2010 was a very fine year for Soul Clap and Wolf + Lamb.
Both duos established themselves as household names for those in the know,
demonstrating an exciting elastic approach to house and disco in both their DJ
sets and their productions. Against the deluge of minimalist sounds still
emerging from Europe, it’s no surprise that their blend of full-bodied soulful
and deep house blew them to the forefront of dance music around the world.
Along with a handful of others with the same approach, 2010 was the year that the
two duos ensured that North America talent stole the limelight again.
Aptly, they’ve used the opportunity to record a DJ-KiCKS mix
as a chance to document this phenomenon; a musical representation of their
achievements and a recorded manifesto of their intentions. The decision to only
feature tracks recorded by peers and friends (Nicolas Jaar, Deniz Kurtel, Lee
Curtiss etc) is a conscious one – as Soul Clap’s Eli Goldstein notes, the mix is
a culmination of “the idea that we’re a collective”
This makes for a much more coherent and cohesive musical
collage than others in the DJ-KiCKS series. Its refusal to broaden the styles
and genres on hand make for a listening experience that is purposefully slow,
sensual and drawn out – at times at the cost of monotonous patches (the
last third sags slightly). Although that’s not to say there is no variation; the tracks
begin housey, veer into disco and soul before heading back into house sounds.
As you would expect, there are some outstanding cuts here
(most of them exclusive to the mix, too). Tanner Ross’s off-kilter Goodbye,
Summer offers an early highlight with its bubbly chords and funky-attitude.
Later Deniz Kurtel and Gadi Mizrahi’s Crank It Up offers the mix’s first
obvious disco number that rides on waves of synths and crisp pads. However the standout
moment is Soul Clap’s exclusive collaboration with Charles Levine, Lonely C.
With its tight disco beats and Levine’s melancholic, vocodered vocals stuttering and drifting
over it (sounding how Robert Smith of The Cure might, had he been a disco diva),
this track alone makes the mix a worthy purchase.
Having dedicated the
middle-section to r’n’b influenced beats (SECT’s In The Park) and
low-hung deep house sounds (Slow Hand’s Rough Patch), the two duos
start to draw things to a close with some classic-sounding soulful house, including the Clap’s remix of DJ Harvey’s Close To You. Dropping Benoit &
Sergio’s washed-out anthem Walk And Talk as the mix’s penultimate conclusion,
the album’s desired effect is fittingly concluded.
Haters will say the mix is too
smart or self-conscious for its own good - and it is a slow-cooker certainly - but for those who have the patience this is a rewarding, sensual and deep musical
experience. Beneath the surface of this intricate mix of US-influenced house is
an acute explanation of who Soul Clap and Wolf + Lamb are, and what they’re
trying to achieve in modern dance music. And from two of the most exciting duos
in town, that can only be a good thing.
01. Greg Paulus - My Man's Gone Now (Intro)
02. Greg Paulus - Yellow Sky
03. Tanner Ross - Goodbye, Summer
04. Deniz Kurtel & Wolf + Lamb - Love
Triangle (Interlude)
05. Double Hill - Everytime I Go
06. Charles Levine, Deniz Kurtel & Gadi
Mizrahi - Stay Home
07. Michael J. Collins - You Lose
(Interlude)
08. Greg Paulus - Suchashame (Soul Clap
Remix)
09. Deniz Kurtel & Gadi Mizrahi feat.
Camburn - Crank It Up
10. Eli Gold - Throw That (Interlude)
11. Soul Clap - 3 Wheel E-Motion
12. Lee Curtiss - South Aphrika
13. Soul Clap feat. Charles Levine - Lonely
C
14. H-Foundation feat. Aion - Tonight (Wolf
+ Lamb Remix)
15. Eli Gold - Slow Down (Interlude)
16. Nicolas Jaar - Don't Believe The Hype
17. SECT feat. Ben Westbeech - In The Park
18. Slow Hands - Rough Patch
19. Nicolas Jaar - Can't See What Is
Burning There
20. No Regular Play - Takin' U Back
21. DJ Harvey Presents Locussolus - Next To
You (Soul Clap Remix)
22. Wolf + Lamb feat. Smirk - Therapist
23. Zev feat. Greg Paulus - We All
24. Seuil & Le Loup - Nautil Us
25. Gadi Mizrahi - I'll Set Your House
26. Benoit & Sergio - Walk And Talk
27. Voices Of Black - Fridays With Her