A DJ mix album with a difference from Everything But The Girl co-founder Ben Watt and his Buzzin’ Fly label, voted “Best Breakthrough Label” of 2004 at the first ever House Music Awards.
If you happened to sleep on Buzzin’ Fly Vol.1, then you may have denied
yourself one of 2004’s more seductive musical pleasures. Ben Watt established
the Buzzin’ Fly label in
2003 with an eye to expanding the seemingly limited horizons of House Music,
so it seems natural he would follow Vol. 1 (‘a House Music classic’
- BPM) with … a concept DJ mix album? Quite possibly. Ben Watt returns
with this new set from his award-winning imprint, Buzzin' Fly, and, flipping
the script on cookie-cutter beat-mixes of the latest upfront cuts, presents
a deeply evocative 75 minute journey in modern house. Part story, part groove,
the album tracks a mood from post 9/11 New York City angst through to a moving
and redemptive conclusion, and is shot through with spoken word stories some
written by Watt himself, including his acclaimed collaboration with the award-winning
young London MC Estelle, 'Pop A Cap in Yo' Ass'.'I wanted to get back to the
meaning of house,' says Watt. 'The modern relentless pumping DJ set bores me.
I've been thinking again about early DJs like Larry Levan. He paid as much attention
to the lyrical flow of his sets as the groove. Stories unfolded within the music.
Communities listened. I partly cut my teeth as a DJ in New York from the Giant
Step parties in 1996 onwards. When I witnessed the mood change in New York after
9/11 I felt another story could be told.'The album starts with an extract from
Watt's unreleased 'Williamsburg Or Harlem' spoken by the unknown Jennifer Valone
(who was featured briefly on Vol.1), a lone voice pondering her future, and
fades down into Jerk House Connection's cool yet bumpily assertive 'New York
Style'.'I wanted to take that character on a journey of re-assessment and re-discovery,
utilising sounds from the history of house - machine-tooled Detroit, the soaring
simplicity of raw early Chicago, through to modern Afro-beat and electro-house,'
continues Watt. 'At times I've used voices to simply assert the unifying power
of music ('Lone Cat' / 'Senti Sabi' / 'Night Of Music'). At other times they
are statements of uncertainty, reflections by a tough survivor on a lost past
('Intro' / 'Pop A Cap In Yo' Ass'). In the end they offer the acceptance of
unconditional love ('I Love You') and the abandonment of illusions ('Goodbye
Illusions') as a route to a new life. These ultimately are the things to cling
on to, and music is the glue that bonds it all together. The healer. Life goes
on.'Musically, the album reflects Watt's commitment to new young talent and box-fresh music on the label with five new cuts. Young San Francisco newcomer and Buzzin' Fly discovery Justin Martin (Best Breakthrough DJ Nominee / House Music Awards 2004) turns in two brand new Chicago-via-Paris bumpin' house monsters (Ben Watt 'Lone Cat' (Remix) / 'Le Boom'). Emerging deep French dons, Manoo and Francois A deliver another as-yet-unreleased piece of oceanic orchestral beauty ('Five Seasons') to follow their acclaimed '6 In The Morning', and Lisbon's Alex S (Rodamaal / 'Musica Feliz') rocks the midpoint of the mix with the uplifting electro-skank of 'Senti Sabi', set for release (and doubtless much associated outdoor party damage) during Miami WMC 2005. Watt not only offers extracts from 'Williamsburg Or Harlem' featured on his ongoing spoken-word project 'Outspoken', but drops two new cuts of his own - 'Pop A Cap In Yo' Ass' with Estelle, and a previously unreleased remix of Unity's cold-side-of-the-pillow heartbreaker 'I Love You'.Elsewhere Watt handpicks diverse gems from the modern house locker – DJ T's brutally simple Germanic electro-infused 'Time Out', the sweeping Arabian elegance of Sofian Rouge, drum 'n' bass producer Nookie's rare take on latino-Chicago and Asian-Brazilian Sergio Flores' floor-busting Afro-beat dub of Hanna Hais. In the studio, before mixdown, the DJ mixer was specially wired with vintage tape delays, a custom-built Space echo and rare phase-filters to breathe life and character into the special effects and tricks that propel the crossfades and breakdowns.'I'm sick of ironic disco and I'm sick of mindless funky house,' concludes Watt. 'House music was always about a feeling with a meaning. That is what I was searching for on this mix.