DJ Alex Corton – Vinyl Reviews

Good Looking Records

Intense Presents – Logical Progression Level 3

1998

For our last record on this third level of the Logical Progression series, we’ll feature our last two tracks following a brief talk about the CD tracks on Disc 2. I hope the weekend was enjoyed and you managed time to let this beautiful music, engulf you?! 

    Of the two tracks that did not make it onto the vinyl cut, we have Tayla – Resolution (which I think should have been released on Nexus in my opinion, although the label had not put anything out, following the Soul Survivors LP in 2000. It is on his Producer 04 CD too), and then a track that I didn’t really feel slotted into the frame of GLR. 2 Bob Soundsystem – ‘Get High Fiona’. It’s one I didn’t really feel we missed out on, not being pressed onto vinyl.

   We also have a track that you’ll find on MC Conrad’s – ‘Vocalist 01 LP’ from 2000, with Words 2 B Heard Collective – ‘Sonic Weapon’ that sweeps up the last track on the CD, which leads us nicely into the next level of Logical Progression albums. We will elevate up to Level 4, tomorrow, courtesy of the sadly fallen, but mighty MC Conrad. 

    The vinyl today has two more incredible pieces of music from this rhodium era of mind blowing music. The artists are yet again, straight from the top drawer of the Good Looking Records stable beginning with the one and only, Olly Lomax. Artemis. 

   Artemis was Olly’s alias for the label, with his Shogun name locked into Renegade and remixes mainly. We have already reviewed ‘Elysian Fields’ and ‘Desideradi’ on GLR 020 and ‘Inner Worlds’ / ‘Sun Stars’ on GLR 025, from 1997 and 1998, respectively. The sheer dedication and attention to detail of his work was nothing short of perfect. We have here with this track ‘Sun Voyage’ another helping of just how dynamic and skilled he was in the studio. 

   I’m actually astounded how short this track seems. Maybe it’s not really that short and it’s just the impression it leaves, being the soaring level of brilliance it is? The track grabs you straight away, jetting you up into the thin icy air while the citizens on the ground unbeknownst to them, have a whirling wind of alkaline sounds and tepid undercurrents keeping the vibes rising into a ceiling that soaks the evaporating vapors. Artemis produces this marvel of music with a torrent  of pure, spell binding luxuries, designed to engage your emotions and release the deepest, unlocked dreams. 

   I could listen to this tune over and over again. In fact, I’m just going to do that. 

   Fucking beautiful! 

   Ahhhh… back to the land of the living…now we have played ‘Sun Voyage’ twice and taken a short break (some tunes just hit you like that), we move onto our final track on this 3 x vinyl release. It’s back to the work of Robin ‘Big Bud’ O’Reilly, for this one with a track called ‘Mystique’. 

   If you ever had a ‘Name that tune in One’ moment, you’d have no trouble putting Big Bud’s name in the running, based on that crystal clear snare break from the get go. Big Bud continued flying his flag with immense pleasure at this time and the work was a powerhouse of the atmospheric scene. He stirs in here those elegant keys, a resonating bass and the raindrop fragility of the chimes, with the subtle horns, laying the path of love and chill, covered by a thin layer of the punctured soul with swollen dreams. Robin made up such an important part of the music, he will forever be one of the biggest contributors to not just Good Looking, but to the cosmic, mystics of the scene. 

   A legend of our lifetime, and no doubt those that connect in the many years to come, through his majestic sounds. 

  Tomorrow we venture into the lift and head up to our next floor in the Logical Progression series. While it may not be one that holds the historical museum of work like the last three levels, it does hit us with a nostalgic moment as we pay tribute to one of the best in business, with a fine assortment of tunes from artists of the the time.

   My blog has 92 out of the 95 Good Looking Records 12” single releases on there, and the ‘catalogue MA’ LP’s along with the Logical Progression LP’s 1-3. I will be putting in the 720 Degrees, Ascendent Grooves, Blue, Cookin’, Deep Rooted, Diverse, Earth and we still have Looking Good and Nexus to follow. There are also some other projects to add in there too, so I’m hoping it’ll be a solid hub to have.

   Thanks for reading!