Various

Nude, the chilled Montreal label that brought us Jaffa (and is sister to drum & bass big brother Dune Recordings), brings us the first in what is to be a series of down-tempo collections. This inaugural compilation keeps it Canadian, gathering together 12 tracks from three different Vancouver-based producers. First up to the plate is the heavily featured E.D. Swankz, aka producer Ian Duke. Swankz clearly has sex on the brain (and the sampler), as he brings us the dreamy, bass-heavy "Daytime Dramamime" and the blissed-out Thievery Corporation-like "Into the Sake." The latter is also featured in a sadly mediocre, mid-tempo remix, courtesy of the UK's Hidden Agenda. Don Verbrilli, Swankz's label-mate at Vancouver's Upstairs Recordings, is featured here under his guises of both the Verbrilli Sound and Telefuzz. As Telefuzz, he gives us the very chilled space-funk of "Slow Lotion Tokin'" and the sweet, smooth, jazz-ified grooves of "Sideshot Jazzwalk." But the highlight of Sundays is Gavin Froome's "Closer to Leaving," a chilled beauty from his 1999 Mobile Villager album. Montreal keyboardist and producer Jaffa takes this one to new heights, thickening the beats, adding keys and handily striking the balance of putting on his own stamp while staying true to the jazzy guitar-laden vibe of the original. Sweet. Ultimately, however, Sundays Vol. 01 proves to be a little underwhelming, with too many tracks telling the same story: treading water rather than maturing into the songs they need to be in order to stand out in the sea of similarly-themed compilations.