- Like Wolf + Lamb's previous label showcase, Significant Others Too reaps the rewards of the roster's polyamory. The fruits born of the artist pairings here are some of the label's finest picks this year. Above all it's Zev's "Forget the World" that will turn heads, a soulful, epic-sized vocal house tune that most neatly evokes the atmosphere of a party at the label's Marcy Hotel: In a wood-paneled room amidst those turning bodies, their flushed skin, where drops of sweat shine like dew in the dawn. Over a simple, sensual rhythm a detuned Beckford sings "can you feel your spirit rising?"—and deep within the Marcy you forget the world outside, as the song's spine-tingling rush takes over.
If you wanted a quick introduction to the spare and elegant house sound that came out of Wolf + Lamb during their deserved year of hype, you'd do well to start with tracks like "Forget" and Seth Troxler's earlier standout "Aphrika." The rest of Significant Others Too, however, deviates from this template to highlight the label's stylistic breadth. Slow Hand's remix of No Regular Play slows things down to a saucy Balearic groove, with bits of dancing piano and weirdo manipulated crooning. I dearly hope this track is still making the rounds come summer, as it sorely longs to be played outdoors, to wrap itself around the bare skin of a crowd, and then dissipate into the warm night.
On the flip, "Grinding," the only solo production here, shows Lee Foss in more of an effervescent nu-disco mode. Chunks of string slashes and keyboard riffs are grated down to fine slivers, wordless exclamations ghost up through the filtered darkness. Gadi shows up together with Greg Paulus as Just One Night to offer a Dilla-esque slice of jazzy downtempo. On "Dawn," Paulus, who's done time with indie darlings Beirut and currently operates as one-half of No Regular Play, shows off his trumpet chops over a spare, crackly-warm funk groove. It's a welcome and unexpected stylistic left-turn, a lovely closer for 2009, a fitting sound to hear as the hotel clears out and you're back on the concrete street, squint-eyed in the haze of morning, thinking only of diner pancakes and a daylong nap. But don't sleep on the digital release, or you'll miss a solid match-up between Le Loup and Soul Clap which displays the best of both artists, with the former's percolating house rhythms sliding cozily alongside the latter's Stevie-tastic sampledelia.
トラックリスト 01. Zev feat. Beckford - Forget The World
02. No Regular Play - Ladyluck (Slow Hand's remix)
03. Lee Foss - Grinding
04. Just One Night - Dawn
05. Soul Clap & Le Loup - I Want You