Razor-N-Tape is a Brooklyn-based label that releases feel-good disco and deep house that is, as label heads JKriv and Aaron Dae put it: ‘Good for dance!’. Founded in 2012, and oozing with funk and soul, the label has released beautiful beats from the likes of: COEO, Fouk, Junktion, Ron Basejam, Eli Escobar, Lovebirds, DJ Vas and more.
Review: NYC combo 79.5 are, like Midnight Magic and Escort before them, a live outfit whose trademark sound and output is shaped by the rich musical history of the city they call home. That superb sound was outlined on last year's eponymous debut album, tracks from which appear in remixed form on this must-check EP. There are two takes on previous single 'Feel Like Dancin': an extended deep house take by Malik Hendricks with added Afro-house percussion, and an impressive low-tempo chugger titled the 'Generalisation Dub'. 'B.D.F.Q' also comes in two contrasting variations: the spacey electro-meets-ghetto-house flex of the Jubilee Remix, and an extended version of FSQ's Midnight Magic style neo-disco interpretation. A percussive and joyous J Kriv house revision of 'Our Hearts Didn't Go That Way' completes a fine package.
Review: An international meeting of the minds here as Japan-based British veteran Max Essa joins forces with Eddie C, who hails from Ontario in Canada but now calls Berlin home. Together they've come up with four classy jams that blur the lines between Balearica, nu-disco and deep house, with 'Melon Steppin' centred on a fragile keys riff but busting out some fine 303 squelch in the middle, 'Save Me' a more mellow and soulful affair with hints of jazz-funk, 'We Live In the Hills' all ponderous drums, haunting chords and more squelchy synths, and 'Sixth Bridge' a more midtempo, vaguely lounge-y closer.
Review: Felipe Gordon may be a confirmed label-hopper - in the last 12 months alone he's appeared on Clone Royal Oak, Toucan Sounds and Shall Not Fade - but he's also Mr Consistency. Predictably, this return to New York's Razor N Tape imprint is full to bursting with tried-and-tested dancefloor treats. Gordon is at his expressive, musically expansive best on 'Flutes of Gold', where vibraphone and synth solos stretch out over a lolloping deep house beat and warming electric piano chords, while 'Right Beside Me' is an infectious, low-slung, sample-heavy jazz-house delight. To round off the EP, Gordon smothers a luscious deep house groove with extended organ solos ('Homage to Bossa'), before taking us deep into space via the wild TB-303 motifs, pots-and-pans beats and shimmering chords of 'Acid Party at Santa Barbara'.
Review: Since it first appeared a couple of years ago, Elado's 'Gulab Jamun' rework of Nadeem Khan's 'Bollywood disco' classic 'Tu Tak Tu Tak Tutiyan' has become a firm favourite on dancefloors around the world. Here it returns to Razor-N-Tape via an officially licensed reissue. That take - a squelchy, acid-flecked stomper that puts Nadeem Khan's infectious lead vocals front and centre, alongside jacking drums, looped sections of the original instrumentations and wiggly TB-303 motifs - naturally opens proceedings. It's followed by the previously unheard '4AM Mix', a more intoxicating, exotic and mind-altering dub-style remix that naturally makes more of Elado's bassline and savage acid tweakery. In a word: essential!
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