Travelmarx Music Picks - Spring 2022 - Slow the World Down

Composite of 25 albums covers that in the Travelmarx Spring 2022 playlist.

This list started when we heard the track "Say Word" by Mo Kolours. From that song, we started a playlist named "Slow the World Down". We were feeling like the world was moving too fast. Pandemic. War. We needed a pause to catch our breath, even if just for a moment musically. What's this playlist like?  Downtempo with contributions from French, German, and Latin American and Latin American-influenced artists.

Here's the playlist on Spotify.

Tracks 1 – 5

Mo Kolours – "Say Word" (2014). This track is from the self-titled debut release.

Clutchy Hopkins – "Sound of the Ghost" (2008) from the release "Walking Sdrawkcab".

fLako – "Gelis" (2013) from the "Natureboy" release.

Dimlite – "Can't Get Used to Those (Afterlude)" (2010). This is from the album "Prismic Tops". Dimlite (now defunct) is Dimitri Grimm. Love the swirly, boozy feel of this track.

fLako – "Mating Dance" (2012) from the "Eclosure" release. From Wikipedia " Clutchy Hopkins is purportedly a multi-instrumentalist musician based out of California. His existence has not yet been fully verified, though he is widely believed to be a pseudonym for one of several popular DJs. The true identity of the person (or people) behind the music is not publicly known."

Tracks 6 – 10

Souleance – "J'aime Marcher" (2017). Souleance is a collaboration between DJ Soulist & Fulgeance.

Féloche – "Silbo" (2013) - French singer Féloche dedicated this song to this traditional singing called Silbo from the island of La Gomera, one of Spain's Canary Islands. The song opens with they lyrics: "There's a place where people speak like birds; on the island of La Gomera, we hear the echo of el Silbo." More of on the background on this traditional singing and this song is here.

Hermanos Gutiérrez – "Cuando Llora El Cielo" (2018) from the release "El Camino de Mi Alma". Hermanos Gutiérrez is a two-piece band formed of the brothers Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez.

Jean du Voyage – "Remembering" (2016). A debut from a Fench musician that spins dreamy landscapes.

Joaquín Cornejo, Alex Serra – "Las Frutas" (2021) from the EP of the same name. Cornejo is a DJ, producer and composer born in Quito, Ecuador, now based in Manchester, UK.

Tracks 11 – 15

Moderator – "Rose" (2020) is a track by a Greek producer of cinematic beats.

FEATHERED SUN: Christopher Schwarzwälder, Nu, Raz Ohara – "Ocean Tree" (2016) from the single "Bulbo". Feathered Sun are the collaborative project of Nu, Jo.Ke, Raz Ohara, Chris Schwarzwälder, Iannis Ritter, Johannes Laumer and Acid Pauli.

Leifur James – "Salaninam" (2018) from the release "A Louder Silence". James is always in rotation at Travelmarx HQ.

Romare – "Hey Now (When I Give You All My Lovin')" (2013) from the release"Love Songs: Part One". Cut and paste at its best.

Ocelote Rojo – "Untitled 1" (2012) from the compilation Digging the Blogosphere featuring a selection of underground electronica, hip hop, jazz and future beats.

Tracks 16 – 20

Mo' Horizons – "Dance Naked Under Palmtrees" (2001) from the release "Remember Tomorrow". Mo' Horizons is a duo of DJs from Hannover, Germany: DJs Ralf Droesemeyer & Mark Foh Wetzler.

Deadbeat – "Ain't No More Flowers" (2015) from the release "Walls and Dimensions". Deadbeat is Scott Monteith, based in Montreal, who has been releasing dub laden minimal electronics since 1998.

Hugo Kant remixed by Zé Mateo – "This Old Relaxation – Remixed" (2012) from the release "Another Point of Mix I". Hugo Kant is Quentin Le Roux Trip-hop/Downtempo musician and producer from Marseille, France.

FEATHERED SUN - "How Strange" (2017) is from the EP of the same name. FEATHERED SUN are the collaborative experiment of Nu, Jo.Ke, Raz Ohara, Chris Schwarzwälder, Iannis Ritter, Johannes Laumer and Acid Pauli.

Noir Désir – "Le vent nous portera" (2001) from the release "Des Visages Des Figures". Noir Désir ("Black Desire") was a French rock band from Bordeaux. They were active during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, and have had two albums certified double platinum in France and three certified gold. T

Tracks 21 – 25

Mop Mop – "Adhara" (2016) from the release "Lunar Love". Andrea Benini (born March 14, 1977), better known by his stage name Mop Mop, is an Italian musician and producer. He performs with his band, the Mop Mop Combo, as well as a DJ worldwide.

Acid Pauli – "Euology to Eunice" (2012) from the release "Mst". Console (also known as Acid Pauli) is an electronic music project founded by Martin Gretschmann, the former lead programmer for the German band The Notwist.

Bertrand Belin – "Douves" (2015) from "Cap Waller" release. Bertrand Belin is a French singer, composer, lyricist and session guitarist.

El Búho – "Chucum" (2017) from the "Balance". Robin Perkins aka El Búho was born in the rolling hills of northern England but found his musical home in the forests, rivers & mountains of Latin America.

Martin Léon – "Va savoir pourquoi" (2010) from the release "Les Atomes". Martin Léon is a French-Canadian singer, music composer, arranger and producer.