Sedgwick
Sedgwick

Sydney space funk trio, The Goods, are Badmandela, Rosario & Black Tree. With the help of some friends, The Goods capture the energy of jamming and improvisation to create music that transports the listeners to a moment in time shared together on their new album 'II'.Musically and lyrically ‘II’ is about living in the moment. Each track harnesses the mood or vibration in the room at the time of its inception. The album features 20019's breakaway hit “Let’s Roll” featuring Touch Sensitive (Future Classic), a reminder that mood is about choice...if happiness is a state of mind then why not chose it? “Last Chance” is an invitation to take life by the horns because, in these uncertain times, one can’t take anything for granted. “Voodoo” is that one flame, whose flaws you overlook because they got the mojo while “Walking On Fire” is a nod to band's 80s heroes mixing the likes of Luther, D-Train, and Jam with a future club feel. "Peach" is an anthem for sexual liberation & at the same time being a cheeky funk jam. “Shots”, the album single was born at a jam at Touch Sensitive’s studio - Disco J rocks up a drum loop and turns it into a party! The Beastie Boys meets Marvin Gaye meet Anderson Paak in “Cassandra” resulting from a hang with The Goods’ friend Elliot Hammond of well known Australian band The Delta Riggs, while “Tell Me” is a sexy late night joint for those nights on the prowl. “Che Boog” is an ode to the sleazy funk of Parliament, Funkadelic and Prince , and lastly the Black Mirror inspired “Supersonic” is a tale from a time-travelling consciousness stuck in a dystopian 2020.

Despite productions appearing here and there since 2015, Yuzo Iwata has kept a relatively low output. Contributing tracks to compilations and releasing singles under aliases Fabio Lazaro and Almost East, Iwata is also affiliated with Junki Inoue’s recent SAISEI label, editing pioneering early Japanese techno from the likes of Suzukiski and COLOGNe for rerelease. After ‘Acid House’ appeared on the Butter Sessions Come Together 12” in 2020, the label now play host to Yuzo Iwata’s first ever full length. The 10 tracks span a wide variety of tempos and show a consistent approach to unusual sound design first evidenced in Iwata’s RA Mix of the Day for Clubberia (100% originals recorded circa 2017).Kaizu unfolds with dense environmental ambient textures before ‘Neverland’ takes us into broken dancehall rhythms and acid-tinged dub. ‘Funclub’ is reminiscent of Japanese video game soundtracks and 80s fusion whilst further into Side A the balearic energy continues to captivate, closing with the beautiful ‘Heroes Show Up Late’. This short piece is built around a looping vocal sample and shuffling drum work that all come together perfectly. There’s even a trace of Brazilian MPB influence at play with the vocal/synth interplay. It’s Iwata’s knack for percussion that is most evident across the album however, with Side B opening cut ‘Gamelion’ taking an Indonesian inspired approach to modern techno. It runs in a similar vein to Komodo Kolektif’s work and might be the dancefloor highlight of the whole LP. ‘Sundance’ follows with more Japanese motifs, recalling Haruomi Hosono’s F.O.E project. Another strong rhythmic workout suited to the floor. The environmental ambient textures return with the closing piece ‘Time 2 L’, strings, bird calls and droning synthesiser winding down the proceedings. Letting us know it’s time 2 leave?

Quintessential Holloway. 2-step done right.

Our Own Organisation is a special collaboration project from Tetrode s own Specter and Downbeat s Josè Rico. The deep, hypnotic, relentless songs through the whole ep make this a great addition to Neroli s catalogue!