- In the UK, Yorkshiremen are known for a straight-talking, no-nonsense approach to life, but there's nothing so prosaic about the work of Berlin-based Brit, Ed Davenport. After releases for the likes of Poker Flat and Liebe*Detail, Davenport now rocks up at long-running UK house imprint NRK. Predictably for a label run by a seasoned pro like Nick Harris, Davenport is well catered for here.
The result is an EP of atmospheric, slightly twisted, tech-flavoured house. The club mix is built around a nagging, insistent female vocal hook that pervades the whole length of the track, underpinned by a jacking rhythm studded with tribal-ish highlights. And then, halfway in Davenport presses the turbo boost. In comes the Italo pianos, the emotive synth swells and all kinds of fine messiness kicks in. A spacier, 4 AM-style club dub reins in the main mix's more florid excesses.
Remix duties are handed first to New Yorker Fred P, owner of Soul People Music, who yanks "New Yorkshire" backwards through a dub house filter, scuzzy vocal snatches echoing in and out, punctured by a five-note bassline that weaves and jinks. It's left to Harris himself to tie up proceedings, turning in a retro-tinged slice of old school Chicago house, twiddling around with the EQs and allowing the cut to shuffle along in understated fashion, desperately trying not to upstage Davenport.
Elsewhere, in "Testament" there are hints to the possible direction of Counterchange, Davenport's upcoming artist album. Full of cotton wool-soft pads and mournful chunks of piano, it opens out into a cut that could serve as a richly-fruited sundown tune or set-building tool. All in all, a reet mint package, as they like to say up Yorkshire way.
Tracklist A1 New Yorkshire (Club Mix)
A2 New Yorkshire (Fred P Reshape)
B1 Testament
B2 New Yorkshire (Club Dub)
Digital: New Yorkshire (Nick Harris Remix)