UNA - Hiss for the Fly (Remixes) (Cool Jewel Records)

UNA deftly juxtapose intricate musicianship with lush vocals to convey emotion, mixing influences from trip hop, electronica, jazz, and blues into their alluring stew. The band includes Richard Larsen (keyboards, guitar, mandocello), Jennifer Nice (vocals), Scott Eric Olivier (synths, guitar, drums), and Eddie Barajas (turntables) and have impressed with their multi-layered releases and evocative live shows. Now Cool Jewel Records presents exquisite remixes of tracks taken from the Los Angeles combo's new Hiss for the Fly EP. The legendary Charles Webster delivers a pair of very different mixes of "Heal Him Now" that confirm his status as one of the most prestigious remixers around. Webster's His Bones Dub is a deep house wonder, integrating UNA's original elements in a hypnotic, building fashion over the mix's eight minutes. It's classic Charles Webster, ready to inspire late night dance floors. But it's Webster's full vocal remix that really sets the tone … the tempo is lowered and the atmosphere is ratcheted up for a dreamy re-interpretation that rivals Massive Attack at their languid best. On the flip side, L.A. producer Mystery Skulls shows off his own house music mastery with a disco-charged version of "The Raft". Jennifer Nice's vocals perfectly fit this uplifting dance concoction, confidently flying above the thick piano chords and bouncing bass line. This party's just getting started.

Jamie Jimpster (Freerange) - "The Charles Webster dub is a beast! Just in time for my gigs in South Africa this weekend."
Anthony Pappa - "I will support the Charles Webster His Bones Dub."
Gavin Hardkiss (Hawke / Hardkiss Music) - "Unsurprisingly classy."
Giom - "Lovely!"
Craig Stewart (Montana & Stewart / DCSTrax) - "The His Bones Dub is absolutely stunning! Charles Webster gives it the full treatment … brilliant chords."
Severino (Horse Meat Disco) - "Great sound, as expected."
Paul Cassidy (UM Records / Strictly Underground Music) - "Really liking the Mystery Skulls remix of 'The Raft' on this one … quirky and musical."
Liquid Todd (Sirius XM) - "Quality stuff."
Adrian Lugo (WEFT 90.1 FM) - "Charles Webster's dub is really hypnotic. It has a nice steady groove and gentle but funky bump."
Jon Manley (hOUSEwORX Radio Show) - "The downtempo Charles Webster remix is lushly dark and eclectic … fresh to the ears."
Zack Hill (VinylTribe LA) - "UNA and Charles Webster are a match made in heaven. This is the stuff vibes are made of!"

"Heal Him Now (Charles Webster Dub)" is available now from Traxsource.

The Hiss for the Fly EP is available now from Traxsource, Beatport, iTunes, and Spotify.

Dday One On His New Album 'Gathered Between'

Dday One's fifth album Gathered Between has a fascinating backstory that helped shape its captivating instrumental hip hop soundscapes. It was meant to be his second long-player, but a hard drive crash destroyed songs, files, and ideas necessary to complete the project. Eventually Dday One revisited the lost album, reconstructing the beats and sample arrangements from memory, giving Gathered Between an unintended but connecting theme of recollection and retrieving things presumed to be forgotten.

We caught up with Dday One to ask him about the curious origins of Gathered Between and what it was like to work on such a compelling project.

How long did you work on the original album before the hard drive crash? How far along to completion were you? What was your reaction to discovering it was gone, and how did you cope?

Dday One: I started working on the original version of Gathered Between in 2010 and worked on it for about a year and a half before the hard drive crash occurred. At the time of the crash I would say I was about halfway done with the album. I was so focused on the process that I forgot to back up the files during the recording and unfortunately I erased the disc that contained the source files.

When it first happened I was devastated but looking back now I believe it occurred for a reason because immediately after the crash, while searching for samples on disc, I ended up finding the sole surviving audio tape of my unofficial debut Mood Algorithms which up till that point was nowhere to be found. So I ended up digitizing and remastering Mood Algorithms which was released instead of Gathered Between. The whole experience got me in the habit of digitizing and archiving a lot of material that I forgot about which ended up becoming the foundation for the album that followed plus some remixes. So in hindsight it all kind of worked out.

What made you decide to reconstruct this album, rather than just working on a new one? Why do it now, rather than right after the first version was lost?

Dday One: Well, right after the first version was lost I switched gears and channeled my energy into remastering Mood Algorithms and working on a live set so the idea of completing the album got put on the back burner. Then about a year and a half ago I stumbled across notes I wrote while working on the first version of Gathered Between and thought it would be great to revisit the project by creating a totally new album inspired by the initial concept.

What exactly did you have left to work with when you set about creating this album? Can you describe the process?

Dday One: About half of tracks were already done, so my work was to reconstruct the remaining tracks. This process involved going over rough sketches from the initial recording that were on tapes and then relying on memory to find the samples from mostly vinyl that I previously used. Since my record collection had grown and my workflow changed since the first time around, the process was quite laborious but also rewarding. In some cases with tracks like "Years Ago" and "Out of the Shadows" the only thing I had to work with as a reference was the original track listing written down on paper. So in those cases I had to reflect on why I picked the specific title, and of course I could not think that far back so I ended up recreating the tracks based on what the song title meant to me while recording for this time of around.

The album has a very ‘deep’ vibe to it. Are there any particular meanings or stories behind any of the tracks on Gathered Between?

Dday One: The tracks came from a deep personal place so I am thankful that the overall vibe was preserved and was able to carry over to the listening experience. As far as stories, well besides the already known back story and overall concept I'd rather keep the specific meanings open. I would much rather the listener derive their own personal meanings without my influence.

Is there a sort of feeling of closure to getting Gathered Between recorded and released? Now, what is next for Dday One?

Dday One: Yes, releasing Gathered Between has brought about enormous closure and personal satisfaction. Definitely thankful to finally be able to close this chapter and looking forward to starting the next. Stay updated at ddayone.com.

Dday One's Gathered Between is out now on The Content Label.

W. Jeremy - Overdrive EP (Get Up Recordings)

Groove is in the house at Get Up Recordings and it comes in a five track EP called “Overdrive” from label owner W. Jeremy. The EP includes two versions of “Overdrive”, with a remix each from NYC’s Jake Reif and Dallas’ Multipass and a B-side titled “I Wanna Be Somebody (I Am Somebody Mix)”.

W. Jeremy is a NYC based DJ / producer whose history of working for DJs and record labels in the '90s – ranging from Angel Moraes to Tony Humphries – has greatly influenced his DJ sets and production style. His Get Up Recordings label is also clearly influenced by his musical past, with a colorful spectrum of artists and remixers including Kim Ann Foxman, Tedd Patterson, MATRiXXMAN, Alinka, Gavin Russom, and Snuff Crew.

The EP kicks off with one of two versions of "Overdrive". The Post Meridiem Mix, which is the main version, is an acid groover that builds up to a break of big room sexy vocals and then releases straight back into the acid. The second version, the Ante Meridiem Mix, gives a deep house vibe with a full array of lush harmonious keys and a pulsing bass line.

First up on remix duties is fellow NYC DJ and producer Jake Reif. A native New Yorker, Jake spent some musically formative years in the Midwest, drawing a massive influence from the cultures of Chicago and Detroit. Fueled by the underground energy of warehouse and loft parties of the era, he began his DJ career in the early 1990s and held DJ residencies in Oslo, Norway while DJ'ing around Europe in the 2000s, finally returning to NYC in 2008. He has releases on Rong Music as Savage Hymn with Mystic Bill, and Path Records as Upsetting Keys with Reade Truth, as well as recent remixes on Snuff Trax. His take on “Overdrive” bleeps and blips into a groove that is for the intelligent dance floor.

Next up is the Multipass remix of "Overdrive". Multipass is the production team of Red Eye and Samma Lone who are based out of Dallas, Texas. In addition to being one-half of Multipass, Red Eye, AKA Scottie Cannfield, does A&R for his own label, Audiophile Deep, and he does It’ll Do Disco, the main house / club night in Dallas. The other half, Samma Lone, AKA Steven Incrocci, is a renowned DJ and has an extensive catalog of releases on labels ranging from Skint, King Street Sounds, Farris Wheel, InStereo, and Guesthouse. Multipass’s remix re-imagines the Ante Meridiem Mix into a sultry building soundscape.

Danny Tenaglia - "Jake's Freq Mod mix for me … thanks!"
Lenny Fontana - "So groovy … I am on it."
Larry Tee - "Loving it!"
Tensnake - "I like the Post Meridiem Mix and Jake's Freq Mod mix."
Pete Moss - "Goodness … great release. The Multipass dub is insane."
Onionz - "'Overdrive' is hot!"
Lupe Fuentes (Inhouse Records) - "The Post Meridiem Mix is the one for me."
Severino (Horse Meat Disco) - "Yes … fierce!"
Chris Fortier (Fade) - "The Multipass Black Hole Dub for me."
Dave Storm (Cabrio Records) - "The Post Meridiem Mix is for acid lovers, and I'm one of those!"
Golf Clap - "Vibey!"
Al Bradley (3am Recordings) - "Wicked throbbing acid house."
Chris Udoh (Tigerhook) - "Bangers!"
Distant People (Foliage / Seamless) - "Multipass's dub is cool … the chords really just give it a lifted feel."

Available now from Beatport, Juno Download, iTunes, and Spotify.

saib. - Around The World (Cold Busted)

Historically Casablanca has been known as a global melting pot; a place where cultures mingle and fuse. This quality is evident in the dazzling music of Casablanca-based beat-maker and guitarist saib., who, after EP releases on Cult Classic Records and Japan's Introducing! label, has revealed his debut long-player, the appropriately titled Around The World album for Cold Busted. These tunes showcase saib.'s worldly vibe, tied together with his intricate guitar playing which deftly keeps up with all the styles represented on the album. Hip hop beats form the backbone as saib.'s musical palette skips from jazz flavors to lounge experiments to Asian textures … and sometimes within a single track. Highlights include the dance floor stomp of "Casablanca Funk", "Don't Be Lonely Tonight"'s jazzy sing-a-long groove, the kung fu beats and gentle melodies in "Shanghai Nights", and the dreamy "In The Mountains" which highlights saib.'s exceptional guitar technique. Around The World is indeed a non-stop flight, touching down on all of saib.'s influences and predilections, creating a memorable album along the way.

Opolopo - "Nice sample work and grooves!"
Fort Knox Five - "Solid global-influenced beats. Perfect for our Funk the World mix series."
All Good Funk Alliance - "Really great release … loving all these gems."
Dr Rubberfunk (Jalapeno Records) - "Very groovy … I'm a fan of the tasteful guitar work and the production to match."
Inland Knights - "Tight beats as ever from Cold Busted."
Hippie Torrales - "Hot hot hot!"
Trotter (Royal Soul Records) - "Dope … I love it!"
Rory Hoy (Howlin' Records / Super Hi-Fi) - "Incredible release!"
Stickybuds (Goodgroove Records) - "Nice trip hop style … I like."
Belabouche (Midnight Riot / DiscoDat) - "I love this!"
Danny Massure (Spring Strut) - "Funky and fresh."
Double-D (Funky Fresh Radio Show) - "Fresh … nice atmospheres and international samples."
DJ Tomas (Google Play / ForwardEver) - "Globetrotting in every sense of the term. These international music sounds and classic breaks work seamlessly here. Even with a touch of a throwback trip-hop sound, these tracks sound fresh."

Available now from Bandcamp, Beatport, Juno Download, iTunes, and Spotify.