Nev Cottee Oslo

Aficionado reach their sixth release in luxurious style with a couple of gorgeous numbers cherry picked from Mancunian songwriter Nev Cottee's forthcoming LP, accompanied by two winning remixes. Within the Nilsson-esque melodies of "Oslo", Cottee has buried a lifetime of emotion, balancing melancholy and joy perfectly. His words conjure the image of lost love remembered and fleeting nostalgia as those heartbreaking strings soar along. This is perfect Balearic for the winter seasons. Mancunian tape enthusiast Ruf Dug has been turning heads all over the world in the past few months with his own unique strain of 80s soul, dub and yacht boogie. His remix flies first class from Oslo to the Tropics, adding a lilting rhythm and a heavy Roland snare to create a digital dub supreme. As the track blossoms, the tape delay is so warm you can almost smell what Ruffy's been smoking and it has much the same effect. On the flip, "The Sun Also Rises" is a lush instrumental interlude from Cottee, channeling Byrdsian jangle, music box melody and swooning strings laced with the woozy psychedelia that producers Mason Neely & Carwyn Ellis (Colorama) have made their own. Cottee's delicate guitar sits perfectly within the more esoteric instrumentation, packing a real emotional punch. Miles Copeland of The Superimposers dons his Wonderful Sound moniker to close out the EP with a gorgeous coastal rework of "The Sun Also Rises" that's as fresh as sea air. Miles adds a backbeat groove and his trademark sea organ to remould Nev's instrumental as a Balearic sea shanty that's as English as fish and chips. Warm, unusual, and with just a touch of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra about it, this is a Nado classic in the making.