Review: It's been a while since we last heard from Jan Schulte and Diskoking Burnhart McKoolski's Bufiman project - two years, in fact. After previously plying their wares on Verein Freir Menschen und Musik, the eccentric Balearic/disco duo have been snapped up by Gilb'r's Versatile imprint. "Running (The Chase)" is something of a killer - a driving chunk of clavinet-laden disco fuelled by a seriously heavy post-punk/dub disco bassline. "Kavalier" is deeper and spookier, with new age synth melodies riding a loose, Afro-influenced groove. The slower "Bonobobeat", meanwhile, is a low-slung delight, with snaking synthesizer lines wrapping themselves around dense, head-nodding disco percussion.
Review: This is a significant release for Versatile Records. It marks up a century of releases - in their 20th year, no less - and has been described by founder Gilb'R as "probably our oddest release yet". It's certainly eccentric. The album was produced by I:Cube for school friend Cravache, whose dada-inspired poetry and spoken ramblings are dotted throughout the LP. Musically, it's deliciously wayward, offering up a mix of soundscapes - some beguiling and ambient, others exotic and percussion heavy - Tom Waits-inspired fuzz-rock, and tactile synth-pop. It's really rather good, and sounds like the sort of record collectors will be hunting for in 20 or 30 years time.
Review: Taken from last year's maxi EP under his off-piste Oeil Cube guise, I Cube's supersized "XXXX" gets the treatment from Red Light Records' Abel on this special 45". Taking its already smouldering slow-n-low vibe and giving it even more a hypnotic deep plunge, it's a respectful twist that loses none of the original's Balearic charm. Flip for "Etire En Avant" an immaculate slice of previously unreleased loopy magic that was recorded straight to tape in 96 but still sounds like it's 2096. Cool as ever.
Review: Over the last decade, Zombie Zombie man Etienne Jaumet has been one of Versatile Records' most consistent artists, delivering a string of albums in an inimitable style that sits somewhere between synthesizer-heavy 1970s horror soundtracks, experimental electro-jazz, paranoid ambient, punchy Afro-funk-fusion and quirky, kosmiche-era synth-pop. He's at it again on "8 Regards Obliques", variously opining on the threat of nuclear war over a chugging beat ("Nuclear War"), layering jaunty Afro horns over deep space electronics ("Unity"), showcasing his deep and electronic take on jazz-house ("Theme De Yo Yo"), laying down mind-altering jazz ragas ("Spiritual"), and escorting us to some far-off galaxy (the astonishingly good "Ma Revelation Mystique").