VA: Detroit: DeepConstructed
Soiree Records International

It goes without saying that Detroit is the obvious common thread running through this latest EP from the always excellent Soiree Records International imprint. The point is still worth making, however, if only to emphasize the fundamental vibe shared by the four tracks from Drivetrain (label overseer Derrick Thompson), Dorian Gig, Dwayne Jensen, and Malik Alston.

The EP takes flight with Drivetrain's “Driven,” in which creamy synthetic pads swell into a gloriously harmonious swoon, their luscious presence offset by the insistent thrust of a crisp and slightly acidy low-end groove. Even creamier is Gig's ultra-languorous “The James Herbert Theory,” which blossoms in its opening moments when thick chords unfurl amidst rich percussive flourishes, a flanged hi-hat among them. Gig's is one purposefully designed for the space lounge where gravity-free dancers groove in slow-motion to the tune's half-time funk. Jensen's “I See The Sun Light” underlays echoplexed vocal chants (the producer's late-night musings) with an aggressive, swing-time house pulse to hypnotic effect. Alston's aptly titled “Dance Jazz” displaces the EP's firm house focus into a bold jazz-inflected realm via wild piano and tenor sax soloing without wholly losing the track's root house feel in the process. Though the label's pitching Detroit: DeepConstructed as the first installment in a presumed series, the EP's sound carries on the fine tradition established by the label's previous releases.

June 2011