CHRIS COCO Vinyl & CDs

Review: Minimalsoul is proud to present its only vinyl release of the year 2020. Needless to say, the Covid-19 pandemic hit us hard as it did with many other players within the underground electronic music community. Therefore, we decided to concentrate our efforts on a single release this year, considering its unique feature being our 20th vinyl-catalog release.

"SueNo Mediterraneo" meets our primary goals of then and now: expanding our sonic horizon and telling a story in music that focuses on the human being, the soul, and the essential things to appreciate in life. "SueNo Mediterraneo" is a two-hand effort by the Italian DJ and producer Luca Averna (elsewhere also known as Jay Green) and the UK House veteran DJ and producer Chris Coco.

Luca moved to Ibiza permanently a few years back, firmly wanting to live the isle differently, appreciating the rustical life of the western hills with his beloved wife, dog, turntables, vinyl records, and drum machines. Chris is an Ibiza regular since the 90s, and during the last two decades, he has become one of the most respected figures within the island's Balearic scene.

After meeting a couple of years ago, they decided right away to produce music together, giving birth to this "SueNo Mediterraneo" project, with the desire to pay tribute to the 90s Italo Dream House, celebrate a newborn friendship, and their shared love for the White Island.

Review: Balearic scene stalwarts Chris Coco and DJ Rocca are old pals, with the pair first working together five years ago on an EP released by Faze Action's FAR imprint. Cocorocca, though, is their first collaborative full-length - a set that cannily combines Coco's love of fluid pianos, tactile downtempo grooves and sun-soaked ambient textures with DJ Rocca's passion for dubby basslines, moon-lit low-tempo nu-disco, starry Balearic synth-pop and the trippy and psychedelic ethos of Italy's 1980s Afro-cosmic scene. As a result, there's plenty of subtle variety on show - compare, for example, the dubbed-out slow acid oddness of '303/808' with the sunset-ready dancefloor colour of 'Sunshine Love' and the slap bass wielding dub disco madness of 'Night Dubbin' - as well as plenty club-ready material.

Review: In the late summer of 2019, DJ Rocca and Chris Coco spent time together at the intimate La Casella festival in Umbria, Italy, where they chatted about Italo disco, the Rimini/Riccione riviera in the 90s and classic Italian clubs. Inspired by their conversations and imagined memories of scenes they weren't part of, they set out to make the music which over time, evolved into CocoRocca DiscoTeca, an imaginary retro-futuristic club blending past influences with future possibilities. It draws on dub, house and disco and is now resented on this wonderfully escapist full length which starts slow and dreamy, raises the pulse then slows down to a nice emotive finish. A fine reimagine of some classic sounds.

Review: Balearic DJs Chris Coco and George Solar have been making tunes together fora couple of years after first meeting at Ibiza Sonica radio. They soon hit it off in person and in the studio, so now we get their first album, Island Vibrations. Solar is an accomplished percussionist so he and Chris made a list of rhythms around which to loosely build each track with some of those used including Nyabinghi, Guaguanco, One Drop and Algaroba. Most were record in Ibiza with added bass from Fly and lots of organic synth work embellishing each one into this lush collection of fresh downtempo and chill out sounds.

Review: Furthur Electronix's first two Furthur Journeys Into compilations tune plenty of heads and shift plenty of copies. The third one keeps the quality levels high with more explorations around the periphery of underground electronics. Chris Coco opens with a soothing synth sound before Jake Slazenger brings crystalline synths and abstract modulations to the mid-tempo '168B.' There is more pace and twisted acid energy to Global Goon's untitled contribution and then old school jungle comes to the fore on the super stylish and atmospheric Gavin Masih cut. Monika Subrtova's 'Alata' is a serene and widescreen ambient synthscape that brings things to a suitably poignant close.