Karizma - Coast2Coast

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  • With past mixes from the likes of Ron Trent, Quentin Harris and Kerri Chandler, the 'Coast 2 Coast' series flies the flag for what NRK considers “real house music”, i.e. light, uplifting, positive music with lots of organic, warm sounds and plenty of sing-songy vocals. At the controls for this instalment is Baltimore’s Karizma, who has forged a career with partner Spen collaborating on tracks by the likes of Mary J Blige, Kim English, and Kenny Bobien, while doing remix duties for Everything But The Girl, Lenny Kravitz, Roy Ayers, and Bob Sinclair to name a few. He also has a healthy number of production credits in his own right, with no less than four finding their way here. The first half of the mix is a vocal onslaught. Although house lyrics can be cheesy at times (“Doctor, can you write the world a prescription for change”), the groove’s are infectious and stick in one’s head, with Raw Artistic Soul ft Ursala Rucker’s ‘The Light’ as well as Wahoo’s ‘Shine’ standing out above the rest here in this capacity. With the warm-up tracks out of the way, the amazing ‘Son of Raw,’ complete with killer piano licks, makes a welcome appearance, shifting the tone of the mix from lighter sounds to a deeper intensity. The transition to 'Hardcore Hiphouse' unfortunately doesn’t quite work for me, as at one point the bass simply drops away and any sense of anticipation is deflated. Karizma quickly makes things right though with the introduction of his own ‘It’s What I Am,’ a proper party stomper which should work any crowd into a lather. The pace keeps up nicely from here, with the feel good, carnivalesque Pasta Boys Mix of 'Joga Bola' being a highlight. Karizma’s track selection is varied in tone and intensity with a good mix of soulful American house numbers interposed with more edgier techier European influences. The sequencing is tight and the mix builds, blows up and comes down nicely, with Karizma’s own ‘Tha D’ a perfect set closer. Unfortunately he tacks on two more un-mixed slow jams at the end which don’t fit with the rest of the album, and can only really be thought of as bonus tracks. Another small quibble is Karizma’s penchant for over using the filters/delays on his mixer, a trick which sounds a bit amateurish when done too much. These two points aside, this is all around a solid mix, with Karizma’s own productions easily holding their own. While it won’t win over any technophiles, if you’re looking for a mix of “real house,” 'Coast 2 Coast' will do the trick.
  • Tracklist
      Disc 1 Mixed By Karizma 1. Sandboy & Nanar - Night Song (Yoruba Soul Mix) 2. 1Luv - Daylight (Slope Remix) 3. Karizma - In The D.ee.p 4. Shuya Okino Ft. Courtney Dennie - A Million Tears 5. Raw Artistic Soul Ft. Ursula Rucker - The Light (Karizma Remix) 6. Manuel Tur - Acorado 7. Wahoo - Shine (Yoruba Soul Mix) 8. Dennis Ferrer - Son Of Raw 9. Tyree - Hardcore Hiphouse 10. Karizma - It’s What I Am (Simbad Remix) 11. 3rd Face - Joga Bola (Pasta Boys Mix) 12. Karizma - Tha D 13. Shuya Okin Ft. Vikter Duplaix - What Would I Do Without You 14. Karizma - Sad Isn’t It Disc 2 Unmixed 1. Manuel Tur - Acorado 2. Dennis Ferrer - Son Of Raw 3. 3rd Face - Joga Bola (Pasta Boys Mix) 4. Sandboy & Nanar - Night Song (Yoruba Soul Mix) 5. Karizma - Tha D 6. A Million Tears - Shuya Okino Ft. Courtney Dennie 7. 1Luv - Daylight (Slope Remix) 8. Tyree - Hardcore Hiphouse 9. Karizma - In The D.ee.p 10. Raw Artistic Soul Ft. Ursula Rucker - The Light (Karizma Remix)
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