Waiwan - Distraction (1998 Autonomy)

Waiwan was one of the prodigal sons of Manchester trip hop and nu jazz scene of the 90s that gave us so many great artists, starting with Aim and ending with.. ehm, Waiwan. His only self-produced album Distraction was released on short-lived Autonomy label, whose roster included only him and The Philadelphia Bluntz (will post their album Blunted At Birth soon). The lack of strong distribution channel probably caused that it was soon forgotten despite his huge single hit Goddess. Which is a shame because Distraction is a small gem packed with fat beats, deep and dark soundscapes and enchanting vocals (featuring Veba, The Muse of Manchester music producers). If you enjoyed the Grand Central albums posted here earlier, I swear you'll fall for this one too.

mp3 I 320kbps I 62 minutes I 144mb I link in comments

Minus 8 - Elysian Fields (2000 Compost)

The Swiss producer Robert Jan Meyer AKA Minus 8 was not new to electronic breakbeats, but Elysian Fields differs remarkably from his debut Beyond Beyond (I will post it sometimes soon). While the drum loops stay basically the same, he doesn't hesitate to exploit all the great effects delivered with Fender Rhodes, and the accoustic guitars and vocals add warmth and sweetness to this collection of rather uptempo tracks. I decided to add The Amalgamation Of Soundz remix of Snowblind because I'm loving it and I think you're going to love it too.

mp3 I 320kbps I 70 minutes I 131mb I link in comments

Beanfield - Human Patterns (1999 Compost)

The second Beanfield album Human Patterns marked a start of a whole new era for Compost Records. As the label slowly became a synonymum for emerging nu jazz style, the sound quality improved and the covers were suddenly cool-looking. The Season (with first appearence of now praised poet/singer Bajka) was a huge hit and the album was full of high energy breakbeat jazz. Take Catalpa with that massive wall of samba school percussions or Enchanting Signs, which sounds like Airto on speed. IMHO one of the best Compost release ever.

mp3 I 320kbps I 63 minutes I 146mb I link in comments

Knowtoryus - Covert Operation (1995 Compost)

In the 90's, there were some English-speaking German hip hop artists that gained some rep (Da Germ, Otropic Three, Asiatic Warriors) and then there were some who did not. Knowtoryus sadly belong to that second group and their only album Covert Operation would pass unnoticed if it wasn't produced by Jan Krause & Michael Reinboth AKA Beanfield. No info on the rappers crew though. Those who know Knowtoryus from Kruder & Dorfmeister Bomberclad Joint sessions may be surprised that all the three gorgeous remixes originate in a 30 seconds long skit.

mp3 I 320kbps I 52 minutes I 121mb I link in comments

VA Glücklich • A Collection Of Rare German Fusion Grooves With A Brazilian Flavour (1994 Compost)

We didn't have a good Compost release here in a while so it's Compost Day today. Glücklich is a collection of easy listening jazz-funk tracks with a scent of Brazil. While some names are quite well known (Kitty Winter, Klaus Doldinger), sometimes you have to take a closer look to find famous jazzmen under such monikers as Sunbirds (Fritz Pauer, Klaus Weiss, Philip Catherine) or Catch Up (Charly Antolini). This fine set of latin percussions and Fender pianos was compiled by Rainer Trüby (A Forest Mighty Black, Trüby Trio) and was the first long-player released on Compost.

mp3 I 320kbps I 44 minutes I 101mb I link in comments

FILT043 DJ Q - TwentyFour7even (2000 Filter)

DJ Q's second album TwentyFour7even brings more tech house fun and also more music thanks to Outside's Matt Cooper who added some funky keys on 3 tracks. My favs though are the breakbeat exercise Halls Message and the dark downtempo soundscape The End Of The Beginning, already known from Elvis Never Meant Shit To Me.

TwentyFour7even was the last long-player released on Filter. The collection is complete with the exception of FILT029 Still Dancing On John Wayne's Head. There's still about 100 posts left before I'll be allowed to grab it from globalnoises and deliver it to you. But that's no bad news because the easiest way to get it is to make mirrors of my blog posts, so I'll be posting like crazy on Future Vintage. So.. stay tuned!

mp3 I 320kbps I 75 minutes I 172mb I link in comments

FILT041 The Amalgamation Of Soundz - Part II (1999 Filter)

The Amalgamation Of Soundz' second and last album contains the single hit Enchant Me (featured on every good nujazz compilation since then), two variations on Keyvan's Paper theme (featuring acid jazz legend Roger Beaujolais on vibes) and a handful of tracks to ease your mind and please your ears. Less synths, more jazz, that's Part II.

mp3 I 320kbps I 49 minutes I 113mb I link in comments