Ahh, the sounds of San Francsico. Voltaire Records has been turning out some quality releases for the past few years. Most recently they gave us the cosmic boogie of Loose Shus, an EP that seems to have struck a chord around these parts. The label takes a different turn with their followup, Vaire. It's an eclectic compilation that features four tracks from producers old and new to the label. Jonas Reinhardt opens things up with "Virgo Cluster," a slice of bubbling cosmic disco that would not seem out of place at Studio 54. For some reason I keep hearing the Gibb brothers singing over this one. We stay in the 70s with the soundtrack techno of "Seven Miles Down" from Timothy J. Fairplay. Things are decidedly more dancey on the the b side. PLAzA kicks things off with the Balearic boogie house of the aptly titled "Guava." I feel like we took a trip to some tropical island dancefloor with this one, definitely some Pacific house for you. The bass gets heavy with Roche's "Back Outside," a complex outsider house jam that keeps unfolding before you like the landscape in 3-D WorldRunner. We're looking forward to more from this West Coast label.

• music label: Voltaire Records 2014

reviewed by Joey Coco 05/2014