House Music Circles: May

House Music Circles: May

29 May, 2009 | 1.09PM

• Written by: Mazi Namvar
• Filed under: Music News: audio soul project, fresh meat records, house music circles

Three weeks ago I met Beatportal’s Terry Church in Chicago. After enjoying enough vodka and tequila to kill a medium sized animal we came up with the idea for me to do a monthly Beatpotal blog where I’d write about house music trends and tracks that excite me.

Because I’ve been involved in the house scene for over 18 years I thought it would be cool if I tied hot new tracks to older music that they might relate to. I want to connect the present to the past by illustrating patterns in house music and tracing circles of style and creativity. That’s where we got the name House Music Circles.

So, here’s my thoughts on house music this month.

House Music Circles: May

I’ll make it plain: I love the direction underground house music has taken lately! The back to roots, thick, chunky vibe that permeates the air these days brings me joy.

Labels like Cecille, Tsuba, Oslo, Dessous, Hypercolour, Supernature, Moon Harbour and my own humble Fresh Meat Records are bringing into fashion a hybrid style of deep house that borrows from the past while utilizing a wide range of modern techniques.

For example, you might think Nick Curly’s remix for Co.Lab, Diesel, and Spencer Parker’s ’Zanzibar’ on Saved has a bassline right out of the classic track ‘Throw’ by Paperclip People aka Carl Craig. But the approach taken in both tracks is starkly different.

Carl Craig’s production was a freeform arrangement like a live recording while Curly’s remix is surgically focused, concise and sonically bombastic. I can’t be sure but the kind of multi-channel compression I imagine Gorge and Nick Curly use to achieve their sound wasn’t widely available in 1994 when Carl Craig wrote his hit.

One of my favorite new acts are British newcomers Bearweasel. Their soon to drop remix for Kenny Glasgow’s ‘Logan’s Run’ on No19 Music sounds inspired by West coast dub-house ala Siesta and Grayhound Recordings.

Their ‘Duck Hunt EP’ on Supernature sounds influenced by Low Pressings releases from the late 90s.

The difference is that Bearweasel’s music steeps heavily into modern automation techniques that just weren’t as refined 10 or more years ago.

Listen carefully to a track like ‘Superhero’ from the ‘Duck Hunt EP’ and you’ll notice subtle changes in the levels of separate parts and the effects are constantly modulating - this kind of real time control can be easily written in modern sequencers (like Ableton Live) using automation curves. It was possible but much more difficult to do this in the past and not nearly as delibirate as one can be today.

Another example of someone using old school raw materials in a novel way is Dylan Hermelijn’s 2000 And One concept. Of course he’s been producing for a long time but I think his latest productions epitomize the current fasion.

His ‘Heritage’ full length just teems over with recognizable samples and the atmosphere of house music’s past, but like early 80’s producers who took what they needed from disco making it theirs, 2000 And One takes a 90’s aesthetic and irons it out for a modern audience raised on minimal techno.

The hugely successful ‘Spanish Fly’ borrows from old Josh Wink and Lil Louis productions like ‘I’m Ready’ (under Wink’s Size 9 pseudonym) or ‘French Kiss’, but whereas the old school guys layered there tracks to the point of explosion utilizing long drawn out arrangements, the newer 2000 And One productions are elegant and economic, a result of hindsight. Every element of the track will essentially appeal to a heard-it-all-before audience. It’s nostalgic house for a well educated crowd.

Of course there isn’t just one or two people taking part in this ‘revival’; the movement is full blown. Brilliant young producers like Detroit native Kris Wadsworth are rewriting the rules. His future classic ‘Mainline’ forthcoming on Hypercolour is basically a stripped back 909 rhythm layered with a haunting female vocal and a single note bass line - the song has a kind of raw energy that’s pure magic. The tune makes dancers close their eyes while putting their hands in the air. Of course it’s full of influences from his hometown but I don’t think anyone other than Kris could have written this track. 

Two other brilliant ‘new jacks’ are Nils Nurnberg and Florian Kruse. In various personnel configurations these two have updated the lovely 90’s chord heavy house sound for today’s club goers. The familiar vocals stabs, syncopated lo-fi beats, bumpin’ subsonic basslines and skippy keyboard stabs are all there - now though the tracks have crushing breakdowns, searing sound effects and a sonic fidelity that few of the older specimens could compete with.

Back in the day, unless you were Roger S, Joey Negro or Francois K you couldn’t come up with the acoustic range and level of detail these younger producers are now creating in their bedrooms. Wiretappeur is an upcoming collaboration between Nils, Florian and fellow audio adventurer Stel Vassiloudis of Dieb Audio, and one certainly to look out for.

Another wave in underground house right now is the ethnic sound. Blatant Afro and Latin loops with effects and voices are hotter than hot. Cuts like Federico Locchi’s ‘Caramella’ and Basti Grub’s ‘El Gitarro’ are unabashedly native, drenched with guitar and piano square cadences flowing over heavy percussion and live sounding basslines.

Mihalis Safras, Martinez and now even producers like Jim Rivers and Worthy are all churning out their own brand of bassy, percussion intensive house.

The appeal is understandable - booming reverberated drums, warm bass lines, bouncing pianos and chants tailored for high powered soundsystems and dark rooms. The trend reminds me of early productions by people like Murk or Basement Jaxx and specifically of Todd Terry’s timeless ‘Sume Sigh Say’ - what a monster that was!

There’s much more going on of course. The connections between house music’s future and past are constantly mutating; it’s the exact reason why more than 20 years on I’m still as excited about this music as the day I first heard it!

About Mazi Namvar aka Audio Soul Project

A prolific producer, remixer and DJ, Chicago resident Mazi Namvar’s name has appeared on over 200 records in the 15 years, under a number of pseudonyms including Audio Soul Project.

A DJ for 18 years, Mazi has played at clubs like Fabric in London, Crystal in Istanbul, Q in Zürich, Avalon in Los Angeles, Masai in Varna, Level in Bahrain, Red Light in Paris and Simoon in Tokyo.

He continually works on remixes, and his recent credits include Marc Romboy and Tyree Cooper’s ‘Lost’ on Josh Wink’s Ovum Recordings, Nick and Danny Chatelain’s ‘Sube Conmigo’ on NRK, AlexKid & Chloe’s ‘Afterblaster’ on Brique Rouge, Alexander Maier’s ‘Sahara Rain’ on Mood Music, Cates & dpL’s ‘Through the Weekend’ on OM Records, Chaim’s ‘C Factor’ on Missive Recordings, Sandrino & Adryan’s ‘Solar Wind’ on Fresh Meat and Nosmo v Kris B & Ben Brown’s ‘La Cocina’ which was licensed to Darren Emerson’s ‘Bogotá GU36’ DJ mix; the latest in the Global Underground series.

Currently most of his original music appears on Fresh Meat Records which he co-owns with partner Nathan Drew Larsen. Other recent productions have appeared on Systematic, Dessous Recordings, Circle Music and SAW Recordings. 

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