Been thinking for a while I should do some reviews of music that either just come out or I’ve been sent as promos. For the sake of angst and avoiding being negative, Im only going to pick the stuff I’ve been REALLY impressed with.

So, here we go….

 Nico K – Love Dust EP – Black Cherry

http://www.traxsource.com/title/214199/love-dust-ep

Now Dj Heather’s label doesn’t release that often (in fact even less often than Llama Farm, and I’m slack when it comes to putting things out), but man, when they release something, its always worth listening to.

Nico K isn’t a name I’ve seen around much before, but the ep produced has a really nice balance across the five tracks. There’s something for pretty much everyone here who likes shades of jack.

The ep opener “Back together” has a deep soulful vibe – kind of a jacked up version of the soulful stuff Large used to put out. The vocal is crisp and theres a smoothness to the whole thing, which just just helps the whole track glide. Its probably my pick off the ep, simply due to smile it puts on my face.

The other cut of note on here is “Got It Bad”, which has a James Brown cut up feel to it – never giving away exactly what its sampled through an obvious breakdown, having the right level of funk to keep things going.

The ep also includes a South of Rooslevelt remix of Back Together, and two other originals in Zombie and Welcome to the Party.

Rating: 4 ½ Llamas out of 5

Random Soul and Joshua Heath – Time To Funk – Random Soul Recordings

http://www.traxsource.com/title/213160/time-to-funk

A few years ago I had the pleasure of working with two thirds of the producers of this track (namely Husky and Joshua). They are names I always keep an eye out for and this track, when I saw the title made me start salivating. Now, I know Josh knows the funk (just listen to any bassline in any track he’s ever had ANYTHING to do with an you’ll know what I mean), and Yogi and Husky just bring their bumpin soul to table and the whole thing sticks together like some big funky cookie dough that you can’t resist.

My two picks off the ep are the the Random Soul Dub and the original extended version. I was surprised when I heard it was Josh doing the vocals – (then I twigged his flow was first heard on the re-release of his “Wanna Dance” a few years back). Josh’s lyrics are amusing and very apt and fits the RSR boys bleepy bouncy soul perfectly.

The two versions are picked for different times in the night – the extended original is more of a nu-disco feel to it, and the dub is a more straight up house version. Either way, it kicks ass.

Rating: 4 Llamas out of 5