THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY #6

Music

Like a good squad of nordic fisherman, R$N trawl through the bulging promo MP3 inbox and bring today’s catches straight to your plate. This week we’re talking vintage house, scary Hawaiians and a load of old boingy codswallop….

The Good

Damon Martin – That Ain't Right. Disco Bloodbath Recordings 7 July

The empire that is Disco Bloodbath launch their record label with a nice slab of classic house, utlising the 909 and the Juno 60 up against a well pitched vocal sample. It’s not rocket science, but it pushes all the right vintage Chicago buttons. The remixes stand up too, particularly the Legendary Children mix which brings the Acid. Definitely a label to keep an eye on. Good.

The Bad (apart from redeeming FHR Deepa mix)

Wafa – Abandon Me. Atalantic Jaxx ,11^th June

If you’re going to sample Love Don’t Live Here Anymore by Rose Royce, then you’d better do something worthwhile with it, because, Wafa, it’s been done before. If you’re just going to stick it on top of a load of horrid digital poinging, that doesn’t quite cut it. What you want to do is what the FHR deepa mix does, and actually create something that sounds quite good independently of the sample, in this case a bubbly, moody atmospheric soundscape with a nice complex rhythmic approach. Basement Jaxx and Crookers, who turn in the other two duff remixes on the release should know better. Bad.

The Ugly (In a good, frightening way):

Sassafras – The Underworld. Indigo Raw Records 5 July

Mad Hawaiian woman talks sexually and threateningly about the dark side of night world over slowed down moody house rhythms, eerie minor chords, dub fx and spooky electronic flourishes. What’s not to like? The Barcelona based collective who make up Sassafras sound like they’ve seen the 80s Grace Jones film Vamp one too many times. If you’ve ever found yourself lost and alone in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter in the early hours of the morning after doing too much ridiculously strong Spanish MDMA at Sonar, then this track might well strike a frightening chord. Ugly.