Today’s premiere comes by way of London producer G. Markus (SoundCloud). Known for his releases on Roots For Bloom and Monologues Records, he has crafted a groovy house sound complete with vocal samples and funky bass lines. This year G. Markus has put out a string of so-called « G-Edits, » including a brilliant edit, of an old disco groover G. Markus picked up at Montreal’s very own Disques Beatnik on a trip to the city last year, repurposing the syncopated rhythms for the dancefloor. The producer is back with the third installment in the series, with two tracks that follow suit in soulful grooviness.
[soundcloud url= “https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/premiere-g-markus-ichiban” /]The A-side track, ‘Ichiban,’ is an eight minute disco burner with a driving kick and shuffling hi-hats. Bright keys offer a simple chord progression and occasional melodic motifs, leaving space for the complex bass line to take centre stage. A subtle high pass filter anticipates the first vocal sample – “You’re my… play it for me” – which gives way to beautiful sax solo. Around three minutes in the vocal sample returns, this time completing the phrase “You’re my number one DJ,” from which the original song takes its name (‘#1 Dee Jay’ is a single from Goody Goody’s 1978 self-titled LP, and only album). G. Markus treats the song with great care, maintaining the effective dance elements like the bass line and percussion while supplementing the rhythms with melodic samples. The result is a modern disco edit that is free of some of the cheesier aspects of the original. The flip side contains ‘Power,’ a similarly funky edit that features vocal and guitar samples, while a bassier kick creates a heavier vibe.
You can pre-order the release : here!
JJ Nozell
