Cobblestone Jazz - The Live EP

This is a kick-ass and a must-have record for every appreciator of electronic dance music. Of course it's different from "The Fifth Element" which was a beautiful deep house affair, but Mathew Jonson wouldn't be Mathew Jonson if he would stick to the same drawer of music with every release. "Carl's Cream Cone" is an epic journey through many of the styles and genres of underground dance music of the last twenty years, amazingly arranged and mixed up. You can hear some dramatic and scary strings alongside classic electro beats with a "straight to your stomach and hips" kind of bassline reminiscent of Dynamix II and the likes. Suddenly the track transforms into a +8, Probe (almost Gabber) sounding techno affair with 1/16 hi-hats and brutal claps, just to end up in a smooth chord-laden deep house chapter reminding the first Cobblestone Jazz 12". A true masterpiece if there is one. The flip is a tad bit boring downtempo tune, still with a nice atmosphere. Stoners and chillers will certainly dig this.

I'm extremely underwhelmed with this 12". After the absolute classic Cobblestone Jazz 12" with "5th Element" on it, this just can't live up to that cut's anthemic status. "Carl's Cream Cone" is the uptempo number with a weird groove that never really seems to hit its stride. "Gumbordinary" is a generally bland and boring downtempo cut that kinda meanders and does little to nothing. I know these guys are capable of better material than this. I'm beginning to question the judgement of the people at the label, most of their other 12"s have at least one really stellar cut. These tracks really have no business being released on 12", maybe they'd be tolerable as filler cuts on an LP (though if I was in charge of quality control, they'd stay on the cutting room floor) but certainly neither is worthy of being the follow-up to "5th Element".