EP Review: The Game EP - Lars Vegas

The garage revival seems to be going from strength to strength of late, with seemingly an ever growing number of DJs bashing out numbers influenced by the best bits of the 90s sound and steering well clear of the dross.

This new EP from Lars Dales operating under his brand new Lars Vegas moniker comes on the Large Music label and definitely takes its cue from the (original) US form of Garage that came out of New York's Paradise Garage.

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The Game EP - Lars Vegas

This title track has more than a hint of early Masters At Work in the slightly tinny soul vocals with cut-up sample sections and skippy drum beats. It really captures the spirit of some of those old garage records - the kind of record you can imagine kids dancing to as their sneakers squeak across the floorboards, treble-heavy production and cymbal crashes filling the room.

The other original track on this release, Break Me Down, is more spectral, complete with looped string-synths and liquid-like keys. It references similar material but has just a tiny bit more of a deep house sound and a more chilled-out feel. The EP is rounded off with a remix of Break Me Down from duo Homework, who stay faithful to the deep house stylings of the original track but give it more of an upfront edge, transporting the retro sounds for a more up-to-date arena.

The Game EP is out on 25 March through Large Music.​

EP Review: It's Fun You Know - Rework

Having had five years off prior to its release I'd half expected Rework's Werewolf EP last year to be one off, or at least for a couple of years to pass before we heard anything else from our enigmatic trio. And yet here we are, just half a year later, with some new material.

What's more, whilst Werewolf came out on Parisien label Meant this new release, It's Fun You Know, comes on Rework's own label Loveyeah. Loveyeah is set to be a label for like minded artists but to usher it into the world Rework have understandably chosen to put out some of their own material.

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​It's Fun You Know - Rework

The It's Fun You Know EP features three original tracks and opens with the title track. That track treads a line that will be familiar to fans of Rework but it's still noticeably distanced from the analogue aggression of Werewolf, with It's Fun You Know consisting of a hypnotic techno soundscape. Vocal clips are blended into a mechanical, atmospheric mix full of reverb and a tightly looped bass line.

Thrill Me is a little more extroverted, snappy bass, lose drums and high hats whilst Rework's trademark approach sees vocals worked deep into the mix - it's both funky and understated to the point of being aloof.

The last of the original tracks is The Sign, a locked down bass groove that delivers slightly scratchy drum kicks and very little else. Rework's productions are full of cool touches - the sound of those drums perfect, the slight analogue vinyl crackle almost inaudible - yet I'd be the first to admit that it's not exactly accessible, and this is the trio tacking that to extremes.

A little more easy to get into is Jeans Team's version of Werewolf, which closes out the EP. They add a series of hollow drum sounds and strip back the synth groove a bit whilst pushing the vocals up high in the mix. The result retains that Eurotrash cool but gives it a more ambient, open feel. Some ridiculous vocal synths complete the look, creating a track that feels like it would have been as at home in 1986 as now. With slick analogue synths and lots of echo, it's not exactly fucking pretty, but it's pretty fucking cool.

It's Fun You Know is out now on Loveyeah, listen via Spotify below:​

EP Review: Tahiti Love EP - Phil Gerus

Another slice of winning alternative electronic melodies courtesy of DhARMA, this time from latest signing, classically trained musician Phil Gerus.

Phil Gerus' Tahiti Love EP is a trippy kind of love. Filled with loops and dubs and chill wave shoe gazing, it's both melodic and textural.

The title track rides heavy, looped hip-hop sounding drums whilst sunny eighties synths slice back and forth. The opening section, roughly a minute-and-a-half long, is perched halfway between one thing and the other. It's only when the melodic keys come through that the track feels at ease, a glimpsed slice of paradise sandwiched between smart urbane cool.

Second track Have To Say Goodbye is thick and slow like treacle, caramelized bass poured over the vocals, smothering them in opaque, cloudy dreams. It's the sound of being incommunicado - voices held at bay through the sheer density of the substance surrounding them. It's an explanation of departure that feels like it never quite got through.

Polpette provides a dreamy remix of Have To Say Goodbye to close the EP. It's considerably less thick, but punctuated with shuffling, fuzzy percussion and staccato melodies that maintain the theme but acts as a counterpoint to the slower origin.

​The Tahiti Love EP is out on 15 March through DhARMA, check it out via Soundcloud below:

EP Review: Booty Jazz EP - Jupiter Jazz

short clip of Maceo Plex & Danny Daze aka JUPITER JAZZ show you how to really ride a scooter, gangsta style! "Shake It Mama" by Jupiter Jazz - Ellum

This new EP from Jupiter Jazz should come with a health warning: it's more than just a little bit sick. Coming on Maceo Plex's Ellum, Jupiter Jazz are actually Danny Daze and Maceo Plex himself and this EP appears to be a tribute to the seedier side of nightclubbing.

Booty Jazz is a bit of a change of tactic for Maceo Plex - this EP has a heavy, funky vibe that feels a long way for the heady, tech-filtered elastic-house he has been focusing on recently. In places it's as inspired by electro as house.

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​Booty Jazz EP - Jupiter Jazz

Opener Shake It Mama lays down slabs of grimy thick bass and 808s whilst mixing in samples from Zapp's 1980 electro-funk classic More Bounce To The Ounce. It's a rude, upfront electro record that boasts a cocky simplicity that doesn't leave even when the sample drops back, leaving an instrumental final-third of raw groove.

Technology is more introverted, a smooth techno-ride with hushed vocals that give way to some wild bass and synth melodies. It's cool, sensual and minimal to the rough stuff of the EP's opener.

Final track Good Girl is dark and sleazy - the most sexually depraved sounding track since Matthew Dear's excellent You Put A Smell On Me. More hard 808s give the rhythm a Planet Rock feel but with plenty of hi-hats, whilst spaced out synths play out a dreamy, seductive melody.

Maceo Plex has been knocking out releases at quite a rate recently but this is certainly one of his best in a while. The dark, seedy sound of this Danny Daze collaboration suiting his trademark production style. More please.

​The Booty Jazz EP is out now on Ellum Audio.

EP Review: Lady Is Trouble EP - Tom Budden & Forrest

Lady Is Trouble is the latest release from Audiojack's Gruuv label and it comes with two separate tracks - one by Tom Budden and Forrest together and the other a solo offering from just Tom.

The title track, featuring Forrest, is a swaying tech-house track with falsetto vocals telling tales of relationship dissatisfaction. It's is backed with ambient pads and some loose hi-hats, giving the track an easy yet clean sound.

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Lady is Trouble EP - Tom Budden & Forrest

Two remixes of Lady Is Trouble feature. Coat of Arms apply a stuttering garage transformation, amping up the main melody through the use of rhythmic stabs. House legends X-press 2 provide the other remix, keeping it simple with the application of a chunky bass line and a sprinkling of Rhodes that lets the vocal fill the remaining space.

Budden's other original track on the EP, Falling, is a deeper, echoey track full of pitched down vocals and overdubbing. There's less of a house feel than on Lady Is Trouble, and instead the track focuses on a dark groove. This time the remix comes from OOFT!, who gives it more of a basement vibe with lots of treble-heavy drum loops and a bigger melody.

Lady Is Trouble is released today through Gruuv, grab it on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link].​