A decade after the previous release, the queen of smooth jazz came back with her sixth album. Sade is an iconic figure of the eighties, an exquisite brand with its devoted fans. And the parallel with the fashion is not stopping. There are people listening to her music because they really like it and there are some that just like to be associated with the brand. In her 25 years of music endeavours, Sade has built a successful career starting with the iconic ‘Diamond Life’.
This new production is nowhere near the astonishing debut album but it is not disappointing either. The sexy voice of Sade and the same trio of musicians, Stuart Matthewman, Paul Denman and Andrew Hale, have reunited in this jazzy – reggae – trip-hop journey. The first single carries the name of the album, Soldier Of Love and topped the charts shortly after the release date. The rest of the tracks flow smoothly and the ones that would immediately sparkle attention being ‘Baby Father’ and ‘In Another Time’.
SomethingALaMode or shortly SALM is a french duo comprising of Thomas Roussel (violin) and Yannick Grandjean(cello). This album was released in 2009 at Yellow Productions and consists of 12 electronic tracks combining electronic synths with classical masterpieces. The result is an interesting journey that fits easily into a fashion show especially that it features the well known designer, Karl Lagerfeld.
They are not just some kids experimenting music software in their bedrooms. Quite the opposite, they are experienced musicians, declared fans of Daft Punk whose influence is quite obvious upon listening to this album. The baroque strings blend wonderfully together with the electro-synths and the result is a pleasant experience. My favorite tracks are ‘GString’, one of their own productions, and ‘Little Bit Of Feel Good’.
Simon Green, aka Bonobo, first established his rep as a sample-based beat whizkid in Brighton in the late ’90s. His spacious, meditative tunes initially — if slightly misleadingly — colliding with the utilitarian ‘down-tempo’ music of acts like Air, Kid Loco and Kruder & Dorfmeister. Unlike those artists, however, Bonobo’s roots were firmly grounded in sample-heavy hip hop — as soon became clear on his increasingly sophisticated records on the beatmaster indie label, Ninja Tune.
Bonobo’s dazzling fourth album,Black Sands, delivers a whole different blend of luxury for the ears. It’s consummate, classy, intricately woven, both funky and jazzy, and more vital than his previous three outings thanks to the use of ‘real’ instrumentation (for one: tons of brass), and by the sultry voicings of Andreya Triana. From the uplifting, looping, MoWax-y groove of ‘Kong,’ and the spaced-out early-Massive Attack swing of ‘Eyesdown’ and ‘The Keeper,’ to ‘Animals” jazzy hypnosis, it’s a world every bit as lush and irresistible as the landscape depicted on its cover
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