Review: Last year, former Ovum and Crosstown Rebels sorts Dirty Channels showcased their disco chops by delivering a fine chunk of revivalist goodness on Athens of the North (Danny Russell collaboration "Watchin' Out"). Here they join the dots between their past and present via a decidedly party-hearty EP that combines chopped and looped classic disco samples with bombastic, driving and peak-time friendly house beats. First up is "Born In Doulala", a bouncy exercise in seriously tooling up what sounds like a Turkish disco-dunk jam, quickly followed by the Soundstream-esque hard-edited disco loops and slamming beats of "Those Days". Rounding things off is "The Lord", a deliciously bass-heavy, filter-fired bumper built around swirling orchestral samples from a well-loved disco classic.
Review: Dirty Channels & Bugsy team up with French-Tunisian singer-songwriter and actress Amina Annabi, famous for finishing second in the tied 1991 Eurovision Song Contest. The supple bassline and dreamy, dubby house notes of "Alone" compliment the trippy stylings of Amina's tenor. Freerange regular Pezzner brings Amina's full bodied lyrics to the front of his mix, while Josh Wink's "re-think dub" of Pezzner's remix retracts the vocals entirely, leaving only touches of reverb. Wink supplies two extra nine-minute "re-thinks" of his own with a dub and vox versions. Both are emblematic of the Ovum sound, replete with African percussion and drooping basslines. Wink naturally utilises Amina's now breathy vocals in his vox mix, while putting more emphasis on the strong synth line in his dub.
Review: Edinburgh's Athens Of The North are back with more reliable edit action by some undisputed groove experts. First up we have Milan based duo Dirty Channels of Hot Creations and Crosstown Rebels fame, who team up with Berlin based rising star Danny Russell on the familiar soul funk of "Watchin' Out". It works a relentless groove before dropping into a hook that you'll be hearing a lot of this Summer.
Next up is Ken Frazelle with his one and only tune from back in '82 - "Today Is The Day". It gets a re-rub by local legend Linkwood of Firecracker fame which works that properly lo-slung boogie-down vibe to the max.
Review: Milan based Take It Easy label and party is back. This third drop comes from label owners Dirty Channels, Bugsy and DJLMP with the addition of the historical Italian dj and Paradise Pizza's label owner Memoryman aka Uovo. After their big success "Watchin Out" and "Catch Me", Dirty Channels open the EP with an Afro-influenced sample stomper followed up by an afrobeat vocal tool by DJLMP. "I Wonder" brings some crackly Detroit atmosphere by Memoryman aka Uovo. "Pomiri Dan" completes the set, percussive sample stomper by Bugsy on his first appearance on the label.
