★★★★★
8
SPIN Essentials
Release Date: November 19, 2013Label: !K7
As nightclubs go, Barcelona's Loft isn't an enormous venue, but with room for perhaps 800 people on the floor, it's big enough that the boxy concrete expanse feels positively cavernous when empty. That presents a challenge for DJs taking the warm-up slot there -- particularly since Spanish clubs open at midnight but don't begin filling up until 2 a.m...
- www.spin.com
2013-11-19
★★★★★
Given his wide range of interests, the eclecticism of John Talabot's volume in !K7's DJ-Kicks series is unsurprising. His slight stylistic switch-ups and easy transitions give the 27-track program a restlessly steady quality. Rather than make a strictly up-to-date set, the Barcelona-based producer and DJ opted to insert some older and unexpected selections, such as a 1992 one-off from Nelson "Paradise" Roman, which (perhaps with a wink) trails Motor City Drum Ensemble's "Escape to Nowhere" -- a...
- www.allmusic.com
2013-11-30
★★★★★
Everyone who's done a DJ-Kicks mix has had their own approach to the series, whether it's the brain-fried krautrock of James Holden or the slippery, on-the-nod jams of Wolf & Lamb vs. Soul Clap. For his edition, Barcelona's John Talabot presents a kind of audio travelogue, one that took shape during his travels. It tends to function, if not far from the floor, at least at its periphery...
- www.residentadvisor.net
2013-11-16
★★★★★
It's not easy to establish a distinctive voice in the realm of house music, but since John Talabot's arrived on the scene, he's done just that. The Barcelona producer's spent the last four years crafting and refining his own prismatic take on the dance sub-genre, fusing psychedelic sprawl with a sense of pop-like pacing in a way that has established his position as a crossover artist in an area of music that is typically a niche concern...
- pitchfork.com
2013-11-15
★★★★★
The appearance of a mix CD can sometimes feel like a victory lap; after all, they often happen once a particular artist has proven their worth to the current musical community and is therefore declared "deserving" of a chance to show off their sonic personality in the form of a 70-minute mix--sprinkled with some unreleased tunes, of course...
- www.xlr8r.com
2013-11-12
★★★★★
John Talabot. PICK OF THE WEEK John Talabot Without You (!K7) Reading this on mobile? Click here to view This is what I like to call "steak bake house". Why the meaty moniker, you ask? Well, it's because Talabot's lushly constructed belters take the same amount of time to emerge from a sea of feedback and haze as it takes me to finish off one of Greggs's steaky beauties (1min 26sec exactly)...
- www.theguardian.com
2013-11-04
★★★★★
Barcelona-based beat jockey John Talabot made waves back in 2010 with disco-inspired summer jam "Sunshine" and quickly followed up its success with mid-tempo cavernous club excursion . However, while his recent musical forays showcased his interest in saturated synth-pop and tropical rhythms, on !K7's newest compilation, Talabot explores how deep his deep house can go, tracing his musical lineage from the early days of Spanish techno to his current dance floor domination...
- exclaim.ca
2013-10-26
★★★★★
In this era of mass communication and social networking, where the millions jostle for attention spewing forth photos, videos, ideas and identities, the appeal of an artist who does the opposite has never been greater. While not quite up there in the mystery stakes with Burial or Zomby, John Talabot's express desire to be represented by his music, rather than his face or his clothes, is refreshing...
- drownedinsound.com
2012-04-19
★★★★★
Summary: Unashamedly, and almost unassumingly, amazing - a breathless wonder It's somewhat amusing and even a little ironic that John Talabot's much-heralded debut LP should begin in the fashion that it does: the sounds of a jungle teeming with life in the midst of full spectacle, animals (including a chorus of croaking frogs that reappear as a kind of reinforced selling point later in the opening track) desperately trying to rid themselves of the pervasive heat...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2012-04-12