The Narcoleptic - Robots Like Zombies (Get Up Recordings)

Get Up Recordings’ sound is highly influenced by the New York City scene where it’s based out of, but it is equally influenced by the house music capital, Chicago. As such, the label is pleased to welcome Chicago native The Narcoleptic, a.k.a. Matty Harris, to the Get Up family. His single “Robots Like Zombies” is a sublime, infectious, and very deep dance floor groove. With both remixers hailing from the west coast, Arturo Garces of Jump Recordings and legendary San Francisco DJ David Harness each smack their signature style all over it.

The Narcoleptic started spinning in the suburbs of Chicago, but it wasn’t until he took on his residency at Smart Bar’s Tuesday night party Pump, with fellow residents Derrick Carter, Miles Maeda, and Terry Martin, that music really began to unfold for him. His career has been a slow and steady build up with releases on labels such as Classic Music, Jump Recordings, and Loveslap!, all perfect for his style of quality over quantity. His track “Robots Like Zombies” is in a similar class, mysterious and subtle at the start of the track and building into a groove that is unforgettable.

Jump Recordings head honcho Arturo Garces was born and raised in San Jose, California, and has been surrounded by dance music his entire life. Interested in making his own music, Arturo got hold of a sampler in 1995 and hasn't looked back since. He has releases on both established and strictly underground labels such as Robsoul Recordings, Cross Section, Magnetic, Oomph, Smoke City Music, Subliminal Soul, Jump Recordings, Solid Trax, and Sneak Classics. His approach on his remix of “Robots Like Zombies” blends the driving, beat-laden beauty of techno with the soulful, deep melodies of house. This is the same timeless sound that has helped define the unique Bay Area sound.

David Harness has been described as a man who lives, breathes, and emanates everything that is beautiful about deep house music and classic garage. He began DJ'ing in his hometown of Monterey, California in 1990. As his popularity grew, he was invited to establish a residency at Tilt and the Sound Factory in San Francisco. His success as a club DJ led to a spot on the popular radio show Your Mama’s House on the Bay Area’s number one radio station, KMEL FM. Then in 1996 he started DJ’ing at The End Up’s “Sunday T-Dance”, and the rest is pure House history. In 2000, David started his own production work, which has led him to work with artists such as Mary J. Blige, Simply Red, and Alicia Keys as well as establish a relationship with fellow producer Chris Lum, resulting in the birth of their label Harlum Musiq. His remix and the Bonus Beats for “Robots Like Zombies” find a tech-y, syncopated beat and bass line rhythm, which really highlight his abilities to reinvent tracks. The melody mirrors the bass line, giving the track a fierce commanding harmony.

DJ Sneak - "Good remixes all around."
Chris Fortier (Fade) - "The David Harness remix for me."
Severino (Horse Meat Disco) - "Great release."
Lomez (Better On Foot) - "I'm digging those David Harness Bonus Beats."
Andrew Macari (Greenhouse / Tastie) - "Yeah! The Arturo Garces remix is a great jackin' house jam … love it."
DJ Craig C (Pound Boys) - "I love David Harness … his mix is werkin' me out!"
Alvaro Hylander (DeepWit) - "Arturo Garces is the man here … turning a dark feeling track into a deeper, moody groover. Well done."
Hippie Torrales - "Nice remix from David Harness."
Jason Hodges - "The Arturo Garces remix is the cut!"
Chris Harris (Tronicsole / Nordic Trax) - "The original is a nice mood builder."
DJ Di Costa (MoodyLushious Influences) - "That Arturo Garces remix is ace … absolutely smoking hot!"
Distant People (Foliage / Seamless) - "A slammin' main room shaker."
Shane Johnson (Fish Go Deep) - "All tracks here are cool, with Arturo Garces's remix edging it for me. Groove and samples all working well."

Available now from Beatport, Juno Download, and iTunes.

DJ Rusty - Brick Dance (Not So Fast Records)

Not So Fast Records is a San Francisco house music label founded in 2006 by DK Watts (Short Bus Kids) and DJ Naz Vartianian, meant as a sub-label of Bounce House Recordings. Releases from the likes of Giano, Short Bus Kids, p-rez, and Bon Johnson established the label in the bay area house community. Today DJ Naz is still at the helm of NSF Records, but somewhere along the way he was joined by Fresno-based DJ/producer P-REZ in managing the label.

Now presenting its eighth release, the label acts as a springboard for the solo debut of Oakland's DJ Rusty. He's previously collaborated with P-REZ as Dos Banditos, making NSF Records a fitting home. Diving right in, the "Brick Dance" single has an unequivocal California feel with a shaker, tom, and rim-filled rhythm, a rockin' bass line, and accented vocals that all combine into house music with lowrider appeal. Three included remixes take the track into different territories. Ezra Osborn is the owner of Voluptuous Recordings and one half of Da Basspushers with Giano. Producing as EZO, he turns in a spacier interpretation with minimal tech flair and sparse synth chords. P-REZ (real name Steve Perez) is a label mate of EZO's and production partner of Rusty's making his remix the glue to this release. He ups the original's sleaze with additional Cali flavor by way of Fresno, adding bong hits and buzzed synths. Completing the release, Arturo Garces is a San Jose label manager for Jump Recordings, Beat Bum Music, and Resource Records with plenty of productions released on other widely recognized labels like Robsoul Recordings. His Zone Mix is full of shuffling elements from the percussion to the bass line and all the additional effects, giving life to a deep, but energetic, groove.

DJ Mes (Guesthouse) - “Rusty and P-Rez on da mix! Nice release.”
Giom - “The P-Rez mix is cool.”
Hippie Torrales - “Rocking.”
Tommy Largo (Lost My Dog / Kolour) - “Cool stuff! The Arturo Garces remix is my pick.”
Robbie Hardkiss - “I like that P-Rez mix!”
Carlo Gambino (Midnight Social Recordings) - “Nice release all round … the ‘Brick Dance’ original is lovely.”
Vanilla Ace (OFF Recordings) - “The EZO mix is good!”
Tyler Stadius - “I’m loving Arturo Garces’s mix. This one bumps!”
Al Bradley (3am Recordings) - “Wicked stuff! All four are strong, but the original and EZO versions get the main vote from me. EZO in particular lays down a superb groove.”
Andrew Macari (Greenhouse / Tastie) - “Solid jackin’ house vibe … proper club jams!”
Daniel Poli (Suspect Package Records) - “Cool release. At first listen, I really like the P-Rez remix. Nice one.”
J. Caprice (High Maintenance) - “Nice set of tracks here! I’m all about the Arturo Garces remix for me.”
Chris Harris (Tronicsole / Nordic Trax) - “I’m digging the techno feel of EZO remix!”
Joey Silvero (Distant People) - “Quirky feel but works nicely … catchy little hooky rhythm.”
Pete Williams (Natural Rhythm Music) - “The Arturo Garces mix is a serious deep banger! My pick for sure.”
Still Rob G (Smoke n Mirrors / Om Records) - “The P-Rez mix is really cool. Nice and funky and lighthearted. Arturo Garces’s mix is nice as well. Very west coast.”
Marcia Carr (Mi-Soul Radio / Ladyz) - “Deep went into deeper; Arturo Garces’s Zone Mix captures hard and soulful elements … just the right balance. Bellissimo!”

Available now from Beatport and Amazon.