Jack Hamill (aka Space Dimension Controller) has landed gracefully in the electronic music world, leaving a two-year-long trail of astral funk in his wake. Creating grooves that were once described as “slow jamz for android porn” by Boomkat, SDC’s EPs on Royal Oak and R&S led to all-out cosmic seduction around the universe. Covering each release with intergalactic artwork he creates himself, his music is just as transportive and cinematic as the detailed sci-fi backstory (which he also writes himself) that comes with each one of his records. With the Belfast native’s music history lying deep in the catalogues of Tyron Brunson, Egyptian Lover, Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada, Hamill will be kick-starting his own record label, Basic Rhythm, this Autumn. Basic Rhythm’s first release comes from Italian space-funk producer AD Bourke, giving a hint of what’s to come with the imprint. Over the last handful of years, AD Bourke has started to introduce himself as a producer who blends the emotions of soul and funk in a futuristic key. Born and bred in Rome with an English father, his influences take shape every which way: soul to jazz, funk, house, electro and old 7 inches. First landing a beat-tape EP on Domu’s Treble O Records in 2008, by Winter 2010, Bourke had landed in London in more ways than one, being accepted into the Red Bull Music Academy while simultaneously releasing an EP (under the name of Mirage) on Citinite. On ‘Tidal Motion,’ Bourke’s sound is let loose with lush instrumentation and deep atmospheric grooves. Described by Bourke as being “heavily influenced by a three months voyage on the sea,” the EP is floaty and buoyant; analogue joyrides through a sea in outerspace. Basslines tiptoe on cosmicxylophones, melodies twinkle with the glow of the stars, and as he says himself: “It’s the sea, in all his expressions: stormy, calm, black, limpid.” Opener ‘En Trance’ builds an epic underwater funk odyssey, packed to the brim with otherworldly effects and sounds. ‘Aquarius Rising’ is a bouncing playground of smooth synth lines and intertwining melodies, while B-side ‘Cecaelia’ is a slow turning ebb and flow of synth swells, kept in motion by a hand-clapping beat. ‘32’ has the step and bass riffs of an old funk classic, but it winds around padded layers of harmony, teasing in vocal snippets and flutes that float between tambourines. An EP that surprises more with each listen. a1 Ad Bourke - En Trance a2 Ad Bourke - Aquarius Rising b1 Ad Bourke - Cecaelia b2 Ad Bourke - 32