Review: Some two years on from the album's original release, Night People serve up a fresh set of remixes of cuts from Eli Escobar's debut set, Up All Night. There's much to admire, with hyped disco/house fusionists Purple Disco Machine, in particular, impressing with their version of "Visions". A rolling deep house/disco fusion full of springy live bass, crispy beats and jammed-out organ riffs, it's just the thing to keep the party going when dancers are flagging. Escobar's own tweak of "Tension" - featuring vocal samples from a mid '80s Boyd Jarvis and Timmy Regisford production - is a late night, Italo throbber, while Whatever/Whatever join the dots between a myriad of classic NYC dance music styles on their acid-flecked, early morning rub of "NY So Hi".
Review: Keeping it simple is the name of the game on this latest from New York house wunderkind Escobar. It's a single-track affair, for starters - so none of those pesky remixes to worry about - while the track itself is a looping affair centred around a female "the rhythm, addicted to the rhythm" vocal that plays almost constantly, underpinned by a nagging synth riff that nods to classic-style Detroit techno. Various other vocal snips and ever-shifting drum patterns help to maintain the interest, but this is nevertheless an eyes-down, locked-in-the-groove kinda cut built to keep warmed-up floors moving through those peaktime hours.
Review: Manhattan veteran Eli Escobar can usually be relied upon to deliver the goods, so we were naturally not that surprised to find that his latest single once again hits the spot. Lead cut "Body Muzik" sees him pay tribute to the electronic body music era of the 1980s, New York style. That means a thrusting, mind-altering mixture of Nitzer Ebb style bass, sweaty beats, spiralling electronic noises and short stabs that sound like they were inspired by NYC freestyle. "Tonight (Club Mix)" takes a different approach, with Escobar mixing up jazzy breaks, stomping house beats, jacking drum machine fills, restless New Jersey organ riffs, crystalline chords and savagely cut-up old school vocal samples. It's as ear-pleasing as it is effective.
Review: Earlier this year, Eli Escobar returned to action with arguably his strongest album to date, "Last Summer". The set notably featured some particularly sweet, melodic and emotive fare, alongside his usual sweaty, party-starting club cuts. "Blue Magic", his new single, sees the New York DJ/producer continue this trend by layering a variety of colourful analogue synthesizer melodies and starry lead lines atop a groovy and attractive base of clipped guitar riffs, tactile synth-bass and shuffling drums. It's the kind of summery, ear-pleasing fare that sounds equally good whether you're dancing in a club or sat at home on your sofa.
Review: US house cronie Eli Escobar keeps the musical coffers full of tunes over at Night People NYC with some quickfire freshness. Still hot from his Last Summer LP, this New York city proud release is peppered with soundbites from the big apple, be they interviews from the studio or sound bites from the street which are weaved between sensual electro-soul numbers like "Treatemright" or the '80s inspired neo-R&B of "Dreams". There's poetry and gospel to be found in "GetThruit" next to some dusty instrumental hip hop vibes in "Zombieland" or the crackled out, melancholic urbana beats of "Crimepayz". Find a splash of ambient house in "Streetwalker" and "Problemchild" with good time vibes and atmospheres in "Kids" to some old school hip house sentiments and breakbeats in "Beatz2tharime". A record inspired by jazz, new york city, and its people.
Review: Eli Escobar has been releasing a lot of single-track salvos of late, all of which have been up to his usual sky-high standard. 'Give Love', his latest one-track release, is another must-check. Beginning with an urgent, kick-drum heavy house groove and haunting vocal snippets, Escobar builds a sweaty, late-night full of retro-futurist Chicago house bass, sustained organ chords, fluid piano solos and colourful, glassy-eyed electronics. Although undeniably fresh, the track utilises many musical elements associated with the best late '80s and early '90s house. Because of that, it feels timeless, like you could play it at any point in the next 20 years and it would still sound great.
Review: As Eli Escobar let's it be known in "The Formula" that he's 'got something for you' as the sweet chorale chimes. There's a subtle Osunlade vibe to this album, the American's first, and Rhodes be flaying on "Visions" as they vamp to a climax like a Bootsy Collins solo. It's all stripped back business of "NY So Hi" - get down to this! And for some quality, sustained loops check out "Thank You Les". "Up All Night" is a dubbed-out, cool-as, disco-tinged burner and there's a whole load to discover here in a debut album rich with the type of soul you can only get from the streets of the big apple.
Review: Shawn Reed's Night People label is an outpost of quirkiness (they release tunes on retro formats like cassettes) out in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Responsible for bringing us all styles underground dancefloor action, they now give us a two tracker heavy hitter of a single from International PowerliftingFederation. "Only God Can Save Me' is a deeply intense slice of stark, jackin', no-nonsense electro. The second jam on here, "Love Is One The Brain", is a much calmer affair - with all the silky smooth warmth of a late 80s warehouse rave at sunrise
