Forever Living Originals

2019

hese Sault records, that have been seemingly propagating like rabbits in the past two years, are full of short, almost skit-like tracks that don’t really hold up as stand-alone songs, but I’m finding them useful as intros and bridges in my mixes. This tune never really gets out of the gate, but rather stays in a JB’s-esque breakdown vamp that provides a background groove for the lead singer to preach over. Since it sounded like an intro, I used it as an intro. But as I mentioned in another one of these mix write-ups, you owe it to yourself to check out these Sault LPs, as they are really doing something unique, and more importantly, something desperately needed in these trying times.

Poetry In Motion

2020

Helsinki native Roberto Rodriguez always delivers very solid deep house that is equal parts Chicago and Helsinki and Berlin. This joint has a slight Mr Fingers meets Henrik Schwarz vibe that seemed like a good way to get back into a house groove after all these months. This came out in July on the Spanish imprint Poetry In Motion.

Full Pupp

2020

This track is being used here as a bit of a transitional element, getting us from A to B. I just discovered this dude Ivaylo. He came up in the Bulgarian Drum N Bass scene before settling in Oslo, Norway, where he holds down a residency at Oslo’s Jaeger Club, and runs his own label Bogota. 

Foundation Music

2021

John Holiday aka Johnny Dangerous aka The Foremost Poets has come a long way since his seminal “I Beat That Bitch With A Bat” days of the early 90s. Here, he constructs a Jazzy backdrop for LA vocalist Lady Blackbird aka Marley Munroe to do a pretty solid version of Nina Simone’s dark and profoundly powerful “Blackbird”, which first appeared on her “Nina Simone With Strings” LP in 1966.

Keinemusik

2020

A techy and somewhat minimal track from Gregor Sütterlin aka Rampa, A Berlin DJ & producer who co-founded the dope Keinemusik label.

Heist Recordings

2020

The influence of Moodymann on the evolution of house music cannot be overstated, and this track from Glasgow DJ Tiptoes is a prime example of near perfect mimicry. Some people might call this “boompty house”, a term Derrick Carter coined way back when (that I have always found rather silly...). Just call it Moodymann-type-shit, and move on.

Epic

1992

In full disclosure, I went back and re-recorded this mix 3 times, because it just wasn’t quite doing it for me yet. On the last round, I decided what it needed was some classic 90s and early 2000s tracks to round it out, and I had never put this Lil Louis classic from 1992 on a mix, so voila! Walk into any house club in NY in 1992 and the DJ was playing this, or something very much like it.

KMS

1992

And by something very much like it, I mean this other classic from Chez Damier from the very same year, which immediately makes me think of the Nell’s basement on 14th street. How about you?

NKDLTD

2018

More techy, synthy smoothess with a distinct British vibe, thanks to a heavy-accented vocal snippet and the concerted efforts of DJ/Producer Breach aka Bristol’s Ben Westbeech. You may remember Ben from his classic vocal track “I feel So Good Today”, which is 14 years old, if you can believe it. You can peep that on my mix REACH UP which I guess must be 14 years old too. Holy shit

Keinemusik

2014

More minimalist freakiness from Berlin’s Rampa.

King Street

2012

Some vocal loveliness from Tuccillo & Kiko Navarro feat. Amor. This came out in 2012 on King Street, and you can hear the slower, Latin vibes version of this on a mix I made for an Italian road trip entitled "Umbriastic".

Character

2014

Swiss DJ/Producer Deetron never disappoints, creating stripped-down techy beats that blend Deep House and Detroit Techno in the same seamless way Vince Watson does. This appears on his Theory of Light EP and has some long, ravey build-ups that any dancefloor can appreciate.

Kanté

2020

The longer I am away from nightclubs (due to Covid), the harder it is for me to connect with house vocals. I can browse DJ sites all day and come up with nothing. But this joint from Daniel Rateuke & French/Senegalese singer Awen stood out above the fray.

Nite Grooves

2020

King Street Sounds sister label Nitegrooves has really flown the flag for the Afro-house genre going all the way back to their Abstract Afro Lounge series that launched in 1998. I copped this track on the recently released Abstract Afro Vibes Vol 6, which is chock full of bangers, new and old.

DopeLab Recordings

2020

Some South African vibes courtesy of DJ/Producer Ed-Ward, who has been putting in work in Sasolburg since the early 2010s. This track is pretty consistent with a lot of the house music coming out of South Africa these days: techy, under 120bpm, and with long droney synths over the whole track.

Tribal America

1994

Another 90s tune I dig up the 3rd time I re-recorded this mix. I would argue at least some of the DNA of the current South African house sound can be detected in 90s American Tribal records like this. DJs like Danny Tenaglia really put this genre on the map. By the early 2000s, most of the Tribal stuff sounded way too formulaic for me, but in these earlier, mid-90s days, most house DJs I know were buying it alongside the more soulful, vocal house coming out of NYC.

Diynamic Music

2014

I have a weird soft spot for these kind of big roomy, tech house records. Most likely because of my love for dudes like Ame and Dixon, who had infiltrated the crates of a lot of us NY DJs somewhere around 2006 or so. Tracks like this rarely “go anywhere”, but they really fill out a sound system nicely, and make good backdrops for SFX and vocal overdubs - like the classic Loleatta recording I ran over the top of this.

Minimal 

1987

The Fairy Godmother of every house diva on earth, recorded live at Better Days in 1985 by NY legend Bruce Forest.

Sony Soho Square

1993

Just a taste of this old Jamiroquai acapella, from their 1993 debut album of the same name. Like The Brand New heavies, I always preferred their live band recordings to their remixes.

Nite Grooves

2009

A 2009 Groove Assassin organ banger that may or may not have been an attempt at replicating the energy of K-Scope’s “Latin Blues”.

Quantize Recordings

2017

My mans Sam Hyde dropped this gem on me out of nowhere and it was a perfect vocal compliment to break up all this afro house and tech house in this mix. This came out in 2017, with Daveyton, South Africa vocalist Dimakatso Rosinah Mashiane aka Dindy doing a lovely (and somewhat Jill Scott-ish) lilt on the track.

Space Kat

2004

A Shelter staple I hadn’t heard in way too long, from my man Quentin Harris and Cordell McClary. I got to play a few BKNY parties with Quentin and he always brought the ruckus.

Dopewax

2019

A really bouncy beatdown of a Francis Overcast track from NYC legend Kenny Dope. Has a weird distortion thing with the bass that is clearly intentional. Either way, it keeps the party moving.

Psssh Records

2020

I don’t even know what to call this. Left field funk? Weirdo House? Whatever it is, I dig it. Dauwd is a US-born, UK-based producer that released his debut album, Theory of Colors, last year on the Technicolour label. It reminds me a bit of some of that random Pepe Braddock stuff that used to come out in the early 2000s.

Pets Recordings

2019

Moving onward from straight house, this Black Loops track from 2019 mixes 2-step dum patterns with 90s house sonics and the result is groovy af.

FAMM

2017

Speaking of 2-Step, British R&B songstress Jorja Smith released this banger in 2017 and I’ve been meaning to work it into a mix for quite some time. Love her schmoove 90s phrasing and her laid back, high-grade energy.

Everysoul

2019

Some dope, techy house from our man in Glasgow, Vince Watson. As always, he rules.

Yoruba Records

2015

I think I put this on another mix or two about 10 years ago, but this is Jimpster doing what he does best. A minimal track that just hums along and gets out of the way of whatever sparse vocals come in and out.

Yoshitoshi Recordings

2019

By now you will have likely noticed that I’d been teasing this remix throughout this entire mix. It’s just a slightly beefier version of the Eddie Amador original, with a slightly different chop-up of the spoken word. And if you didn’t know the original Exodus track, get yourself edu-macated.

Third Ear Recordings

2009

A quick throwback, loopy vibe from Peckham youngblood, Wbeeza aka Warren Brown. This came out in 2009, so maybe he’s not quite so young anymore, but who’s counting?

Vehicle

2018

Kerri Chandler was the first DJ to slap a house beat under this Nina Simone classic, back in 1997. This latest remix puts more percussion and some kalimba in the mix.

Sound Signature

2019

Detroit OG Theo Parrish released this wonderful song in the Fall of 2019. I love the message and I love the way the song slowly deconstructs and reconstructs with this weird, push-and-pull energy. Nothing quite like it. R&B nerds may know vocalist Maurissa Rose from her duet with Kem on the LP version of his “If It’s Love” in 2010. She does her thing all over this track.