s w e e t b e a t s
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artist : JosΘ Padilla
album : Navigator
year : 2001
label : Dro East West S.A.
genre : Lo-Fi
catalogue : 857388013 2
url : www.droeastwest.com
quality : CD 192k HQ True Stereo
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01.something [04:38]
02.las cazuelas 2000 remix [04:38]
03.bosaxi touched mix [06:04]
04.navigator part 1 [06:50]
05.adios ayer fresh mix [04:30]
06.karyn [05:41]
07.lontano [05:41]
08.dynamic earth gravity mix [05:31]
09.navigator part 2 [06:54]
10.strolling [04:39]
11.nina [03:42]
12.the look of love [04:22]
12 tracks | 63:10 mins | 86,9 MB
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Each summer, a new flock of dance compilations stake claim to be æthe
real IbizaÆ. But, if anyone deserves that accolade, it is JosΘ
Padilla, who first arrived on the White Island in 1975 and who has
been DJing there ever since. With the æCafΘ Del MarÆ series he is the
spiritual father of chill-out, and now, with the release of his
masterful second solo album æNavigatorÆ, Padilla is setting out his
stall as a new kind of post-dance artist.
JosΘ PadillaÆs celebrated CafΘ Del Mar compilation series introduced
eccentric English pastoral groups like Penguin CafΘ Orchestra,
maverick singer-songwriters like John Martyn, flamenco and bossa nova
into a seamless sonic canvas of more modern ambient, dub and breaks.
With his first debut album æSouvenirÆ and solo tracks like æOne Day In
ParadiseÆ and æAguaÆ he took those twilight chill-out tones a stage
further. He has gone from a poor barrio in Northern Spain, to a jet-
set DJ lifestyle; guesting in London, Leeds, Miami, Paris, Australia
and Amsterdam and serving as an ambassador for the island. This year,
he even played Rock In Rio.
Now æNavigatorÆ represents a new creative peak. And with songs like
the lazily funky æSomethingÆ; æAdios AyerÆ, his dramatic farewell to
the CafΘ Del Mar that stars vocals from Seal; and the stunning, down-
beat version of Bacharach & DavidÆs æThe Look Of LoveÆ with singer
NÆDea Davenport and an 18 piece orchestra, itÆs more than just a
chill-out album. "I like quality music. If itÆs a good bossa nova,
good jazz, good funk, itÆs good music," says JosΘ. "My roots are jazz,
soul, rock and flamenco. All these beats will come up in my music."
æNavigatorÆ gently winds its way through futuristic jazz and funk,
into gentle melodies, dreamy dub and breakbeat, washed with violins,
Spanish guitars, pianos, harmonicas. And even a flamenco dancerÆs
clacking heels and castanets are heard on the title track.
"It has to have something that I really feel, something emotional, a
message in it," says JosΘ. "When you see a painting, if itÆs a good
painting, it sends you a message. It doesnÆt have to be a Picasso. My
music is the same."
Now 45, JosΘ Padilla grew up the son of a construction worker, in a
poor Southern Spanish family who had moved to Gerona, outside
Barcelona. His grandfather played the guitar. "Southern Spanish people
are very musical, singing all the time," he says. "My older brother
Antonio was a teddy boy, he bought our first record deck, one that you
opened like a suitcase."
The teenage JosΘ and his friends used to bus it into Barcelona to go
clubbing and chase English girls. JosΘ got a job as a waiter in the
cityÆs bohemian centre, where he first fell in love with the
simplicity and sophistication of bossa nova. He also fell in love with
the idea of becoming a DJ and would hang around the DJ booth until
whoever was on the decks needed to take a leak, giving JosΘ take a few
glorious, stolen minutes in charge. But it wasnÆt enough to stave off
a deeper dissatisfaction. "When you grow up in a barrio, a ghetto,
like I did, thereÆs nothing to do. You sit all day in the park smoking
joints, talking about your dreams," says JosΘ. His family wanted him
to be an accountant, work in an office, wear a suit. "I didnÆt want to
be what they want me to me. I was a bit of rebel. I was always a
dreamer. I knew I had to get out of that, go somewhere, so I did."
JosΘ headed for Barcelona harbour and took the first boat out. It
happened to be sailing to Ibiza. "I was escaping from many things," he
says now. "I think I was escaping from myself." Over the next 15 years
JosΘ established himself on the island, starting as a waiter, ending
up in the high-profile position he holds today. He DJed in a hotel for
tourists; in clubs like Es Paradis, Playboy 2, Privilege (then called
Ku), Pacha and Space. "The crowd was fantastic. People would dance to
anything," he says. "More communication, without so much chemicals.
More wild, more spiritual." He built a bar called Museum in Cala
Vadella, and developed his unique DJing style in its lush garden.
But when his Museum partner and friend shot himself in the bar, the
tragedy threw JosΘ off course: "Two or three years actually lost," he
admits. He got a stall in IbizaÆs famous hippie market to sell his
idiosyncratic mix tapes. In 1991, when CafΘ Del Mar realised how well
those same mix tapes were going down with their clientele, they
brought JosΘ in to DJ - and the rest, as they say, is history.
"Everything kicked off. It was the right moment, the right place, the
right music," remembers JosΘ.
At CafΘ Del Mar, JosΘ DJed not to the people sprawled out watching the
view, but to the sunset. "That came naturally. YouÆve got this big
motherfucking thing in front of you: King Ra. I paced my set around
the sunset time. It was great to experience different music and play
around the colours. If it was grey IÆd play one way, if it was very
bright IÆd play happy. IÆd play with the mood."
Those sunset sets became legendary - an essential part of the Ibiza
experience, climaxing in warm applause as the sun finally disappearing
beneath the waves. You can hear the same æsunsetÆ vibe everywhere
today: in the plethora of æchill-outÆ compilation albums clogging up
the shelves, at a night like South LondonÆs Sunday Best; in the folksy
tones and laid- back clubs of LondonÆs ænew acousticÆ movement. "Ibiza
has always had fantastic music being played," says JosΘ. "The
environment really gives you a different sense. Your ambition is
different."
The Island runs through æNavigatorÆ. "Every track is a small story,
inspired by some experience or place or person around me." JosΘ came
up with a name and concept for the album and its beautifully
landscaped title track relaxing on a perfect white beach in
Formentera, the island paradise next to Ibiza. "I was sitting there
getting some inspiration and saw this little boat in front of me.
Really, my album is a way of navigating through emotions, through
stories. I wanted to get that feeling from Pink Floyd, Mediterranean
textures, and it came out really well." The gentle funk and trumpet
flourishes of æLa CazuelasÆ are a tribute to a small, hidden bar run
by JosΘÆs friend Pedro, a retired croupier. æKarynÆs heart- rending
ambient bursts are named after an ex-girlfriend. æBosaxiÆ has a
sensuous, writhing groove and the stifled moans of a Parisian beauty.
"ItÆs a shagging track," laughs JosΘ.
Throughout, æNavigatorÆ is an album that is rich in melody, that can
feel the sun on its face, that oozes a refreshing Mediterranean ease
with itself. "YouÆve got to have some beauty. ThatÆs Ibiza," says
JosΘ. "The good life. The happy life." Let yourself enjoy it.
May 2001
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s w e e t b e a t s
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greetings to klangwerk, mgc, sour, dh, impg & sfe
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