Weekend Weapons: Droog

Weekend Weapons: Droog

23 September, 2011 | 5.16AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: crosstown rebels, culprit, droog, weekend weapons

The Los Angeles trio Droog—Andrei Osyka, Brett Griffin, and Justin Sloe—is well known for throwing some of the city’s best parties for house and techno, whether via their Avalon residency or their Culprit Sessions on the rooftop of the Standard Hotel. After dipping their toes into the waters of production via tracks for Supernature, Noice!, and their own Culprit label, this month they stepped forward with their biggest release yet: the ”Westbound” EP, a collaboration with Nottingham-born, Munich-based Inxec, for Crosstown Rebels.

In two weeks, Culprit will release Above the City, its first full-length compilation, featuring cuts from Anthony Collins, Death on the Balcony, and Lee Curtiss & Seth Troxler, among others. We asked the Droog crew to tip us to some of their favorite records at the moment; read on for their selections.

Inxec vs Droog, “Unhinged” [Crosstown Rebels]

Off our debut release for what is, surely, one of the most consistently high quality labels around. Unhinged was the first track we did with Chris Sylvester aka Inxec – one day in a studio together and it just flowed naturally. We specifically wanted to stay away from the deep house/disco sounds and went for the brooding, darker, slow-burning vibe, but with some soul. When the vocal drops in this one, it’s game over. I think Damian Lazarus has played this one at just about every one of his gigs this year – and so have we.

Shonky, “Oasis” [Culprit]

Our own label’s track of the summer, “Oasis” is that rare track where an established producer’s sound and a label’s sound meet perfectly. Shonky has been a friend and a supporter for many years now, and when he sent this nugget to us last year, it totally clicked. Has a real warm summer feel to it but with some real punch and energy.

Kiki & Lenz, “Morning Maniacs” [Bpitch Control]

This one came out earlier in the year, to our shame—we slept on it at first. Now, with a nice Kate Simko edit, it’s been on our short playlist all summer – and will continue to be! This is simple repetitive dance music at its very best – great funky bassline, drums with real swing to them and that vocal bit – aces!

Larse, “For Real” [Noir Music]

Sweet bassline! When it drops first time, you can’t resist it. The rest of the track wisely stays out of the way of the bass hook and gets the job done on the dance floor. Larse has been doing good things this year.

Lee Curtiss & Seth Troxler, “Spending Time” [Culprit]

This track from the Culprit vault is a bit special to us – Lee and Seth gave it to us a while back when were just getting the label on its feet. They had faith in us and did something that fits our vibe to a tee. Now we finally have the proper context to release this jam, as part of the compilation called “Above The City” that’s out in two weeks.

Harkin & Rainey, “Workin & Steamin” [Throne of Blood]

One of our favorite up-and-coming US labels right now, New York’s Throne of Blood, has been on it with quality music lately. This one is a hypnototic killer groove with one of the best vocals around, works every time.

Mario Basanov, “Just Think About It (Dub)” [Under The Shade]

Lovely groover, fills the space nicely between head-nodding and getting down.

Mondo, “Work Me” [Deeply Rooted House]

There’re a lot of fake acid house tracks out right now, this isn’t one of them. Mondo tickles the 303 just enough to leave you wanting more

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