Bayete kicks off their new label with a superb selection of edits, picking up on all the dancy goodness you need for the new year.
It always seems a natural progression for DJs who have been tearing it up, and digging through the deepest of crates, to make the step into their own view of classics and beyond. DJs keep their fingers on the pulse, always searching and exploring what treasures are held within the depths of our contemporary musical landscape, alongside going deep inside the past to find treasures that the ordinary listener cannot fathom. Edits are often a bone of contention, and have lead to blandness in the past, particularly the dreaded disco house loop. But with many a recent edit, we see the producers dig deep to find music that not only helps you move, but it retains its compelling identity. It has a mind and place of its own, brought to light lovingly by the most curious of DJs and music lovers. It remains not a relic but something to be marvelled, revelled in, and loved.
Bayete step up to the plate in exactly that fashion, as they fuse and craft and create from all corners of the earth. An EP filled to the brim of feisty, curious and layered delights, the one thing you will get enormously from this is its constant search for the groove. Its journey takes us through the outer rims of afro cosmicness, through to 80s uptempo heaters, through to the proto house business of the 90s, we take our fill, eat our cake, from the offerings on display here. So lets take a dip into perhaps 2019's most intriguing and classy collection of edits!
The first track, 'N'zo', kicks us off, and that intro is something else. A blend of charming vocal work, underlaid with a proper early 90s series of drums, keys and progressions. To switch it up for good measure, the sax takes us back to the lounge, but the beat is too far up there to just sit down. The vocals come back in, the guitar riffs driving the tune forward. The instrumental break at the start was just a taste of the fantastic musicality found within the track, and the editor has done a brilliant job at allowing the track to flow elegantly through the motions. The contrast of 90s sensibilities with the Afro elements is just something else, but yeah those guitar riffs. Up next comes 'Panague', that takes the trip through to more exotic and heated environments. The chiming synths chop along to the guitar and the smooth as hell beat, providing a wonderful base for the vocals to do their work on top. The track feels less dense than the previous, with huge amounts of space afforded for the dancers to find their place within these tropical riches. the synths and vocal work are both top notch, and really give this track a proper sense of uniqueness, in their ambition and their range. Top stuff!
Next comes 'ElectroZouk', and oh yes the electro flavours come full circle in this one. Going fully into the West Indies genre, this track combines so much life. Bringing together the sensibilities of the Zouk genre - the high octane drumming, fully bodied vocals, driving synths - is melded together with rich guitar work and Italo house style piano lines. All over the most pulsating beat, it swings harrrrdd, alongside a bass line that just continues its work on and on and on. The sax and horn work is also to be appreciated enormously, just adding to the glorious melodies abounding all over. To finish it all off, we have 'Stargazing'. The EP takes it down really slow here, the boogie vibes reverberating strong here. Combining all the feels of sophisticated boogie, with some rap thrown in there for good measure, its just all the goods here. Like a sunset continually setting over a shimmering pool, this one will keep you grooving down between sheets for years and years.
Woah! what a vibe. For a first release this ain't too shabby at all. The diversity within these tracks is unfathomable, alongside the fact that they work your body as much as your mind. All beautifully considered, layered and groovy, they all contain so much diversity and interest, repeat listening is certainly required. If this is the debut, who knows what will come from these guys in the years to come. More of the same please! edits never felt so damn good.
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https://www.discogs.com/Various-Native-Dance-01-/release/14476195