These jams are where my mind is residing in early 2018….
Marcellus Pittman “Revenge For Nothing” Unirhythm 12”
Marcellus Pittman “Can’t Forget About You” Unirhythm 12”
It’s been a hot minute since Marcellus dropped a new record, and here come two within a month of each other. The “Revenge For Nothing” jam fits into the minimal Pittman acid banger school, but isn’t really my favorite example of it. The flipside “Red Dogon Star”, however, is total insanity. I first heard this when Theo Parrish dropped it at his Sound Gallery 7 party last September, and it sounded like some strange ass alien funk techno.
For my purposes, the purple record is the overall stronger of the two releases. All three jams here are really lovely, leaning more towards that warm funky end of his style. “Can’t Forget About You” is a nice little groove that relies on electric piano, a nice bassline, and a chopped vocal sample. Nothing groundbreaking in many ways, but the execution is exceptional and the vibes are right. “All Is Love” keeps djs on their toes with the crazy drum edits, while the instrumentation wouldn’t sound out of place on Theo’s Sketches album. “Creepy Crawlers 2” juxtaposes a menacing beat and bass sound with playful and soulful keys. All in all a very strong EP for listening and playing in sets.
Volcov presents Isoul8 “On My Heart (Remixes)” Neroli 12”
Long time ISM readers will not be surprised by the excellence of Kai Alcè’s remixes here, nor the overall quality level of Neroli which is consistently the best European house music label in my opinion. But still, music like this is always a welcome addition to the conversation. “Delvyn’s Groove” mix is the big one here for me, lacing Paul Randolph’s vocals from the original early 00’s Isoul8 track with soulful Rhodes and strings for an instantly anthemic feel that I will be beating to death for a long while. The “KZR Blazed Vocal” is a more lush synthy version, which in a very rare occurrence for me is a second remix also quite likely to get play in addition to the one I prefer. I have zero sympathy for those afraid to drop bad ass vocal cuts in their sets, so the Instrumental of that mix is not even necessary but it’s here if you need it. An old spoken word Isoul8 jam with Osunlade on keys is also included for a little bonus.
Abacus “Basic Amounts” Innermoods 12”
James Duncan “Untitled” Innermoods 12”
Also no stranger to the ISM crew, James Duncan has been keeping that deep Prescription style house vibe alive for over a decade and a half. His previous label Le Systeme had many dope releases before he pulled the plug on it, but now he is back with his new Innermoods label and both of the initial releases fit right in with his aesthetic. The big news here is the return of Austin Bascom aka Abacus, known for releases on some of the best house music labels ever like Prescription, Guidance, Fragile, and more. While his style has been endlessly aped over the years, the original is always gonna be superior and that deep hypnotic soulful vibe is a timeless one done up very classic on “Basic Amounts”. James also brings it on his two tracker, with the inner cut’s strings a testament to simplicity’s effectiveness. It turns out that old dogs don’t need new tricks when they have such deft craftsmanship in their toolboxes.
Q’D’ “Pure Amethyst” Wild Oats 12”
This one is too new to appear on YouTube, so you’ll have to go check out samples here. I’ve generally been really feeling Wild Oats over the past two years or so, both musically and aesthetically. Kyle Hall has really done an excellent job building his label into one that I trust as much as any other label right now. For this record, he debuts a new artist Q’D’ aka Caron Miller from Detroit and it is a very nice first record. It’s all about the A side “Pure” for me, with its arpeggios gently riding a drum machine pulse before lush chords fill out what is a simple but beautiful track. “Amethyst” on the B side goes for a rougher feel and makes for a perfect contrast. Together on the beautiful translucent purple vinyl (and I am not generally a fan of colored vinyl!), this is a really striking record both visually and sonically.
Jason Hogans “Work The Terminals EP” Moods & Grooves 12”
Having first heard Jason’s music on a now nearly twenty year old 12” on Planet E, his return was long overdue and came not a moment too soon. Typically a remix by Andrés would be the highlight of most records, but not this one. It’s a fine example of his style but not as inspired as his previous outings on M&G. On this record the originals shine brightest. “Sue” features the vocals and bass playing of Paul Randolph (low key beasting this set of reviews) on a quirky love song. The title track “Work The Terminals” is clearly a modern twist on that late 90s early 00s Planet E sound that I honestly can’t get enough of. Straight machine funk house music of the highest order. In fact, both originals would work well in a mix with Recloose’s Cardiology LP, which is some of the highest praise I can give to new music. I can only assume that people are sleeping on this record since it’s not on YouTube, but since you read this now you have zero excuse.