Sometimes tracks are just too good to leave alone, so we asked the Paper family of artists if there were any bits of the catalogue they wanted to remix. Recycled is the result. Big hitters, underground bubblers, forgotten gems and leftfield wobblers all get re-rubbed and re-imagined for dancefloors far and wide.
The sun drenched sounds of Super FU return with more images of hazy boat trips into the sun and beyond. Their second E.P. takes two original tracks from their brilliant self-titled debut album on Paper Wave as well as a damn fine set of remixes.
Moonlovers is pure Balearic street soul (if that’s a thing) so think Sade with added Aperol Spritz and better weed. There’s an enchanting vocal from Sarah, all wrapped around dreamy percussion, synths and guitars by Rich and Paul. Stunning stuff!
Super OK (originally the name of the group fact fans) is the one to make chug heads go weak at the knees. It’s got serious telecaster action with added acid and hypnotic synths galore. Imagine if Pink Floyd holidayed in Ibiza back in the late 80s and you’re halfway there.
The remixes are ridiculously good with Ruf Dug tackling Moonlovers and going murky deep to create an almost Compass Point style after-hours version.
Sticking with the Mancunion firm, Sarah Bates takes on Super Ok and strips it back to the bare bones with her dubby ALFOS aimed take, ramping up the smoky hypnotising vibes to create the perfect sunset track.
Jorja Chalmers takes a break from playing in a band for some bloke called Bryan Ferry to remix Moonlovers and creates a cinematic chug fest that sounds like it’s from a lost John Carpenter flick. It’s easy to hear why she has found a home with two albums on Italians Do It Better.
Now and again, something lands at Paper Towers and the only option is to clear the decks and get it out as soon as possible.
The Boogie Brothers’ Let Go feat. SATO is one such track. It was cooked up by Japan-based Julian Brennan and Cal Gibson (The Secret Soul Society) as a live disco jam that channels Arthur Russell, FK and Larry Levan. Sato from Japanese cosmic pop duo Viva Sherry was brought on board to provide vocals, and the result is a release that sounds like a modern disco classic.
No remixes, no edits, just one stone-cold killer cut.
Danny Krivit: “Very cool!”
Bill Brewster: “Yeah like this, grows on you!”
Ron Basejam: “Lovely ambling groove-a-thon. great stuff”
Hot Toddy: “Real nice!”
Andy Wilson/Ibiza Sonica: “Very cool release , love the vibe and the vocal is great. Perfect for poolside”
The heathens and the outlaws are back with a bumper EP that gets down low and dirty.
As everyone knows, the best house music is kept simple and that is exactly what NZ and South Africa’s Kennedy and Matt Prehn’s have done. Le Freak takes a four bar disco sample and turns it inside out. Trippy vocals, wobbly sub and drums that pack a punch make this a go-to for late night basement sessions.
J. Kara goes deep with analogue pads, delayed stabs, 808 bass and a broken tech beat. Add the soul and it’s a track that cuts across genres, equally at home early doors in a warehouse or on a beach as the sun comes up.
Mexico’s finest export Picotropico flips an 80s classic (the clue’s in the title) into a Balearic monster. Added bass, percussion, synths plus a whole load of dance floor know-how serves up a rework that is super fresh.
Detroit and Japan meet as The Stooges’ Mike Watt provide bass to the classic house sound of R-04. Close your eyes and you could be in the Sound Factory Bar as Frankie weaves his magic and drops this bomb.
Finally, the Hardway Brothers rinses The Secret Soul Society into a pitched down chugging masterpiece. It’s head music for the dance floor that channels the spirit of the Guv’nor. Ambient, industrial, techno and krautrock are all thrown into the mix to make something that defies categorisation.
Justin Robertson – Fabulous.
Dicky Trisco – Le Freak is odd. I like that!
Aldrin Zouk (Zouk Club) – Diggin’ Konban Wa & El Salvador. Thanks!
Tici Taci Music – Very decent collection…nods all round. hard to pick a winner but it’s a battle between Picotropico and Sean “busy year” Johnston.
BANDCAMP SPOTIFY JUNO BEATPORT TRAXSOURCE
The sound of Paper Wave continues and the newest signing brings more freshness and originality with this brilliant selection by Pascal Boyer.
Six tracks of 1970’s cinema inspired sounds perfectly capture the wonkier side of the disco era. There are stabbing raspy synths, funk sounding guitars, those all important throbbing arp lines added and epic sounding pad chords throughout. Is it Balearic? Is it Library Music? Is it all the above and then some more?
The answer is yes, yes and yes.
BANDCAMP SPOTIFY JUNO BEATPORT TRAXSOURCE
It’s time to strap on your deep house diving equipment and prepare to go subterranean on this debut from Aniso Tropics. His Topaz E.P. takes us on a tripped out murky journey into the outer realms of house music.
Title track Topaz bleeps and pops in all the right places and wears the minimal (crikey, remember that era?) tag firmly on its sleeve but still driving a jacking acid groove.
Mela is an uplifting hypnotic synth landscape of pulsating chords, squelchy arps and snappy percussion that is perfect for 5am as dawn breaks. If you’ve ever been to Barbarellas in Croatia then this one ticks all those boxes.
Ferric Bias starts off like a soundtrack from a lost ZX Spectrum game with its ‘Popcorn’ style percussive melody line before some drenched, soaring synth sweeps to ramp up the epic-ness. Oh and there’s a vocoder vocal too for added excellence.
Closing off the voyage is Lonsdale Grove, a cinematic soiree from the first beat. It is almost space jazz in its synth lines and scattered drums, making it the perfect soundtrack to an after-party in the captain’s quarters aboard the Starship Enterprise.
Harri (Sub Club) – Liking these, will play and support.
Sean Johnston (ALFOS) – Very nice!
Steve Optix – Wow, yes! What a corkin’ EP! Love Topaz, alllllll good!!
Marius Sommerfeldt (De Fantastiske To) – Loving this! Deep and emotive. In my “bag”.
Ben Davis (Flash Atkins) and Tom Lonsborough (2 Billion Beats) return once more with some heavy futuristic, deep afro vibes. They asked themselves what the music would sound like in the fictional ‘Wakanda Life’ nightclub of Black Panther’s home country then decided to write it.
Ashe Rising is the life force that runs through all things and the EP’s first track offers a spiritual late night awakening. Rolling bass, skittering drums and chanting samples make way for a pad to raise souls. Heavy reverb and delayed EFX keep it weird as the track twists and turns into a hypnotic afro chug.
Downtown Birnin Zana is the capital city and where the action happens. Heavy broken and house beats lock together with a live slap bass as the percussion rolls with synths and arps. A haunting vocal sample takes it weird but the energy builds into the late night as the Panther, White Gorilla, Lion and Crocodile Cults leave their differences at the door to get sweaty.
Bill Brewster: “Downtown Blimin’ Zaire is the one for me”
Pete Herbert: “Excellent! Both cuts”
Olle Abstract: “Love both tracks. Will play them a lot this summer!”
80’s Child: “yes, Ace!”
Following their first EP ‘Cocoons’ earlier in the year, we now have the main event. The self-titled debut album from Rich Hall, Paul Withey and Sarah Lazenby AKA ‘Super FU’ drops on Paper Wave and it truly is a thing of wonder.
Ten tracks span an array of sounds and styles with more than a tip of the hat to what we’d deem to be ‘The B Word’ (Balearic in case you were thinking anything smutty). There are touches of street soul, low slung house, psychedelia and pop that means the long player is hard to put in a box.
The production and instrumentation is slick throughout with vocals from both Paul and Sarah peppered across the tracks. It is music for hazy days and nights, boat parties, sunsets and driving back in the new convertible from buying a new Don Johnson jacket and espadrilles.
An album for fans of Everything But The Girl, Sade, Richard X and 90s Weatherall productions but it still sounds super fresh . So tuck in and jump on the Super FU freeway!
Swedish producer and DJ Rasmus Faber and Berlin based British vocalist David Harks have teamed up to produce what is set to be the sound of the summer.
Never Enough is a perfect blend of blue-eyed soul, yacht rock and disco that brings the sunshine. Over immaculate production, the guitar, piano and bass sit perfectly with David’s heartfelt vocals. The break brings a touch of gospel before the chorus plays out and is left spinning. The Extended Mix strips things back to give more room to the instrumentation for a more DJ friendly version.
Dicky Trisco – Feeling the Max Dub
Tici Taci Music – The dubs are more my thing, but hats off for the songwriting and production. As Yachty as I’ve heard all week.
Sean Johnston (ALFOS) – Very Balearic indeed!
Olle Abstrakt – Great summer vibes. Love it.
Stuart Patterson (Faith) – Summer soul that will be nicely into my mi-soul show
Paper continues to sail the good Ship Rave ever forward, but sometimes there is the need for a quick look back over our shoulder.
Paper Cuts # 5 comprises some of our most exciting moments from April 2018-19 on one handy album of bangers, chuggers, chillers, wobblers and breakers.
We welcomed artists new to the label Minus The Majors, Neon Transmissions, Torn Sail, Tiago and Mordisco plus Paper favourites Richard Seaborne, Flash Atkins & Mr Tea.
No Paper Cuts collection would be complete without appearances from our kindred spirits in Norway, this time Leca, De Fantastiske To and Rave-enka feature plus two new Tromsø talents, Third Attempt and Runther.
Onward once more…
Paper continues to be one of the world’s best-loved independent record labels operating as a thriving cottage industry. We have been pushing the creative envelope since 1994. We have released over 2000 tracks, streamed over 60 million times, created by over 500 artists, producers, and remixers in over 50 countries. Our style ranges from deep house and disco to Balearic and leftfield, with the label evolving to incorporate Paper Vision Films, which produced the award-winning Northern Disco Lights and Wild Water documentaries, plus the critically acclaimed podcasts Paper Air Waves & Paper Talk.
