Syrup - Different Flavours (2000 Compost)

The third kraut-jazz gem comes from the early days of Compost Records. Syrup was a one-off project led by Jan Krause (Beanfield) and Boris Geiger (The Poets Of Rhythm). Their only album Different Flavours is just what you'd expect - juicy jazz-funk pastiche with complex breakbeats and hot horn section. A recommended listening for summer weekends.

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Extended Spirit - Solid Water (1999 Sonar Kollektiv)

"Solid Water is a prime example of nu-jazz. This genre should really scare you. You should be alert to the hideous potential of such a term. Even before I became aware that such a thing existed, I was experiencing bed-wetting nightmares about Mike Oldfield collaborating with Jam and Spoon, the concept of Kenny G. cutting soprano sax-rug with, say, Utah Saints, or the limitless terror of the Rippingtons jamming with Howie B. This, naturally, precipitates me into a delirium of no small dimension. But maybe, on the evidence of Solid Water, I shouldn't be so timid.
First, though, let me get through my barbs: the title, I mean, it's so George Winston, or maybe it's a leftover from the Winter 1987 Windham Hill compilation. Surely, the band can't be referencing John Martyn's posthumous advice to fellow folkie, Nick Drake (who cannot be left alone now, ever since Belle and Sebastian and Whistler reared their homespun selves - why doesn't anybody pick on Cat Stevens?). Can they?
Extended Spirit are not corrupted middle-aged men who disguise themselves in paisley-print vests and open shirts and inundate God's glorious creation with instrumental bilge water. They are members of the German movement that has given us God's glorious creation Jazzanova, Beanfield, and even the Compost Label (named after the roster's fecundity, no doubt).
Solid Water has a squelchy, squirmy, mulchy, and compostular opening cut, too. "Fadin' In" does more than, well, fade in; it gets you in the mood for a joyful sixty minutes, bouncy with diminished chords and stylish augmented sevenths. Extended Spirit intend to get modal on your supine booty! "Pressure '98" lulls initially with breathy female vocals la-la-ling over a subdued Rhodes piano before the breakbeats thrust forward and roll over on top of an acoustic bass line. Extended Spirit aren't about to emulate 4 Hero's labored "Two Pages." Instead, they want their fun to be your fun.
"Propulsion" could be an Irresistible Force track, if Mixmaster Morris persuaded A Tribe Called Quest to lend him a silly Q-Tip sample ("This is how they do it!"). But Extended Spirit don't have the same "lie down and be counted" agenda as the Irresistible Force. "Propulsion", an effortless, effervescent groove that makes you doff your frown and feel a little euphoric, belongs up there with "Floatation" by erstwhile Balearic wonders, the Grid. The record's title track is ushered in with slow congas and a sleepy piano bassline. It's completely overshadowed by "Propulsion," of course, but it's not without class, by any means.
Before you get into the remixes, "Illicity" will smooth away any residual wrinkles and give you the chills to boot. Initally, the track is reliant on strings and a stand-up bass to subdue you, but it later becomes everything that L.T.J. Bukem has tried to achieve. (To my ears, Bukem depends too heavily on Vangelis' soundtrack to "Blade Runner" for inspiration and ambience.)
Though Extended Spirit use very Bukem-esque breakbeats on the later parts of "Illicity," their eerie, despondent, barely sung sample ("I don't like to be alone/ In the street") casts a shadowy, baleful pall over the track-- an indistinct menace that marks Extended Spirit out as vastly superior to the heavy- handed Bukem and his wearisome acolytes. The album's final track before the remixes is an original, more robust version of "Pressure" bustling with rampant hi-hats and a careening melody line bolstered by a lightning Rhodes piano solo for which Jamiroquai's Jason Kay would probably trade in his new Lamborghini.
Of the four remixes at the end of the disc, the AVDC's take on "Propulsion" deserves special mention, being as close to full-on house music as this record gets, though it'd be a daring DJ who dropped this tune into the set. AVDC's remix replaces the resplendent, Mediterreanean vibe of the original with a brooding, wary, injured groove. When Q-Tip's sample enters, it's more like words of warning than of applause.
My profound worries about enduring muso- toss, purposeless melismatics, and concealed new age earnestness have proved entirely foundless. Extended Spirit's spin on nu-jazz gives you all the delectable, sunny stuff you could wish for. They've just cut the joy with a lingering, sobering disquiet."

Couldn't have possibly said it better. Did I mention this was the first Sonar Kollektiv release?

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Marschmellows - Klangsystem (1996 INFRACom!)

It's chilly sunday and good time to continue our exploration of funky German scene of the 90's. The Frankfurt-based INFRACom! label delivered fine electronic music since the Happy Hardcore daze, and Jörg Rosenbaum & Thilo Kraft AKA Marschmellows were surely one of it's finest artists. Their debut album Klangsystem (which means simply Sound System in german;-) is a sampledelic collection of funky trip hop beats and includes all the tracks from their first three-sided 12'' Blackout/Waterfront/Splendid, which I used to rotate so heavily that the plastic is almost see-through.

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VA Electronic Colorations Volume 1-3 (re-upped by public demand;-)

Hey, I know I'm a lousy blogger, you don't have to remind me.. But the days are finally warm in here and my baby sister just delivered a daughter, the sweetest thing I've ever seen. So you see I'm quite busy learning to be cool uncle and there's just not much time to post.

To apologize to all those faithful readers who keep filling my email with assorted request, I decided to reupload the three of four volumes of Electronic Colorations which was compiled last year from quality sources for my Lemuria blog (the first of my blog family to be murdered by G**gle after the infamous Lialeh post stirred too much attention). It seems some of you found the remains of EC package scattered around the net, incomplete and even downsampled, and were not afraid to ask for re-up. Well, folks, here it comes in pristine 320kbps, the three finished volumes including full res original cover art and PDF templates for your own DIY CD cover.

The original sleeve notes:
electronic colorations is a term originally used by lonnie liston smith in 1973 to describe his style of layering electronically generated sounds over jazz funk rhythm section. in the following years, jazz musicians quickly adopted electric pianos, synthesizers, multi-track recording and electronic effect boxes and transformed them into valuable musical instruments to enhance their musical expression while keeping the jazz rhythm still hot.

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  mp3 I 320kbps I 77 minutes I 175mb I link in comments