Spiritual South - Hullabaloo 12"
Raw Fusion
9/10
Never has an expression like 'insane latin banger' been so appropriate! UK's Spiritual South follows up his epic remix for Quasimode with a cheeky, syncopated broken monster that builds and builds and finds itself in squelchy acid territory before bringing it straight back to the carnival. Big big tune for the Australian summer. Similarly, on the flip, we throw back to Nat King Cole tropicalia on 'Calypso Blues' which features sublime production that's in stark contrast to the rough n quick of Hullabaloo. More essential mad wickedness from Raw Fusion.
Huwston

V/A
Brownswood Bubblers 2 & 3 12"s
Brownswood Recordings
9/10
Aaaah, Welcome back Mr Peterson! From the certified fantastic compilation of the same name comes two 12"s (on delectable 180 gram vinyl) featuring mostly artists signed to the label whom we can expect more from in the 07. Ben Westbeech is certainly one of the brightest stars on the horizon and his 'Nothing Else' is a romantic slice of pop shuffle bliss. Elsewhere on sampler #2 Tita Lima's 'A Conto Do Samba' ushers in summer like a pina colada with a little umbrella in it. On #3 Ayak and First's man's throwback love tune 'Can We Go Back' has also been hijacked by Hi-Tek for some extra Talib versing, to give you an idea about how warm the beat is. Jose James conjures ideas of a male Nina Simone on his beautiful track 'The Dreamer' which is straight for your bar sets or as a closer on your mix CD - it's real jazz. Timeless music is back and the ref is back on his high chair calling the shots. Bless.