Jackmaster K - Feelings ep - 180 grams vinyl

Recording info

After serving up a vigorous taste of his garage-house approach on the highly successful Music Is Love VA earlier in the year, Jackmaster K is the latest artist from the MIL roster to continue the imprints in-house premise. With each EP the label release, they give us something different amid the infectious house they're building a reputation for. On MIL006 the Birmingham-based producer adds to the labels progressing status, with an EP that comes complete with two heavy-weight remixes from Liam Geddes and New Jack City.

I Need Your Love kicks things off, a welcome reminder of Jackmaster K's affiliation toward classic sounding house. An effectively crafted vocal female sample is cut-up and diced out over a bumping bassline for the opening track, as a flourish of piano key stabs, flickering keyboard trappings, intermittent horns and tribal drum patterns are splashed over the introduction of a male vocal snippet to carry everything along nicely.

Jackmaster K's penchant for introducing and weaving numerous elements of US house/garage into a track is testament to his varied style; something personified in Feelings. Swinging snares and old skool chorded pads are merged against a bouncing bassline that flows gloriously along over splashy hi-hats and punchy piano stabs. The utilisation of different female vocal hooks gives the track a 90s sounding aura - thematic of Jackmaster K's work - building into punctuating sax arrangements that filter soulfully through the track.

For the B side of the EP aficionados of classic bumping house New Jack City bring the remix of the title track, dishing up their characteristically groove-heavy rhythms for another stripped-back roller. Their remix of I Need Love maintains an essence of the vocal and horn elements of the original, providing an overall tougher sounding beat. A hard-hitting, low-slung bass underlies the fore of the track while prolonged key chords and ticking hi-hats combine with a dubbed down male vocal and crowed jeers to take the track down a path of heavier house terrain.

Fresh off the back of his MIL005 release and rounding off the EP in faultless fashion is Milton Keynes producer Liam Geddes. Stamping his distinctive house sound over Feelings, Geddes gives us the deepest offering of the four tracks. The drum groove and bassline are deep enough that just an intermittent vocal hook and crisp handclaps are enough to flesh out the proportions of the track. Ticking hi-hats, bass kicks and the build-up of warm key chords at the breakdown prove how effective simplicity can be in a remix, concluding yet another fine release from Music Is Love.