Hmm, the weekly round-up of ‘stuff I didn’t quite get round to’ seems to be back… so yes, here’s a bunch more fine tuneage that’s just dropped this week.
BK Rogers – Love In The Music
A very familiar vocal gets another run-out on this offering from young Australian producer BK Rogers. Four mixes to choose from, with the original a sinuous, strutty tech-houser, the Amy DB Remix slightly brasher and tuffer, the Cìrukè Remix a touch more proggy and synthified. My pick though is the 4AM Deep Mix, a stripped-back, bass-tastic affair built for getting proper stompy in darkened rooms to. Comes on Kingdom Kome Cuts.
Hysteric Ego – Ladies & Gentlemen
Another well-known vocal here as chunks of Grace Jones’ Operattack (if you don’t know the title, you’ll know the “annihilating rhythm” bit) are placed atop deep, chunky beats and big organ stabs in what is another very fine stripped-down 4am throbber, albeit of a deeper variety than the BK Rogers one above, with an unexpected synth crescendo near the end that’s not a little reminiscent of Collapse’s rave-era classic My Love. It’s simple but devastating – annihilating, even! – and is brought to you by MVMT (or HouseMVMT, if you prefer).
Jickells – Eventually EP
Some excellent deep house grooves here from Something Different. Eventually itself is a lively little roller that’s got both tech and (very light) Afro tinges, but it’s Shinjuku I’m feeling the most. In its original form, this is a dubby, lolloping affair with fluttering synths, mournful chords and ethereal female vocal snippets, while a brace of rerubs from Justin Harris are of predictably high calibre even if they don’t flip the script that much.
Vexus T – Saviour
More proper deep house grooves now courtesy of Washington DC label Silence In Metropolis. Saviour is an unhurried throbber with tribal/jungle sounds, a strange spoken male vocal (“I don’t claim to be the creator, but I’m the saviour”) and a deep, dark, cavernous feel overall. Liam Geddes supplies a stripped, twitchy, dub-tinged refix that breaks out the acid as it nears its conclusion, while bonus cut I’m Wrong With You is a bit more abstract, Berlin-ish and soundscape-y, with whispered male vox.
Low Steppa – Basement EP
Low Steppa comes with the big, strutty bass house vibes here on his own Simma Black label. Four tracks to choose from: The Art (Being A DJ) is pounding n’ techy with an amusing female vocal sample, The Joint has overtones of both two-step and G-house, while Meatfeast operates in similar territory but foregrounds a big warping b-line. The pick for me though is Drums Rockin’, which starts out all drummy then turns into a speed garage rumblemonster with sampled Technotronic vox. What’s not to love?
The Fakies feat Bibi Provence – Let You Go
Some rather more traditionally styled house shenanigans next courtesy of City Soul Recordings. The original of Let You Go is a small hours deep/soulful house chugger par excellence, with Blackwater-ish bass, soaring diva vox and lovely lingering Rhodes notes. It comes accompanied by a Jazzloungerz Club Mix that takes us into smoother, funkier soulful house territory, and that’s also eminently playable. Horses, courses, etc…
Zepherin Saint feat Ann Nesby & 3G – Optimistic
We end on an uplifting note as Ann Nesby revisits a song she herself made famous in her Sounds Of Blackness days, this time in the company of Tribe Records boss Zepherin Saint to mark the label’s 100th release. It’s a little more upbeat than the original, and nearly 25 years on the production’s a tad smoother; otherwise, though, it’s a very faithful rendition that comes supplied in simple Main Vocal, Instrumental and Radio flavas. Drop this to an older floor and there won’t be a dry eye in the house…
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