Gran Riserva

Dzihan & Kamien: Gran Riserva Label: Six Degrees
Rating (scale of 1-10, 10 being best): 8

This is a very high-quality album produced by Dzihan & Kamien – Austrian acid-jazz/trip-hop artists extraordinaire. They went much deeper into the jazzy/lounge-y style, and I’m impressed by their musicianship and production values. The songs are very listenable, some songs have some very exotic melodies. D & K are as talented as their European counterparts K & D (Kruder & Dorfmeister) – and have a much better sense of jazz. A few tracks are a bit over-produced and kind of too smooth, but for the most part this CD is very good. Try: 2,3,4,5,7,10.

1. Cheery acid-jazz w/ some up-tempo boppy sax & piano licks
2. Mellow deep-house w/ catchy female vocal loop & catchy melodies
3. Break-y trip-hop-ish track w/ some big jazz chords and some exotic melodies - swanky
4. Starts dub-ish, then drops into bumpin' disco groove, features rasta-man vocals
5. Pretty trip-hop ballad - fluttering synths & piano, nice vocals - catches you
6. Mellow synths & trumpet, mixed w/ a thick bassline & downtempo groove
7. Lush synths swirling & simple piano, mild beat that gets a bit crispy & cut-up
8. A big 80s style synth loop w/ reverbs - gets smooth & lounge-y w/ some swank melodies
9. Chill acid-jazz w/ catchy cool little samples, groovy
10. Fem vocals (bit like Portishead/Sneaker Pimps), acid-jazz/downtempo w/ some neat breakdowns & effects
11. Chill-out lounge-y jazz & synths – some congas, relaxed guitar playing