- It may surprise some to learn that Third Ear is based in London. The imprint has played a pivotal role in bringing lesser-known sounds of Detroit to wider ears with their Detroit Beatdown and Enjoy Detroit compilations. Guy McCreery's label has released just as much music from Europe and Japan over the past ten years, however, and In Yer Third Ear 01 does a fine job of rounding up both.
Theo Parrish's "Falling Up," even in its rougher original cut as opposed to Carl Craig's sleeker and better-known remix, will be familiar to all. The ketamine sonics of "Souciere Doctoresse" from Swiss producers Crowdpleaser and St. Plomb are unmistakably European. Mixmaster Morris' blissful ambient remix of Portuguese producer Nuna Filipe's "Julia" is much more Big Chill than Belleville, and Inohs Sivad's "Somewhere Else" is a creamy slice of Midwestern neo-soul.
"Rope Trick"—complete with a bassline funkier than George Clinton's washing basket—could be mistaken for Carl Craig in his Paperclip People guise, but is actually the work of British 20/20 Soundsystem member Dubble D. Meanwhile, the heavy jazz of Mike 'Agent X' Clark's "Motown" encapsulates the Detroit Beatdown sound. Even so, it's the Detroit producers who stray furthest from any perceived blueprint. Kyle Hall's "Ghosten" has the wistful charm of Fila Brazillia, while Pirahnahead's tense and disorientating "Self Conscience" points him up as a producer constrained by neither genre nor geography. In contrast, London-based Wbeeza follows a formula far too slavishly for "Bichez" and ends up sounding like discarded filler from Moodymann's Black Mahogani, although he redeems himself later with the warmly sexy "Laying Here."
There's no law, like those pursued by Cornish pasty bakers or Champagne grape growers, that distinguishes "genuine" Detroit product from imitations. And the fact that so many of the productions found on In Yer Third Ear 01 from Detroit producers reach far beyond the Motor City's musical borders makes the idea seem a bit silly. That's one of the many reasons that Detroit—and Third Ear as well—still sounds so vibrant today.
TracklistCD1
01. Nuno Filipe - Julia (Irresistible Force Global Chillage Mix)
02. Ebz - F6-G5
03. Brendon Moeller - Pink Noise (Jazz Junk Safari Mix)
04. Ricardo Jefferson - A Brutal Truth
05. Dubble D - Rope Trick
06. Why Sheep? - Earthborn (Recloose Remix)
07. Wbeeza - Bichez
08. Benjamin Brunn - Stay Hungry Stay Foolish
09. Kelli Hand - Holding On
10. El Prevost - My Soul Responding
11. Pirahnahead - Self Conscience
CD2
01. Theo Parrish - Falling Up
02. Mike Agent X Clark - Motown
03. Demetrio Giannice - Talk (Beatdown Edit)
04. L A Williams - Velvet Musac
05. Crowdpleaser & St. Plomb feat. Emilie Nana – Sourciere Doctoresse
06. Pirahnahead - Disconnected [Dissed Connection]
07. Recast - Consensual (Lorca Music Remix)
08. Kyle Hall - Ghosten
09. Sarrass - Lust
10. Wbeeza - Laying Here
11. Inohs Sivad feat. Diamondancer - Somewhere Else