- Chicago producer Ricardo Miranda's strength is his reliability. You can always count on him for serviceable house tracks, even if he hasn't cultivated a terribly distinctive style of his own. A bit of a chameleon, his output last year hit a fever pitch, with tracks landing on labels like Stilove4music, Rush Hour, and his own Noble Square. His final release of last year came on Italian imprint Bosconi, and the three-tracker displays his versatility.
The track of Miranda's that first caught my attention in 2010 was "Black Acid" on Rush Hour, and "State of Mind" plays on a similar theme, though its gurgling lead is less central. Frankly, at this point, it's a good thing, and dressing up simplistic acid house tropes in playful synths and a swirling soundscape that hints more at techno than house like Miranda does here proves a whole lot more effective than your usual revival track. Continuing on the pseudo-techno tip, "Drum'n' With The Funk" sounds like DVS1 gone house, all anxious chords pivoting around an uneven kick with just the right amount of skip. Miranda rounds things off with some deep house paraphernalia that lacks the ingenuity of the two tracks on the A-side, but remains at least convincing with its throaty speech snippets and chord washes. He might still not sound like his own producer yet, but Ricardo Miranda remains as capable as ever.
Tracklist A1 State of Mind
A2 Drum'n With The Funk
B No Sound