Boxsaga – Positive Sweat

I’ve played this at 33rpm, plus a little notch up, since I first got hold of it and it sounds absolutely wicked! Really heavy mellow vibes at this slower pace and I can’t now listen to it any other way. Try it. You might like it.

Atata is so good. For what was out in 2000 this is way ahead of its time.
Put Robot Blues at like -3 and enjoy the voyage.

A record that proves how fun crate digging is when you find abstract releases like this. Let's start on side C for 'Robot Blues' which has a Carl Craig Detroit mood to it and that's definitely a good thing. The tempo does go a bit into trance but because of the original shuffle in the beat and solid rhythms it still keeps the good feeling going. Title track 'Positive Sweat' brings it down a notch with a drummed out dub house track that is the weakest of the 4 tracks on here but it can serve as a nice in between track in a house or jazz set because there is some solid drum work to be mixed and is complimented by the 45 rpm on each side that gives each track a decent club sonic quality even if the production could have been better but still it's good considering it's from 2000 and from a virtually unknown label and electronic act. 'Atata' is the gem on here that I always go back to. The melody reminds me of Eternal E 'Mind Odyssey' on Warp records from 1992. Very spacey track but it's got a great vibe to it and it stands out but I can't exactly state the reason why. It's up's and down's are magical and there is plenty of them. Such a good track. Beautiful techno. 'Audiotok' completes this double 12" very nicely with another dubbed out jazz house vibe. Cover art is pencil drawing of some young urban kids jamming out and getting down on a dancefloor and it really goes good with the overall feel of this record as music not taken seriously but just good electronic music.

I hope Boxsaga doesn’t become one of those “whatever happened to?” cases, because based on their <I>Positive Sweat</I> EP, they had something special going. “Atata” is a deep piece of electronic house, while “Audiotok” is on a slower tip, still maintaining the funk. “Robot Blues” doesn’t quite have the blues that you might expect from the title; instead, it’s another house workout -- more like robot grooves. It’s fast enough to be worked into a trance set (but I wouldn’t recommend this, since this track would show up the decrepit state of trance). “Positive Sweat” cuts down the BPMs again, but into a martial piece of funk. Highly recommended!