Review: Yam Who?'s ISM label come through with a four track slice of disco centric Futurism, featuring the man Yam himself alongside PBR Streetgang and Ron Basejam. It's the latter who takes the lead with a remix of Alena's "Changes" that sees her sultry vocal teased by a most excellent of analogue synth leads that splurges brilliantly across the crisp mid tempo chug. Yam Who? teams up with vocalist Natasha Watts for the similarly bottom heavy bump of "I'm In Love" which has a certain warehouse appeal to it. Up next, PBR pay respect to the godfather of soul James Brown with the gritty flex of "J2thaB" with the sadly departed Mr Brown strangely sounding at times like he wants to go to Tesco. We always took him for a Waitrose man, but regardless this is probably the track you'll reach for most! Finally Brothers Young do their thing to a Trammps classic, with little more than the bassline retained. Big tip!
Review: It's hard to define Desert Sound Colony's sound, and that's what makes him such a fascinating artist. On Fresh One, he consolidates this reputation with music that traverses the spectrum. The title track is a bleak electro workout, with its forceful bass and grainy drums interspersed with the occasional vocal sample. "Leaping Lizards" builds on this approach, as warbling acid lines and mangled vocals are woven into a combination of dubby break beats and rough kicks. He changes course again on "Weighty Bassy Goodness", where a shuffling 2-step rhythm underpins menacing bass, while the release remixer, Sid Angel offers a further surprise. Tasked with reworking "Fresh One", he turns it into a dubby stepper.
Review: The debut release on the Party Breaks offshoot of the always classy On The Prowl label set the tone with epic reimaginations of music from the New York City of days gone by for contemporary dancefloors. It's safe to say that volume II, compiled by label co-chief Jacques Renault, will further solidify OTP Party Breaks' potential as one of 2010s best imprints. Doubling the sucker punch with four edits that dip into different genres and play out like textbook examples of how to slay a dancefloor (you'd expect nothing less from someone who has released music on Rekids, DFA, I'm a Cliche, RVNG, Wurst, Chinatown and Mule). Setting the uptempo mood is "In The Middle of The Night", a subtley nuanced edit of a slice of classic late 70s disco from Jet Brown that adds some neat percussive chops to what is already a lovely warm melody. Fans of Tensnake's recent "Coma Cat" will be all over "Love & Happiness", a dirty basement jam that reworks a mid nineties collaboration between Louie Vega and long term muse India to perfection. Renault's production nous is on evidence with "Miranda" which begins with some very Switch-esque production before dropping into a massive jack of a tribal house groove with several little changeups to keep the dancefloor on its toes. The EP ends with "My Baby Loves Me" which amps up the 80s sax house to the max. More must have material from the record vaults of Jacques Renault.
Review: ISM boss Yam Who has high hopes for Bubblegum, a previously unheard "red hot disco" outfit based at Fossil Studios in Hackney. There's certainly plenty of promise on this debut single, with both original tracks hitting the proverbial sweet spot. "Hold On" is a synth-laden mid-tempo delight, with hazy vocals and a lolloping, head-nodding groove. The looser, more up-tempo "On & On" is, if anything, even better, with punchy horns and clipped guitar riffs adding additional energy to the classic disco groove. Label boss Yam Who's remix of the latter - built around his own rubbery synths and a toughened-up groove - is also superb.
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