Heaviest of Rotations

Currently listening, and re-listening, and then one mo' again

Boogie Belgique - Time for a Boogie

Boogie Belgique, conceived in 2012 by Oswald Cromheecke (GREAT name), speaks to and for the transformative power of musical synthesis. By the time their debut, Time For A Boogie, dropped in 2013 under the Cold Busted label, the Belgian outfit had already built an impressive following among the European trip-hop and electro-swing crowds. I know that doesn’t read quite as cool as it felt in my head. Boogie Belgique is a bridge between epochs, weaving the old-world charm of swing jazz with the propulsive rhythms of contemporary beats.

Time For A Boogie emerged as a statement of intent, an assertion that the past and the future are not mutually exclusive but rather intertwined in a complex dance. The music here is a collision of histories, where nostalgic swing jazz samples meet the immediacy of live instrumentation and the heavy, resounding impact of phat beats. It's a dialogue between eras.

Portland’s Cold Busted Records has remastered and reissued this gem, presenting it anew on vinyl and cassette. The album opener, Love In Your Eyes, with its punchy, uptempo breakbeat swing, feels like an invocation, a call to arms for new listeners. Broken Mountain takes us on a worldly trip-hop journey. Swing Thing merges the familiar with the novel, blending cut-up jazz with a hip-hop sensibility, while the title track's groove is infectious, a fun reminder that some rhythms are timeless.

The album is an exploration of the past reimagined for the present and future - when history is not merely remembered but revitalized. In its dozen tracks lies a manifesto, a vision of a world where dance floors are time machines and music is the connective tissue of our shared human experience.