Chris Coco’s weekly radio broadcast. An eclectic selection of brilliant new music starting with house and moving on to electronica, downtempo, acoustic and all sorts of other styles loosely connected to dance and electronic music. Let tastemaker Chris Coco guide you through his selection of the week’s best new music. This episode is a soundtrack for long-awaited summer, a burst of brightness after days of dull grey, it’s a little abstract, and rather moody. It’s sort of lost in space, it’s a bit like a dream. sort of. [setlist] 1 Airbird – Deep Dreams, Ltd. – Software 2 Ultraista – Small Talk (Four Tet Remix) – Digital File 3 Lali Puna – Move On (Baths Remix) – Morr Music THAT FUZZY FEELING (TUNE OF THE WEEK) 4 Peaking Lights – Cosmic Tides – Weird World 5 Free School – Spring Brings New Technology – Tirk 6 Gacha – Bowl – Apollo 7 Bobby Womack – Nothin’ Can Save Ya (feat Fatoumata Diawara) – XL 8 Ursprung (Pantha Du Prince & Stephan Abry) – Lizzy – Dial STRINGS, WOOD AND A BOX OF AIR 9 James McArthur – Roll Another – Melodica Recordings 10 King – Hey – Rough Trade 11 Alexandre Desplat – The Heroic Weather – Conditions of the Universe, Part 1 – A Veiled Mist – Abkco 12 Francois Hardy – Le Temps De L’amour – ABKco 13 Carlos Lamartine – N’gongo J’Ami (Batida Remix) – Soundways 14 The Voodoo Trombone Quartet – Hello! Who Are You? – Braces Tower Recordings 15 Led Zeppelin – All Of My Love (Slow Hands Re-Do) – Digital File

I have in my possession two test pressings of Chris Coco – Freedom Street, the new album, the one that seems to have taken forever to finish. Gingerly I dust off the turntable, set it spinning at exactly thirty three and a third revolutions per minute, and carefully lower the arm onto the virgin vinyl. There’s a little crackle and a pop, then track one side one, Word, explodes out of the speakers. I am convinced that the bass is smoother and rounder than the digital version. It sounds beautifully punchy and again I am happy.

The new summer mix from Chris Coco coming soon on Energy / Cool D:Vision Italia.

The new Chris Coco album – Freedom Street. Freedom Street is Chris Coco’s debut album on his new label, Melodica Recordings. It follows 2009’s Feel Free Live Good which came out on Big Chill Records. Freedom Street is a real place in south London. Freedom Street is an imaginary state of grace in the city, a feeling of belonging, a sense of letting go on a spectacularly hot summer’s day. It’s about living in London now, it’s coloured by the music of the past. It’s about feeling good, in a kind of melancholy way. It’s about being laid back, but ready for action. It’s about new ways of seeing old things, about a sense of wonder for familiar surroundings. It kicks off with ‘Word,’a track inspired by early Factory Records dance acts like Quando Quango, featuring scottish singer Andrew Docherty. Andrew took the backing track and came back with a fully formed song, complete with horn section and distortion. Letter From Erika’ follows, featuring vocalist Dan Rowe. Here’s what Chris had to say about it: ‘This is a letter in the form of a song from a friend of ours who lives in Berlin. It’s about freedom and love and fighting for a better future. The names have been changed, Erika is actually the brand of typewriter she used to write the letter. You can hear the sound of it in the finished mix.’ Next up we have Melodica’s debut release, ‘Holiday.’ The track features Scottish folk artist Samantha Whates doing her best to sound like the ghost of Astrud Gilberto and the clinking of ice in glasses of a rather lovely Italian rose for inspiration and general good vibes. ‘Down To The Sea’ is an attempt to capture the Balearic spirit, dubwise, complete with vocals from the wonderful Dayeene sisters from Sweden. This is one to play at Cafe Del Mar while having a momentary existential crisis. ‘St James Grove’ is up next, featuring Mike Bone on the Trombone. St James Grove is the street down the road from Chris, it’s an ordinary street but in summer, when the roses in the front yards are in bloom and the sun shines at a certain angle on the brickwork, it’s kind of beautiful. Track six on the album, ‘My Desire’ ‘started off a bit gothic but ended up sounding like the soundtrack for an American cop show,’ says Chris. It features Lisa Lindley-Jones on vocals. You might know her from her work with her band Dark Horses and her appearances with Unkle. ‘Elton Dub’ captures a one off lounge piano performance by the maestro Sacha Puttnam. The original jam was recorded at Sacha’s country studio hideaway in the depths of County Cork in Ireland. ‘End Of The World’ is a happy sad song, the music is kind of sweet but the words are a little dark. It was originally inspired by sunny holidays, then Chris and vocalist Jim Sturgess both read The Road and something a little cloudy happened. Next up, and to finish the vinyl release, we arrive at ‘Love You So.’ The title is self explanatory really, it’s a floating love song without many words. The original idea came from playing around with a Yamaha Tenorion with singer Dexter. “‘A fine album. That’s a great listen all the way from top to bottom. Well done Mr Coco!’” Ashley Beedle, Out Here Audio / Modern A “‘always a treat to hear a new lp from Chris, looking forward to settling down by the pool with this on the speakers, and dropping a few tracks at my sunset gigs and radio shows . Sweet !’” Andy Wilson, Ibiza Sonica “‘Super NICEEE!!’” Mart Hartmann, Planet Radio “‘Got alreday some samples of thsi beautifula lbum, some really nice vocals tracks here, Chris confirms he is one of the Masters in terms of relax sounds & chilled grooves. Respect !!’” Bruno From Ibiza, Blue Marlin / Cafe Del Mar