My 6 Gems:
lovetempo
Metro Area
Piña
When I first moved to New York and started playing with The Rapture, Metro Area were the hottest thing in town, bringing a super fresh sound and sensibility to the club scene. It was Morgan Geist’s remix of “House of Jealous Lovers” that got the dance shops to carry the record in the first place! This song has always held a special place in my heart; the contrast between the smooth drums and the jumpy little bassline and piano chords makes for such a sick groove. I love the little single-note piano melody that comes in—it sounds like Jobim to me. This song was definitely an inspiration when we started working on the groove for “Never The Same”.
Ananda Project feat. Gaelle
Cascades of Colour
The harmonic movement in this song is so beautiful. It’s a simple song in some ways, but the richness of these chords and the way the different vocal melodies weave in and out of each other really make it something special. I love how they use bird sounds as part of the rhythmic texture of the song. It’s a beautiful piece of soulful house.
House Gospel Choir featuring MORGAN
Angels (Crackazat Remix)
Amazing gospel vocals and a wonderful example of Crackazat’s signature production sound. When we were writing “Never The Same,” I was definitely taking the descending movement of the harmonies and the bouncy pianos as inspiration. This song just grooves me to no end, and MORGAN is really singing her a*% off!
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Tell The World How I Feel About ‘Cha Baby (A Dimitri From Paris Disco Re-Edit)
This is one of those wonderful songs to have in your record bag that just works with everything. The drum break intro grooves so hard; Teddy Pendergrass’s voice and growl are legendary, of course. The horn stabs just keep it pulsing forward. The original song is beautiful, but this re-edit brings all the toughest parts of the song together—a nonstop groover that always puts a smile on my face.
Jazzanova featuring Vikter Duplaix
That Night (Wahoo Remix)
I’ve been a bit obsessed with this one lately; I just love Vikter’s vocal so much. I love dance songs that have a little bit of that wistful, sad romance to them. The bassline is simple but memorable, as most of the best basslines are. It’s kind of like a variation on the bass from Dennis Edwards’ “Don’t Look Any Further,” so how could you be mad? It’s a classy track that always makes people want to dance. I missed this one the first time around—shout-out to Aaron Dae for putting me on to it.
Why Sheep?
Earthborn (Recloose Remix)
I bought this 12” back in 2003 at a vinyl shop in Glasgow on the recommendation of an old tour manager. At that time, I didn’t know who any of the people involved in the record were, just that it had cool cover art and a really unique groove. I love the rhythm of the bassline. It’s not a very straightforward record to mix in, but if you can make it work, it always gets the funky stankfaces to appear.
