APPAREL REVIEW:

John Beltran presents SOL SET
Ola De Novo (The Remixes)
[All Good Music]

 

Sometimes it’s a pleasure to push yourself to find the right angle to talk about a new record, fresh and enjoyable. The motivation to write about music is not always easy to find but when the right product lands on your desk and -somehow- talks to you, then you understand that it’s time to take the pen and throw some ideas around.

I find that writing about music, as I’ve said more than once, is not a natural process but it’s sort of a stretch at its origin, hence, as far as I'm concerned, it takes good music to push me to do it and this is the case. We are talking about none other than John Beltran and the remix album coming from his record 'John BELTRAN presents SOL SET - Ola De Novo', which has a strong Latin, Brazilian sonic inspiration. The list of remixers, alone, kinda makes you jump from your chair: there are some all-stars of the game such as Kiko Navarro, Kaidi Tatham, Blair Frech, Ezel, Cee ElAssaad, Chris Coco, John Beltran and John Arnold. These names would already be enough to push a hypothetical listener to buy the record that will be released both in digital format and on vinyl very soon, on 22/10 but we’re not here to drive you to buy, but to listen to it and get inspired by it.
The LP presents a vast range of sonic influences, from Deep House to Boken Beat, Jazz and Soulful House and shows us how essential it is, when deciding to give a new look to an already successful project, you got to be very careful in choosing its protagonists. It is not obvious that many musicians, however talented and capable, put together can give life to a pleasant record, but certainly John Beltran knows this better than anybody and has composed a team of producers perfect for the task. From the Jazzy/Funky vibe of Kiko Navarro’s version of the opening track AZTEC2022 to the more vintage/West London approach of Kaidi Tatham’s ‘Bliss Mode’, to the Chilled and Soulful approach of Blair French’s revision of ‘Pour Le Moment’, reaching up to the more Summery touch of Ezel’s ‘Rhythm Of The Sun’ and ‘Get Away’ by Cee ElAssaad, the record develops in an organic and pleasant way, without me ever wondering if it was time to skip a track (always a good sign). ‘Linda Sau Paulo’ (Chris Coco dub) and ‘Rhythm Of Sao Paolo’ by Beltran himself & Arnold Brazilian Blend put an end to this stunning LP bringing the listener back to a more intimate, less electronic dimension, making the two final remixes a brilliant closing to the sound path. In all honesty, when you listen to -and then write about- a record like this it is better to use a few, clear words that can give a (personal) sense of what you have perceived listening to it. So, to ensure not to slide into empty rhetoric nor being bombastic, we’ll just leave you -and your ears- to this masterpiece, without too many suggestions. Enjoy, we’ll speak soon!

 

APPAREL REVIEW:

John Beltran presents SOL SET
Ola De Novo (The Remixes)
[All Good Music]

 

Sometimes it’s a pleasure to push yourself to find the right angle to talk about a new record, fresh and enjoyable. The motivation to write about music is not always easy to find but when the right product lands on your desk and -somehow- talks to you, then you understand that it’s time to take the pen and throw some ideas around.

I find that writing about music, as I’ve said more than once, is not a natural process but it’s sort of a stretch at its origin, hence, as far as I'm concerned, it takes good music to push me to do it and this is the case.
We are talking about none other than John Beltran and the remix album coming from his record 'John BELTRAN presents SOL SET - Ola De Novo', which has a strong Latin, Brazilian sonic inspiration. The list of remixers, alone, kinda makes you jump from your chair: there are some all-stars of the game such as Kiko Navarro, Kaidi Tatham, Blair Frech, Ezel, Cee ElAssaad, Chris Coco, John Beltran and John Arnold. These names would already be enough to push a hypothetical listener to buy the record that will be released both in digital format and on vinyl very soon, on 22/10 but we’re not here to drive you to buy, but to listen to it and get inspired by it.
The LP presents a vast range of sonic influences, from Deep House to Boken Beat, Jazz and Soulful House and shows us how essential it is, when deciding to give a new look to an already successful project, you got to be very careful in choosing its protagonists. It is not obvious that many musicians, however talented and capable, put together can give life to a pleasant record, but certainly John Beltran knows this better than anybody and has composed a team of producers perfect for the task. From the Jazzy/Funky vibe of Kiko Navarro’s version of the opening track AZTEC2022 to the more vintage/West London approach of Kaidi Tatham’s ‘Bliss Mode’, to the Chilled and Soulful approach of Blair French’s revision of ‘Pour Le Moment’, reaching up to the more Summery touch of Ezel’s ‘Rhythm Of The Sun’ and ‘Get Away’ by Cee ElAssaad, the record develops in an organic and pleasant way, without me ever wondering if it was time to skip a track (always a good sign). ‘Linda Sau Paulo’ (Chris Coco dub) and ‘Rhythm Of Sao Paolo’ by Beltran himself & Arnold Brazilian Blend put an end to this stunning LP bringing the listener back to a more intimate, less electronic dimension, making the two final remixes a brilliant closing to the sound path. In all honesty, when you listen to -and then write about- a record like this it is better to use a few, clear words that can give a (personal) sense of what you have perceived listening to it. So, to ensure not to slide into empty rhetoric nor being bombastic, we’ll just leave you -and your ears- to this masterpiece, without too many suggestions. Enjoy, we’ll speak soon!