Qobuzism

A specific and a lasting reading disorder that occurs during childhood and adolescence, dyslexia is recognized as a dysfunctional learning disability. No doubt that 10LEC6 just learned ... differently? The Afro-post-punk collective has first and foremost digested a number of influences quite impressively. From funky post-punk like ESG and Liquid Liquid hailing from New York in the 80's. But also disco, house, punk from Bad Brains, afrobeat, high-pitched electro and very solid tribal rhythms. Since 2004, the group of varying geometries formed around the street artist Simon and the producer and DJ Jess (a member of the duo Jess & Crabbe) and they make fusion like no other! A fusion that was formed with the arrival in 2014 of a new voice, Nicole, who sings in Bulu, a Bantu language which is spoken in the south of her native Cameroon. With Bone Bame, rhythm takes control of the body and the brain. This third album that appears on Ed Banger, the label of Pedro Winter, is above all a long percussive and electronic trance where the heavy bass and the incantatory voice of Nicole makes it totally elusive. All that is left to do is to let yourself go with delight on this singular and cosmopolitan dancefloor that is like no other. An all round Qobuzissime! © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

At first glance, post-rock and techno were hardly made for one another. Guy Andrews would beg to differ. By fusing his two passions, the two major influences on his music, the young British producer has created his second album, Tåke, which means fog in Norwegian. This is an atmospheric journey, viscerally linked to nature. Andrews says plainly that the single Fjell was inspired by a walk on Cadair Idris, a Welsh mountain. It was inspired by the climbs. The challenge of the ascent. And the pride in reaching each peak... Another escapade, this time in Norway, offered added fuel for his record. It gave a power that has influenced this captivating work from beginning to end. Guy Andrews plays with atmospheres (his first works were very much rooted in ambient music) and alternates between Northern Lights and violent hurricanes. Each composition on Tåke is in fact a kind of miniature sonic documentary, inspired by the writer's many wanderings. Here, even more than on his 2016 debut album Our Spaces, Andrews is a painter. He is sketching out an electro landscape with diverse textures and hypnotic effects. No surprise that the Londoner's art has been hailed by big names such as Massive Attack, Scuba, Bonobo, Max Cooper and others. Tåke depicts a vast sound tapestry, mottled by rhythms and lit up by the colours that Andrews offers. Fog has never looked so radiant. © MD/Qobuz

The Australian-American-UK trio The Acid bring soulful electro into dreamy territory. Now, acid is a chemical substance defined by its reaction to another kind of chemical with a complementary composition. But with this Acid, the ingredients list is a bit longer and more complicated... Behind The Acid there is a triumvirate led by the Australian Ry Cummings, aka Ry X, the young guru of a mind-blowing, diaphanous electro-soul, with his two henchmen, UK DJ Adam Freeland (whose 1998 mix Coastal Breaks II is considered as one of the highlights of breakbeat) and the Californian producer Steve Nalepa (who is most famous for his work with The Weekend and Drake, and who spends most of his time teaching music). With their début album Liminal, The Acid has given the world a brilliant, spartan record which will enchant fans of James Blake, Sohn, Bon Iver and all those outfits from the 2010s which brought together electro textures, breathtaking ambiances, pop melodies, and heavenly voices. This is a futuristic, dreamy Qobuzissime. © MD/Qobuz

It's Album Time uit 2014 is de titel van de debuutplaat van de Noorse dj, muzikant en producer Todd Terje. De muzikant die al naam maakte met talloze remixen brengt op zijn eerste plaat aanstekelijke dance, die rijkelijk wordt vermengd met disco, jazz en lounge. De plaat is goed voor een tweede plaats in de Noorse albumlijsten en een vierde plek in de Amerikaanse dance-albumcharts.

Op Until the Quiet Comes, Steven Ellisons vierde album, pelt Ellison lagen van zijn geluid af en ordent hij zijn nummers op gracieus vloeiende wijze. De producer werkt opnieuw met een grote verscheidenheid aan instrumentalisten en zangers, van Brainfeeder label artiesten als Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner en Austin Peralta tot grote namen als Erykah Badu en Thom Yorke. Bruner heeft de meeste aanwezigheid, zijn donderende baslijnen staan op negen tracks en zijn spacey vocalen treden af en toe op de voorgrond. Alle meditatieve-melancholische en turbulente momenten terzijde, een heel aantal van deze nummers zijn heerlijk dromerig en zelfs slaperig. Ellisons vaste waarden – dartelende en knisperende percussie over onregelmatige drums die kloppen en ploffen bijvoorbeeld – zijn hier bijna net zo belangrijk als altijd, maar kleine aanpassingen en een grotere terughoudendheid maken dit tot zijn meest toegankelijke en creatieve release tot nu toe. ~ Andy Kellman