NuNorthern Soul founder Phat Phil Cooper serves up a tasty second instalment of his Winter Warmers compilation series.
The collection features a swathe of previously unreleased, unheard tracks as well as hand-picked gems tailor-made to soundtrack both ice-cold winter walks, and nights spent indoors dreaming of holidays in sunnier climes.
The compilation, as to be expected from a NuNorthern Soul release, is packed full of gems. Cuts such as Sun Fanatics’ sublime Beatless Mix of George Koutalieris’ “Morning Ferry” and the never-before-heard instrumental version of B.J. Smith’s ‘We Can Sail’, an impossible-to-pigeonhole delight that deftly showcases the full breadth and depth of its creator’s musical and production skills, are worth the price of admission alone.
The collection also includes another exclusive instrumental version of a B.J. Smith original – the jaunty, horn-heavy breeziness of “Keep on Movin”, which recalls his frequent Smith & Mudd collaborations with with Paul Murphy – and an unheard, vocal-free version of Ron Basejam’s slow-motion, string-laden revision of Ragz Nordset’s “You Started It All”.
Further highlights scattered across the compilation include Andi Handley’s inventive, jaunty and off-kilter remix of Ryo Kawasaki’s mutant Japanese jazz-funk classic “Hawaiian Caravan”; Mike Salta and Mortale’s emotional tribute to the late, great Jose Padilla, “Behind The Rainbow [Ode to Jose]”; the horizontal fusion-funk of Y.M.D.F’s “B Natural”; and Cooper’s own beatless dub of Faint Waves’ nu-Balearic gem, “Aphrodesia”.
To aid horizontal listening, Cooper has laid down two continuous, 30-minute mixes of the material showcased on the album. These will be available as bonus tracks to those who buy the full compilation as a digital download, and also on either side of a limited-edition cassette version of Winter Warmers Season 2.
Winter Warmers Season 2 is out now – head to NuNorthern Soul’s bandcamp page to cop!