Medlar - Wolf EP 16

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  • Wolf Music have been serving up respectable house music for over three years, but it's only recently they've really hit their stride. 2012 has seen the British label deliver a string of consistently solid EPs, mostly featuring a local crew of producers such as Greymatter and KRL. The label has also earned notoriety in London thanks to their close association with Corsica Studios' always raucous Tief nights. Medlar has been another of the regular faces on Wolf. In many ways his work encapsulates what's best about the label. Clearly indebted to the '90s, his sound is a well-balanced blend of Detroit experimentalism and dance floor-focused New York influences. Take the lead track "Govern." A jumble of sounds, most prominently gospel moans and groans, swirl around an ever-present bassline that seems to be the only glue holding the disparate strands together. Drums start and stop hesitantly, a clap appears then disappears, and a hi-hat loop skirts around a snare, undecided whether to really commit. It's all in a similar vein to Vakula's intergalactic house ventures. "The Sun" takes things in a less experimental direction. The record features plenty of Moodymann motifs—female vocal shouts, looping Rhodes and jazz flute samples—but somehow it isn't too derivative. "Knockard Pearl" is a much more club-orientated track. Armed with beefy piano chords, the record chugs along with gusto. The confusingly named Detroit Swindle (they're actually from the Netherlands) add shuffly hi-hats and New Jersey swing to the aforementioned piano chords on their remix. It could accurately be called a functional house track; in a steamy club at 5 am this will be a very welcome tonic.
  • Tracklist
      A1 The Sun A2 Knockard Pearl (Detroit Swindle Remix) B1 Knockard Pearl B2 Govern
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