Audiopile Review: WRWTFWW lives up to their acronym and reissue a cassette that was initially released in a near-unobtainable run of 25 copies, created by the artist, musician and head of the Astral Soda imprint known as Kikifruit, though going by his Albinos moniker here. A little dive into previous releases on Astral Soda should you give an idea of Kikifruit’s headspace and his overall motif. The cassettes tend to be mixes that range from ’70s reggae, ’80s & ’90s pop music from the Mediterranean, balearic oddities, rare zouk and obscure disco, most of the tracks originating from his home country of France. Absorbing decades of these humid vibes, Albinos creates a melting pot of loose grooves infused with a whiff of tropical essence, managing to touch on house, jazz, pop and downtempo, his sweaty imprint seeping through the languid atmosphere. Hypnotic hand percussion or hazy house rhythms pump underneath distant sax, clipped vocal samples and drifting synth melodies, recalling the early sounds of lo-fi house exemplified by the playful hedonism of those first Mood Hut mixtapes or the jazz-inflected end of the early releases on Distant Hawaii. Summer may be winding down, but the warmth of the Mediterranean will forever live in these grooves. Edition of 500.

Summer has arrived (almost) and with it comes the sun-soaked release of Albinos’ Bamboo Night LP, previously only available on cassette.

French illustrator, producer and owner of Astral Soda Records Albinos’ second full-length, follow-up to his self released 2016 album Santa Barbara.

Bamboo Night was initially limited to 25 cassettes, before we got one, juiced out the best of it, added some ice, a slice of orange and a splash of rum, and put it on wax.

Ambient House, Deep House, Chill Out, Cool Jazz, Downtempo, Bedroom Tapes