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: How much unreleased, previously forgotten heat is there in Masters at Work's vaults? Rather a lot, it seems, as this release marks the ninth EP in their ongoing 'Lost Tapes' series. What's an offer this time is a collection of varied passes of the same track, 'Talkin' About The Spirit'. They begin with the 'No Sample' version, a piano and organ-sporting chunk of heads-down MAW brilliance that sounds like a mid-90s concoction, before serving up the dub style 'No Sample Stripped' mix. There are two 'MAW with Patti' versions, which replicate the previous mixes but add in more classic disco-era vocal samples, plus a 'Beats' mix that focuses on Kenny Dope's impeccable drum programming and some carefully placed dark string stabs.
Review: For committed house-heads of a certain vintage, the recent rediscovery of a treasure trove of "lost" Masters at Work recordings - and more importantly their release via a series of must-check EP - has been like Christmas and birthdays all rolled into one. Predictably, there's plenty to get the pulse racing on the series' fifth instalment, not least opener 'Smash It', a heavy, locked-in groover driven forwards by typically bouncy Kenny Dope drums and a trippy, mind-altering acid bassline. Those drums - and that bassline - naturally come to the fore on the accompanying 'Drum Dub' version. Bonus cut 'Don't Throw It Away' is an even wilder, percussion-heavy riff on a similar theme - all delay-laden vocal snippets, weird noises, cut-up First Choice samples and infectious drums - and sounds ripe for peak-time plays.
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: The latest instalment in Masters At Work's essential 'Lost Tapes' series takes us back to the early '90s and a long-forgotten studio session they did with the late, great Boyd Jarvis, a New York house originator famed for his soloing skills and memorable basslines. We get three passes on 'Boyd's Jam', each of which offers a perfect union of swinging MAW beats (programmed by Kenny Dope), deep chords and textures (laid down by Louie Vega) and bass and keys-solos courtesy of Jarvis. There's the 'On The Organ Mix', which as the title suggests is marked out by some dazzling organ improvisations, the more layered, spaced-out and intoxicating 'Synth Dub' (think organs and mazy electronic lead lines), and the DJ tool style 'Zipper Beats'.
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?
Review: Still bossing the game for as long as they'll live, Masters At Work are back at it again with a sweet original jam "It's What We Live, It's What We Are" - spread out across four sweet incarnations. For the straight up house lovers privy to some snare-action here and there it's all about the "Made In Ibiza Studios mix", with some some early B-boy electro tips coming from KenLou himself. Heating that dancefloor evenstill is a classic "MAW Stripped" mix to get those pulses racing and beads of sweat dripping - feel dat bassline - next to a deeper, headsier session in the dub mix. Sexy hot as ever, Master At Work for life.
Review: Here's something significant: the first new single from legendary New York house duo Masters at Work since the mid 2000s. The good news is that Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez and Little Louis Vega have not lost their touch after all these years, with 'Mattel' delivering a killer combination of bouncy, 'Nuyorican' house drums (programmed to perfection by MPC master Gonzalez), spooky late-night synth-string stabs, hazy early morning motifs and bleeping electronics. It's perhaps a little moodier than we may have expected, but that's no criticism. The accompanying 'KenLou Dub' is even more of a cosmic, percussive and atmospheric peak-time treat, while the 'Beats' version is terrific for DJs who like to play around with percussion. It's great to have them back!
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