Review: 12 months on from the release of the first volume in Masters At Work's 'Lost Tapes' series, Kenny Dope and Louie Vega continue to unearth and share killer unreleased gems from the vaults. 'Gimme Some More' was recorded 27 years ago and dates from the period when the pair unleashed a string of superb singles under the alternative KenLou alias. The disco-sampling beast is presented in two forms: the EP-leading 'KenLou Mix' version, where ultra-deep chords, echoing female vocal snippets and jazzy disco bass ride a typically sweaty, loose-limbed Kenny Dope house beat, and the marginally shorter, dancefloor dub style bump of the 'KenLou Instrumental Mix'.
Review: Masters At Work's continuing 'Lost Tapes' series has already offered up plenty of previously buried treasure by the New York house heroes. Somewhat predictably, volume 10 contains more must-check material rediscovered on dusty DATs, specifically three passes on a cut called 'Bump That Whistle'. First up is the 'Original Mix', where echo-laden minor key chords, whistles and jazzy hi-hat sounds rise above typically loose-limbed Kenny Dope beat and a weighty bassline. The dancefloor dub style 'Stripped Mix' follows ? think beats, bass and occasional weird electronics ? before the long-serving duo serves up a typically floor-friendly 'Beats' mix for those who like playing around with percussion.
Review: Two contrasting cuts make up the latest instalment in the 'MAW Lost Tapes' series. In the red corner we have 'Funky Anane', a looping groover that tops a hip-shaking Latin rhythm with jazz sax and a female voice saying "funky" over and over. Meanwhile in the blue corner there's 'MAW Want You', an uptempo 4/4 Jersey organ groove with a bassline that reveals exactly where speed garage got its ideas from. For this old garagehead the latter wins by a knockout, but you pays your money and you makes your choice - pausing only to consider what it must be to have made so many great tracks that material of this calibre got left on the shelf!
Review: With all due respect to the virtuoso accomplishments that Nu Yorican Soul, Elements Of Life etc definitely were, this writer's favourite MAW productions have always been the raw, pumping NY club cuts that the duo put out back in the early days. If you agree, then these two gems, recently discovered lurking on two-inch tapes from 25-30 years ago and given just the very lightest of 21st Century makeovers to bring them into line with modern production values, are an absolute must - quite how they never ended up on Nervous or Strictly is a mystery. Do we really need to say any more?
All I'm Askin' (Demuir Playboy edit) - (6:31) 125 BPM
Review: A house music all-star remix team assembles for this package of Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez's 1994 classic by Axxis "All I'm Askin'" for his acclaimed Dopewax imprint. It is all the quality one would expect from the man who is one half of legendary production outfit Masters Of Work: from the tough vocal-led bounce of the original version which hasn't aged a bit, to the new remixes by Gonzales himself, as well as Jay Potter & Dancing Divaz totally uplifting remix featuring Rowetta. Plus, not to mention man of the moment Demuir from Toronto, delivering a deep down and dirty 'Playboy Edit'.
Review: For the latest release, Masters at Work man Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez has revisited one of his toughest tunes: 1994 Axxis hook-up "All I'm Askin". The original version, which rightly kicks off the EP, is a heady slab of mid-'90s NYC basement house that wraps hazy synth stabs and glassy-eyed female vocal samples around a moody bassline and slamming tribal house drums. It comes accompanied by a wealth of fresh remixes, with Alexander Technique offering up two suitably sleazy tribal techno takes peppered with razor-sharp riffs and hip-house yelps. Gonzalez's old pal Harry Romero delivers the standout re-rub, a deeper, groovier and chunkier affair, while Avision turns out the lights and rachets up the intensity on his Drumcode style big room techno re-make.
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