Onra

Repressed for 2023, PT 2 of Onra's classic Chinoiseries series, which had him going off digging all over China and Vietnam on a quest for loops.. 'Same Same but Different', the familiar phrase heard throughout south east Asia, a perfect description to characterize Onra’s latest project, a follow up to his 2007 LP - Chinoiseries. So almost five years later, here we go back on the trail of another Asian beat journey with 32 Hip-Hop instrumentals inspired by Chinese and Vietnamese music. A lot has happened in between: The Big Payback with Byron the Aquarius, a beats LP “1.0.8” plus 2010’s acclaimed boogie tinged hip hop LP “Long Distance” while along the way he’s revisited South East Asia on a few occasions adding to his Asian record stack on each occasion. The exotic, mysterious pop and folk Chinese records of the 60s and 70s with their epic operatic and orchestral feel and sealed from the Western counter culture rumblings of the time, not to mention alive with vintage vinyl hiss and crackle, may not seem the easiest source material to work with but after hermetically sealing himself in his Parisian beat cave Onra has come with a more than worthy return for all the time and money spent in the vinyl basements and backrooms of the Far East. There's ample variation but a coherent whole, from the more electronic feel of "A New Dynasty" and "All Night", to the soundtrack vibe of "Mai's Theme" and "Fight Or Die" and the straight beat sound of "No Matter What" and "Remember The Name" and he's even found some breaks! Inspired by the idea of the LP as a sequence of film scenes this intense burst of beats and distinct vibes form an accomplished rounded full length.

On “Nobody Has To Know”, his fifth album for All City Records, the versatile French producer created music that reflects on the various aspects of a secret relationship pulling from R&B,New Jack Swing and Funk.Stylistically “Nobody Has To Know” picks up from the Future Funk style Onra originated on his 2010's “Long Distance” (and its 2012 companion EP “Deep In The Night” for Fool's Gold). Where those two releases mined the early and mid parts of the 1980s for ideas and references, the new album digs into late '80s and early '90s jams for smoother and richer sounds. Bolstering the record are two talented multi-instrumentalists, New Zealand's Lewis McCallum and Belgium's Pomrad, who bring touches of virtuosity to Onra's trademark smooth arrangements. The result is a record that, like its theme, oscillates between tender, torrid and tumultuous.