"before descending back into the gloom to intertwine with the other instruments to more sedate, quietly experimental ambient ends, and refreshingly sound like nothing else around."

"samba soul for the lovers rather than the fighters, microdosed bossa and jazz vocal dreaminess, it’s all there. Winter warming has never been so energy efficient"

"It's a fine and fanciful slice of lysergic alt-pop"

"he’s redefining what nu-jazz can be with walls of machine noise repurposed to free jazz ends"

"a five minute trip down outsider folk rock memory lane, a fine album farewell, and another suggestion that these local heroes deserve a bit of wider attention."

"Wind Gate sees him on a mission to inject some energy and ideas into the new age vibrations still reverberating from the death throes of the counter-cultural movement"

"If you're in need of some classic sounding chillout to take things easy to then tune in and drop out."

"She turns up the heat on, "Fear Bangs the Drum" which gets off to an easy folk rock start before sinking into microdosed genre ambiguity"

"a surprisingly stripped back soulful offering that could only come from someone who’s a time served and talented producer."

"for a punk bass playing classical cellist it's quite the jazz statement."

" all ambient bases covered From Where You Came LP, and the ambient piano joys of A Series of Actions in a Sphere Forever album"

"bares Selkie's soul for all to see and the fact that is accompanied by production that would stand on its own two instrumental legs really marks her out as a talent"

"the outfit instead wind their way through buttery soul, vintage library music, smooth orchestral jazz and general twentieth century musical lushness. One for the nostalgics and easy listening massive"

"Perhaps it's an antidote to the long grey Berlin winter's but "Vulture" radiates warmth and sun kissed lands, real and imagined from the off."

"if you want to hear what jazz, beats, soul and deep house sound like in the hands of people that know the roots and care about the future then tune in."

Self taught, Or Kantor is a respected tatoo studio head, multidisciplinary artist and craftsman by day, with a nice line in evocative, ethno-ambiguous, " Surfterranean " music making by night. I do wonder how some people fit it all in. A visit to his tattoo studio by an Anova Records A&R person saw his 2024 debut album Sarda Sarda  signed to the label, and a year later his sophomore is on the shelves of your favourite music store. This time round he's dialled down the surf

Jowee Omicil has been around. sMilLes is the eleventh album no less from this nomadic Canadian-Haitian composer and multi-instrumentalist who can turn his hand to saxophone, clarinet, flute, pocket trumpet, Rhodes, piano, voice and more. The album is an eclectic jazz ride with some choice guests and throws in some tropical vibes as well to keep you on your toes and maybe even get you moving, but the real standout track is "Should I Smile", mainly due to the always impeccable

"If that wasn't enough whispered, Sun Ra reminiscent, voices drift in at the end like ghosts from the world's battlefields to add spectral weight to the message."

"It’s a curious, comforting listen and highly recommended."

"Undeterred, a minimal piano pierces the machine sounds at the halfway mark, tentatively at first - note by gentle note, before being inevitably swept up and along by the impatient electronica"

"if I told you the track was fifty years old you wouldn't argue, and there's no greater soul compliment than that"

"If you're in need of some late night, hazy urban soul then look no further."