Sampler #1 is the anonymous title of Swedish newcomer label Smallfunk’s first release and an artist that goes by the name of Bushtech is the creator. Bushtech is hailing from South Africa and has contributed all of the 13 tracks on the sampler. It’s quite varied but there’s a theme: a lot of house influences, a fair deal of ethnic samples and generally groovy stuff. An obvious source of inspiration is Murcof and some of the tracks are simply too inspired. We are many that like Murcof’s “Martes” album and Bushtech is not doing himself a favour no matter how well produced the tracks are. The all-too-obvious reference will haunt them for eternity. The title “Sampler #1” is an adequate one, because there’s a wide repertoire, from the tracks mentioned above onto house fuelled dance floor oriented tracks via vocal tongue-in-cheek pop oriented tracks, etc. Then there’s the last track that is actually three tracks intertwined: “Insect Jazz”! Highly individual sounding and quite cleverly arranged production. Bushtech incorporates brass instruments in some of the other songs as well, but no way near with the result in the “Insect Jazz” triptych. The trumpet, bassline and the continuous yet subtle tempo shift throughout the song are very nice indeed! It’ll be interesting to see what Bushtech will be displaying on Smallfunk in the future.
electronic desert ≡ revisited + extended