Ben Watt - Buzzin' Fly Volume III

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  • Anyone who has attended a Buzzin Fly party at Plastic People or The End will know they’re well attended affairs, with the more mature side of London turning out to get bump steady to sexy deep house and future-forward acts. Ben Watt left Neighbourhood and Cherry Jam a good while ago to concentrate on the parties and his Buzzin Fly label, out of which have come a steady string of releases from names such as King Britt, Âme, Rocco and Rodamaal. Buzzin Fly nips at those that need an extra hit of sultry deep house (packaged nicely, like Acne jeans) and this is the third instalment in their label mix series, mixed by label boss and media darling Ben Watt. Deep house gets a lot of respect industry-wide, but it’s never seemed to have a face – young, old, urban, rich, poor or otherwise. Watt and his production machine breaks the mold by arriving slick, well packaged and always aware of the bubbling underground. Production heads that get the label’s nurture treatment always seem to come up with the goods, and add in other likeminded heads such as Mantis and Freerange Records, and the scene sure looks healthy and buzzin’. Ben Watt starts this journey with a nice and neat intro loop of Fairmont’s ‘Gazebo’, a track that a lot of people, including those at Secret Sundaze, will have heard. It’s followed by a Ben Watt production which sets the tone at rich electronic soul, with Baby Blak on MC duties chanting rhymes of optimism and angst. Of course Watt drops the best of the Buzzin Fly throughout the mix, early on zoning through his own re-edit of Jussi Pekka’s ‘Stereo Interleaved’ and the cosmic and shiny ‘Lose Control’ from DarkMountainGroup. Budai and Vic’s ‘I Love Deep’ hits a deeper soul groove, while John Tejada’s remix of Nino Astronauta is Ben Watt at his best: punchy soul, with bendy percussion and easy access hooks. But the highlight of the mix is track eleven: Rodamaal feat. Claudia Franco’s ‘Insomnia’: rushing sirens, drums and hi-hats that’ll penetrate your soul (this number also got re-worked by boys-of-the-moment Âme). The vocal chant is wisdom in earnest, coupled with a deep groove. This is music many would be proud to produce. The mix then nods to another UK deep beat head, Jimpster, whose ‘Square Up’ is another strong edit (that also seen remix treatment from Tejada.) The mix closes on new Buzzin Fly signing Phonique’s remix of Lephtee’s ‘So Far Back’ and Kayot’s ‘One Week in Cuba’, the latter mingling raindrops with an intimate female voice. Soft and subtle, just like this mix. 'Buzzin Fly Vol. III' does what it says on the tin, without the annoyance of buzz; instead, it hums a contented Sunday afternoon groove. Ben Watt at his best.
  • Tracklist
      1 Fairmont - Gazebo (Intro Loop) 2 Ben Watt - Old Soul 3 Fairmont - Gazebo 4 Kayot - Clear Sky (Manoo And Francois A Remix) 5 Jussi-Pekka - Stereo Interleaved (Martinez Triple-O Adjustment, Ben Watt Re-Edit) 6 Darkmountaingroup - Lose Control 7 Ben Watt - Attack, Attack, Attack 8 Budai & Vic - I Love Deep (The Timewriter Remix) 9 Niño Astronauta - San Fernando Rd. (John Tejada Remix) 10 Madoka - Metamotional 11 Rodamaal - Insomnia 12 Jimpster - Square Up 13 Lephtee - So Far Back (Original Mix Edit) 14 Lephtee - So Far Back (Phonique Remix Edit) 15 Kayot - One Week On Cuba
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