A year after their groundbreaking sophomore album Nick & Astro’s Guide to the Galaxy LP, Potatohead People are back with a collection of instrumentals, remixes and B-sides. They’ve tapped some of their favourite producers from around the globe for remix duties, and spiced things up a bit by holding a remix contest from which one winner was picked from an overwhelming number of submissions – needless to say it was not an easy decision!
Opening up the release is a brand new original from Potatohead People – “Iced Tea,” which features vocals and a guest verse from Vancouver’s giorgi and Radina Vee – a perfect smooth jam to ease into Summer. Up & coming Australian producer TEYMORI (aka Amin Payne) puts a mid-tempo house flip to “No Sleep Til MTL,” but kept all the soul. Next up, the boys give us a taste of an early demo take of “Liftin’ Up” that features an extended instrumental outro, giving a completely different vibe from the album cut. From 100+ entries, Nick and Astro chose Russian producer Infinite Blaq’s remix of “Quest For Love,” which sped things up a bit and added a funky, meandering synth bass line, horns, and sax to the catchy vocal line. Following this, Kerem Akdag brings a classic West London broken beat touch to “Do My Thing.” The Istanbul-based producer has a self-titled out on the UK label Dimensions and has received praise from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Osunlade and Detroit Swindle. DJ Spinna’s groovy Galactic Funk Remix of “Morning Sun” joins the remix collection after the success of the 7” released in February, while Oakland’s 10.4 ROG brings a dreamy wonkiness to “All Alone.” Closing out the remixes is Brooklyn’s Sam O.B. (fka Obey City) – known for heading up the AstroNautico label – with a disco-tinged take on “Quest For Love” featuring additional vocals from the man himself that’s itching to heat up the dance-floor. Sandwiched between all the remixes are the instrumental tracks for “Do My Thing,” “Morning Sun,” “All Alone,” and “Change of Heart.” Finishing up the record is another new Potatohead original, “Nightcap,” which does exactly as advertised, bringing end-of-the-night, smokey jazz club vibes to accompany your drink of choice.
Nick & Astro’s Instrumentals, Remixes & B-Sides EP is out on Bastard Jazz Recordings April 26th.
Supported by Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia
