ALEX ATTIAS PRESENTS LILLYGOOD PARTY! VOLUME 2.

dereksmusicblog ♦ March 9, 2020 ♦ Leave a comment

Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2.

Label: BBE Music.

Release Date ‘20th’ March 2020.

Thirty-two years ago in 1988,  Alex Attias decided to embark upon a career as a DJ in his home city of Lausanne, Switzerland, and began playing an eclectic selection of dancefloor friendly music.  This didn’t come as a surprise to Alex Attias friends as he had always been interested in music, and spent much of his time crate digging and searching for oft-overlooked hidden gems to add to his  impressive and enviable collection of vinyl. These hidden gems became part of Alex Attias’ DJ sets, which featured everything from funk, house and jazz which proved popular with dancers. However, this was the first chapter in the Alex Attias’ story.

Having spent several years establishing himself as one of Europe’s leading DJs, the next logical step for Alex Attias was to start producing his own music. In 1996, Alex Attias and Seb Kohler released Magik which was the first of several singles the pair released as the Bel-Air Project. 

After this, Alex Attias collaborated with Paul Martin, and their new musical vehicle Beatless released its debut single To Expand in 1997. This was the start of a successful collaboration between the pair that lasted several years.

By 1997, Alex Attias had left his home in Lausanne, and was now living in London, where he had just founded a new record label, Visions. Little did he know that he and the nascent label would be at the heart of the emerging West London Broken Beat scene which emerged around his studio at Goya.

In 1999, Alex Attias had dawned the moniker Catalyst and released the single Silly Games [Part 1]. It became a dancefloor favourite, and Alex Attias was now a successful DJ, producer and record label owner. However, he was keen to add another string to his bow.

This came about when Alex Attias was asked to compile a compilation of jazz by the Italian record label Irma. Alex Attias put his crate-digging skills to good use and the result was Presents Quiet Moments which was released in 2000. This was the first of several compilations Alex Attias would go on to compile.

After the dawn of the millennia, Alex Attias’ career as a DJ and producer continued to blossom, and he continued to release edits and remixes of everyone from Art Blakey, Sun Ra and Ennio Morricone to Incognito, 4Hero and Roni Size. Still, Alex Attias continued to release new music and sometimes, dawned the monikers Freedom Soundz, Xela Saitta and Mustang to do so. Alex Attias continued to collaborate with other artists, and has released collaborations as River Plate, Plutonia, Idema + Co, The Age Of Selfishness and Attias. Soon, Alex Attias would embark upon new projects where it all began for him… Lausanne.

This new chapter of Alex Attias’ career began when he started the ‘LillyGood Party!’ in his native Lausanne.  Alex Attias had no idea just how successful the ‘LillyGood Party!’ would eventually become. Since then, it’s evolved into a radio show and record label, and in 2018, BBE Music released the compilation Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! It was a tantalising taste of the music Alex Attias plays at a LillyGood Party. 

So is the followup Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2. It features eleven tracks that include contributions from 12 Senses, Our Own Organisation,  Stacy Kidd featuring Peven Everett,  Mausiki Scales, Dwayne Morgan and MJ Lallo. These artists are just a few of the names on Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2, which is a lovingly curated and eclectic compilation that will be released by BBE Music on the ‘20th’ of March 2020.

Opening Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2 is Touch by Copenhagen based octet 12 Senses which is led by percussionist Peter Stenbæk. Joining this talented and versatile band is  British  broken beat keyboardist Kaidi Tatham. Together, they showcase their considerable skills on Touch, a track from the Movement EP which was released by Creak Inc. Records in 2018. It finds 12 Senses combining broken beat,  jazz-funk and fusion are combined with a squelchy synth, shimmering Fender Rhodes and percussion  during this irresistible dancefloor friendly workout. It sets the bar high for the rest of the compilation.

There’s no let up in quality on Playground by Martin Iveson featuring Sarai Jazz. It was released on the Atjazz Record Company in 2019. The arrangement is essentially classic house combined with elements of hip hop and electronica. However, Martin Iveson’s secret weapon is Sarai Jazz’s emotive and uber soulful vocal which plays a leading role in this genre-melting track.

It’s hard to believe that it was twenty-two years ago in 1998,  that Universal Tongues featuring Elle released Open up Your Mind (Honeycomb Vocal Mix). It’s a timeless sounding slow burner from the Boston-based collective that gradually reveals its secrets and is guaranteed to fill any dancefloor. 

By 2004, American jazz saxophonist David Murray was forty-nine and had already released over seventy-five albums. This included a number of collaborations. One of these was with The Gko-Ka Masters in 2002. They were reunited two year later in 2004, joined forces with one of the pioneers of jazz Pharoah Sanders. They recorded Gwotet, a groundbreaking album of genre-melting music that was released on the Justin Time label. The highlight of the album was the title-track Gwotet where Pharoah Sanders and David Murray’s blistering saxophones combine with The Gko-Ka Masters trademark  percussion and swaying harmonies as disparate genres are combined. Everything from jazz and funk to Gwo Ka and Latin jazz melt into one and drive this joyous and uplifting track along.

Our Own Organisation is a transatlantic collaboration between Chicago’s Andres Ordonez and Madrid-based Jose Rico. Their most recent release was 2 Finger Hash Band EP, which was released on the Neroli label in 2018. One of the tracks on the EP was  Days Of Old, an understated slice of techno that’s one of Our Own Organisation’s finest moments. 

Another track from the Windy City of Chicago is the house classic How Bad I Want Ya. It was produced by Chicago-based house producer Stacy Kidd and features vocalist Peven Everett. Later, the track was reinvented by fellow Chicago house producer Glenn Underground, who was a founding member of the Strictly Jaz Unit. He added his trademark bass, Fender Rhodes as well as guitar,  hi-hats and percussion. The result was the GU Peak Time Mix How Bad I Want Ya, which is a tantalising take on a classic track where disco. funk, R&B and soul melts into one on this dancefloor filler.

Keyboardist Mausiki Scales has been part of the Atlanta music scene for nearly two decades, and is also the founder and musical director of the Common Ground Collective.  He also wrote Freedom Flight, a oft-overlooked rarity, which sounds as if it’s been influenced by late-seventies and early eighties soul-jazz. It was edited by Alex Attias, and his Party Edit totally transforms the track. The result is beatific and joyous slice of dancefloor friendly musical sunshine .

When Cuban vocalist, composer, arranger and band leader Daymé Arocena recorded his 2016 album One Take,  it was produced by London-based production duo  Yam Who. The album was released on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings, and featured Stuck, a truly memorable and modern example of soul-jazz that went on to become a favourite of dancers and DJs.

Children Of The World is a twelve minute epic that was released in 2012 by Louis Vega’s Elements Of Life and features vocalist Josh Milan. He plays a starring role in this soulful house classic which is a favorite of Alex Attias at his LillyGood Party.

 Closing Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2 is MJ Lallo’s beautiful, boogie ballad Star Child Going Home. It’s a case of keeping the best until last as Alex Attias closes the compilation on a high with this hidden gem. 

Two years after the release of the first instalment in the series, BBE Music will released the much-anticipated followup Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2. It’s another eclectic compilation which is a tantalising taste of the music Alex Attias plays at his LillyGood Party in Lausanne, Switzerland or will hear on his radio show of the same name. Just like his DJ sets and radio shows, Alex Attias has taken a great deal of time compiling this new compilation.

Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2 is another lovingly curated compilation from the Swiss DJ, remixer and producer that features singles, B-Sides, album cuts, remixes, rarities, edits and hidden gems. It’s quality all the way on Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2 which is is sure to get any party started. Especially one Alex Attias legendary LillyGood Party’s.

Alex Attias Presents LillyGood Party! Volume 2.