SOLAR SOUND SYSTEM Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Chat Noir is the official imprint of Paris' Chat Noir Distribution, and will be dedicated to all shades of house music. Their inaugural release "This Is A Story" features Jeff The Fool AKA Antoine Bermann, who has been polishing his house music skills for five years now - and it's paid off! His contribution with The Chaud Records partner Wilt is entitled "All I Need" and it rules the A side. This is exactly the kind of emotive and swing-fuelled deep house that we just adore - think E-Wax or Quality Vibe. On the flip we have some good ol' fashioned liquid drum 'n' bass in the spirit of legends like LTJ Bukem and Alex Reece on the roller "B16P15" by Solar Sound System (Aymeric) and closing it out with yet more diverse sounds is the acidified electro journey "Blind Resistance" by local head Nairless (Flying Structures).

Review: The latest EP from Parisian electro stable Griffe is an undeniably expansive affair featuring no less than four original tracks by Pascal Ordioni AKA P.O and another from the Solar Sound System outfit of which he is a member. Ordioni's solo tracks are vibrant, pulsating and mostly melodious, with the acid-powered electro/techno fusion of "Mother" and similarly styled "Pressure" vying with stomping, EBM-influenced closer "Slomany" in the "most club-ready" track stakes. Elsewhere, "I Don't Feel Anything" is a bittersweet shuffle though '90s IDM territory, and Solar Sound System's "Reveille Toi" is a throbbing, bleep-laden chunk of intergalactic acid jack.

Review: London-based label Opia turn their attention to Solar Sound System, who have a playful brand of electro to impart that manages to fuse kitsch '80s slap bass and classic sample stabs with immersive, expressive pads on the head-turning highlight "K7". Nemo Vachez does a great job of remixing the track before another original closes out the B-side - the pumped up roller "CD-R". Jimmy Batt pops up on the B side with the cheeky tweaking of "Magic Garden", and then PO rounds things off with the deep techno delights of "On The Radio".