TURNTABLE LAB

the lab review

It's hard to believe that it's been four years since Captain Planet released his "Gumbo Funk" EP. That would also mean it's been four years since I joined this lovable Lab family! Wow. Sobering. Not to go off on a nostalgic tangent, but it makes me think back to some of my early DJ gigs in New York. Let's just say that I was occassionally "misguided" in my track selection, but at least one cut off that "Gumbo Funk" EP could usually bring the room back to me if I had gone astray. No matter what type of crowd or party, it always had an impact. Naturally I was excited to see the Captain's triumphant return and upon listening to the goods, I must say he's back in top form. "Speakin' Nuyorican(1)" packs more flavor than Goya Sazon and that says A LOT (the MSG content in that shit is quite loco). From the inviting piano intro to the slowly building layers of crisp percussion, all I can picture is this tune crushing the Bembe dancefloor at CP's weekly Toque party. What out for the timbales! I will now always keep a copy of this on me just in case I'm DJing and Sonia Sotomayor walks in. "On Your Feet(2)" also has all the ingredients for a nice dance. The tambourine, the flute, the organ... I'm not mad! And like all Bastard Jazz records this is crafted with the DJ in mind so you can always count on an ill breakdown at some point in the song. This one has a nice open drum break so you know you can have fun with it. "Fumando(3)" is a fresh and timely production. Snack and I were just talking about the resurgence of drum & bass and wondering if the jump up style that was so big in NY will also make a come back. Well, this has the feel of jump up, but with more intricate arrangement and no annoying MC fumbling a rhyme like: "You know it's Captain Planet. You know you can't stand it. When the horns come in, he gonna rob you like a bandit." Alright, so that was better than a jump up verse. But I'm saying. "Fresh Delivery(4)" is a nice mango juice in the morning for your ears. It has a really sweet 90s trip hop feeling, but with very current production styles that make it sound brand new. It makes me miss good downtempo. I love a lot of the new beat scene stuff, but hearing the simplicity of this track is super refreshing. Rounding out this packed EP is "Lagos Speedway" which I guess I'm going to call "afrolectro" (If that term blows up I want at least one prop) and a Palov and Mishkin remix of "Speaking Nuyorican." The remix adds a subtle four four beat and doesn't stray too far from the og which is a good thing. We've moved a lot of these guys' releases precisely because of the restraint they show when giving a track a re-rub. The only beef I have with it is the opening sample referencing Haitian voodoo(PR + NY = Haiti?). Then again, these guys are from Greece so I'll give them the pan-American postcolonial pass. This is worth it for the title track alone, so all these other joints are like free platanos on top of the rice and beans. Make abuela happy and eat the whole damn meal!

reviewed by Tkat 10/19/2009

filed under

• midtempo - vinyl view category
• downtempo + electronic - all view category