Tuesday, August 28

On The Run



Buy on Beatport


Buy on Beatport

"One The Run" is a three-track EP released in July 2012 on Pornostar Recordings, and it's sounding big. My favourite version is the one by Mike Newman & Antoine Cortez, but the original is sounding great as well though maybe a bit too minimalistic for my taste. It won't hurt you to check out Muzzaik's remix too. General main-room house, but with a very nice vibe.

Monday, August 20

Do What We Do




Here's one of the nicest releases on Hed Kandi in a while now. This jazzy EP covers styles from soulful house to jacking house to nu disco. My favourite is the original with it's mellow piano, funky guitars and the stirring feel-good mood. Ridney's remix brings us the above-mentioned jacking house vibes in a lovely oldschool manner with 909 percussion sounds and a bit deeper feel. To wrap it all up, Webqueawry shows how to nu disco: big 80's synths, a rocking bassline and solid drum-work.

This beautiful package was released just today on Traxsource, go get it!

Sunday, August 19

Uncanny Valley 001 : Dirty, Grimey, Funky & Deep





Uncanny Valley 001 is filled with deep funky numbers like this. All the grit and squelching of vinyl crackle filtered just sets the scene for warm funky emotions.

In particular "Cuthead - Unacceptable Moustache Style" really kicks ass. Its got this deep dubby, housey combination like something Étienne de Crécy's Super Discount would have contained.

With so much music floating around its hard to stay on top of it all but respect where respect is due I say. This was released 9 months ago but will be relevant for the next 20 years!

You can buy the EP here: http://www.beatport.com/release/uncanny-valley-001/281826

Check out more from the label here: http://soundcloud.com/uncanny-valley-dresden

Check out more from Cuthead here: http://soundcloud.com/cuthead/tracks

Friday, August 10

Freebie Fridays #4

Friday already? That calls for some freebies!



A brilliant mash-up from Japan / Oslo producer duo Fukuyama released as a celebration for 200 Facebook fans. They deserve a lot more though so go like them already! "Fukuyama Used To Hold Me" combines the vocal track of Calvin Harris' "You Used To Hold Me" and Fukuyama's own track "Fukuyama" with discoliciously delicious results.



And here's Jackie dropping another bomb, which has become a delightful habit for this Polish funky houser. "Do You Understand?" is (obviously) a tribute to true house music, and it doesn't disappoint in its purpose. This is a bit of oldschool house heaven. Understood?



Finally, British producer duo Funky Truckerz bring us some more classic house vibes with their remix of De Nuit's "All That Really Mattered". The guys give the original a big room twist yet retaining the great nostalgic vibe. Good job!

Friday, August 3

This Is Actually Boogielicious



Buy on Beatport


Buy on Beatport

To me previously unknown act Cupcake Project just released a funking EP on Royal Soul Records called "Funky Cake". The sample used in "This Ain't No Boogie" (which is a very misleading name by the way) is just too awesome, and they've really made great justice to it too. Trotter brings some extra funk with his remix, and since I couldn't decide which remix was better I bought both and encourage you to do the same! If you're into this kind of slow jam boogie music check out the other tracks on the EP as well.

Oh and please welcome our new writer, Scratchabone Jackson Jr, whose courtesy the previous post is!

Wednesday, August 1

Alec Carlsson - Doux Velour EP


I was forwarded this link by a friend into house music and my mind was blown....
Alec Carlsson seems to have been blessed with some kind of genetic inheritance giving him super natural abilities to produce house music. His release titled "Doux Velour" on the Chicago based label Stripped & Chewed has so much chunk, funk & groove it really stimulates the shake in ones ass.

"My aim was to make two tracks representing my two loves, deep house and funk. It wasn't a matter of tempo, only an homage to the genre I was raised in." Alec Carlsson 
 
The title track Doux Velour kicks off with some deep filtered disco sample but at a steady tempo, much like a sedated DJ Sneak. With latherings of electric piano chords and shakers he then exposes the claps and percussion that land in just the right funky position in the groove. It progresses into synth and string meanderings in a very tasteful way.

The next track is "Euphoria" which shows off his delicious bass line skills. Also not breaking any land speed records it chugs along at a nice pace with phased synth stabs & some electric guitar clucks and scratches. A sustained string line and little arpeggiated synths give it some more lift & carry the track further on to the end.
The remixes here are just as tasty, "Stripped & Chewed's newest signatories: Chicago Life and Borrowed Identity" do an outstanding job with the remixes. Chicago Life take on Doux Velour bringing a walking 90's bass line and 4 to the floor kick groove succeeding to stimulate that warm up crowd that would be starting to dance in the bar hopping circles. Really cool.

Borrowed Identity spits out 2 mixes of Doux Velour with 2 styles. The "Raw 303" mix is like it says, raw with a very robotic 909 hi hat pattern chugging away and driving the groove. The deep bubbling TB303 bass line eventually winds out to acidic perfection.

The "Raw Jack City Dub" mix has lots of dreamy sustained pads and a very classic pan flute solo that instantly takes you back to those classic deeper house tracks of the 90's. Vocal chops in the breakdown towards the end really seal the deal as a cool as funk vibe.

If this EP was edible it would be served at a hidden gem of a restaurant off the main strip, ran by the same operators since it was opened 30 years ago. Still serving up the same classic dishes it always did. The only catch is he is 17 years old so where the funk did such amazing skills come from? Well like he said he was raised in this genre (upcoming mothers & fathers please pay attention).

When asked about the concept and background Alec replied :

"It wasn't a concept at all, I really wanted to make quality music first of all. Moreover I really trust in the label S&C, I released 3 tracks with them, and those are 3 totally different ones, and they all embody my love for music, for several kind of music. The remixes came to add a real Chicago house touch to the ep, and they are so good."

There are links to Juno on the Soundcloud player. I will be purchasing this as any true lover of good house music should.

Scratchabone Jackson Jnr