DJ Heather – Dancefloor Principles (2003)

Dec 21, 2010 by Mr. Nau DJ Heather throws out a jacking set of classic Chicago house music in this Nordic Trax release. For over an hour, she drops over a dozen classic Windy City stomps with an energy similar to her live sets. This mix will keep your feet tapping and head nodding for […]

James Zabiela – Utilities (2005)

Dec 14, 2010 by Mr. Nau James Zabiela unleashes a progressive house mix full of strange samples from a variety of sources, including campy science fiction movies and robot voices. Some of the tracks in these two hours are jaw-dropping, many of which are Zabiela originals, while other fillers distract from an otherwise solid groove. […]

Departure Lounge – Too Late to Die Young (2002)

Dec 21, 2010 by Mr. Nau This indie album, Departure Lounge’s last, features solid cuts with good song-writing. An overly long meandering instrumental drags the middle a little bit, but other songs, like the acoustic Along Again And, wistful I Love You, and low-fi What You Have Is Good carry the record pretty well. Grade: […]

Martin Solveig – Sur la Terre (2004)

Nov 05, 2010 by Mr. Nau Solveig delivers a wonderful debut, featuring some of his well-known hits — including Heart of Africa, a punchy crowd-pleaser with the infamous twangy vocals, the James Brown-inspired I’m a Good Man, the fantastic fable-like Edony — as well as numerous tunes full of jazz, soul, and African percussion. Grade: […]

Uusitalo – Tulenkantaja (2006)

Oct 26, 2010 by Mr. Nau Uusitalo’s sophomore album is full of stripped-down minimal tech house cuts that demonstrate what a few simple elements can do in the hands of an interesting musical visionary. A solid sense of groove permeates each track, even against the quirks and zigzags endemic to this musician’s interestingly sparse style. […]

Sycromatic Dubsters – Tornado Warning (2000)

Oct 25, 2010 by Mr. Nau This mellow album from the Elektrolux label features fourteen downtempo tracks. Lots of deep dub bass lines anchor kicked-back tropical grooves. Variously celebratory and ominous, these songs push the listener patiently to the ambitious title track, a haunting suite in three parts at the end of this interesting record. […]

Ruxpin – Midnight Drive (2000)

Oct 18, 2010 by Mr. Nau Icelandic musician, Ruxpin (Jónas Þór Guðmundsson), presents a textured set of downtempo ambient and breakbeat soundscapes on his debut on Elektrolux. Many of the tracks here are quite minimalist with sustained passages to allow the music to take deep breaths. Others layer the same meandering mood over sparse jungle […]

Norman Feller – Frameless Structure (2003)

Oct 18, 2010 by Mr. Nau Norman Feller’s Elektrolux release delivers a wide variety of beautifully-produced and nicely-arranged mostly instrumental downtempo tracks. Deeply contrasting musical soundscapes provide a rich listening experience. Frameless Structure, Northern Lights, Tiefenrausch, and Arcade of Passion stand out among a dozen cuts that flow well into a pulsing abstract whole. Grade: […]

Rauschfaktor – Aquarium (2001)

Oct 15, 2010 by Mr. Nau German producer, Rauschfaktor, debuts on Elektrolux with this set of downtempo tracks that wander from spaced out sound experiments to dreamy instrumental pop treatments. The compositions here suffer from identical synthesizer patches used ad nauseum across multiple tracks with a similar feel. Unfortunately, none of these songs particularly stands […]

MAS 2008 – De-Cyphered Music (2001)

Oct 15, 2010 by Mr. Nau MAS 2008’s debut on Elektrolux records features eighteen tracks that range from abstract dreamy downtempo soundscapes to ambient electro house cuts. The textures here flow from one song to the next without anything grabbing the listener’s attention. Some of the composition and production here seems hurried and lacking consistency. […]

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