(Curl Curl Music/Intergroove)

A1 Deepchild – For A Reason (Deepchild remix) 5.07
A2 Amphibian feat. Natalie Elizabeth Gay – Empty (Groovescooter remix) 5.08
B1 Bennson – Oceans & Whispers (Daniel Stefaniak remix) 7.22

Phil Broekelmann’s Leipzig, Germany-based Curl Curl Music has already unleashed one of this year’s broken-beat delights, with their debut maxi ‘Nu Pacific – Sea Shells’ EP played and charted by the likes of Laurent Garnier, Jimpster and Nik Weston. This second maxi release ‘Nu Pacific – Offshore’ follows hot on the heels of this highly-acclaimed debut and includes tracks from Australian artists Deepchild, Amphibian and Bennson alongside remixes from Daniel Stefaniak and Sydney-based Groovescooter Productions. In many ways, this second release acts as a second chapter to the initial ‘Nu Pacific – Sea Shells’ EP, which included the original mix of Bennson’s ‘Oceans & Whispers’ and Colorblind’s remix of Deepchild’s ‘For A Reason’, as this latest slab of vinyl comes equipped with Daniel Stefaniak’s and Deepchild’s own reworkings of these respective tracks.

On the A-side of this 12” Deepchild’s gorgeous broken-beat house reworking of his own ‘For A Reason’ (taken from 2001’s excellent ‘Chocolate Dubs’ album) which adds his brother Andy B on smooth soul vocals, takes things into deep expansive dubbiness with fat slap basslines plunging their way through a jacknifing backdrop of organic-sounding laidback broken beats, placing it in similar territory to Jazzanova or Bugz In The Attic. Georgie Zuzak and Paris Pompor of Sydney-based oufit and label Groovescooter Productions meanwhile rework Amphibian’s ‘Empty’ (taken from their ‘Whistles In Amphibian Village’ album) into icy shuffling downtempo grooves, with skittering programmed snares tracing their way beneath glacial keyboard tones, warm organ runs and Natalie Elizabeth Gay’s melancholic dubbed-out vocal, which trails its way through a slightly goth-tinged midsection alongside vaguely sinister curving synths.

On the flip, German broken-beat outfit Moon Harbour’s Daniel Stefaniak reworks ‘Oceans & Whispers’ by cinematic Melbourne outfit Bennson into an ambient-tinged expansive broken-beat house track that blends spectral trailing synths with a flanging Detroit-infused bassline and crisp house snares and clicking 808 beats, resulting in a moment that veers closer to the work of producers such as Juan Atkins or Carl Craig, providing a contrasting dancefloor-oriented moment to the more downtempo, contemplative tracks included on this 12”s A-side.

‘Nu Pacific – Offshore’ is a stunning second 12” release from Curl Curl that’s bound to be of particular interest to Antipodean listeners, as it features reworkings of tracks by local artists Bennson, Deepchild and Amphibian intended for the European market, that are simply unavailable anywhere else. In particular, the reworkings of the various tracks by local Australian artists included here all easily stand alongside such feted nu-jazz / broken-beat names as Jazzanova, Nuspirit Helsinki and Gerd in terms of their degree of inspiration and quality, meaning that this EP certainly deserves to mark its mark amongst the burgeoning European electronic music scene, with each of the producers featured here being a name to watch. Highly Recommended.

Check out http://www.curlcurl.com, http://www.deepchild.com, http://www.amphibianmusic.com, http://www.groovescooter.com and http://www.moonharbour.de