Montel - Gotta Be Down EP

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  • Unlike fellow Belfast boys Bicep, who rode into town with classic house tropes before widening their artistic purview, Montel McWilliams' unashamed infatuation with '90s house shows no sign of fading. Third Dimension, McWilliams' recent outing for Foot & Mouth, saw him spread the EP thick with paralyzing breakbeats, pummeling SL2-style synths and soaring gospel vocals. His debut for ALiVE reels in some of those excesses—as joyous as they were in places—but there are still plenty of retro signifiers, especially on the title cut. The quaking, compact bassline of "Gotta Be Down" has more than a hint of Joey Beltram's "Energy Flash," combined with subtle dabs of acid and truncated snare rolls. "Virtual City" may be transparent in its use of a vocal sample (some track from a chap called Larry Heard) and a jabbing synth motif that might have Kevin Saunderson pricking up his ears, but McWilliams offsets these elements with a lovely, trippy, single-note drone. Chris Finke, in his Bodyjack guise, then pulls off the equivalent of a supermarket "buy-one-get-one-free" offer with his reworking of "Gotta Be Down," which mutates from growling, hyperactive house into what can only be described as hi-NRG breakbeat.
  • Tracklist
      01. Gotta Be Down 02. Virtual City 03. Gotta Be Down (Bodyjack Remix)
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