|
|
|
| |
| |
 BUY @ AMAZON |
STRICTLY MAW (STRICTLY RHYTHM) |
| |
There are a few theories as to why I like this release so much. One would be, its been so long (or who knows what I was doing) since I heard many of these Strictly and MAW classic releases, I don’t really remember most of them, but they strike that chord which is at both familiar and fresh. Another would be this was the music that was playing when I was young(er) and super enthusiastically clubbing and dancing and grooving to these DJs, so even if it is old, I still love it. The third and final theory is that both of the prior theories are true, along with the fact that the music even without any prior associations is still just so damn good, and if anyone should know how to mix it to perfection its Louie Vega and Kenny Dope. So it really doesn’t matter if you remember it from the first time around or not, you just have to listen to this double CD mix (one by Louie, the 2nd by Kenny) to enjoy! A little more background on the release, DJs, and label might be in order here for more recent club music aficionados. Strictly was one of the earliest and most influential labels, based in New York City, and Little Louie Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzales were probably equally as important to the scene back in the day, under all the various aliases they DJ’ed and produced records under, including “MAW” = Masters At Work. All the tunes on this release are from the Strictly label, which closed in 2002 after 13 years, and this is their first original mix CD since then. Sometimes one-label compilations can lead to mixes that aren’t quite natural, as DJs try to work within a label’s catalog, but I imagine with the immense number of titles they had to choose from, and perhaps a unifying “Strictly” sound, both disks are smooth uplifting 4 on the floor dance to it house music.-- review by Jennifer Warner
Members of Masters at Work have worked for years with Strictly Rhythm Records, though generally not under the MAW title. Here, MAW's name ends up on a Strictly record for the first time, not counting a few remixes. The two discs of "Strictly MAW" are a feast of big beats and the big hooks spawned from them. Louie Vega's disc offers up a steady flow of ethnogrooves. I want to call them tribal or world or something but nothing seems to fit. Doesn't matter. There's a sort of theme to the hooks that flow throughout these tracks, though it'd be unfair and far from the truth to say the same groove graces each record. The tracks are distinctive and exciting, if a bit floofy at times. Kenny Dope aims for fat minimalism. It seems contradictory, but it's not. Gospel, funk, blues, and tons of electro-sparked house ride the waves of Dope's set. All in all, it's a catchy double disc of club poppin' tracks, all from Strictly Rhythm's first stint. (The label went on hiatus in 2002 after a 13-year run. Now it's back with a vengeance.)-- review by Kristofer Upjohn
|
| |
|
 |
|
