Summer is winding down. I spent a lovely week at the beach in August, and since coming back have been out DJing a wedding, some outdoor joints, and another little bar night. Almost feels normal aside from, you know, the raging global pandemic.
Thankfully this month’s haul of music sounds especially good. Let’s hop to it.
Julion De’Angelo – Freedom School D.J. Series Vol 4 – Freedom School 12”
Freedom School’s DJ Series has been great so far, with standout releases by Kaidi Tatham, Eric Lau, and Rick Wilhite. For volume four they turn to Julion De’Angelo, and his music continues its journey into abstraction. For me, this is one of the most exciting records so far in 2021, with his rugged production style and musicality on full display. The opener “Dedicated” is full of raw percussive energy, building over its nearly 12 minutes into a very organic and funky vision of dance music. “Doors (Re)Open” also relies on his off kilter drums, but layers synths and keys into a dense cloud of emotion. Finally, on “Requiem” a halftime beat and mournful pads make for a headnodder of the highest order. It’s really refreshing to hear new music this confident in its ability to use texture and rhythm to craft a distinctive mood. I need more music like this in my life.
NWAQ – Above EP – Last Age 12”
The man formerly known as Newworldaquarium (now shortened to NWAQ, apparently) returns with a new label and some new jams that add nicely to his already considerable catalog. The packaging for this record shows a commendable attention to detail, and it works in tandem with the music to elevate this beyond just another DJ record. The pixelated nature scene of the sleeve is disorienting from the jump, and the yellowed paper inner adds to it, seeming almost impossibly old despite having just cracked the seal on a new 12”. There is seemingly no info on the sleeve, until you glance at the spine which contains the standard artist and title, but also the tracklist and the artwork credits. Then there’s the record itself, a mix of light translucent pink vinyl with veins of darker pink running through. And the label uses purple ink on black paper which is difficult to see at first glance. This all comes together to craft a sense of looking at something through a foggy haze, and as fans of his music know very well, this is right in line with his modus operandi. Here, the music takes on an added edge of aggression, with the big fat kick drum of “Above II” making the swirling pads take on a hint of malevolence. “Above I” is a little less aggro, but there is still a feel of discontent in its synths. On “Dume”, the kick drum adopts a rhythm like a record with straight four on the floor kicks that is skipping. The dubbed out synth that hits periodically and the filtered pads all come together for one of his best tracks. All in all I would call this EP essential listening for any fans of deep dance music or abstract dubby music in general.
Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble – Now – International Anthem LP
I’ve had this one in rotation since it came out digitally earlier this year, and if anything it has grown on me even more before finally dropping on wax recently. This is modern jazz music of the highest order, managing a balancing act of beauty and edge that is so rare. Recorded live during the lockdown summer of 2020, this record eschews perfect recording techniques, instead opting to capture a moment. Banter between members is present between tracks, as well as the very audible sound of cicadas DURING the songs that were one of the side effects of recording outdoors in August. Musically, there is a mix of programmed and live playing that works really well, juxtaposing beautiful soulful and spiritual jazz vocals with drum machines and samples of newscasts and other political dialog. The feeling of the protests after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders at the hands of police echoes throughout, and the band turns tragedy into catharsis.
Salaam Remi Featuring Teedra Moses – “Black Love” Remixes – Louder Than Life Records 12”
Teedra Moses is probably best known by readers of this site for KW Griff’s Baltimore club remix anthem of her “Be Ya Girl”, but here she gets the remix treatment by Spinna and it is also predictably fantastic. The title is “DJ Spinna Galactic Soul Remix” and that really hits the nail on the head, with that futuristic neo-soul house sound he is so good at laid behind Teedra’s vocals. The original songwriting is tight with a hook that kills, and the remix is so smooth that it would be easy to believe this was the intended form from the beginning.
The Lounge Lizards – Detroit Boogie EP – R2 12”
The Lounge Lizards are DJ Kemit and Luke Austin, and though neither are from Detroit they pay it appropriate homage with this strong EP. “Intro to Dance” is a soulful house instrumental of the highest order, with its wobbly chord progression standing out in any set. The rest of the lush instrumentation may be a bit more typical, but it is very well done with the disco guitar licks, strings, and melodic bassline all mixed together to create a no doubt 2021 anthem. On “Real Love”, they strip things down, letting the drums lead, even when the strings come back so triumphantly sounding. Various vocal snippets including some from J Dilla combine with synth arpeggios and a loopy arrangement on “Detroit Hustle”, while “Back In Circulation” dips back into the heavy strings but layered in with chopped samples to again come away with something very distinct. It’s hard to even pick a favorite here, they’re all so good.
Fred P – Unofficial Covers Interpretations – White Label 12”
Fred P is undoubtedly one of the best deep house producers currently working. Like some others who have such distinctive sounds and high numbers of releases, while it is always worth checking out any given record at this point I am only going to buy the absolute stand out releases. This is one of them. I haven’t checked the originals to see exactly what is happening here, but these are supposedly his versions of tracks by fusion legends Return to Forever, Chick Corea, and Weather Report. What I can say with great certainty is that he knocked these out of the park, leaning heavily into organic percussion and wild synth and electric piano flourishes that add a component to these tracks that isn’t usually present in his tracks. “Rumble” gets the full A side and deservedly so: this is up there with some of Ron Trent’s best remixes in terms of high quality house-jazz fusion. Dramatic strings and arrangement make this a surefire peaktime dancefloor bomb, and that’s before the synth solo even comes in. This is one you’re gonna want to let play all the way out. On the flip “La Festiva” is more of a percussion and drums DJ tool, again until the synth solo comes in and sprinkles that extra energy into proceedings. “Havona” opts for a broken beat approach to the drums as well as a live sounding bassline to go with the rest of the jazzed up instrumentation. This one is perhaps the least DJ friendly, but is still dope music and if you’re adventurous, you can make this one work, too. I’m still a bit stunned at just how great this record is.
Teflon Dons – Rudiments EP 25 Year Anniversary – Worldship Music 7”
Nicola Kramer – “All These Times” / “Need To Learn” – Neroli From The Archive 7”
Teflon Dons are known for their sample heavy deep and dubby house/garage cuts, with the Rudiments EP from 96 containing a number of extremely hot jams on it. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of that record, they have dropped this 7” that contains new edits of “You Ain’t Really Down” and “Sun Fist Rising”. Both of these are still killers all these years later, and the pressing more than does them justice. This kind of haunting late nite deepness never goes out of style.
Neroli also take a look back at some older cuts now issued on a 7”, with this release containing Domu produced neo soul jams by Nicola Kramer, originally released on Japanese CD only back in 2007. A similar lesson should also be learned here: if you make soulful music from the heart, it tends to remain vital sounding. And these jams have that kind of energy, continuing to resonate just as they did when they were first made.
Miranda Nicole – “Build A Bridge” – NDATL Muzik 12”
NDATL always brings the heat, and on this 12” they welcome back DJ Beloved and give NJ soulful house don Jihad Muhammad his label debut. The original mix of “Build A Bridge” produced by Kai is present in the form of a radio edit, and it contains all the hallmarks of his usual work with vocalists: sweet instrumentation and understated percussion that really allow Miranda Nicole’s vocals to stand front and center. DJ Beloved turns up the energy with much more driving drums, increasing the dancefloor appeal while maintaining the soul in the keys. Jihad Muhammad opts for a more Afro-Caribbean percussion style with slick string work and organ flourishes. All three versions work about equally well, my only complaint here is that with instrumentals of both remixes, Kai has sold his own original a little short by not including the full length version. Otherwise, it’s another winner on NDATL.
Darryn Jones – Untitled – JustWhatTheWorldNeeds… 12”
Mark Grusane – Untitled – JustWhatTheWorldNeeds… 12”
JustWhatTheWorldNeeds… is a sublabel of Second Hand Records out of NYC dedicated to limited single press runs of edits. They show their taste off nicely by securing releases by Chicago’s own Darryn Jones and Mark Grusane. The label embraces anonymity, featuring labels with zoomed in comic book style artwork and no other identifying information.
Darryn’s edits here don’t quite hit the highs of his own Durty Truth 12” from last year, but they are still fine examples of unusual funky cuts chopped up for dancers. A1 is led by tight drums and a melodic bassline, sounding a bit like an exotic Cymande track. A2 is a heavy disco rhythm that is elevated by the sultry sax laid overtop. On the flip, the B1 is a disco funk style workout with an infectious drum rhythm, while the B2 centers on the chord work and piano solos over more funky drumming. This is one for the deep funk heads for sure.
Mark Grusane goes for a more traditional disco feel, including vocals on the A1 that remind me of Teddy Pendergrass on the many edits of the outro of “The Love I Lost”. The Muzik Box vibe continues with the A2, dramatic strings and electric piano creating a hypnotic launching pad for the vocals that come in all looped up at the very end. Flipping it over we get another big string jam on the B1, while the B2 drops the loopiness, opting instead for keeping the song structure more intact and the result is a lovely space disco jam with sick synth solo. This one is for those who still religiously listen to old Ron Hardy mixes (like I do lol).