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by DJ MG & DJ Theory
Hello Friends,
how was your summer? Well, our summer was OK, but we're definitely
glad to write again about the music which kept us going throughout
this year's summer heat: true house music. Although, we still
feel the repercussions of the so-called "summer hole"! But wait,
to be absolutely honest, we actually appreciated it, because it
gave us a chance to dig in our crates for forgotten house jewels
which sat there for months. Let us tell you, if you own a decent
collection of records like we do, you should do the same! Just
pick up some older tunes or records you didn't like when you got
them, and we promise you will experience some incredible surprises.
One of the records we came up with while doing this was Soul
Creation presents "Dreams" (Distant Music) from last year,
and we're talking about the 'Guitar Mix'! Of course, we completely
loved this track when it was released, but we never really listened
until the end. We know this sounds weird, but sometimes you just
don't have the time to listen to 10 minutes of ongoing jazz house
pleasure, especially when you have a bunch of other records waiting
in line. But when we dug out Soul Creation's masterpiece again,
we finally discovered a vibraphone at the end of this jewel, which
drove tears to our eyes. Georg Mena is playing
it in the most soulful way you can imagine, sentimental, jazzy,
and right into our hearts, where it got stuck and still gives
us goosebumps! If you've never heard this particular version,
try to find it...
So our hot tip for this year: go back to your records, camp in
front of your crates and revive some older tracks you own which
haven't got your attention for some time. Believe us, it's worth
it! For us, it made our summer - especially this vibraphone...
But we also had our ears and eyes on some records which were
released during the summer. So what is our No.1 record for this
summer then? No doubt, the undisputed, undefeated king of beers...
ooops, sorry we got carried away, of course we mean king of house
records comes from Chicago. To be more precise, from somewhere
around Halstead Street. Still no clue? Well, how about the name
Guidance Recordings? Does this ring a bell? If not, you must have
been asleep during the last 5 years. By the way, we don't receive
any promos from them - we never have, which to be honest again,
sucks big time. Their promo department definitely does not get
our best notes, but when it comes to music, they get it, almost
every time. The record we're talking about comes from Common
Nature and is called "Can't You See The Sunshine Through The
Rain?" (Guidance). What a record! What a song! What a message!
This has to be one of the nicest soul house records of all time,
thanks to some outstanding live musicians and Mandel
Turner (from Playin' 4 The City fame) on vocals! Do we really
have to write more, because we have the feeling we repeat ourselves.
The French Connection hit us again with fattest and dopest drugs,
and to make it even better this time on a domestic label. Finally,
another America-based label picked up on some highest quality
house out of France. There are 4 versions on this 12", and each
one of them is just outstanding soulful house music, guaranteed
to bring every floor to boiling temperature. A live bass, slapping
from time to time, a gorgeous jamming e-piano, a wah-wah guitar,
a killer trumpet, a magnificent chorus and refrain, and last but
not least Mandel's powerful singing are joined together to form
a house diamond which will be featured in our 'Top 10 for 1999
chart,' that's for sure. With songs like this, we can see the
sunshine through the rain. Rain? As a matter of fact, we don't
even care about the rain any longer when we have music like this
in our Walkman. A haunting piece of house music magic, which will
bring back the sun in your life - the way true house music suppose
to be!!!
Another haunting piece of true house music is Aaron
Carl's "Soldier," finally released with new incredible versions
on SFP Records out of Miami, Florida (at least we believe that
these versions are new, because we got it only now). This track
is around since some time, but the versions which come on this
12" take the original to a higher level. No doubt, the 'C&M Out
Of Body Mix' is one of the deep house highlights of this year,
with deepest flying synths, Aaron's gorgeous voice singing "I'm
A Soldier" and all kinds of other deepest elements. But our favorite
version is the 'Classic Redemption Vocal,' done by the man himself.
Aaron takes us on a classical house journey, very moody and soulful,
while he sings like an angel. And the music is just too nice,
the kind of house which we were used to hear from people like
John Robinson and Frankie Knuckles at their most soulful times.
A beautiful house record, which should not be missed!
If you are a keen follower of the UF site, we're sure you have
seen the name Christian or Chris Kase (a fellow Hefeweizen lover)
somewhere - if it is the playlist section where he constantly
blesses us with the musical score of his radio show on KGRG 89.9
FM in Auburn, WA he is doing together with his partner DJ Watieri,
or if it is our message board. However, Chris has released a really
nice record under the name Calico entitled
"The Basic Funk EP" (Deep Touch), and it is a monster. Listen
to "Motiv 8," an instrumental deep house head shaker par excellence!
There's something about this track that makes it dope as hell,
maybe it's this deep synth motive, maybe it's the vocal sample
line stating "Motiv 8 You," whatever, but it will hit you. As
Christian told us this song is almost 3 years old, and we're glad
that it finally saw the day of the light. The rest of his great
EP is very versatile, ranging from the deep and Mr. Fingers-like
"Feeling You Inside" to the funky "Glide Path." Check it out,
it might motivate you!
Well, we told you, the summer wasn't that bad. We were also glad
to see another record from Transport out of S.F. appear in local
record stores. The latest one from them is entitled "Summer Spectrum"
(Transport), a collection of songs from DJs Migs
and Rasoul. Judging from the amount of records
those two guys have released in the recent past, they seem to
be either the hardest working house producers at the moment, or
they try to get rid off some of their unreleased tracks! But all
of their stuff is more than worthy, including the tracks on this
EP. To be absolutely honest though, Rasoul's tracks are nice as
usual, but for some reason they sound too predictable and uninspiring.
No offense, they're still great tracks, but they just didn't hit
us the way Rasoul used to do it to us. But there are still the
two versions from DJ Migs' "Sol Patrol" on this record, and boy
they are as hot as Hoffman's extra hot Chilli pepper cheese. Both
versions are soulful and deep, and have this amazing tweaked sample
in it, which freaked us. Ahhh, this is how wildpitchin' should
sound! And while Migs bends the sounds like crazy, you are blessed
with deepest rhythmic house sounds. For us, DJ Migs is the newcomer
of the year when it comes to deep and soulful house!
We keep it deep and move over to some beautiful new stuff from
Ron Trent on his "I Feel The Rhythm" (Prescription).
Paul Johnson plus Chris Brann
& Karl Injex took over the remixes, and took
the original into the deep soul house heaven. Chris and Karl's
'Inner Experience Revision' is just all that, jazzy, deep, sentimental,
moody, spiritual, all of this and even more in one long mesmerizing
remix from true masters in the jazzy deep house universe. In fact,
his IS a masterpiece and another haunting piece of wax we got
during the summer. If you dig deep house, make sure to pick up
this record because it is something very special and unique.
Ever heard of Pascal Vinatier? We neither,
but he put out an incredible EP with 4 songs entitled "Sweet Discovery"
(Weaked). Of course, the name suggest it, he's from France, but
that's pretty much all we know about him - so we don't know if
he has released anything else in the past. But keep an eye on
him, because his record is incredible! Everything starts with
"You're All I Need" and a very soulful house song, very much in
the realm of Basic and Straight Up stuff. Also make sure
to check out "Slave Or Not"! This fading synthesizer is too dope,
if you ask us, and will keep you moving. Again, if we made you
curious, listen to MG's mix, because another song from this EP
called "The Bazar" is featured toward the end. Try to find this
record!
Let's stay in France. Basic, the label which introduced artists
like Next Evidence and Julian
Jabre in the past, sent us a compilation with samples from
upcoming releases. All we can say about the quality is one word:
fuckingoutstanding! Get ready for Julian Jabre's "Let Me Hold
You" and some horniest instrumental deep house. From what we've
heard it sounds like Julian Jabre meets Kid Creole's horn section
during the deep house World Cup. Also on this short compilation
were beautiful tracks from label owners Next Evidence, plus a
track from a group we've never heard of called BRS.
Be on the goddamn lookout for those cats, because the track we've
heard called "Bouncing" will become our next deep house anthem!
We said it somewhere else, Basic is one of the best house labels
right now, and with records like these they might become THE best
in the future.
Once in Europe, why not move over to Germany? Yes, why not! The
first record we want to mention is from the Classen
Collective and is called "Close To Greatness" (JCR). Some
background information: Behind the Classen Collective is, you
guessed it right, Uschi Classen who is featured
on lots of releases from Ashley Beedle. And JCR stands for Jazzanova
Compost Records, a joint venture between the Berlin-based Jazzanova
trio and one of Germany's premiere acid jazz record labels Compost
Records from Southern Germany. Compost Records, for all of
you who don't know, is widely known in Europe for their quality
jazzy records, covering everything from acid jazz through jungle
and electronica to jazz house. So on the paper alone this record
should be awesome. But wait until you hear the result! Finally,
finally, fucking finally (!!!!!) somebody went back to soulful
acid jazz sounds from labels like Boogie Back
(and we even think the 'Original Version' includes a sample from
a Boogie Back release - was it from Naked Funk?) and reminded
us of one of the best times in music history. Oh my God, listen
to the 'Original Mix' and get completely lost in acid jazz meets
house sounds, from the beginning to the end, packed with live
instruments, deepest sounds, flying synths, magnificent breakdowns
and great vocals. This version by itself is a masterpiece, and
if you dig Black Science Orchestra stuff, you better drop everything
and get ready to hunt down this jewel! It doesn't get better than
this. And when you have it, open a Moutin Rothschild (we recommend
the one from '89 with the Berlin wall on the label) and listen
to the 'Who Took Away The Funk Mix.' This keyboard will make your
evening, that's for sure. Bravo Jazzanova and Compost, more like
this!
The other record we want to talk about comes from Berlin, and
contains tracks from a mix CD entitled "Off Limits" (Recreation).
We got the EP which contains three tracks from this CD. The EP
is simply called "Off Limits" (Recreation) as well, and contains
a track from... yes, believe it or not, Basil
Hardhouse from 1991 on Nu Groove Records! Respect respect,
and more respect to the damn person who put this compilation together!
Burrell, Bobby Konders, all those people were on Nu Groove, one
of the best and most progressive labels of all time. So grab this
EP without thinking twice, this is one of the few chances to get
a Nu Groove record nowadays. If you do so, you get another track
from the Jazzanova crew for free, this time from AVDC
+ Jazzanova on the "Off Limit Beat" (Kollektiv/Recreation),
and this track is the bomb if you ask us. Like so many Jazzanova
tracks, this one needs a couple of listening sessions. It starts
with a SOS Band-type of drum loop, you know the one with
all the clicky clacky sound ping effects. But then, deep jazzy
keys come in and soften the light, before a bass starts to do
its thing in the most soulful way. An instrumental killer track,
because it will get deeper and deeper, with more and more vibes
and synths joining in. Oh boy, a unique song from some of the
most creative corners in modern house music history - Jazzanova!
No wonder that this jewel is in MG's mix as well.
We guess it's time for our Flashback Of The Month
September now, right? OK, let's do it. This month we wanna
remind a record which never got the attention it deserved, as
it happened with so many of the records in this category. And
we also chose it because we finally saw "Modulations," you know
the documentary about electronical music. By the way, if you haven't
seen it it's worthy, although we were kind of disappointed about
the coverage of house music, which turned out to be way too short.
But there's one scene which became our favorite part in this movie:
Derrick Carter and DJ Sneak
spinning together at some mysterious rave in Chicago. What a great
scene! In the background you can hear Sneak's "You Can't Hide
From Your Bud," and the movie shows Derrick and Sneak with closed
eyes enjoying the music while spinning. No doubt, Sneak's sample-,
loop- and wildpitch-magic is something special in the house universe,
and we want to remind one of DJ Sneak's best songs called "Different
Shapes And Sizes (In Da Clouds)" (Feverpitch) from 1996 - the
'Da Original Dub' to be more precise! Like so many of his songs
it starts with a pumping drum loop, which then has this funky
sample sneaking in, and then out of nowhere the song breaks loose.
You really have no chance but to dance like crazy - you just can't
hide from your bud. One thing always amazes us about Sneak's music:
although the song goes on for almost 9 minutes while using almost
the same music, you just can't get enough of it! And this particular
song reveals like no other Sneak's magic, which is actually pretty
simple: just use a couple of basic elements like breakdowns, fading
samples and tweaking sound effects in the dopest way you can imagine.
And yes, we love horizons as well, especially when this song is
pumping in our headphones!
OK people, it's time to go, but not without mentioning another
record out of the famous KhaiMar camp. Remember C&M's "Rebirth
Of Soul" which was our No. 1 song of May? Nite Grooves picked
it up, released it together with other material from C&M and called
the entire thing Sound Of Soul presents "The
Uprising E.P." (Nite Grooves). Damn, this EP is really too nice
and kicks off with the song which had us freakin' in May, only
this time in a slightly different mix. But it still has those
Yo Yo Honey killer vibes and Marcel's gorgeous vocals, and it
still reminds us of the element in music which gives us peace:
soul! "Soul is life, and life is our music!" Damn, those lyrics,
Marcel, stop it!! The B-side then takes us deep into a pumping
soul club, with the 'Hard Steppin Dub' of "The Spiritual Groove,"
another must have from C&M, together with the really very nice
'Hades Mix.'
You know what, at the end of this 'House Zone' we have to admit,
this summer wasn't really bad at all. It took some physical distance,
but now we can definitely say that it actually was pretty decent...
We see y'all later, in a record store somewhere between NYC and
SF. Peace, MG & Theory.
Heavy Rotation - October
- Common Nature "Can't You See The Sunshine Through The Rain?"
(Guidance)
- Classen Collective "Close To Greatness" [Original Mix] (JCR)
- Ron Trent "I Feel The Rhythm" [Inner Experience Revision]
(Prescription)
- Aaron Carl "Soldier" [Classic Redemption Vocal] (SFP)
- Sound Of Soul "The Spiritual Groove" [Hard Steppin Dub] (Nite
Grooves)
- Soul Creation presents "Dreams" [Guitar Mix] (Distant Music)
- Calico "Motiv 8" (Deep Touch)
- DJ Migs "Sol Patrol" [Migs Summer Deluxe Mix] (Transport)
- AVDC + Jazzanova "Off Limit Beat" (Recreation)
- Pascal Vinatier "Slave Or Not" (Weaked)
DJ MG & DJ Theory
September 1999
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