- For a man who just brought back a decades-old house label, Ewan Jansen, the founder of Red Ember Records, seems impressively un-nostalgic. Around the turn of the millennium, he released a batch of deep house records by himself and Justin Zerbst that have since become holy grails, fetching north of €100 a piece on Discogs until he reissued them this year on Embers Only: Selected tracks 1997 - 1999. And yet, aside from that collection, Red Embers 2.0 has been firmly focused on the future. Following an EP of new music from Jansen, it presented four hitherto unheard producers on Deepsounds Two, a mini-compilation from earlier this year. This month, it released the first EP from another promising new artist, Florida's Goiz.
Red Ember always had clear sources of mystique. It's based in a remote corner of the globe (Perth, Australia) with an original catalog that was preposterously rare, pressed on lathe-cut vinyl in runs of as few as 30 units. But the reason it became a cult favorite is, of course, its sound: a blend of mellow moods and kinetic rhythms that nails the sweet spot so much deep house aims for. Like Deepsounds Two, Big Ol' Goiz is a bit more timid than the classic Red Ember records, but its best moments live up to this lofty standard. "Tortilla Flat" and "Sifting" pair low-key beats with glowing organs and goofy spoken word bits—a bit vanilla maybe, but undeniably smooth. The other two tracks are where Goiz really shines. "3MV" is a soaring cut of electro that maintains the record's daydreamy vibe, even at 132 BPM. "Fornix" combines the best elements of the other tracks, with plump bass tones, crafty drops and syncopated drums that keep you bouncing till the end.
Lista de títulosA1 Tortilla Flat
A2 MV
B1 Sifting
B2 Fornix