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: Last time he appeared on Lazy Days Recordings, Freerange Records regular Matt Masters was in collaboration with fellow deep house veteran Milton Jackson. Here, he goes solo, offering up a sun-soaked slab of dreamy deep house/jazz-house fusion ('Look What You've Done') marked out by eyes-closed female vocal samples, bossa-house beats, effects-laden jazz samples and twinkling piano motifs. Lazy Days co-founder Fred Everything provides the accompanying remix, reaching for bleeping melodies, bubbly synth-bass, slightly toughened up drums and clumps of Masters' most melodic, summery instrumentation. It's a great remix with plenty of peak-time potential, though it does lack the breezy blissfulness of Masters' dusty original version.
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: Though barely a footnote in the documented history of Chicago house, Masterplan - a duo made up of vocalist Pepper Gomez and keyboardist Tom O'Callaghan - was responsible for a handful of killer early house cuts. Here two of their cult singles from 1986 are given the re-edit treatment for the very first time. Enzo Elia handles "Electric Baile", a killer combination of percussion-rich machine drums, Italo-disco style bass and addictive lead lines, first offering up a "Vocal Edit" before brilliantly cutting up and dubbing out the drums on his "Dub Edit" and "Bonus Beat" versions. Gerd Janson takes his scalpel to follow-up "Pushin' Too Hard", playing around with the synth-pop bass, sparkling synths and unfussy drums on "Megamix" and "Instrumix" versions. The latter contains some killer '80s dancefloor dub style effects and plenty of sweaty percussion fills.
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!
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.
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