Tupan / Ear Peaks - Kwarup (2006)

Domo Records is in the process of expanding- their new Ear Peaks Music Group is now associating itself with much more than the regular Domo artists. Kwarup is the first compilation from Ear Peaks/Tupan Records- compiled by Domo head honcho DJ Nadi and Brazil’s DJ Lennox. Kwarup is an intelligent collection of progressive tunes with a an electro and tribal touch- this is the party progressive sound sweeping the world right now and these guys are pretty onto it. Names like Space Safari (aka Beckers), Absolut vs Blade, Shuma, Leo, Chris Cargo, Mirowsky and Thomas Penton guarantee that it will be definitely in demand by DJs in the coming months.

A mixture of progressive house, tribal, electro and techno forms the basis of the sound for Kwarup- its very consistent in that it maintains a good theme throughout and is “complete” sounding compilation. All the tracks have a very definate bass-groove- while this is definitely aimed at the house scene, its still got quite a lot of balls and all manner of proggy djs will find the tracks interesting.

Opening the comp is Leo- I’m really impressed with this one, its lovely sticky tribal music- quite a fresh sound to it- amazing bassgroove with this one. Lots of percussion and big stabbish sounds round off this lazy groove- definitely one for when things are getting wobbly. Great stuff, my personal favourite of the cd!

Frank Beckers really can’t put his foot wrong at the moment- I Should Have Known is a fresh release from his older project, Space Safari. Funky disco kind of feel as is to be expected from Frank- and he’s got his vocal cords out again for a strap as well. Beckers all over, tidy as this sound gets- quirky electro party music.

Shuma’s Illektro music keeps the retro vibe going- very stabby glitchy number with a big sticky bassline. Really liking what Shuma do these days, everything is so fat and groovy and its got some really good arrangement ideas- electro and tek-house influences wound together in the very Shuma way. Nice stuff.

Chris Cargo is very much a big name in the house world at the moment- hes in demand as both a dj and producer with his bass-heavy proghouse productions. You R is a big tribalish number, lots of bottom end groove (as expected with a lot of Cargo’s stuff). Funky and very masculine sounding prog that would go down equally well in or outodoors…

Absolut vs Blade’s Crash has been an absolute smasher worldwide- originally released on Kumquat Tunes vinyl, this tune has been in the box of every major prog dj around the world for quite a while now. I’ve heard it too many times so I’m kind of getting over it- but as far as electrohouse goes, doesn’t get much more solid than this. Anthem material.

Mirowsky and Thomas Penton’s Deep is the one I was looking forward to most when I saw the cd- I was quite interested in seeing what this pairing would come up with. It’s a great track- don’t get me wrong- but I did expect a bit more. Its nice and percussion based, but maybe doesn’t go far enough for me- seems to be stuck on a couple of loops. Have to hear it out of a really big system before I can make a real judgement- just expected an absolute monster.

Audio Factory on the other hand deliver one of the surprises on the CD- their track I Am is bigtime solid tribal house that will rock any dancefloor. Accessable but at the same time, deep and raw with a very sexy feel- one for the ladies to shake it to I think. Rocking.

True 2 Nature has been working really hard lately- hes got a plethora of releases coming out on nearly every label in the proggy business. The sound seems to be moving very much into the minimal techno direction- and his track for Kwarup Static definitely echoes this intent. Very tidy and groovy, subtly and intelligent- I really think Jokke is one of the master producers these days. Great track, one of my favourites.

Sonic Lizard from Brazil closes the CD up- strait up electro this one, maybe doesn’t go very far for my liking, but its certainly on the mark whats popular right now. If you like the absolute vs blade earlier on, chances are you’ll like this one. Fits well into the scheme of the cd for sure.

Overall Kwarup is a solid release for fans of progressive house, electro and techno- I think its very much geared toward the club market- and it will do very well. The south american influence is very apparent- I can imagine these tunes played on Brazillian dancefloors. Nothing that will blow you away- just strait up party music to keep the dancefloor moving. Well presented and put-together Debut release from this promising label.

7/10