Rick Wade: Night Tactics
Yore

Rick Wade's second Yore 12-inch, Night Tactics, offers four more polished samplings of classic funk-soul by the Michigan-born, Detroit House legend. The slamming disco groove in the opener “Lostarts” provides a rock-solid base for a pumping bass line and Rhodes chords, while congas add Latin swing to the surging, string-laden techno of “Theory of a Varice.” Ululating voices bring appropriately exotic flavour to “World Voice” but it's the grooving pulse that stomps throughout that is its most beautiful detail. “Vanguard Cinema” is the wild card here, a skanky shuffler chased by a reggae guitar riff that still manages to squeeze in hints of Wade's trademark warmth and soul. While clearly smooth and sleek, Wade's Night Tactics material is, above all else, masterful.

October 2007