Rob's Reviews - Nov 2009 (take 2)

More gems which are keeping the groove going for November.

Marcelo Tag - The Broken Harted (Prosthetic Pressings)
Italian Marcelo Tag’s latest release is his best to date for dance floor effectiveness. The original of ‘The Broken Harted’ is loopy drum-laden tech-house which rolls along solidly before ducking into a section of freaky guitar action which adds just enough to lighten the tone without being too big or obvious. Gabriel Boni’s remix is the winner of the package though, taking on a Chicago-esque groove initially but adding more and more off-kilter elements and effects which result in a totally wacky piece of tech-house which would work on any forward thinking dance floor. It’s a rare track with enough of a soulful groove to please house-lovers but also twisted enough for the tech-house crew.

DJ Leandre - Tripping Out (Parker Musicworks)
Parisian DJ Leandre steps into Terrence Parker’s label with a funk/disco sampling gem which would be at home in Chicago in 1996. It follows from the label’s last release by Matt Veloce which set a very high standard. The main event on the release is ‘Tripping Out’, a chunky house track affair with a big funk sample and massive chunky swing to alongside some supreme percussion which sounds like it’s straight out of Dimitri From Paris’ record box. ‘Love 4 Sale’ is a more disco vibe affair with a sleazy groove and fantastic piano riff straight out of the 80s. If Ray Mang, Moodymann or quality disco-inspired house is your thing then you’ll enjoy this a ton!

Rob's Reviews - Nov 2009

A few gems which have kept in the front pages of my CD wallet the past weeks. Dubby, loopy house and disco/funk sampling party music is back in style it seems.

Hannah Holland - What You Feel (Playtime Records)
Bottom heavy tech house is the way to describe the original of ‘What You Feel’ which is dominated by low-key rhythm percs and dubby elements. James Braun’s remix takes a very similar line but adding more dropouts and eerie pads into the arrangement. Rising Australian talent Nick Verwey steps it up a notch with his remix which, again, retains the dubby vibe but takes things far more twisted adding in plenty of edits and freaky effects. Playtime Records are on a roll and this release caps it off their year in style.

Edmund - Best Night Ever E.P. (DeepClass Recs)
Spanish artist Edmund’s new EP starts out as a quite low key affair with ‘Roots Of Evil’, a hypnotic deep groove which bubbles along nicely save for some nicely placed synth stabs and vocals. The main event of the release surely is ‘Don’t Know Why’, a sublime deep house number with a hint of techiness – and paced to perfection. It has nice, understated vocal samples and sultry keys placed throughout the trip. ‘Gimmie What You Got’ is the closer here, another deep trip using just enough vocal to hook you in but not overdoing it one bit. Like the other tracks it’s got a hint of tech in it - super deep and a 6am head-nodding ride. Rocking stuff.

Quality disco from Parker Musicworks

Terrence Parker has been around for literally decades - longer than I recall at least. I recently noticed his label, Parker Musicworks, generally an outlet for his own works, has started dropping some seriously dope stuff by other artists.

A few worth a mention have been on the disco-sampling tip which, by usual standards, would be a sign they're probably rubbish. Too many artists fail badly when sampling old disco tunes - the results are usually just plain soul-less rubbish. Parker however has found a really good bunch of artists doing really solid stuff. It makes a nice change from the harder styles which seem to dominate most scenes.

Matt Veloce 'Let's Get Some Love' and the lower-key Chic-sampling 'Come On' have wicked grooves reminiscent of mid-90s Cricco Castelli releases. Understated and funky as hell. Support coming from taste-makers Luke Solomon, Tedd Patterson, Anthony Shakir and more.

Another, by Parisian DJ Leandre, is a more chunky affair with Funk/Jazz/Disco influences but made with a modern house approach. 'Tripping Out' in particular is a sleazy, infectious gem - the sort of record you'd expect Dimitri From Paris to bust out. Solid stuff.

Matt Veloce - Let's Get Some Love at Junodownload

Parker Musicworks label page on Traxsource