Local Talk – 13 Years Later Part 1
Local Talk is a Swedish house music label established in 2011 by Mad Mats and Tooli. Mad Mats ran Raw Fusion Recordings from 2002-2010. There are several sublabels like Beer (great name for a record label!), 1Nce Again, and One Offs. Over the years, Local Talk has issued music by Crackazat, HNNY, Soulphiction, Mateo & Matos, and Opolopo, to name a few. Their new label compilation “13 Years Later Part 1” will come out on March 10th. It is not a retrospective, but a new comp with various artists from their roster. There is a lot to discover here with a variety of deep and soulful house, some Detroit, some classic house, and some breakbeats.
Kicking off the proceedings is Edinburgh-based duo Soul Renegades. After a spoken word intro, we are treated to a funky house groove on “Real Change”, which also boasts with some effective sax work and a great synth part, sort of a siren accompanying the tune. Swiss house DJ Shaka, who started out with Hip Hop and Funk, is up next with “Got To Get Better”. The piano-led track constantly grows with each listen. It builds up to an irresistible jazz-funk piece with a switch to some funky electric piano in the second half. I have always admired the work of Lausanne-based DJ and producer Alex Attias. Still remember his 2004 Compost Records release “Back Home” featuring Mustang or the 2001 Beatless LP “Life Mirrors” (Ubiquity). He’s featured here with Sohan Wilson on the repetitive house gem “Come Back To Me”. It’s one of those hypnotic grooves which won’t leave your head for a while.
Italian DJ and producer Nicola Loporchio, better known as Nico Lahs, starts out with enigmatic strings on his “Happenstance” before thick synth pads chime in. I really like the thumping bass part on this beauty. A very percussive, phat house beat with some broken beats and floating vocals grace the mesmerizing “Get Down” by L’Aroye (French DJ, producer and musician Thomas Arroyo). This is some serious deep house s***, hard to ignore with its fancy, jazzy keys. From Mannheim, Germany, is ManooZ. His warm synth pads and sax make for another exciting add. On “Piazza Della Libertà”, we’re in for a light and relaxing soulful house jam.
There is some more broken beat stuff by Envee (“ELAM”), classic meets soul house by Dan Tenor-City & Tom Funk featuring Alaire (“Open Destiny (Grace’s Song)”), and another brilliant deep house wonder on the album’s final cut, “Where You Come From” by Rawson and Jackson, spilling out totally warm and sophisticated soul with an incandescent vibe. The album will be out on vinyl too!