Bokhari005 Reviewed

Music

The music should speak for itself is a cry we often hear, but all aficionados of vinyl also enjoy a nice piece of artwork and labels often develop a strong relationship with those responsible for the visual aesthetic of their presentation. Bokhari Records take this one stage further, providing a platform for budding designers to showcase their work, as well as printing one-offs and limited run sleeves for those with an eye for something unique and different.

Now onto their fifth release the label works with established as well as up-and-coming producers and this release matches two representatives of the Eastern European scene. Budapest-based Gnork is a fresh face whose recent vinyl-only output on Blind Jacks Journey has caught the ears of many. And do we really need to introduce you to the Ukrainian deep supremo Vakula? We hope not…

Both originals are joyful, sun worshipping good-timers. Theres a tight blend between breakbeat and deep house going on in You Are Totally, a soft lusciousness with a slight wonky edge riding atop a relaxed junglism. Ruffneck it might not be, but who wants to be ruff when youre lapping up rays or kicking the dust? A steady locomotive chugger with a nicely built arc and firm apex, arpeggiated Solar Striker uses a progression of soaring dappled synths to evoke lazy summer days while a gulping pad oscillation and rat-a-tat-tat wood-block hold the whole thing on course.

Bringing the EP to a close, Vakulas remix is a stark contrast. Ominous and non-terrestrial in flavour, its a dead of night reworking that strips Solar Striker down to the percussion, shakes it up and then throws it into a vat of metallic alien goo. One heliocentric compromise is the dubbed out echo chamber that forms part of the energy unit of the Ukrainians audio-saucer, as it careens into the solar mass.