THE NASSAU EXCURSION VOLUME 2

Description

Following the runaway success of their first joint EP, The Nassau Excursion, long-time friends François Kevorkian and Dimitri From Paris are back with a similarly sensational sequel – a second deep dive into the pair’s joint love of the synth-heavy dub disco sound pioneered by Island Records’ Bahamas-based Compass Point studio in the early-to-mid-1980s. Simply titled The Nassau Excursion Volume 2, this hotly anticipated sequel sees the iconic, long-serving artists further explore the fertile meeting point between dub, disco, electrofunk and proto-house. Yet while it comes from the same headspace and starting point, the three tracks on show also display a fresh perspective. Even so, it still sounds like a long-lost Compass Point session from 1983. ‘Rock That Groove’ sees them pick up where they left off, with delay-laden drum-machine drums, echoing syn-toms and scattergun fills ushering in Paul Simpson style synth motifs, weighty dub disco bass, Boyd Jarvis licks and urgent vocalisations. Throw in a clutch of Hubert Eaves III style synth-solos and a mix structure that recalls Kevorkian’s work of the early 1980s and you have a future classic with a nostalgic twist. The pair take a different tack on ‘Let’s Do It Together’, where more live-sounding drums and Nile Rodgers style clipped guitar licks provide a solid foundation for an increasingly wild and percussive workout. Following a classic, Larry Levan style breakdown in which the echoing synth bassline comes to the fore, François and Dimitri take us to the Paradise Garage at 4am – all kaleidoscopic synth solos, nods to Gwen Guthrie’s magnificent Padlock mini-album and dub-wise effects aplenty. As they did on the predecessor, François and Dimitri round on volume two with a cut that pays tribute to the synth-heavy, disco-fired future dub of legendary NYC label Wackies. This is ‘Steppers Return’, where deep space electronics, echoing sound-man bleeps, reverb-heavy horn riffs, crunchy Clavinet licks and fluid piano solos ride a heavy steppers reggae groove. The natural successor to volume one’s ‘Steppers Revenge’, it’s another nostalgic-but-far-sighted dancefloor delight.