Glenn Davis: Soul On My Side EP
Yore
DJ Compufunk: Inner Vision EP
Yore
Yore
Three late-2021 twelve-inch releases find Andy Vaz's Yore imprint operating at a high level. Up first is Dublin-based Glenn Davis, who, given his gift for crafting Deep House tracks packed with soul, is a perfect fit for the label. Davis himself cites artists such as James Brown, Prince, The Style Council, and Luther Vandross as ones key to his development, and the warmth, energy, and soul of their music surfaces in his too. The four cuts on Soul On My Side are artful productions that reflect its creator's command of tension and release, and the arrangements impress also for being neither too stripped-down nor overloaded. While many signature Deep House elements are present in the title track, the material nevertheless sounds fresh when assembled with such skill. Animated by piano chords and a bubbly bass, the eight-minute track builds one layer at a time and seduces with its lithe slink, synthesizer textures, and acrobatic piano figures. Powered by a locomotive chug and throbbing bass pulse, “Enter Slowly” works a hint of Garage into its otherwise relentless House charge. Radiant synthesizer flourishes offset the earthiness of the groove, after which a horn-like solo brings a jazzier feel to the production. “All or Nothing” grooves mightily with a muscular swing and vibes patterns combining to hypnotic effect. Entrancement continues into the last cut, “Small Steps,” which threads samples of a soulful female singer into Davis's thudding skip. The words classic and timeless come to mind as Soul On My Side fills the air.
Inner Vision also features four cuts, these courtesy of DJ Compufunk, aka Nao (Naoyuki Yamakawa). He's the founder of Osaka's Compufunk Records (apparently the longest-running record shop for House and Techno in Japan) and, as the four solidly crafted tracks show, an experienced producer in his own right. The vertigo-inducing title track struts aggressively with a high-velocity swing peppered by tinkling synth accents and acidy squelches, after which “Abyss” cools the pace for a sexier House style (a swishing drum machine detail even gives the cut a rather Kraftwerk-like tinge). On the flip, “Midnight Sky” grooves as boldly, this time with a smattering of Garage worked into its swing and chiming synths brightening the mix, while “Mind Power” changes things up with a swirling bottom end that's so dizzying it's positively gyroscopic. Yamakawa isn't averse to packing his productions with layers of dizzying detail, and as a result the stimulation level remains high throughout.
Rounding out the trio is a four-tracker from the ever-reliable Detroit producer Niko Marks, whose Reach Out spans a lot of ground in twenty-seven minutes. Jumpstarted by unaccompanied vocal samples (“Reach out and touch … Love your brother”), “Reach Out” thunders from the drop with a bass-thudding stomp that kicks into higher gear with cut-up vocal effects, but it's otherwise too unchanging. “Against Violence” is better, with Marks weaving a handful of vocal samples into an infectious, synth-fueled strutter. With the words referencing guns and the damage they do (“People leave these guns alone, they're driving me insane … Do we care about the children…”), Marks's message is clear and easy to get behind, especially when the backdrop's so deliciously funky. Soulful voice samples work their way into “Good Bye” too, partnered in this case with a roiling pulse spiked with congas, syndrum accents, and string synths. Animated by a neon-lit keyboard figure, “You Will See the Light” also makes a strong impression, in large part due to a male singer's soulful lead (“Let's make some, let's make some harmony”). The release falters a little bit with “Reach Out” but is otherwise at the same level as those by Davis and Yamakawa.September 2021