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review on ibiza-voice.com. . ..
It's one thing to make nice records - it's a whole other thing to make them your own records. Another carbon copy of Moodymann/J Dilla/whoever might be a fair achievement, for sure, but, truth is, the super referential tendencies of today's young house and techno producers are holding us back. In their desperate struggles to be the next DJ so and so, contemporary producers are ending up instead being DJ so and so tribute acts - soulless, purely reflective beings devoid of their own wit and charm. Eventually, it becomes tiresome.
If you look at the music of the electronic godfathers - it's instantly recognisable as belonging to them; it's idiosyncratic. As such, the slumped, sleazy funk and somehow almost ramshackle beats which lie at the heart of this release - the third on his own Hot Creations imprint - are immediately redolent of Chicago's Lee Foss. Whilst it would be over enthusiastic to lump him with the greats just yet, ‘U Got Me' offers up four more fresh sounding house jams which at least keep him heading in the right direction.
The title track is built on a simple, light-footed bassline which bleeds a coy funk and a breathy male vocal and twinkling melody swirl around each other in midair whilst sunbeam synths break through from below: it's delicate but dance-y, subtle but seductive and would be hard to pin down to any one year in particular.
‘Run Around' again has a swirling vocal running through it to add depth, but this cut is more urgent than the first; bass kicks are heavier and the mood is more intrepid sonic explorer than celebrated house conqueror as was ‘U Got Me.' There's rawness in the part frazzled sci-fi synths and a narrative as the track unfolds - it's colourful stuff.
It's much the same with ‘Happen for a Reason' - there's a rigid robot funk down below, but a meandering, crystalline melody which adds both a lucidity and fluidity to the top end. As it drifts between your ears it warms your soul before the more eerie, mysterious and intrepid sounds of final track ‘Chic Sheik' simmer and shimmer through deep space.
You either love or loathe this ‘U Got Me' EP, and that's the beauty of it: it's not been made to reflect a certain style or to appeal to a certain taste, it's an EP made as an expression of oneself. For that reason alone, it's worthy of your attention.
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