Chesus – Goodfoot

Label: Ten Thousand Yen

90s House throwback isn’t that hard to find at the moment, but discerning readers will point out it’s hard to find done well. The deceptively simple constructions of feel-good diva house are seen as a good way to get into the game, but we can’t all be Bicep, and the majority of offerings sound trite and derivative. The key, perhaps, is lineage. If you’ve got a solid grounding in dance music, you can do 90s house well, a theory exemplified by seasoned producer Chesus. Although you might not recognise the name, the Welsh producer might be more recognisable as the ‘C’ from garage-obsessed C.R.S.T. On the Goodfoot EP, out on Doc Daneeka’s quality Ten Thousand Yen label, Chesus comes up with the goods, four blazing classic house tracks with some choice collaborators.

Goodfoot

The EP opens with its finest cut in the form of title track Goodfoot, a collab with labelmate Didz and the underrated Organ Grinder. An unstoppably infectious piano riff reigns supreme over a pitch-perfect vocal sample and a pleasingly dramatic bassline. On the second track The Organ Grinder returns for the more low-key 4am Dub, with a bouncing bassline, soft pads and a hard kick. The whole track is completed by a powerful organ stab that elevates this one above your average house throwback.

Chesus’ solo efforts aren’t quite as remarkable, but still bring big vibes to the dancefloor. Feelings is a deeper, heads-down affair with a series of vocals that snake their way through colourful synths and a bouncing bassline, but ultimately fails to conjure the energy of the first two tracks. The same could be said for 3am Dub, which is essentially a deeper reworking of the core elements of the earlier Organ Grinder collaboration. Goodfoot won’t turn any heads for those disenchanted by the return of 90s house, but for the fans there aren’t many currently doing it better.

7/10

Doc Daneeka & Abigail Wyles – Tobyjug

Label: Ten Thousand Yen

Swansea-born Doc Daneeka threw up a bit of a curveball with his last LP, They!Live, released with Benjamin Damage in January on 50Weapons. Toning down his big drums and Tropical / Funky stylings, the album was a gorgeous mixture of downbeat Electronic compositions and sleek dance tracks. The undoubted highlights of They!Live definitely came in the form of the pair’s collaborations with vocalist Abigail Wyles, whose soulful voice was warped in No One and immersed in warm ambient fuzz in the gorgeous Halo.

Tobyjug

Here Daneeka and Wyles continue their collaboration, in the semi-unexpected form of a soul ballad for the Electronic age. Although surprising, Tobyjug is an absolute triumph, Daneeka’s spare production tastefully complimenting Wyles’ emotive vocals and letting them soar. It’s a restrained affair, starting with pared-down bumps and clicks accompanying dusty piano chords, a confident move by Daneeka to let Wyles’ voice alone provide the song’s power and momentum. As her performance becomes stronger, the beats pick up and become more restless under their anaesthetised glaze, at every stage matching her intensity with constraint and skill. A low-key synth melody emerges to usher the song out and it stands alone; unique and moving, a tearjerker for the kids fed on 140BPM.

Tobyjug (Lando Kal Remix)

The flipside is an entirely different story. Daneeka made a wise move in leaving the remix duties to always-strong, always-strange producer Lando Kal, who really takes the tune into his own hands. What starts out as a subtle Techno number soon transforms into Kal’s trademark set of patchwork textures and samples, anchored by a lilting bassline and tight vocal clips. It’s almost unrecognisable from the original but a strong track in its own right, adding a real Dance drive to the release. This is a meticulously thought-out release, from the fantastic title track to the great choice of remixers, and if it’s the beginning of a long-standing collaboration, I can’t wait to see what comes next.

8/10