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Scottish producer Linkwood has mixed up an hour’s worth of sumptuous deep house.
This week Ukrainian producer extraordinaire Vakula takes the reins for an hour long mix consisting entirely of his own productions – many of which can be heard here for the very first time.
Firecracker’s favourite son Linkwood is set to release his first solo endevaour since 2009’s System, with a three track EP entitled From The Vaults Part 1 due out in May via Prime Numbers.
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Even if you weren’t privy to the news that Firecracker had launched an sublabel, your immediate thought when grasping this inaugural release on Unthank would be that the Edinburgh imprint were involved to some degree. Arriving in bespoke purple hand stamped sleeve art pressed on 10 inches of clear vinyl and covered in Japanese style plastic wrapping, it’s one of this year’s most attractive propositions for vinyl obsessives.
This is all without even approaching the music, a debut peek into the musical mind of the Amsterdam dwelling Estonian producer known only as Bakey USTL. In “A Tender Place” Bakey has delivered one of the most disjointed, flagrantly risqué, thumping eight minutes of house music your senses might be exposed to this year. There’s a dizzying momentum to the track, with several blunt and deranged sonic right turns, such as the brief silent interlude before the main glorious hook drops, which prove nothing less than stunning. A less than worthy soundbite would be to call it Moodymann on Viagra. A more than worthy summation comes from Jackmaster, with the Numbers honcho calling it one of this year’s best house tracks, with support from the likes of Ben UFO and joy Orbison adding credence.
In contrast to the sleaze on the A Side, the opposing proceedings open with the shuffling future soul abstractions of “Nose Candy” minimalist beatdown at it’s finest, whilst “Heroin” marks a swift descent into the depths of South American narcotic noise. Thus the schizoid brilliance of the A Side is matched by the slightly menacing strangeness of the opposing side on a record which is limited in numbers and high on demand.
Tony Poland
Fresh from helping Juno Plus to celebrate a year in existence in fine style down Curtain Rd, our friends Firecracker have sent out fresh details of their new sub label Unthank, with the first release a three track EP from the mysterious Bakey Ustl due next month.
Now that Carnvial weekend is over and everyone has picked the jerk chicken out of their teeth and drained the last remaining drops of Red Stripe from their clothes, it’s time to focus on the next big event: the Juno Plus 1st birthday party.
To celebrate the first birthday of Juno Plus, we are throwing a party with boutique Edinburgh imprint Firecracker, a label that has continually impressed us with a slew of superb EPs.
Featured DJ Chart: Linkwood & House of Traps (Best of 2009)
by Juno Plus on 22.12.2009 at 13:13pm
Edinburgh’s mysterious Firecracker imprint has built up quite a following since its inception in 2004, taking deep house music as the central sound but delving into influences as diverse as jazz, reggae, hip-hop and Detroit techno.
Artist: Linkwood/House of Traps/Fudge Fingas
Title: EP 4
Label: Firecracker
Genre: Deep House
Format: 10″, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records, Juno Download
It’s been a long time coming but Firecracker have finally unleashed the fourth volume in their EP series.
The Boutique Scottish imprint has built up quite a following since their inception in 2004, with their infrequent output from Linkwood, Fudge Fingas and House of Traps taking deep house music as the central sound but delving into influences as diverse as jazz, reggae, hip-hop and Detroit techno. The label’s distinctive artistic direction with limited runs of 10″ vinyl that combines bold fonts with comic book illustrations on a hand screen printed finish has helped secure Firecracker cult status amongst the vinyl fetish disco edit lovers.
Firecracker’s most celebrated son, Linkwood has already dropped a hugely impressive debut album this year (of course you know this already) and his two contributions to EP4 provide ample evidence of his production nous. “Barely Eagle”, his collaboration with label buddy House of Traps is a slo-mo disco burner that has already got fans in The Unabombers and Trevor Jackson and is likely to find itself as a set opener for many a mixtape.
“Who La La” is perhaps the highlight, a bouncey uptempo edit that reaches into 80s electro boogieland and has some sublime synthwork. Fudge Fingas provides a more downtempo excursion into Cosmic Soul on “Situation Diminished”.
This is an essential purchase for Firecracker obsessives and a very good place to start for those intrigued.
Review: Tony Poland
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