Review: Bob Blank is one of New York?s most revered producers of all time. This compilation from Strut, is the very first retrospective on him and his work at his independent studio, Blank Tapes. This was one of NYC's most influential spots during the city's thriving art scene of the mid 70s and 80s. This exclusive compilation even includes the very first track ever recorded at the studio in addition to some hidden gems that have come straight from the studio's vaults.
Review: Sometime mystery deep house producer Grant - now revealed to be an alias of Frank & Tony member Anthony Collins -has a track record that many of his peers surely envy. To date, he's barely put a foot wrong and "Fantasy Blues", his first full-length outing on Lobster Theremin, is another superb set. Warm, melodious, musically detailed and far more imaginative than most deep house albums you'll hear this, the set sees Collins slip between oven-hot, jazz-funk influenced electronica ("Ephemeral Chase"), revivalist early '90s NYC deep house ("Mind & Space", "Finite Elements"), loose-and-languid ultra-deep goodness ("Amaranthine Profundity", "Blurred Harmony") and the kind of relaxed, intergalactic fare that sits somewhere between ambient techno and ocean-deep dream house. In other words, it's superb.
Review: Los Angeles based Grant heads up The Lauren Bacall, which has presented work by Gable, AVA and Bardot.. but then again they could possibly be more of his own aliases. After his impressive LP entitled Cranks on Mork, he now returns to its parent label Lobster Theremin, with the No Lights EP. It features several servings of house and techno memoirs captured to VHS. Starting off with the neon lit vocal-led anthem "Feeling" (Vocal mix), there's the mandatory lo-fi jam in the form of the darkly stripped back and heads down groove of "Values". The title track is particularly impressive: a woozy and hypnotic after hours groove with some nifty drum computer moves and those moody Mr. Fingers style pads that navigate their way through all the tape saturation.
