(Casa del Discos/Creative Vibes)

Graham Mandroules, a Sydney DJ who can be seen each Saturday night at a night at the Opera Bar called Boogaloo Allstars, together with Tony Dunham (Tony Tone) formed music label Casa Del Discos in 2003. Their reasoning being the feeling that there was so much musical talent in Sydney and Australia that it really needed to be heard, and this was a way in which they could make that happen. Mi Casa Tu Casa brings together artists like Rephrase (Jaime Olsen), Jeremy Joshua and Ali Omar to release an album of a nice vision of a summer afternoon in Australia.  

Rephrase’s work shines on this album, beginning the album with a funky, electronic soul tune, The Likelihood. His next song, Mink is tech house and with its’ crystal clear, driving beat and first class sampling and production value you can see why he is being noticed by people like Gilles Peterson and Miguel Migs. Jeremy Joshua gives house and electro a good reason to be heard at the same time. A slower, shuffled beat and tightly worked instruments create an amazing soundspace in Millions of Open Minds.

Ali Omar’s rolling dub tune, called Rollin’ with lyrics by Gina Mitchell slides to the dnb direction. It’s an upbeat song from his earlier releases of dub from his Hashish Production releases. Eliciting thoughts of the Bodyrockers, Deep Dish or the Jack Addicts, Mills and Joy with their guitar driven house tunes comes Charlotte ending the album with Slap. On the current rock/house trend it’s probably a fair guess to be heard out in the next six months.  Another female vocalist from the label, Merenia features with Omegaman with an acoustic ditty over a shuffled quiet beat. Its’ melody has a wonderful swing and it only gets better.

The album as a whole swings through broken beat, Indian beats courtesy of Tiki Two. Firedance, with great scratching, samples and a guitar/synth line melody trips it along nicely with an Indian percussion and rolling guitar line that puts you under like a snake. Joey Clams gives Just Dreaming, reminiscent of Deep Forest, this track is a slow tribal and electronic fusion. Jazz gets a see-in with The Modern Congress giving smooth jazz that is tight and groovy with Boom Bam. Also check out Team Shiva vs Charlotte as they swing out the sultry It’s All Good, this cocktail must is reworked by Mandroules and Dunham.

Also featuring on the album are artists Love Tattoo, G-Ball and The Potbelleez and their songs to join the whole collection make for a great soundtrack for a sunny summers day…and perfect for winters denial. The duo behind Casa Del Discos should feel confident of the work they’ve done. Their aim of releasing top quality local artists has been met superbly.