DJ Alex Corton – Vinyl Reviews

Good Looking Records

Phat Playaz / Funkware – Sandy Dance / Walk On The Wild Side

2014

Two new artists appear for this penultimate 12” vinyl single release on Good Looking Records. Phat Playaz is a guy called Graham Barber who actually kicked off his productions with ‘Fashion’ on one of the Looking Good Records Test Presses in 2009. We will be reviewing that one during the Looking Good label reviews. He has also had a good run on Fokuz and been active on Intelligent Recordings and Scott Allen’s, Soul Deep Recordings. Funkware is Bulgarian and has had tunes out on Soul Deep Recordings and sevaral telesses on his own label, Funkstuff Recordings.

Let’s get this disc spinning and let the music kickstart the word banks up to bursting.  

   Side A has ‘Sandy Dance’ by Phat Playaz, knocking a shallow and lightly rippled reservoir of liquid, head nodding goodness your way. What we then experience is something that really does not sound like anything we’ve heard on Good Looking Records. The experimental low end string work of double bass (or chello i think) is fucking seriously nice and the bass is so turbulent that it pushes your trembling molars down your throat. Huge, skull racking frequencies drop down and we get this killer assortment surrounding very simple beats. I haven’t played this one too much, but I really do like it. It has this Alex Reece flavor within it. Groove laden and metronomic in its composition. A really nice piece of music this. 

   On Side AA we have ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ by Funkware, opening up an envelope of beats that hurtle along.  The background, street chaos echoes blasts down the Main Street and the pick up and go really barrels along like a runaway train, pistons pumping, metal scorching and bellowing smoke, retching out the funnel. The bass line fixates you while the horns trumpet in a distant battle cry out across the fields. It’s lively, fresh and belts out a shower of fun. One to bounce around the room too, or indeed leap over the neighbors fence. “Watch the ride there, Mrs. Wilberforce, now try hanging your washing out, here comes the riddim!” Ha ha! Burn those souls in your shoes. 

   Top work on that 12”. On we go. If this blog is something you may find interesting, it’s here. I hope you find it of some joy. Big up!