OCEANVS ORIENTALIS Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The long-running and always quietly assured Crosstown Rebels kicks off yet another new year with some deep offerings from Oceanvs Orientalis featuring Idil Mese. 'Heart Pieces' is a delightful coming together of organic trumpets and loose percussion with a languid house groove, funky little riffs and heavenly vocal coos. The Mustafa Ismaeel remix brings some grit to proceedings for more of a club-ready sound and then Ibiza-based Leeds man Nightmares On Wax offers his typically laidback and sun-kissed take on things with a deep one to start and a dubby once to finish.

Review: Oceanvs Orientalis and Ilhan Ersahin first entered each other's orbits by chance at a performance at Turkey's Cappadox Festival in 2018. Orientalis is renowned for his fusion of Eastern musical motifs and traditions with cutting-edge electronica, while Ilhan Ersahin has long plowed a unique path uniting assorted musical strains from around the world via an exploratory jazz-improv sensibility. Following two tracks ('Mesta' and 'Pire') co-written by Ilhan and OvO and released as collaborations, as well as two more Ersahin / OvO co-writes ('Revenge Of The Wankers' and 'Television') released under OvO's name alone, a fresh and exciting new song, '1980', now heralds a full-length collaboration slated to land in Spring 2024. The track's title hints at a certain nostalgic bent, all while still keeping its gaze firmly fixed on the future as it evokes sun-drenched, bygone good times. The 10" edition adds several extra versions, one of which spotlights the multi-instrumental mastery of Darkside's Dave Harrington, and the other the mesmerizing vocal stylings of Gaye Su Akyol.

Review: The left of centre musical universe of Crosstown Rebels ushers in this lively new EP from Oceanvs Orientalis. 'Neutrality' features on the A-side and is a spiritual fusion of steely tech house beats and spine tingling chords, angelic distant vocals and lots of loose percussion all with a slightly psychedelic feel. On the flip is a Nick Curly remix which pairs whitings back and settles the beats into one of his signature tech house frameworks with hooky little pads and late night allure. Good stuff.

Review: Crosstown Rebels is by now one of the wise old head of the electronic underground. Damian Lazarus has steered it through many hype sounds but always managed to keep it on point. Making sure that is the case again here are Oceanvs Orientalis and Tooker who combine for 'Il Lupo.' It's a slow motion and subversive dub house sound warped synths and ghoulish vocals panning about the mix. On the flip, Acid Pauli remixes with his signature sense of deft sound design and trippy melodic overtones.

Review: Crosstown Rebels continues its spell of dance albums releases with a fresh one from Oceanvs Orientalis (Safak Oz Kutle), Portrait Of The Obscure. After three superb singles on the label over the past four months, this nine-track LP offers a comprehensive exploration of the Istanbul-based talent's rich, globally-infused, captivating sound. As if to bottle the essence of the awe of travel, either everyday-real or astral - and the personal developments and realizations that come of it - onto a single record, Portrait Of The Obscure skirts the possible limits of progressive dance, fleshing out a talent for layering that we'd wager many artists only ten years or so ago would've thought impossible. Just listen to the hullabaloo that is 'Neutrality'; despite the name, it's hardly neutral at all, coming as an immense positivisation of moving parts and godlike sonic entities, which sound to dance around a central kick axis, one that we're surprised Oceanvs was still able to fit into the mix.