Skybreak, the latest full length outing from Russian producer/DJ/dancefloor maestro Lay-Far on his In-Beat-Ween Music label is a nine track collection of future-jazz funk/fusion, broken beat, and drum & bass. His Dance Orchestra is a five piece outfit featuring drums, percussion, sax/flute and keys, with Lay-Far as player number five on bass and bandleader duties.
The three d&b jams are very much on the jazzy tip, my personal fave being the instrumental “Soul Constant” which matches high octane rattling break beats and swooping bass with some delicate horn soloing. The other two feature appearances from Seven Davis, Jr. (“Aquarius Love”) and Antoha MC (“Feel The Moment”), the former a dense, intense affair with twinkling Rhodes flourishes, the latter a sunny, breezy, horn-filled ride.
The six other tunes all explore different moods and tempos of contemporary dancefloor fusion/broken beat/jazz funk. “Take Flight” comes in two parts and its gorgeously funky breaks underpin a smoothly funky, or maybe funkily smooth bruk-funk groove decorated with Rhodes and flute improv. “Head In The Clouds” is good time squelch yacht-disco, “The Harp of Bloom” has a library music/soundtrack feel with tight boom bap drums and all sorts of orchestrated loveliness going on, while “Where You From” feat. DJ/producer Lipelis comes in two versions, the original which is another rolling funk-jazz groove this time with an Afro feel to the beats, and a supa-cool instrumental version from Lipelis himself with added squiggly synth and jazz guitar soloing.
It’s all rich and sumptuous sounding, the grooves are heavy, the playing’s quality, the whole thing hangs together nicely, and in DJ terms, plenty of these jams would definitely work dancefloor-wise too. Great future-fusion-funk album.
⚪️ Skybreak Tracklisting
Lay-Far Dance Orchestra: Skybreak (In-Beat-Ween Music / 12" Vinyl + Digital)
1. Take Flight (Part 1) (05:36)
2. Aquarius Love Feat. Seven Davis Jr. (04:06)
3. Head In The Clouds (04:33)
4. Where You From (05:20)
5. The Harp of Boom (03:08)
6. Feel The Moment Feat. Antoha MC (04:16)
7. Take Flight (Part 2) (04:46)
8. Soul Constant (05:28)
9. Where You From (Lipelis Vision) (05:03)
⚪️ Disclosure Statement
This record was submitted as a promo.
⚪️ Previous Coverage
❇ Cover Story: Lay-Far: Deep Communication (2016)
✳ New Music: True, Necessary, Kind: Gems from Lay-Far’s album remix project (2024)
✳ New Music: Yo UFOs: Lay-Far’s “Soulful Encounters of the 3rd Kind” (2021)
✳ New Music: Lay-Far joins Lumberjacks In Hell with “Same As It Never Was” (2020)
❇ Cover Story: Seven Davis, Jr: “This is absolutely me now & me going forward” (2024)
5 Mag Issue 225
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elevate: First published in 5 Mag Issue #225 featuring Nico Lahs, Dam Swindle cover mix, 100 releases on Heist, Point Winona Sound Labs and more. Become a member for $2/month and get every issue in your inbox right now…
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