New record on Basic Spirit, Tornado Wallace and Jamie Tiller's label that brought us the sell-out Heart Sphere 12" which sampled both Robert Miles' "Children" and the E.R theme tune!

Making sure the second release is as hot as the first, Tornado steps up and delivers four high octane tracks that traverse house, techno and breakbeat.

“Dream Corner” comes in two flavours: stuttered vox and sweeping atmos complimenting the prog-informed breaks n bass on the OG, whilst the ‘speed bump’ mix rapidly ups the tempo for a skippier take; punctuated by an elongated breakdown in which the acceleration occurs. Both are gonna sound great in the open air with the sea reflecting the sun into your eyes in your favourite paradise dance location.

On the flip, “Sea Translation” takes cues from the breakbeat renaissance, rolling out a vintage-flavoured Bowlers styled cut; the type Il Bosco and DJ Absolutely Shit have been turning heads around the UK with recently. Nice to see Tornado jump on the bandwagon with a stylish tribute to the golden years of dance music. Finally, we get a dreamy ambient number to close off the EP. It’s another doozy from the label and bound to sell out sharpish.

 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Following up that cult-adored E.R / Robert Miles-sampling first release; Basic Spirit head Tornado Wallace hits a purple patch on these two breakbeat-laden festival hits with a proggy and expansive outlook making it perfect for the open air. TIP!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Tornado Wallace Presents - Dream Corner (Original Mix)
A2. Tornado Wallace Presents - Dream Corner (Speed Bump Mix)
B1. Tornado Wallace Presents - Sea Translation
B2. Tornado Wallace Presents - Sea Translation (Resurrected Mix)

The eye of the storm: welcome to Tornado Wallace's debut album! How about some references? New Age sounds meet new wave melodies, Grace Jones runs into the Dire Straits at Compass Point, while a Korg Mini Pops and a Roland CR78 make amends for Sly & Robbie's absence, Michael Mann pictures Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', Robert Rauschenberg tries his luck at naturalism and an imagined Wally Badarou echoes through all of it. The accumulation of about four years of work, with tracks written in Berlin and Melbourne, "Lonely Planet" is nothing like you may have expected from the Australian expat. Merging functionality with a musical playfulness on releases for ESP Institute, Beats in Space and Music From Memory's sister Label Second Circle, Tornado Wallace's found himself as one of the producers behind José Padilla's International Feel album. Here, he leaves the needs of the dance floor behind in order to create a magical mystery tour de trance into his and our inner jungle. Sandwiched between the title track and the yearning beauty of the album's final point "Healing Feeling", you get all of that as well as collaborations with and contributions of NO ZU, David Hischfelder and the voice of Sui Zhen on "Today", who would easily make Anna Domino take her proverbial hat off.
Tornado Wallace created an album that supersedes the requirements and expectations of a debut. Like a lost Island Records or a never released Made to Measure album, "Lonely Planet" soundtracks notions and ideas that recall the nostalgic future in the past as much as it looks ahead.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Comprising of seven expansive compositions, ‘Lonely Planet’ transports the listener to a dreamlike landscape alive with excellent birds, dense foliage and breathtaking vistas. As he glides effortlessly between future primitive visions and otherworldly ambient suites, Wallace marries lush FM synthesis with Knopfleric guitar and organic percussion, grounding us in reality while our eyes dart over the intangible. And there, nestled in the midst of all this utopian beauty is ‘Today’, the greatest 80s pop record that never was. Boasting a blithely shrugged vocal from No Zu’s Sui Zhen, the track sounds like a springtime meeting between Talk Talk and Gina X at a far flung resort. Yet despite its abundance of detached cool, this cinematic gem lends the LP a human touch, allowing the listener to find their place in the natural rhapsody. Clear your schedule, close your eyes and take the trip of a lifetime.

TRACK LISTING

1. Lonely Planet
2. Trance Encounters
3. Today Ft. Sui Zhen
4. Warp Odyssey
5. Voices
6. Kingdom Animalia
7. Healing Feeling