[FXHE]
This year I placed a fair number of orders with FXHE Records, and for good reason. Just looking at Omar-S’ output alone, 2010 yielded epic vocal house tracks (“Here With Me”), deep and driving cosmic tracks (“Plesetsk Cosmodrome”), taut Chicago workouts (“Skynet 2 B”), and acid-drenched 303 tracks (the whole Mid 90’s EP), not to mention a slew of remixes. Detroit’s current favorite son is not particularly consistent in his sound, swinging around timbres with aplomb and never content to sit still. Luckily for buyers, though, his quality never wavers, and newest 12″ These Complimentary Tracks’x is no exception.
Things kick off with “Solely Supported,” which sees Smith pick up the 303 again for a dynamic yet subdued bit of shuffling techno. As much as I love the 303, lately it seems to be used as more of a gimmick than anything else. Luckily Mr. Smith knows his way around the machine, and with a simple yet effective pattern and expert knob-turning, “Solely Supported” comes out old-school and jacking in all the best ways. “Under Jamaica” is a lo-fi, experimental cut whose razor-sharp torrent of percussion is engaging and decidedly strange. “Columns” is a longer tune which slowly harnesses the sounds swarming around it into a restrained techno number, where “Boot Hill” is an edit of classic sounding soul. These Complimentary Track’x might not be a revolutionary 12″ but it continues the on-form run Omar-S has enjoyed for as long as I can remember.
Sounds of a classic, yet new. Very nice.
Great to see omar-s stuff getting reviews, but why are you guys reviewing this *now*, didn’t this drop back in October?
Shouldn’t you be reviewing the Jive Time Ep at this point..?
On the review: I agree, It’s a good record, all tracks are solid, but not one of the stand-outs in the omar-s catalog.
Solely Supported being the “hit” song while Columns and Under Jamaica are more experimental/tool track kinda stuff. Columns might be my favorite.
Boot Hill is more like a throw away bonus outro.
Our mission is to cover worthwhile records, not just the latest one on offer. It’s not like a record is expired when another one follows it, especially when you’re talking about an artist as prolific as Omar-S.
Ok, yeah, I didn’t want to come off sounding overly negative. It’s great that you’re focusing on reviewing interesting music instead of just the newest new.
It’s just that to me it seems more logical to either review ep’s around the time they drop or pull out something completely overlooked that came out two years ago or something. Something in the middle just feels a bit weird to me. But maybe it’s just me 😉
I like that they have reviewed it now as its one i missed and now its getting purchased! 😉
I’m also happy that LWE reviewed the track, to me, its only new if I haven’t heard it. Doesn’t matter in any way or fashion what date it was released
Well, speaking of omar-s and the newest new, I just checked his web site,
and it has a one track EP with the funniest name I’ve heard in a long time: “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!” listed as coming soon.
“Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!” Just Wow.
The sample sounds like this might be a big one.
nice, thanks for the tip, mas! the sample sounds pretty great.
omar never ceases to amaze. Just wish that disco loop would go on for at least another 5mins
phyllis hyman “under your spell”, knock your self out homie!
AOS still slaying then. exxxxxcellent.