Is Guy J consistent or what? Like eating at McDonald's, you know what you’re going to get before you sit down and take off the wrapper. Guy J’s tracks are consistently good, with consistently similar elements and that ain’t always a bad thing. It’s safe to say that what’s good about Guy J is also what’s bad; it’s too safe.
Lamur does stand out as one of Guy J’s better tracks and it is perfect for the summer – light and fantastically easy on the ear. Deep progressive house is this particular pigeon’s hole, but the real and absolute success of this track is one thing; the melody. Against a scenic view of 909 drum, deep bass and skippy percussion the melody subtly rises from nowhere to climb and climb again. By the time it hits the breakdown it has befriended a counter melody and onwards and upwards they journey. It’s a sunrise moment, a feel-good piece of music, a hands in the air iPod moment (boy that was embarrassing).
The defining moment of this package has to be without hesitation the Henry Saiz remix. Having been bubbling under for some time, and a favourite of Digweed’s, his interpretation of Lamur has seemingly brought out the best of both his abilities and Guy J’s track. In fact I would go so far as to say it’s an inspired piece of progressive house. The melodies have been used to awesome effect, by keeping them slightly more restrained than the original and laying them over a phattened bassline that steers the track slightly away from progressive, and the better it sounds for it. The detail in this track is mind blowing, from small cut up inserts to analogue inserts and crowd pleasing strings, it really does capture the spirit of the original and take it to a new dimension. At ten minutes the remix is not short but amongst the twists and turns of the melody, bassline, strings and big old swooshes you don’t really notice.
For anybody out there that has so far been mistaken let me make this as clear as I can possibly be; the Henry Saiz remix of Lamur is huge, a coming of age, a progressive house moment for the summer, a lesson in epicness. If it’s not a word already then Mr. Saiz just invented it. Get in there…big in Ibiza, that’s all I’m saying.