Search - Nu Tropic :: Voce Sabe

Rounded Up to 3 Stars

bordersj2 | Boston | 01/11/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Rambling Records out of Japan has been incredibly difficult for me to label. They've put out quite a few albums from 2004-2005 and have given loads of artists an opportunity. From the cheesy Italian soundtrack styled bossa to chic club jazz/house tracks, they've been doing it all, predominantly in a format that's very DJ friendly (unmixed). While some albums have hit the spot, like their Bossa A La Mode series, others have wilted with lackluster spirit and originality. This one fits in somewhere in the middle. Nu Tropic are Jazzamar and DJ Link and pretty much hail from France.



I first heard Nu Tropic's "Moonlight" back in 2002 on Rainer Truby's "Glucklich V" compilation. It had a nice skip to it and a playful yet dark mood to the song... great keys, jazz samples and bossa beat. Another hot song of there's that I dug was "Pascalito's Theme" off of Brazilectro vol 5 back in 2003. That cut had a dreamy intro to it with hte horns before kicking into their instrumental laden and percussion intensive rhythm. Neat stuff! Also, "Suave" was given some love on another comp (it escapes me right now, maybe one of the St. Germain Des Pres series), and it had a sweet vocal with trumpet. Hearing those three cuts I expected much of the same with this release but to be honest, those were the only two that jumped out at me. I dug and "Moonglight" was actually a bonus track with the Japanese import. "Sambador" did have a festive feel to it - sort of reminiscent to me of Hajime Yoshizawa's "Verao No Ar" but honestly not half as strong. I also admitedly liked Leva e Traz. But this is sort of the vibe of the album - 'almost but not quite'. There's some soul and funk in this but too much of this left me hitting fast-forward.



To recommend this is a bit tough - it did have some good songs on it but for me the class of the album was obtained on superior compilations or releases (Glucklich V is fantastic). And I would recommend those compilations, which have terrific artists. If you like this, you may like earlier work from S-Tone Inc. (Love Unlimited/Free Spirit). And if you're a fan of Moonlight, you may like some work by Buscemi, vol 6 of the Break & Bossa series, Nuspirit Helsinki, Kyoto Jazz Massive's "Crossbreed" series and vol 1 of the Bossa House & Breaks series. Regardless, if you do want this, make sure you're not getting nailed by the import prices... and is the case with Rambling Records, much of the linear notes are in kanji."