House Reviews
by Brent Crampton
photo by Tony Bonacci

Fresh from the shores of South Beach, everyone producer and their respective momma’s have saved all their tender loving worth in solid tracks for this time. Lest I say that in shadow of the Winter Music Conference, there are so many quality tracks out right now that I took out a small business loan to keep up with the lot?

Here’s what’s moving the soul-shakers currently . . .

Kenny Knight - Back to the island - Coastline
The label runner, Kenny Knight, gets from behind the desk and dives into the studio to put out this two-tracker. The original cut is aiming at the dancefloor, fulfilling all the necessary check marks to get you moving: funky guitar, catchy piano line, forward-pushing bass line and trumpet stabs. The sampling of some British documentary about house-music/rave culture was a bit unexpected, but definitely fit right in with the airy Deeper Journey Dub that Knight composed. The dub is what I felt the most. With it's smooth percussion, bass line and melodies, this is a sure set early morning summer stomper. Sampling a sax line that's reminiscent of an early Aphrodite set, the track has an overall cool and refreshing tone that is sure to please.

SUMO feat. Clarisse Muvemba - Nini - Heya
Garnering an EP of some fine Swedish afro beat cuts slated for SUMO's forthcoming album release, if this release is a sign of what's to come - buy, buy, buy the album! The vocalis in this track, Clarisse Muvemba is can sing in the language of Lingala, which is spoken in Kongo. Pair this Swedish soul singer with SUMO, and you got a fire fledged four tracker with complimentary acapella. The original is your typical guitar-hooked, swank female lyrical afro vocals and trumpeted disco hits. The Claude Monnet remix is a bit dark and totally a disco drum roller. The instrumental fills in what you'd expect. The shining star of the release, though, is Bo ningisa, which means "shake it" in Lingala. Starting out with a pitter-pattering drum roll, a tribal chant repeats until it summons a UK Garage-like base line making this afro-stomper an original tuff track.

V/A - King Street/Nite Grooves WMC 06 Sampler
If you haven't caught the Traxsource.com dowloading tidal wave yet, grab your board, hit the surf and ride those rhythms of compressed audio. With lots of promo cuts available up to a month before it's commercial release, Traxsource.com has become a bragging right on the weekend amongst DJs. This particular EP from King Street and Nite Grooves is an exclusive Traxsource release, geared toward the WMC'er. Loads of gold packed into this $7.98 320 kbps package. Mr. V does a tingy vocal job on house music's most sampled line - Beat that bitch with a bat. With a Louie Vega remix on Johnny Dangerous' work, this New York-angled deep house hip-hop hustler is too good to turn down. Another Johnny track is in the lot with Emerald City perversing a Doc Martin remix. Displaying dub appeals on the spacey bassline, the vocal line, "Just as long as I got you - I got enough" doesn't drop until the track is past the halfway mark - I love that. Formerly of Dubtribe Sound System, Sunshine Jones does a dark and wide track along with a Quentin Harris remix of Joi Cardwell's What it feels like, and just one more remix of the classic Wonderful Place by Blaze. Oh, let's not forget the tribal drums with a house beat provided by the Louie Vega remix of Latin Ritual. Lovely package, indeed.

Jaime Lewis feat. Michelle Weeks - Be Thankful (Jazz-N-Groove Mixes) - Purple Music
Even though this came out in mid-February, I accidentally slept on this. Don't do the same. I often hear the gospel-esque house numbers and pass because of the cheesyness. But Brian Tappert and Marc Pomeroy really did a number on this track that made a big roar at last years WMC. Peak hour work with a twisted little melody that's infectious beyond belief.

Franck Roger - We Walk To Dance - Seasons
Slated to come out late April, Franck Roger's is amongst a new wave of soulful producers that are changing the name of the game. This release does not disappoint for the reputation he has put together. With that typical deep, quirky and soulful style, the gem of the four-tracker is the final touch mix. With spacey melodies and chords, the celestial feel is enough to make you want to get lost on a coastal highway.

KM - Afrikarina - Look At You
Four tracks along the lines of that afro-house style that erupted in '94. I'll cut to the chase and say that the release would have been passed up if it were not for the Nathan G Elektra-Soul mix. With a tender and tuff feel, the bassline resembles current Miguel Migs, samples the Chemical Brothers line, "It began in Africa," and has floating flutes. You can't go wrong with contrast in a track, and this one has plenty of it.

95 North - Do You Really Want It? - Large
Another promo I grabbed off of Traxsource, there is no released date announced fro this one yet. This one's all deep and sexy with a female vox saying, "Do you really want it - get back to love." Piano solo's jump in there, a light percussion with the marching drum and crescendoing rises. Tastey number!

Chuck Love - Spread The Love - Salted
Chuck Love - a man of Minneapolis mystery. Who would have thought that the next guy set to blow up on OM records would be nestled in the Twin-Cities. But he's there, playing live instruments at hip places such as The Lounge in Minneapolis, alongside DJs. With a nasty electro-lined bass, the cool keys and vocals make the track have a slight poppiness to them, but walks the line of key musicianship, which makes me forgive the former. Be sure to keep your eye on this guy. He's sure to be the next Kaskade, only with good tracks.