The 50th Release for Lemongrass Music!

Review of Lemongrass and Various Artists, The Remix Sessions
by Jeff Stallings

A few months ago I was hanging out at a favorite San Francisco coffee shop, fiddling around with my new smart phone, when I got the perfect chance to use Shazam, the mobile music identification service I'd heard so much about (but frankly had not yet seen work correctly.)  A perfect accompaniment to some wicked coffee, the most beautiful, sultry song was playing.  I held my phone to the speaker, clicked the 'Tag Now' button, and found out I was listening to the original version of JetTricks' “Lose You”, which about an hour later I discovered is a difficult song  to track down.

I let it go at that until a few days ago when I got a promo copy of the new compilation, “Lemongrass and Various Artists:  The Remix Sessions” and discovered a stunning remix of my coffee shop track:   The Lemongrass Deep House Remix of that very JetTricks track, “Lose You” (featuring Adefunke and Faye Houston.)  Stunning!

Lemongrass, a musical group (and now record label), is comprised of brothers Roland and Daniel Voss, who live and work in the northern German countryside.  I have been a fan of their music since the 1990s and have listened with joy each time another one of their tracks made it to a chillout compilation—which happens a great deal.  Now, they are focusing on signing new groups to the Lemongrass record label and, it seems, remixing songs from those artists.  Ergo, The Remix Sessions.

Besides the JetTricks remix, there are a number of other gems on this release.  The compilation opens with the Lemongrass Full Moon remix of Japanese singer WAWA's “Taste of Fear”, a lovely, melodic English-language track.  Another Asian artist joins WAWA on the lineup:  Nana Wang singing the haunting “Lost in Eden”, in her native tongue, over a blend of acoustic and electronic instruments.   Among the instrumental tracks, the Lemongrass Wet Dreams remix of Five Seasons' “Love Apple” is a stand out, as is their mix of Luke Hampton's “Jazz Music”, a 90 BPM blend of funky horns and sampled voices.

Here at Below Zero, we're always thrilled to get our hands on a new Lemongrass artist or compilation, and “The Remix Sessions” is no exception.  We're all planning to stay tuned as the label expands and adds artists to the line up.