Stars on 33 Vol 2 mixed by Ralph Lawson

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  • For 2020 read 33 with Ralph Lawson’s first ‘non house’ mix, steering towards the slow breaks end of the market. Laid back hip hop beats and chill out grooves are the order of the day, with no little soul and a dash of humour. From the outset Lawson is at ease with his material, opening strongly with Larry Young’s Fuel and the steamy ‘Turn Off The Lights’. Moving through some cool keyboard sounds courtesy of Sun Palace, Mr Scruff (‘Shrimp’) and the excellent Marshmallows, we come to the exotic, string laden ‘Sun Is Back’ from Julien Jabre. Pressing on, Lawson loses momentum a bit as the sound goes more acid jazz with some minimal funk from Voom and Flytronic. By the time he reaches Tiefschwarz’ ‘Acid Soul’ parity has been restored, ready for some quality electro to close from Swag, ‘2+2=5’ summing up the album’s mood nicely. If you bought Aim’s contribution to this promising series, you’ll find Ralph Lawson’s mix a good companion piece, and an advocate for flexible artistry in dance music. Now where’s that Prodigy lounge album?
RA