since james priestly and giles smith’s first gatherings of forty people in a london pub over a decade over ago, they have grown into two of the most respected promoters in the city. and yes, whilst there have been some inspired bookings over the years; it’s their own dj sets which have most defined the seretsundaze brand (which now encompasses a booking agency and a recently rejuvenated label as well as parties across the planet). dealing most often in deep but clubby, proper house (rather than loopy, dull as dishwater catwalk stuff), it’s an aesthetic this double cd compilation would suggest they have perfectly mastered.
teshno
'in germany, they can't say 'techno,' they say 'teshno'' ~ seth troxler [march 2008]
10 years of secretsundaze mixed by james priestly & giles smith on secretsundaze
brawther – do it yourself on secretsundaze
criminally, i’ve never been to secretsundaze. despite that, though, whenever the name crops up a certain sound track begins to play in my head. it’s an unassuming one, a groovy one, and a subtly sexy one. listening to this (a first original release, and the first of any sort – ie mix cd – since 2008) tells me i’ve not been far wrong: i’d be lying if i said it was anything wholly new, but warm, well produced house will never sound tired.
‘do it yourself’ is to-the-point, where the point is to get caught up in a deep, chunky and tunnelling groove and stay there for, in this instance, six and half minutes. cutting through the sub-bloated throb are garage-derived wooden hits and masked female vocal inflections, both of which do little to distract you from the ongoing march, but both of which are important touches to bring the whole thing out of the speakers with a little extra dynamism: no nonsense business, to be sure.
contributing his second track, ‘spacerman funk’ young parisian brawther again harks back to less exhaustingly creative times (good thing), where an unaffected boom-bap, crafted on vintage gear and with suggestive sampling, was enough to get the job done. and frankly, when done as economically yet authentically as this (it’s aged with a lovely dusty crackle), it still is: pure, unadulterated deep house… no more, no less, it’s effortlessly cool.
after reading that, it should come as no surprise to learn that brathwer has been raised under the tutelage of chez damier; whilst traces of pepe bradock and kerri chandler are never that far away. it may surprise you, however, that george fitzgerald is on remix duty. breaking things down into restless, punchier kicks and rattling hits, you dive into deep, hotflush-styled bass territory that’s typically infused with a radiating glow of tonal warmth and refreshing airiness. evolutionary not revolutionary, the whole ep is solid as a rock.
win tickets to secretsundaze on nye
i have come into the possession (quite legally and legitimately) of a pair of tickets to secretsundaze’s new year’s eve party at the red gallery, london. after another top 12 months of underground house sessions, they return one more time in 2010 with a couple of the stars of the year.
the first is 20 year old irish talent space dimension controller who’s house-y, space-y, electro-y tunes for the likes of r&s and clone have seen his star rise in the latter part of the year, whilst his club shows have also won him plenty of fans, including the podcast people over at ra.
joining the young gun is a much more experienced hand but someone who was still responsible for one of the biggest records of the year courtesy of his re-rub of the gathering’s house anthem, in my system, namely chez damier. playing alongside the resurgent chicago producer will be the the secretsundaze residents plus, of course, the men behind it all for the last 9 years, giles smith and james priestley.
to be in with a chance of wining the tickets, all you have to do is become a fan of teshno on facebook, then pop an email to dearteshno@gmail.com and I’ll pick a winner at random.