Audiojack // These Days EP [Gruuv]
How many DJs does it take it to change a light bulb? Ten. One to change the bulb and nine to say the new one isn’t as good as the original. Jokes aside, this, in a nutshell, is the essence of ‘These Day’s – a right old moan about bedroom barons who, aided only by a lap top and a lack of imagination, delight in ‘knocking one out’ not only in the morning, but after lunch and before beddy byes, too.
Now, if you can get your mind out of the gutter for a second, you’ll realise it’s perfunctory house tracks that are been cracked off with little more than a few flicks the wrist before going on to clog up the download top 100 for a day or so, only to be supplanted by some other piece of tosh in short order. Audiojack and guest vocalist, Kevin Knapp, aren’t happy about this – fair enough.
I, like many, am not exactly enamoured with the amount of audio effluent that has to be waded through on a daily bassis in the never ending search for the perfect beat. However, that Jimmy Edgar has been drafted in for remix duties makes me very happy – he is, as the kids say “smashing it” at the moment and his mix is pure 90s house heaven. The vocal content is reduced and chopped up over a thumpin’ drum and organ powered groove, and garnished with a smattering of modern production techniques for good measure. Top drawer house 2012 style, make no mistake.
Releases for Dirtybird, Klasse and Trapez, withstanding, I still think Sacha Robotti, sounds like a nemisis of Austin Powers, but don’t let my blinkered view of the world put you off from checking out his interpretation of ‘These Days’. It’s big room material with an epic feel and electro leanings, so if that sounds like your thing then this won’t disappoint. ‘Nightwatch’, on the other hand, is deep, groovy, very of the moment and something of a filler to my ears, albeit one that attains the high standard expected from Audiojack.
Things are rounded off with a cover version of Plastic Dreams. A classic record in every sense, and one that transcended scenes and blurred the boundary between house and techno upon its release twenty years ago. Attempting a cover may seem fool hardy, and offers potential for nine out of ten DJs to scream ‘sacrilege’ but, in fairness, Audiojack absolutely nail it and It’s easy to see why their tribute to Plastic has been on heavy rotation with the likes of Sasha, Seth Troxler, Art Department and Maya Jane Coles for ages.
Release Date: Out Now
Words: Gareth Sommerville
