Lonnie Liston Smith - Expansions

I only really went deep with Lonnie Liston Smith a few years ago but since then he has remained one of my most listened to artists and a really big influence on my writing. What I really love about so much of his music is that at the core the music is so simple, for example this track is essentially just a 2-chord, 2-bar riff, but there’s so much magic in there and the variation, nuance, improv etc is giving so much life and energy and it just feels so great. Lonnie’s soloing is always so singable, melodic, and funky.

 

Yussef Dayes & Tom Misch - What Kinda Music

Again another really great example of simplicity in writing, yet the song (and whole record) still has so much movement and beauty and depth. I really love the sounds on this one with the dark mix, crunchy lofi drums, strings, etc. Yussef Dayes’ drumming does so much for me - there’s so much human imperfection and character, and his playing is always instantly recognisable.

 

Close Counters - Speak In Truth

Close Counters is without a doubt one of my favourite artists - great sounds, great riffs, great songs and production, and some of the juiciest mixes ever. Really love the swing on this track, it’s got a super bouncy groove and the bassline and drums interact super nicely. A great example of dance music with this human edge. The groove on this track actually influenced the drum part on “Oscillate”.

 

Son Boricua - Con la Punta del Pie

One of my favourite latin music groups, I could listen to Son Boricua on repeat forever. This record is full of some deeep rhythm. One thing that really draws me to this record and Son Boricua in general is the music is so well recorded and mixed, whereas a lot of this music is typically a little more “raw” sounding. Things are really balanced and the groove feels so good with the percussion being so clean and upfront.

 

Grant Nelson / Indo - R U Sleeping (Grant Nelson Remix)

I’ve been hip to Grant Nelson for a few years and never misses with the deep tracks, this one in particular goes hard. Always love his house piano sounds, piano breakdowns, and his drums always slap. Really love the chord progression on this one too. Always great vibes for the dancefloor.

 

Atjazz - Strike

I’ve been a big fan of Atjazz for years and so it’s been a wild full-circle to be working with him and his label on my new release! This whole record has such a cool flavour to it and this track is a good example of organically gelling together electronic and acoustic elements and sounds. For example the bass, synths and some of the drum sounds and production etc have a very electronic aesthetic but the flute, rhodes, percussion, and some of the drum samples carry this more “live” acoustic layering to it which really brings it alive.