This hot collaboration between Stevie Kotey, Bear Funk Gold head bear and Max Essa (he of the highly acclaimed ‘Midnight Garden EP’ on Bear Entertainment) sees Bear Funk Gold go into euphoric summery piano mode. The band name, Salon De L’Herbe is a new project for these two daddies of house (and ankle-biters!) inspired in name by the heady herbal smoke atmosphere of the Bear studios where the magical music is created. There’s something of a wistful, better days colour to the piano on ’Let’s Hold Hands’ and played at the right time could enduce a few moments in those partial to sunsets and sunrises while doing the Bear dance.
’Mirage’ takes us into a more driving Balearic field with Essa’s guitar layers floating over each other in symphonic harmony.
Expect more delights on Bear Funk Gold from Salon De L’Herbe.
Support and reviews here below…
DJ support from the likes of
Faze Action,
Pete Herbert (Reverso68),
Lexx (Bear Funk / Drumpoet): ‘a1 is a killer!lovely how the guitars come it in the middle of the tune. top gear, both sides get played!’,
Paul ’Mudd’ Murphy,
Micheal Cook (Sancho Panza/ Big Chill)
and Toby Tobias….
Review on Piccadillyrecords.com :
“Steve Kotey and Max Essa recreate times past with this deceptively simple little groove on Bear Funk. The carefully paced “Let’s Hold Hands” begins with trippy keys and takes some elements of the Norwegian scene, throwing in a little London Balearica around the halfway point for a cool change of tack. You’ll need to slip on your loafers and roll up those jacket sleeves to frug to this one! If the A-side goes from first to second gear, then “Mirage” accelerates up to cruise control speed with a confident, sensible moderno disco approach. This is music for grown ups old enough to know better.”
Hello Earthlings. From the netherland of the kosmos, here come The Diaphanoids. With a bizarre and mind-boggling musical background (junk rock, alternative library music for TV, songwriting for Luciano Pavarotti (yes, him!), Blackbox and many techno-house releases during the nineties, orchestral composers, arrangers, producers), these psychonauts will deliver their own unique blend of lunar funkadelia + spaced-out disco+ astro rock+ galactic soul + confuzed boogie + congotronics + krautgrooves + seventies’ soundtracks, with titles like excerpts from psy/sci-fi B-movies. ’Where Were You..’ is taken from their CD “Astral Weekends” forthcoming on Bear Entertainment. So turn your dream machine on, get off your psychic asses and start walking on the laser’s edge…. All aboard the Space Train captained by tin pac-men from toy planets. 1972-1977-1978-1979-1980/// Berlin-Munich-London-Paris-New York…they’ve seen the best minds of those generations crisped and motherfunked by the active oxidants of brainium zythernitrate. The Diaphanoids (visible division) are: Andrea Bellentani and Simon Maccari. No aliens nor humans have been harmed during these recordings.
12” vinyl features 2 amazingly hot remixes from the tech-dub-discoid man of the moment Toby Tobias (Rekids, Tiny Sticks, Dialekt, Hi-Phen) complete the astral picture. His earth-shattering Proton remix at over 10-minutes long and his lazer-tronic Dub Remix at a more short-range but no-less deadly 5 minutes…go seek!
For reviews and support so far read on…
Getting excited support from Richard Sen (Padded Cell), Idjut Boys, Tim Sweeney (DFA, Beats In Space), Lindstrom, Prins Thomas, Fabrizio Mammarella…
The Diaphanoids sound is so complex, it can only be described accurately
with the aid of white coats, microscopes, a blackboard and a pointy stick.
Since I don¹t have any of those to hand, I can only say it¹s Œsort of like
space rock crossed with cosmic disco¹. Luckily I¹ve brought my telescope, so
I can happily gaze in awe at Toby Tobias’ epic Proton Mix, which is so
starry and other-worldly it could have been beamed down from Galiffrey.
Cosmic, man. ’ Matt Annis, IDJ Magazine
“Fuckin love it man! Keep dat Bear Funk comin’…” - Roy Dank, XLR8R Mag, USA
