Majestic Casual delves deeper than before, unearthing future classics from your favourite producers of today and tomorrow with Majestic Casual: Chapter 2

Majestic Casual: Chapter 2 [Review]

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/mc2itunes?IQid=lu

Amazon (2CD): http://smarturl.it/mc2amazon?IQid=lu

Visit Majestic Casual here: http://bit.ly/1nDChzv

The Majestic Casual YouTube channel is something of an internet success story, coming from an age where radio shows and DJs are slowly being phased out as tastemakers and providers of undiscovered artists, instead, code and algorithms have seemingly stepped into the role through prompts and suggestions of artists similar to those we’ve taken a liking to. But even with such advancements in how we currently discover music, none of these have quite managed to package it into a singular experience with the keen eye of an art gallery curator quite like Majestic Casual. They’ve amassed a following well into the millions with their channel serving as a celebration of pop-leaning electronic music, tasteful photography, typography and warm colour palettes. This success has culminated in the channel releasing their first ever compilation album a year ago, normally a feat only achieved by connected industry insiders and record labels. On the back of that achievement, they’ve now released their second instalment with an impressive tracklisting boasting everything from synth-pop darlings CHVRCHES and Empire of The Sun, summery house takes on AlunaGeorge and Banks and even the self aware geek-rap of Childish Gambino.

The laid back, instagram-filtered feel is relatively consistent over the 2 discs with the first taking off immediately into the warm pop-meets-house territory that you’d expect in a world where Disclosure have become a household name before dipping into slower indie hues with Panama and South Africa’s own Clubfeet (Apologies to the other Australian band members) touching on more melancholic, coastal undertones. The first disc then swing briefly into more R&B tinted gems like frequent SBTRKT collaborator, Sampha’s acoustic take on his hit with Drake, ‘Too Much’ before bowing out with another ballad by talented songwriter AOSOON’s ‘Under’ hitting on a feel reminiscent of Daughter’s ‘Youth.’

It’s similar fare on the second disc, hitting off with Tourist’s captivating remix of CHVRCHES’ ‘Liar.’ That absolute summer staple ‘Giving It All’ by Bondax features as well along with Sam Smith and Nile Rodgers being brought together by Disclosure on ‘Together’ a song so inherently sensual you’d be left having to change your bed sheets. Before you can recover though, Full Crate’s ‘Man x Woman’ delivers the knockout blow with its soulful crooning and a breakdown that could bring anyone to their knees. Much of the rest of the disc remains impressively consistent, managing to keep the listener engaged throughout despite worries that the novelty would wear off by this stage of the second disc. Towards the tail end it touches briefly on Childish Gambino at his most vulnerable on ‘Flight of The Navigator’ and the rather deliberate ‘The Last Song’ by Misch & Carmody placed as the compilation closer.

Overall, Majestic Chapter 2 manages to effectively capture a very specific aesthetic and emotion perhaps best suited for winding down the summer months. Much like its predecessor, despite initially seeming like a Tumblr-savvy hipster’s wet dream, it remains one of the few compilations I could recommend to anyone, young or old.

Tracklist: 

CD1

1 AlunaGeorge - You Know You Like It (Wilfred Giroux Remix)

2 Empire Of The Sun - Alive (Gold Fields Remix)

3 Cyril Hahn feat. Shy Girls - Perfect Form            

4 Shy Girls - When I Say I Love U (Saux Remix)

5 Crystal Bats - Falling In Love (Louis La Roche Remix)

6 Banks - Warm Water (Snakehips Remix)

7 Toro Y Moi - Rose Quartz          

8 Darius - Hot Hands      

9 SALES - Renee               

10 Panama - Always (Classixx Remix)

11 Clubfeet - Cape Town (Panama Remix)

12 Jabberwocky - Photomaton (Kartell Remix)

13 Portland - Deezy Daisy (Oxford Remix)

14 Paradis - La Ballade de Jim     

15 Roosevelt - Elliot        

16 Joe Goddard - Taking Over    

17 Seoul - Stay With Us 

18 Joe Hertz feat. Kaleem Taylor - Isolate             

19 Sampha - Too Much 

20 AOSOON - Under      

CD2

1 CHVRCHES - Lies (Tourist Remix)

2 Jungle - Drops               

3 The xx - Chained (LIAR Remix)

4 Bodhi - Imperfection  

5 Bondax - Giving It All  

6 Sam Smith, Nile Rodgers, Disclosure & Jimmy Napes - Together             

7 Full Crate x Mar - Man x Woman           

8 Flight Facilities feat. Christine Hoberg - Clair De Lune (Motez Remix)

9 Years & Years - Real    

10 Gold Panda - Reprise (T. Hemingway Remix)

11 Drew Hill - Solitude   

12 JMSN - The One (Stwo Remix)

13 Pascäal - Drowning In You      

14 Alina Baraz & Galimatias - Pretty Thoughts     

15 Favela - Easy Yoke     

16 Bored Nothing - Let Down     

17 Childish Gambino - Flight Of The Navigator    

18 Jessie Andrews feat. Comets We Fall - You Won't Forget Tonight        

19 Chela - Romanticise  

20 Tom Misch & Carmody - The Last Song

Review Done By: Eugene