After the chart-topping Keep on Swindling part 1, that included summer anthem ‘All I want’ and the live jazz rework of ‘The break up’ by Emma-Jean Thackray, Dam Swindle are now back with part 2 of their 10-year anniversary series. If you thought the first edition had the goods, you’re in for a treat with this one. Keep on Swindling part 2 includes a new afro-tinged DS original, alongside a never-released remix of an obscure Guadeloupean record and remixes by rising star of the Detroit music scene Ash Lauryn and Rush Hour favorite Arp Frique. To top things off, the boys release their afro-brass dancefloor burner ‘Call of the Wild’ feat. Jungle by Night for the first time on a single.

The Ep closes with a Dam Swindle original for the 2018 album High Life that really needs no introduction: ‘Call of the wild feat. Jungle by Night.’ It’s a track that seems to keep the dancers happy wherever we play it and hasn’t lost any of its appeal in the past four years. Originally only released in album format, this track now makes its way on a single 12” to round off an exciting new release by the Swindles. Enjoy the music, play it loud and remember…

Keep on Swindling!

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Cet article Dam Swindle Feat. Jungle By Night – Call Of The Wild [Heist Recordings] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

What do you do when you’ve just released an amazing album and your last EP on Heist was one of the label’s best selling records in recent years? This is the ‘question’ Crackazat had to answer when writing his new EP for Heist. His solution was to deliver something even more amazing! When Crackazat released his ‘Alfa’ EP early 2021, we knew it was going to be a great record. It had everything we’ve come to expect and love from him; a great balance between creative musicality and downright beef for the club. Fast forward a year and a half and here we are, super happy to release his new ‘Demucha EP’.

‘Demucha’ starts with the jazzy energy of a double bass, brushed percussion, and vocal chops. You can feel the speed working through every part of the song, which is even more evident when the main key comes in. A typical Crackazat-esque finger-twirling loop brings the track to its top speed where horn stabs add to the overall excitement. ‘Sarge’ takes a more mellow approach, Crackazat navigates the idea of timelessness with dreamy keys, strings and a dubby bass. A mid track crackly arpeggio and faraway voices add to the contemplative vibe to great effect. ‘We know’ stays away from Crackazat’s renowned skippy beats and instead, makes way for a driving staccato stomp. Rough key stabs along with the talented multi-instrumentalist’s own faraway vocals make for a mesmerizing cut that takes you on a sonic journey that works as well on the dancefloor as in any other space.

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Cet article Crackazat – We Know [Heist Recordings] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Stepping up for his fourth release on Heist, sample wizard Nebraska comes in with some lovely chops and a giant curveball of an A-side that has summer anthem written all over it. Dive into this massive four track EP by the London native who just keeps on bringing the goods!

The ‘Chant des Oiseaux EP’ is built around a collaboration between Nebraska and BeBelle. Anyone who’s picked up Nebraska’s 2021 release on his Friends & Relations label, will have already had a glimpse of what happens when these two get in the studio. They have a mutual love for French vocals; everything BeBelle says, whispers and chants just sounds syrupy sweet. This might be most evident on the title track where modulated Rhodes, the distant chirping and fluttering of birds, and a minimal beat form the foundation for BeBelle’s mesmerizing vocal. The dreamy and contemplative vibe makes you long for those endless days of summer.

The Detroit inspired ‘Skelp Tune’ will take you back to the ground and straight into the club. Nebraska actually sent in a ‘note to self’ saying “you’re not Moodymann” along with the first demo of this to the label. But he doesn’t have to be, as this track has all the clever sampling and disco energy of a classic Nebraska tune, nicely tucked into one hell of a groove! The flip starts with ‘Cop Show’, a no-frills disco house cut with life affirming strings, guitar licks, and a bottom end to freak out your neighbour’s neighbours. The EP closer is another collaboration with BeBelle on ‘Henri Rousseau’, built on a groove that gallops along, with strings, outer-worldly vocals, and howling soundscapes that turn it into a covert disco burner on the more experimental side of house.

On the ‘Chant des Oiseaux EP’, Nebraska effortlessly shows off his impressive sampling skills, electronic fiddling, and powerful drum programming, reminding us that he’s not lost an inch of talent over the years, continually managing to surprise us with his music! Knowing him this is simply because he’s exploring new ways to keep on surprising himself…

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Cet article Nebraska – Chant Des Oiseaux (feat. BeBelle) [Heist Recordings] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

The ‘Zouk Combat EP’ pays homage to the Afrodisco sounds of the 80s. Zouk is the disco noise from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The title track is nothing but a dancefloor bomb, with crisp brass, drum machines and funky synths that drive the Zouk beat forward. ‘Sosso’ is the cut you want to hear as the sun comes up on a beach. It’s delicate vocal and super light groove make you float up into the Sunrise. ‘Timbal Madness’ comes with a hard timbal solo, deep synth pads and mental voice synth solo. On the remix is Boston born, Medellin based studio wizard Bosq, who delivers his Afro-Latin rerub of ‘Zouk Combat’, once again proving his skill as one of the most in demand remixers in this scene ain’t no joke.

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Cet article Alma Negra – Sosso [Alma Negra Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Up next on Heist Recordings is an undercover project of a well-known producer who decided it was time to experiment, broaden his sound and produce music without the expectation that comes with an established name. Lore of the Samurai delivers an expertly crafted record with classic Chicago influences, hints of electro and up-tempo technoid house.

EP opener, ‘City Loop,’ is a house track with that classic house feel, thanks to its moody sample loops, background chants and energetic percussion. The strings and simplistic piano work are true to form and make for an altogether enticing opener. ‘Deeper Into Orbit’ has the roughness of some of the most praised productions out of Chicago, and a swing that is reminiscent of an old Boo Williams track. The surprise cut of the pack is definitely ‘Space Designer’. It’s an up-tempo affair with syncopated bass working together with a classic Marimba loop and percussion that makes you want to dance, dance, dance.

‘Alpha Base’ delves deep in electro territory with boombap drum programming, while still taking inspiration from classic deep house elements like its chords and sample hits. Watch out for that bass-arpeggio-break, it’s killer. EP closer ‘Justifice’, is as smooth as a deep house track can be with lovely, filtered chords and massive vocal sent through a vocoder that would have made Zapp & Roger proud. The whole EP has a great groove, and you can hear the craftmanship just oozing out your speakers. In short, an essential package with something for everyone.

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Cet article Lore of the Samurai – Alpha base est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Ploughing new depths of dancefloor intensity with every release, Glaswegian duo Manakinz‘s prolific work rate continues to churn out left-of-centre bangers and chuggers at a pace. Releasing elsewhere on mighty imprints like Let’s Play House, Futureboogie and Mitchell Street Records and receiving support from the likes of The Blessed Madonna and the late, great Andrew Weatherall, ‘Semi-Sozzled’ is their second EP for Ben Gomori‘s Monologues Records, and packs in another four utterly inimitable face-melters.

‘The Sizzle’ is one of the most bugged-out and unique tracks you’re likely to hear this year, its discordant bleep riff and pummeling groove blurring the lines between electro, house, acid and techno in delightfully weird fashion. ‘The Grateful Dread’ ups the intensity with its overlapping organ chords and stabs and dubby touches. ‘Beach House’ takes goes on a mystical trip through tribal rhythm, heavenly melodies and distorted acid bass, and ‘Spaceships In The Night’ rounds off the package with a flurry of dizzying synths and full-on, mind-bending automation.

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Cet article Manakinz – The Sizzle [Monologue Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Heist welcomes rising star of the French House scene Marina Trench to the roster with a stunning release full of classic house cues across four warm & deeply grooving house cuts. With only a handful of releases on DJ Deep’s Deeply Rooted (2019) and Wolf Music (2020), the young Parisian producer is only just getting started. And as far as starts go, this release on Heist will definitely open some eyes & ears across the house scene. With her elegant and soulful sound both firmly rooted in classic deep house as it is contemporary, Marina showcases a mature sound that’s rarely seen with emerging producers. With a smart choice of samples, beautiful original vocals and smooth pads, Marina layers her tracks effortlessly into warm compositions that work just as well in your living room as in any sweaty club.

Opener ‘Sunrise’ is a smooth affair with pads oozing in and out and a faintly recognizable and definitely catchy choice of samples. An open electronic bass gives the track a serious tone, but it’s the melancholic chords that make you doze off reminiscing the days of endless festivals in the sun. ‘Carry on’ is built around classic house stabs with cleverly layered arpeggios and textures giving the track it’s depth. The main attraction here is the trumpet solo by German wunderkind Christian Altehülshorst. On ‘Over There’, Marina layers her own vocals on an infectious house groove, with closing track ‘Wake up’ featuring the emotive vocal of French Algerian artist Sabrina Bellaouel. The latter cut evolving around a LFO’d pad and a minimalist groove, giving the vocals all the space to shine in a track that could easily be the one in your set that sets the room on fire.

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Cet article Marina Trench – Over There [Heist Recordings] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

It’s that time of the year again when Heist Recordings deliver their annual frenzy of collaborations from another years worth of label releases, all wrapped up in one package – ’The Round Up’. You’ll hear Crackazat taking on the breezy horns of Alma Negra’s standout ‘Dakar Disco’ and Dam Swindle’s re-interpretation of Teleseen’s ‘Dekalb’ full of live drums, wonky arps, and raw synth stabs, plus other classy reworks by Detroit legends Scan 7, Kassian, Nebraska and Pitto.

The concept of ‘The Round Up’ is each artist that released on Heist in 2020 gets to remix another artist from that year. There’s the feel-good festival vibes on Crackazats remix of ‘Dakar Disco’ and the rolling tech goodness of Kassian’s rework of Nebraska’s bonkers ‘Dip & Flip’. Pitto takes us on an excursion into deep dubbed out house with his rework of Kassian’s ‘8th Movement’ and Nebraska goes all UK house meets US garage meets Christopher Walken’s cowbell solo on his remix of ‘Move out the way’ by Dam Swindle. The label heads bring on house stabs with an atmospheric and pumping remix of Teleseen’s ‘Dekalb’, while the latter goes for a more worldly feel with his remix of ‘Discko’ by Pitto. There’s the superb Detroit house approach from Scan 7 with their remix of Crackazat’s ‘Class one’, plus Alma Negra who add vocal and synth layers to the gospel house killer cut ‘All Of Me’ by Scan 7.

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Cet article Kassian – 8th Movement (Pitto Remix) [Heist Recordings] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

When your roots have a broad geographical diversity, it’s very likely this will resonate in the music you make. This is certainly the case with Alma Negra and their new release on Heist. It seems they have embraced all their cultural influences more than ever in their new ‘Dakar Disco EP’. The whole record oozes class and musicality and feels like a carefree collage of the rich musical lives they live. The three originals on this EP vary in tempo and energy, giving you something for each moment of the day or night. They are accompanied by a remix from none other than the Japanese master of cosmic funk: Kuniyuki.

The EP’s closing track ‘Back in town’, is perhaps the clubbiest track of the set. A friendly acid line squeaks over tribal drums & chants and you immediately get pulled in by a great balafon hook. You can really hear how the guys feel at ease combining these worldly elements with modern electronics and ‘Back in town’ is a great example on how to blend these sonic worlds.

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Cet article Alma Negra – Back In Town [Heist Recordings] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Heist Recordings are up to their 6^th year of the label and this is their annual potpourri with this years artists on ‘The Round Up Part VI’. With some cool newcomers like Demuir, Perdu and Makèz, as well as label mainstays Fouk and the Swindles themselves delivering  a great collection of remixes!

The EP starts off with label heads Detroit Swindle giving their high-energy take on Fouk’s ‘Need my Space’. They’ve gone for a stabby club version of the more introverted original, with different layers of synths building up alongside pumping drums and punchy Moog bassline. Check the break for a nice dreamy broken beat section before the track comes back into full dancefloor madness.   Makèz have only just released their well-received debut EP and now they’re flanking Detroit Swindle on the A-side with their remix of Perdu’s hit ‘Sacramento’. They replace the broken beat of the original and work a 4×4  with driving bassline, warm pads and subtle placement of Perdu’s original elements.

On the B-side, we have Fouk reinterpreting Demuir’s take on Detroit Techno with their remix of ‘3nity returneth’.  Their version is a tom-heavy, high-energy club cut with a strong nod to the past, keeping that strong Fouk signature intact. They mangle the vocal sample in a drunk and twisted break before setting the track back on fire with an extra acid line for good measure.  The B2 goes to Perdu’s dreamy slow burning remix of Detroit Swindle’s classic house bomb ‘Music for clubs’.  His version takes the tempo down and dials the dreamy level up a notch. A mellow but punchy acid line and worldly synth hits give this remix it’s cool twist and it’s a great showcase of Perdu’s view on the broad world of house music. This year’s ‘Round Up’ finishes with Demuir’s trippy ‘playboy edit’ of ‘Random Visits’ by Makèz.  He takes the vocal sample and layers it behind a haunting string, dreamy keys and a steady groove. It’s got a funky vibe where Demuir’s knack for a groove fits perfectly with the ever so fresh original. 

The Round Up is a special moment for the label each year and Maarten & Lars are very excited to share these reinterpretations of another year’s worth of house from the world of Heist Recordings with you.

Cet article Demuir – The 3nity Returneth (Fouk Remix) [Heist Recordings] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.