Lemon Mcwright / Jan Decent
Belleville Boogie EP

Cat Kin Cool is to cross, in a raft made of drum sticks and olive tree branches, with a slight scent of cryptomeria, from the European to the American continent, and back, in the chilly waters of the Atlantic, we dive deep into a portal leading us to Saturn, where memories become an ode to the faces that draw the rurality and childhood, and the ones that draw the heat of Latin America and the rhythms of the earth, humans that become masters in the difficult path to finding ourselves.Cat Kin Cool is the acceptance of the magic flower of creativity of infancy with the wise perspective of spiritual milage.

For its new release, the Parisian crew Discomatin picked a lesser known banger of the boogie era, Maudit DJ by Clara Capri. Produced in Belgium by Jay Alansky with lyrics written by his sidekick Jacques Duvall, this EP brings together an Italo discoesque bassline surrounded by shiny synths and irresistible guitar licks. On top of that, Clara Capri sings with a high-pitched voice. Maudit DJ is a real celebration of the nightlife.Fortunately, it’s brought here with all 3 versions transferred from the original tape masters: the extended “Version Longue” with its great introduction sounding like strong early house, the shorter “Version 45 Tours” if you’re in a hurry and, last but not least, the instrumental version for those too shy to play the vocals. But let’s head back to the 80’s: Jay Alansky and Jacques Duvall are having a real success. They just produced famous Belgium female artist Lio’s first hits and have access to Dan Lacksman’s studio in Brussels - member of Telex with Marc Moulin. During this euphoric period, they met Clara Capri, a young Italian girl really crazy about Disco, swearing only by Giorgio Moroder or Chic. Her two buddies decide to concoct her a real hymn to the dancefloor. For them it sounds like the perfect time, considering the duo always dreamed of being like a shadow production team, just like Motown’s very own Holland-Dozier-Holland. With a great care to the production and the sound and with the best technologies from the era, they managed to create this French dance music attempt, at a moment when nobody was speaking about French Touch.Thanks to Discomatin, it’s now available to the real connoisseurs with an exclusive insert which contains lyrics, again with fantastic illustrations from french artist Camille de Cussac.

When experiencing zero gravity in a space station, looking back at Earth-as-one, most astronauts feel dizzy. A near revelation, this sudden awareness is named the “Overview Effect”. When they eventually come out of these periods of aphasia, they often recall having heard "strange music”, similar to the music they claim to have heard on the hidden side of the Moon. Smagghe & Cross's second collaboration (recorded before the MA album, released last year on Often) is the first attempt to recreate this celestial music.For the past two decades, Ivan Smagghe has perfected the art of making spaced-out clubbers dance, has ridden a Fine Line and run his label Les Disques de La Mort. Rupert Cross is a London-based composer who has worked with Michael Finissy and Julian Anderson as well as writing music for television and theatre.Before/after MA, an album which sat on the fringes of experimental music passed through an industrial particle accelerator. S&C give you the tracks codenamed Timothy Dalton (according to Ivan, "The laser sound in the track reminded us of Flash Gordon"). Neither pop, nor psychedelic, nor ambient, nor house, nor techno, nor post punk nor even new wave are spared, but none are singled out. To nurture this proto-album, the duo also called upon the talents of Tim Felton, the outstanding guitarist from the cult band Broadcast.When listening to Timothy Dalton, the temporal and stylistic boundaries disintegrate to give way to all sorts of speculation: imagine the beardies from Tangerine Dream being kidnapped by Soft Cell, C86 and 1988, the Silver Apples composing a space opera with the help of an electro cardiogram monitor. Or the Wizard of OZ reviewed and reworked by Psychic TV. Eight tracks take us from the New Orderey beaches of Ostend to the rings of Saturn, and gradually unfold before our eyes like a machine to travel through time and space. So what if Timothy Dalton was a one-way ticket to the Twilight Zone?

** Not available for UK & Italy **Roberto Agosta, or just Agosta as he likes to be called, is a Sicilian DJ and producer from Catania active all along the eastern coast of Sicily, a place that proved to be a soulful place and a training ground for a long career, making him an excellent music selector and a reference point in the spread of alternative music.A soundtrack music enthusiast since he was a child, now a vinyl "serial gathere", Agosta has always put his vast knowledge at the service of a very personal sound that sums many different music styles and contaminations, simple and profound but straightforward and direct at the same time.Agosta’s eponymous album, released on LP, CD and digital formats, was conceived during the Covid-19 lockdown, thanks to the precious collaboration of friend DJ and producer Massimo Napoli aka Galathea, with whom Roberto has already started another project called AN-AN that will produce a new record for Space Echo at the end of 2022.This record highlights a typical chill-out aesthetic, thanks to its trip-hop and ambient rhythms and atmospheres, while a deeper exploration reveals the psychedelic essence of the entire work, a daring and exciting journey in the most primitive Sicily, and the energy that sustains all of its ten tracks.Much of their author and his lifestyle - mainly based on meditation, the search for spiritual elevation, the relationship with nature and the regaining of contact with those particular places and with the people who live there - is revealed by those tracks that constitute a soundtrack for this spiritual but also extremely physical journey.The song titles are, in fact, intrinsically linked to Roberto’s real life: the Gorna and Ilice mountains at the foot of Etna, the Carricante vineyard and its excellent wine, Unna, Three Chestnuts, Varanni, Don Alfio, Lady G. Each of them represents a pleasant and dreamlike narration and the escape from the complex dynamics of a city like Catania, among echoes of the most dreamy Pink Floyd, the softer side of ’70s krautrock, but also the Massive Attack and Tricky’s Bristol scene.There’s also an excellent choice of synthesizers and overdubbed guitars, thanks to the talent of the multifaceted musician and producer Salvo Bruno Dub, and of Manuela Amalfitano, Loredana Poidomani and Deran Obika’s voices. Agosta is an introspective, deep work with a cinematic vocation, perfectly rooted in the territory where it took shape, among sunny landscapes, lush with vegetation but also deserted and arid lands. From Sicily to the cosmos... enjoy!

La Bestiole comes back with her dancefloor eclectism: 4 tracks celebrating friendship with various producers & musicians and different approaches. BEST006 musical journey begins with a classic sample-based latin house track, including a cheesy Pleyel grand piano introduction. An oriental & electronic downtempo track follows, to bring some mystery on the classic foor of the floor pattern.B-side changes the rhythm with two breakbeat productions: deep & sweet electro on B1, and a funky jam to conclude, with the help of Paris jazzmaster Anthony Honnet for the fire synth solo.As always, a bunch of loops are included, for the skilled DJ to play with and to do your remix yourself.Limited to 100 copies with stencil handsprayed cover art.

Run by two Tokyo based Frenchmen, Jazzy Couscous is a new label rooted in a love for Jazz and the urban movements it spawned, from House to Hip-Hop and everything in-between.House music nerd with a Hip-Hop background, Alixkun is the DJ of the crew. You can catch him playing numerous clubs around Tokyo and writing for Japanese house encyclopedia House Definitive. His journalism and highly regarded sets led him and the team to be invited on stage for Dommune, Japan's Boiler Room equivalent. Klodio, on the other hand, is an upcoming producer to keep an eye on in 2015. Soon to drop his debut release “Toktroit”, he pays tribute to some of his biggest musical influences, Detroit and Tokyo; combining a clear love and appreciation for the early UR House sound, with a fresh Tokyoite vibe that will take you on a full speed night drive through the neon highways. A versatile soul head, equally at home with House, Techno, Hip-Hop, and even Drum’n’Bass, Klodio knows no boundaries when it comes to expressing his deep Jazz infused roots.This year will see various projects in which Alixkun will express his soft spot for Japanese rare-grooves and Japanese House music. Also planned for release is a second EP of fine House music by another French producer, so stay tuned for more by Jazzy Couscous!