Anton Zap, Outside EP

[Uzuri]


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There was a time you had to keep your ear close to the ground to get an accurate read on the whereabouts of true deep house. That is no longer the case as more labels have recently emerged to help push the sound to the foreground. And with that are pushing artists who are dedicated to keeping the deep house revival moving in the right direction. Anton Zap is one such artist. The Moscow-based producer earned instant street cred with just a handful of releases on Underground Quality and Quintessentials over the past two years. With his latest release, the “Outside EP” for Uzuri, Zap reveals a growing confidence and development of his own sound.

Zap starts “Spain” sparsely with an echoing chord sequence and a smattering of percussion effects before raising the kick and toms and introducing a tight bass line lick — all the hallmarks of solid deep house minimalism done at a slow burn. But it’s the last 30 seconds that send a different message: as the track fades a vocal and rhythm sample emerges, as if a whole other track is buried in there trying to rise to the surface. On “Alice Miracle” he ups the tempo, infusing jazz idioms that include a stand-up bass and piano while tense strings create a rich, dramatic atmosphere in what I imagine is a nod to Alice Coltrane. Elsewhere, Zap displays his versatility in the form of moody house on “Mon 16_46” and the electro-tinged breakbeats and funk bass line of “Can’t Wait For Snow,” the latter of which (with a bit more cowbell) wouldn’t sound out of place on Environ. If anything Zap proves he has much to add to the growing deep house well and then some.

struggle  on June 4, 2009 at 3:16 AM

yes yes! this was supposed to be out in April? still waiting patiently. my favorite Zap release to date.

Peder  on June 4, 2009 at 8:45 AM

like most uzuri records, a grower not a shower. a nice subtle record which reminds me of farben, dj sprinkles etc.

apparently the delay with the vinyl is due to it being remastered.

http://teleost.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/may-fiends/#comment-973

ashley  on June 4, 2009 at 9:00 AM

Anton zap is one of my favorite producers these days. Refreshing, deep house. It’s lovely.

charlie  on June 4, 2009 at 9:33 AM

yea, I’ve been after this for ages. quality stuff.

Sean  on June 10, 2009 at 7:51 AM

Hi littlewhiteearbuds,

Very nice site. Question though do you record the tracks and post them on here? Reason i ask is because the sound quality is always so good and i am trying to convert my vinyl to mp3 and cannot get the rips to sound as good as the samples on here. Feel free to share your secrets to ripping the tracks please :)

littlewhiteearbuds  on June 10, 2009 at 8:06 AM

The reason they sound so good is that we mostly use straight mp3s reduced to 96kb, not ripped ones.

Sean  on June 10, 2009 at 9:46 AM

^^^ Sorry i am a noob when it comes to these things. What do u mean by straigh mp3’s reduced to 96kb? You mean u buy it from beatport digital version then convert? Sorry bout the stupid question :)

littlewhiteearbuds  on June 10, 2009 at 10:10 AM

No worries. We receive promo mp3s for the bulk of the releases we review. We reduce the quality of the mp3s from 320 (the least compressed) to 96 using iTunes in order to make the mp3s less appealing to steal. 96 sounds fine over computer speakers but dreadful over a PA.

Sean  on June 11, 2009 at 5:48 AM

Oh ok thanks. Yeah they do sound good on here i must admit.

struggle  on June 12, 2009 at 3:14 AM

anyone else have problems with “Mon 16_46″ on the vinyl? my copy skips about through the whole track. all the others play fine.

kuri  on June 12, 2009 at 10:57 PM

damn. I would’ve thought that taking the time on getting the vinyl remastered would have helped to ensure that pressing would have got extra attention too.

Lerato  on June 19, 2009 at 9:06 AM

mmm not heard any skips on the finished copies i have .pls contact me if you have issues .info@uzurirecordings.com

Jerome  on July 16, 2009 at 9:47 PM

I’m looking for Anton Zap – Do It, it was on Jus-Ed’s RA podcast from a while back and it’s awesome. But I can’t find it anywhere! Can anyone help me out?

Peder  on July 17, 2009 at 3:51 AM

hey jerome, it’s on the “unity kolabo” quadruple(!) pack on uq:

http://www.discogs.com/DJ-Jus-Ed-Unity-Kolabo/release/1059550

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