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CD
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HRKL 003CD
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Recording artists and husband and wife team Jimi Tenor & Nicole Willis, release the follow-up album in their project Cola & Jimmu, after the debut Enigmatic (HRKL 001CD/LP). The album features their production skills as well as their skillful compositions. With instrumentation by Tenor and beats procured from the vintage gear of Jori Hulkkonen in his Turku studio, the album has a warm feeling and yet is sufficiently exciting for the electronic house heads. There are plenty of string pads, flutes and flute pads, etc., to prick up your ears. Cola & Jimmu once again capture a genuine, old school sound. "Earthly Delights" is a track with a perfect balance of hypnotic acid riffs and jazz elements, while "Immortal Champion" draws from a fascination with Greek & Roman mythology, applied to funky jazz/house, made all the funkier by the percussion of Daniel Oberto from the Machete Horns based in Berlin. "You Keep Me Working" features loads of tension in the harpsichord progression, and there are plenty of jazzy saxes and flutes from Tenor. "Fantabulous" is a sultry nod to Miss Janet Jackson with lots of electronic sounds, jazz inflections and rolling, natural snares. "Open Up Your Chakra" features vocals by the Lehto daughters, and "Meet You at the Crossroads" is akin to Robert Johnson meeting nervous house with swinging percussion and tenor horns. On "No More Wars" acid filters mix with sampled acoustic piano licks as well as congas by Daniel Oberto. "I Give to You" is acid and industrial meeting up with acoustic pianos, cinderblock sounds and filtered percussion.
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HRKL 003LP
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LP version. Recording artists and husband and wife team Jimi Tenor & Nicole Willis, release the follow-up album in their project Cola & Jimmu, after the debut Enigmatic (HRKL 001CD/LP). The album features their production skills as well as their skillful compositions. With instrumentation by Tenor and beats procured from the vintage gear of Jori Hulkkonen in his Turku studio, the album has a warm feeling and yet is sufficiently exciting for the electronic house heads. There are plenty of string pads, flutes and flute pads, etc., to prick up your ears. Cola & Jimmu once again capture a genuine, old school sound. "Earthly Delights" is a track with a perfect balance of hypnotic acid riffs and jazz elements, while "Immortal Champion" draws from a fascination with Greek & Roman mythology, applied to funky jazz/house, made all the funkier by the percussion of Daniel Oberto from the Machete Horns based in Berlin. "You Keep Me Working" features loads of tension in the harpsichord progression, and there are plenty of jazzy saxes and flutes from Tenor. "Fantabulous" is a sultry nod to Miss Janet Jackson with lots of electronic sounds, jazz inflections and rolling, natural snares. "Open Up Your Chakra" features vocals by the Lehto daughters, and "Meet You at the Crossroads" is akin to Robert Johnson meeting nervous house with swinging percussion and tenor horns. On "No More Wars" acid filters mix with sampled acoustic piano licks as well as congas by Daniel Oberto. "I Give to You" is acid and industrial meeting up with acoustic pianos, cinderblock sounds and filtered percussion.
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HRKL 001CD
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Cola & Jimmu (recording artists Jimi Tenor and Nicole Willis, present Enigmatic, on their new label, Herakles Records. Jimi Tenor and Nicole Willis are life partners as well as past collaborators. "Cola" is a kind of pseudonym of Nicole and "Jimmu" is associated with the legend of the first emperor of Japan, Jimnu Tenno. Both Tenor and Willis have fronted their own projects over the past decade, Willis most recently working with Helsinki-based group the Soul Investigators, for their albums Tortured Soul and Keep Reachin' Up, Timmion Records 2005, 2013. The title track of Keep Reachin' Up was chosen in February 2012 for POTUS, Barack Obama's re-election Spotify playlist. Tenor also contributed horn arrangements to the two albums. Tenor and Willis also wrote and recorded tracks for Tenor's "Call of the Wild," from the LP Out of Nowhere, Warp Records 2000. Tenor also collaborated with Tony Allen for a 2009 LP on Strut Records, Inspiration Information, also with Abdissa Assefa on "Itetune" in 2011, and "Soft Focus" with Lary 7 on Sähko Recordings in 2013. Willis and Tenor have roots in dancefloor music, such as Tenor's techno classic "Take Me Baby," and Willis' neo-soul New York-based project Repercussions, with "Promise Me Nothing," which peaked at #6 on the Hot Dance Music Club Play chart in Billboard Magazine, with remixes from Masters At Work and Supa DJ Dmitry. Cola & Jimmu revisit house circa 1990, calling it "deep house revival," drawing influences from Bobby Konders releases on NuGroove to Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Firecracker," with vocal styles comparable to Gwen Guthrie and CeCe Peniston. The tracks are original and include some strong instrumentation, with Tenor's saxophone, flute, and serious drum programming. Willis offers vocals and production savvy, as well as additional chords. Tracks like "369º Grind" simmer, and act as the diving board into the body of work that is Enigmatic's 10 tracks. "I've Made Up My Mind" is an instant classic with its declaration of peace of mind. And "Wild Honey," with its swelling funk chorus, will have you running through that field of wildflowers.
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HRKL 001LP
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