This is Volume 1 of a Slice of Paradise and it’s a whopping 5-CD set. Superbly packaged it comes in cholesterol-free fruit flavas for five differenct DJs (one CD each).

The idea was for DJs to spend a week as resident at the Xiringuito Beach Bar in Alicante so that they can “explore all their musical tastes and influences before handing the baton to the next.” What a great idea for a project and the result is ideal for packing on the flight to the sun for your holidays. However, it’s also very good if you’re staying at home as the selectors are:

Glyn ‘Bigga Bush’ Bush — Disc 1 (Cantaloupe Melon)
Nick Matthews of Best Kept Secret — Disc 2 (Water Melon)
Gav Smith of Pantone — Disc 3 (Pineapple)
Enrique Domenech — Disc 4 (Orange)
Ben Mono of Compost — Disc 5 (Kiwi Fruit).

Each CD starts with the spoken intro to Terry Callier’s ‘A Slice Of Paradise’ and then it’s a free for all.

As such a large effort has gone into this project by so many friends of Fly, Hectic will be reviewing each CD in turn hopefully with some interviews. However, these will be in no particular order or preference and to start, randomly I’ve chosen the last one.

Ben Mono’s take on this CD is a broken beat electro funk. Somewhat at odds with the “rustic and organic” relaxed lifestyle of Alicante but thankfully none of the CDs slip into ‘chill’.

Apart from his own releases on Compost, you may know Ben from the production credits on the Wei Chi One I, Two Eyes project (one of the better tracks, ‘The Only Way’ is included here), his remix work (such as his choice of Max Berlin — ‘Elle and Moi’), one of his pseudonyms (Space Clique — ‘Continue The Journey Celestial Boogie Inst. Mix) or his appearances on the very special Broken Beat Radio (see links below).

You can get an idea of the type of sound we’re talking about from his current playlist (see below) as to be honest, most of the tracks on the CD were new to me. In addition to his own ‘In Time’, ones to watch for include Season’s ‘Juice’ (Afronaught Remix), Liquid Loop ‘Crazy Baby’, Zygo ‘Disco Sky’ and Harco Pront’s Amp Fiddler inspired, ‘Would You Try’. At one extreme there’s Amphibian’s ‘Empty’ (Marlow Mix) which is particularly Break Reform-like on the broken tip (Nathalie Elizabeth Gay on vocals) and at the other, ‘The Verbalist’ by Element Peak Squad is a Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit’ vs. ‘In da Club’ (or similar).

It’s a good mix up and if you’re in Manila, Bangkok or Australia from now until November, it looks like will be a good night out on the Ben Mono tour — see tour dates below.

Returning to a A Slice Of Paradise in general, fruitiness abounds throughout the sixty tracks (yes 60!) with some recent classics, gems and others that have slipped through the net the first time around. All good stuff and perfect fruit punch summer thirst squinting material.

Nick ‘Water Melon’ Matthews Interview coming soon!

Links:
Fusionova021 Records
Xiringuito Beach Bar www.xiringuito.net
Alicante Musica
Compost Records
Ben Mono www.ben-mono.de
Broken Beat Radio - 01.07.03: “Dropping some hot techy electro styles”
Broken Beat Radio - 20.09.04: “Ben Mono is back!”

Ben Mono Chart 22. Aug ‘05 (Compost Records)
01. LCD Soundsystem - ‘Disco Infiltrator’ (DFA)
02. Plantlife - ‘The Last Song’ (Chicken Lips Remix)’ (Counterflow)
03. Crazy B - ‘Snuten’ (Lindstrom Remix) (Hi Phen)
04. Scandal Inc - ‘That’s A Good Look’ (Coco Machete)
05. DJ Terry - ‘Radio Stachay’ (Strobe Music)
06. Jamie Lidell - ‘A Little Bit More’ (Warp)
07. Ted Rogers - ‘Secret Stealth’ (Bearfunk)
08. Bambi - ‘Me, Myself And I (Re-Edit)’ (WHO)
09. Chromeo - ‘Rage (Riton Re-Dub)’ (V2)
10. Daz-I- Kue - ‘Blak Label Blend’ (Sound In Colour)

Ben Mono On Tour
Sept. 2005
16 Manila, Philippines, The Embassy
Australia
22 Sydney, Wollongong
24 Sydney, Civic Hotel
25 Canberra, Toast
29 Hobart, Sirens
30 Brisbane tbc
October
01 Adelaide Gov. Hindmarsh
02 Sydney, Loft Bar Note: w/ Nathan McLay
05 Sydney, Beach Road, Bondi
06 Melbourne, Spraci
07 Perth, Inglewood Hotel
08 Brisbane, The Zoo
09 Sydney, Opera House
10 Melbourne, Honky Tonks
November
05 Bangkok, Thailand, Bedsupperclub