tim fisher

Getting It On

[ review of: Getting It On by Only Child (CD Album) ]

Manchester's Grand Central Records are proving to be one of the most consistent labels in the UK of late, with a slew of releases reflecting their beguiling Mancunian slant on breaks and hip hop.

Only Child is Justin Crawford, and this single, taken from his album 'Satellites And Constellations' features newcomer Azeem, who takes his cues from northern soul heavyweights and contributes one of the most convincing and genuine soul vocals to come out of Manchester in years.

Crawford's production sense ensures the parts compliment the vocal beautifully, the track's simple, warm keys never overshadowing Azeem's vocal stylings. Add a squelchy filtered bassline of the Stevie Wonder school that's so irrisistably funky it almost forces everything else into the background and you've got a stunningly judged summer favorite that's perfect for the cocktail hour.

The second track on the single - 'Thanks For The Break' - takes a Salsoul sounding vocal sample and lays it over a simple funk break which, after a lovely organ-led middle eight - gradually introduces flute, the bassline and hand-claps in an admirably restrained and undeniably funky build up.

Understated and completely infectious.
Posted by tim fisher at 14:18, 01 Aug 2001

Hi-Fidelity House: Imprint 3

[ review of: Hi-Fidelity House: Imprint 3 by Various Artists (Hi-Fidelity) (CD Album) ]

Set up in the mid-nineties at a time when the general consensus was that house had run out of steam, ideas, and perhaps its course, Guidance is now known as the label primarily responsible for changing this attitude. More than any other, Guidance made saying you were into deep house cool again with its mind-bogglingly solid output.

Since the first handful of 12"s emerged out of Chicago in 1996 from relatively unknown artists such as Blueboy (whose Scattered Emotions EP featured a nice little breakbeat number called 'Remember Me' on the B-side), Guidance has released tunes from almost every single house producer of any regard, including timeless classics from Glenn Underground, A:xus, Larry Heard and Joe Clausell. Located in house music's spiritual home, Guidance went out of their way to embrace the global nature of the sound, and the artists it featured were as likely to come from Scotland or Finland as they were from the Windy City.

Although their knack for spotting the tunes that end up kicking off the trends is as sharp as it ever has been, this compilation is surprising in the lack of new material on offer. Released almost 3 years after the last imprint in the Hi-Fidelity House series, the compilation is let down by the fact that many of these tracks have appeared on other compilations over the past two years. This isn't to say they don't deserve being trotted out again - Jazzanova's remix of 'Circe' with Ursula Rucker's incredible, otherworldly vocals is already something of a downbeat classic; Nu-Spirit Helsinki contribute their deeply funky 'Take It Back; and the ever dependable Dubtribe Sound System's excellent piece of San Fran sunshine imbued 'What You Feel In Your Heart" deserves as many airings as it's given.

Unlike the last two Hi-Fidelity House compilations the focus of Imprint 3 is shifted away from the dancefloor and the disc suffers from this, with tracks from Pat Barry, Solaris Heights and Kevin Yost blurring into an unremarkable, jazzy background haze. Maybe a tad too relaxed for even the deepest of heads, the lack of any real attention grabbers is a disappointment considering the catalogue at the compiler's disposal and the usual standard of compilations coming out of the Guidance camp.
Posted by tim fisher at 00:00, 12 Jun 2001

Ordered from the Catalogue

[ review of: Ordered from the Catalogue by Various Artists (mixed by Mark Rae) (CD Album) ]

Despite the likes of Gescom, DJ Vadim and their ilk pushing hip hop past its recognised forms with often incredible results, few UK outfits have be able to do anything successful with its more accepted forms and much continues to be made of the impact UK hip hop has consistently failed to make. It seems there's just something about the bare bones of the genre that continues to elude the champions of the form in Britain. Which makes listening to this mix so great.

Manchester's Grand Central Records have never felt the need to trumpet their hip hop credentials, managing instead to build up a huge amount of respect and goodwill on both sides of the Atlantic as well as bigging up the Manchester massive without feeling the need to pop a cap in anyone's ass.

Mixed by Mark Rae (who, if the press release is to be believed, took two phone calls and made himself a sandwhich while laying down the final mix live) 'Ordered from the Catalogue' exemplifies the term 'all killer no filler'. Not only does it highlight the strength and consistency of Grand Central's output, it's also not a bad showcase for the boss's enthusiasm for turntablist trickery, with some fine cutting and scratching throughout.

'Ordered ...' moves from the northern soul-influenced end of the label through some fine party-rocking tracks and back again, taking in some exceedingly funky gems from Riton and Only Child en route. Rae looms large over the CD through both his own tracks with Steve Christian and Mr Scruff, and his dextrous mixes taking in the infectious genius of Finga Thing, the front of Aim and turns from J Walk and Tony D, while maintaing the flow essential to any half-decent mix-CD.

Finga Thing's 'You Fly Me' from their debut long-player 'The Main Event' has you wondering why they aren't superstars already and the album closer; Rae and Christian's remix of their own fine, fine collaboration with Bobby Womack is almost worth the price of the album alone.

If there is a gripe with this release it's that several of the featured tracks have appeared on other Grand Central compilations, but then you get that with retrospectives and besides, the whole thing oozes so much soul and class it's almost beside the point. Word.
Posted by tim fisher at 00:00, 22 May 2001