for sore souls.

Thank you Carly for pointing me to this shimmering piece of music.

Next out is the awesome second 12" from The Natural Rhythm Contrast In Nature LP, part 2. Five tracks altogether and they are even better than the first 12" from this Los Angeles house crew.

Do Right opens the set. It slowly builds a deep b-line and percussion loops into pure dance floor joy. Mesmerizing. The second cut, Energized is deep and jazzy house, snippets of vocals taken from film soundtracks and pygmy lullabies.

Spoken Word with percussion, funky guitar licks and Fender Rhodes chords is the best track. It is a down tempo cut and it works on the dance floor dropped at the right moment with careful pitching. Simultaneously, its subsonic bass, EQing and rare groove organ is absolutely irresistible in the bar. Excellent stuff, makes people talk and dance. For Real Dub is fast and heavy. A deep bass line and multilayered EQ creates a mix of sounds. A floor filler, slightly reminiscent of Stardustīs Music Sounds Better With You.

ADNY (Alex Delano)
Sincere, The Sky Be
(Earthtones Records)
Another set from Earthtones Records, the label that brought us house music bliss on Natural Rhythms two awesome 12īs.

Alex Delanoīs new 12" is a project called ADNY. What If I Love is jazzy house with a cool tenor saxophone solo from Anjay Carney. Tender music for slow dancing and long lonesome journeys through the night.

Deeper, co-written by Delano and J.Dahlback, comes with abstract fragments of sound. I like to listen to this track, but it is not a obvious dance track, but as usual, a careful DJ could drop this cut at the right moment and send the crowd into orbit. Sincere, The Sky Be is disco heaven for the end of Millennium, much like a dark Black Science Orchestra.

MR.SCRUFF
Got A Move On
(Ninja Tune)
Mmmm, jazz in the house with Mr.Scrubbs. Deep, deep house and excellent choice cuts from 30īs jazz and blues records. Delectable music. A top notch cut for hot summer nights at the beach club when the dance crowd reaches for the rays from the rising sun. Euphoric like Way Out Westīs The Gift was back in the summer of 1997.

ANTONIO
Happy Joyous and Free
(Tribal Winds 1999)
The third release on Antonioīs new label Tribal Wind. This is for everyone who likes the music of Joe Claussell and the releases on Spiritual Life Music. Latin percussion, congas, glockenspiel, a huge b-line, Fender Rhodes, horns, guitars and ambient strings from the keyboards. Happy Joyous and Free is deep acoustic house music with a subtle groove.

I picked up this one in the record store, when the DJ blasted it through the PA. The moment I heard that funky congas and percussion opening I knew that I was in for a treat. I have no further information about the artist available at the moment of writing. If anyone knows something about Antonio, do not hesitate to drop me a line.

JEPTHE GUILLAME
Voyage Of Dreams
(Spiritual Life Music/Chrysalis, France)
Jepthe Guillaumeīs album Voyage of Dreams have been my all time companion in the portable cd player during May and June. After a very long wait it was finally available on CD here in Europe. This is house music, made to be played from a CD so the deep groove can fill every part of the soul with pulsating beats from Haiti, the soft percussion counterpoints and the warm acoustic guitars. Awesome! A Must Buy.

TLC
FanMail
(LaFace Records)
Good music. Those girls have got it all: integrity, excellent voices, provoking lyrics and good looks. Do check this one out if you havenīt already. Some tracks have had massive airplay, but as on Lauryn Hillīs excellent The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, there are a lot more to discover on the album besides the singles.