- Feel-good analogue retro house that brings to mind a beach party at dusk.
- Paula Tape's latest is a feast for anyone really into the sounds of '80s house and techno. It's loose, playful and organic—every sound is clear and discrete, with enough reverb and a knack for mixing that makes each track feel wide open and spacious. Astroturismo hooked me from the first few bars with "Body Nature" and its precocious percussion sounds: cowbell, tom-toms and hand percussion, leading into a vocal refrain padded by steel drums and old-school orchestral hits. I haven't even mentioned the bassline, a ropey, assertive thing that reminds me of a cross between Nirvana's hooky bass and the disco-influenced meander of older Project Pablo, but it has a tropical, almost Balearic vibe that sets it apart.
Those Balearic touches really come to the fore on "Multiverso" and its bouncy, happy-go-lucky refrain, once again bolstered by some peppy bongos and an addictive "pow, pow, pow!" vocal from Tape, while the title track approaches old-school European techno with its wide-eyed sense of wonder and wonderfully chintzy pan-pipe lead. But my personal favourite is the dark horse, the B2 "Eclipse" that slows down the tempo and boosts the trippy. Harkening back to the early dream house sound of Tape's adopted Italy (she's originally from Chile), this one makes the most of that spacious soundscape with gated kick drums, a mournful synth drum and a slow, ominous bassline that only slithers out at just the right moments. It's what happens when the sun goes down on the beach and things get a little twisted. Indeed, it's hard not to think of Miami Vice sunset vistas and hotel poolside cocktails on The White Isle listening to Astroturismo, but its strength is in how it outlines such a singular and addictive sound over four very different tracks using one very familiar template.
Tracklist01. Body Nature
02. Multiverso
03. Astroturismo
04. Eclipse