Jozif: Sunrise EP
InFiné

InFiné has been issuing some top-of-the-line material in recent months—Clara Moto's Polyamour and Francesco Tristano's Idiosynkrasia come to mind—and Jozif Goodwin's Sunrise EP keeps the label's batting average high. The fabulous four-cut outing by the London-based DJ and producer spreads thirty-three minutes of club-ready artistry across two vinyl sides.

The aptly titled title track awakens rather unassumingly with a trippy string motif, piano tinkles, and thumping pulse slowly taking the stage, but the tune really kicks into gear when a bubbly bass joins the fray and the jacking groove tightens. It's one of those tracks that deliciously grows in intensity as each moment passes until the expected late-inning breakdown occurs, forcing the bass to build it back up again until it slams even more forcefully. Though “Suddenly Somethin'” bursts from the gate with a plodding, hard-hitting beat pattern, funky guitar playing, and an anthemic melody, the track again plunges deeper once the intro's set the mood. The theme chimes insistently throughout until it's all but drowned in the euphoric pitch that sets in at the four-minute mark. Speaking of submersive, “Natural Nature” digs into its low-end jack with serious purpose. During a breakdown, female voices emerge unexpectedly—one swirling dizzyingly—before the groove roars back in even more thunderously. A live-sounding drum beat gives the closing track, “Cathy's Diamonds,” a powerful thrust, an attack strengthened, first of all, by the addition of bells, shakers, and claps and, secondly, by the funky bass line and the sinuous disco strings that join in soon after. The word solid hardly does the EP justice.

December 2010