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James Curd
Review: Following a surprise outing with Osunlade on Get Physical Music and a couple of killer self-released singles, Chicago veteran James Curd pops up on Valiant for a three-track collaboration with Winkar. The headline attraction is 'Sexty Lady', an organ-rich slab of loopy, disco-tinged peak-time deep house rich in echoing vocal samples, insanely funky bass guitar and the kind of fizzing synth stabs once a feature of Basement Jaxx's earliest records. It comes in two takes: the EP-leading main mix, which includes an elongated electric piano solo, and a more stripped-backed 'No Solo' version. To complete the package, we're treated to the slightly harder and more energetic disco-house rush of 'My Life Is Oops'.
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VALR058X
22 Mar 24
Funky/Club House
22 Mar 24
Funky/Club House
Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House
Review: There's been quite a run of singles from James Curd lately - could there be an album in the offing? Who knows, but for now there's 'Walk With Me', a moody, contemplative cut topped with a couple of sparingly-applied vocal snips, including what sounds like a micro-bite from DSK's classic 'What Would We Do?'. On the remix front, fellow veteran Rick Wade beefs it up slightly for 3am floors, Cee Elassaad adds a hefty, live-sounding bassline, while the Tree Threes Jazz Rework strips things back and adds cascading drums and squawking sax. Wade's rub just nudges it for this writer but it's all good, to coin a phrase.
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PRONTO 010
23 Feb 24
Deep House
23 Feb 24
Deep House
Review: Second time round for James Curd and Osunlade's surprise 2023 collaboration, 'Chocolate Puddin', which here returns in remixed form. First to tackle the pair's gospel-tinged, spiritually enriching Afro-house gem is Kai Alce, who delivers superb vocal and instrumental takes built around crispy, bouncy, Afro-deep drums, smooth bass, echoing organ stabs and the most warming and toasty of electric piano chords. Just as potent is Osunlade's own Yoruba Soul mix, a heavily electronic, tech-tinged deep house excursion rich in righteous keyboard stabs, bubbly TB-303 motifs and eyes-closed vocal snippets. The pair's joyous, uplifting and undeniably hypnotic instrumental mix completes a fine package.
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GPM 744
16 Feb 24
Deep House
16 Feb 24
Deep House
Review: Perhaps best known to the world at large as Greenskeepers, under which alias he released a string of EPs on the mighty Classic in the noughties, James Curd made his debut on the Chi-town house scene at the tender age of 15 and he's never looked back. This latest outing on his own Pronto label has a similarly jazzy, funked-up feel to those early Greenskeepers releases and the Original mix would fit into deep house or funk sets equally well, while the Vocal Mix adds a party-hearty rap vocal and two further rubs from Art Of Tones and Boston Bun push the track into straight-up house territory.
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PRONTO 009
12 Jan 24
Deep House
12 Jan 24
Deep House
Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House, Juno Recommends Funky House, CheapEdits, BRENDON P, Gledd, Offshore and Coen
Review: There are peaktime-orientated tracks that get all up in your face, grab you by the unmentionables and shout "listen to me!" - and then there are the kind of tracks that are carefully crafted to be set-builders, that won't scream for attention on the radio but will sound just perfect when served to a 4am floor that's already deep in the zone. This team-up between scene stalwarts Osunlade and James 'Greenskeepers' Curd is firmly in the latter camp, a dense, shuffling affair with a bubbling, burbling backdrop topped with a blues-y female vocal that comes with an even more eyes-down refix from FNX Omar.
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GPM 733A
10 Nov 23
Funky/Club House
10 Nov 23
Funky/Club House
Played by: Juno Recommends Minimal Tech
Review: Following the first volume of Bits N Bobs in 2021 comes this follow-up edition. Focusing on house music in the broadest sense, Volume 2 is a diverse release. It starts with the hypnotic loops and filtered groove of James Curd's "Born Twice", which sounds not unlike vintage Pepe Bradock. Jesusdapnk's "Anomaly" is also inspired by sounds from the same era - rooted in classic 90s deep house, it's an atmospheric but effective dance floor roller. Keeping its club focus, the release concludes with Jason Merle's "I Gotta Change". Powered by tough kicks and rasping percussion, it's an effective, stripped back DJ track.
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IS 020X
03 Nov 23
Minimal/Tech House
03 Nov 23
Minimal/Tech House
Played by: Juno Recommends Funky House
Review: Chicago veteran James Curd continues to use his Pronto label as a vehicle for his own productions, which are uniformly floor-friendly and more often than not pleasingly quirky. That's certainly the case with 'Sublime Mind', a bouncy slab of peak-time house funkiness in which jazzy electric piano motifs, crunchy Clavinet riffs and sampled spoken word vocals rise above a restless disco-funk bassline and sweat-soaked drums. The five-strong remix package is full of treats, too, from the thumping, organ-fuelled sweatiness of Friend Within's peak-time ready take and the gorgeous deep house warmth of Byron The Aquarius's superb version, to the tech-tinged dub house hypnotism of Manuel Sahagun's version and the 'French Touch'-esque loop-house heaviness of Jonasclean's interpretation.
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PRONTO 007
29 Sep 23
Funky/Club House
29 Sep 23
Funky/Club House
Review: House music label Pronto continues its swift ascent with a dynamic sixth release that is guaranteed to ignite the dance floor. This collaborative effort comes from the talented duo James Curd & Jonasclean, who waste no time in unleashing their commanding and weighty track, "Mullen It Over". This stomper boasts captivating, sinuous leads and an exhilarating rush that will leave you spellbound. Fred P offers his reinterpretation, taking the track to profound depths with a heady and spiritual touch. Marcel Vogel also joins the remix lineup, injecting a more upbeat vibe into the mix with lush, sun-soaked chords. "Tried For Love" featuring Robert Owens takes us back to the roots of vocal Chicago house, delivering a timeless gem that showcases Curd's prowess in crafting classic house music.
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PRONTO 006
14 Jul 23
Deep House
14 Jul 23
Deep House
