Various Artists - Shapes: Kaleidoscope review

Laid-back and dreamy jazz says Jane Cornwell 
Jane Cornwell11 August 2017

Eighteen years ago DJ Rob Luis began the British independent record label Tru Thoughts in a cupboard under his stairs.

Today the label is a success story, loved as much for its home-grown aesthetic and vintage-style production as it is for a roster of new and exciting music regardless of genre.

But while this excellent digital compilation boasts thumping club tracks and shuffling, soulful house, it’s the jazz — laid-back and dreamy, left-field and funky — that makes the biggest impression.

And the jazz remixes: Will “Quantic” Holland’s Flowering Inferno project is given a grime makeover.

The Truth, by neo-soul trio Moonchild, is lifted higher by Philly creatives DJ Jazzy Jeff and James Poyser.

Elsewhere, the likes of Hidden Orchestra, Hot 8 Brass Band, chanteuse Alice Russell and a wealth of rising stars keep things many-hued. Tru Thoughts’ 18th birthday party is at the Roundhouse on October 21.

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