A beautiful remix from an extremely talented producer. Young Cambridge student George FitzGerald, who last month had his great debut EP 'The Let Down/Weakness' released on the forward thinking Hotflush label, has taken the 1995 track 'Tell Me' by American R&B duo Groove Theory who are recently reformed after splitting back in 2001.FitzGerald's productions to date (which include 'Don't You', 'Painted Jezebel', 'The Let Down', and 'Weakness') have been attributed the label's future garage soul and dub-tech in some quarters. I think these are reasonably useful terms, but like Joy Orbison and Mount Kimbie, his music is extremely difficult to pin down and define with the coalescence of different styles in his tracks. However, there are a few traits which can already be seen to re-appearing in FitzGerald's tracks, traits which are setting him apart with a unique and luscious sound. Most simply, FitzGerald's productions are emotional tracks designed for the dancefloor (a feature shared by the likes of JO, Sepalcure, James Blake, Falty DL, Martyn, A Made Up Sound et al). He seems to combine elements of house, 2-step garage and techno within his work, with 2-step patterned beats, warm house and garage melodies provided by soulful vocals as well a Detroit techno soul and ambience feel to his sound.
The characteristics listed above help to transform Groove Theory's R&B infused 'Tell Me', with FitzGerald's remix transforming the track from a slow R&B classic to an emotional dancefloor killer. The track has a gradual start, with a deep simple 4x4 rhythm which is accompanied by the melodic diva vocals, and shortly after the introduction of a nice harmony through the chord arrangements. A wonderful deep bass kicks the track into life at 1:12, and the tracks 2-step rhythm is fully implemented shortly after with the introduction of a shuffling hi-hat and and beat skipping kick drums to accompany a soft 4x4 beat. FitzGerald's work on this track is brilliant, to transform the original Grove Theory track into the track featured below is nothing short of brilliant. Add to this format the inclusion of ambient sounding synths alongside the deep bass, which recalls the sounds of Basic Channel as well as Scuba, then the track is almost complete.
This is definitely a must listen for those of you who have loved FitzGerlad's past releases, or are fans of the current crop of artists who are creating soulful and emotional music which is gaining force and taking over the dancefloor's of underground clubs in London and Bristol. I hope to god this one will get a release on 12" and MP3, it needs be to mixed alongside JO and Shed. Please excuse one of the comment's below as well, I can assure you this is a brilliant track, but it is in no way better than JO's 'So Derobe'. FitzGerald still has a way to go until he can reach the level which O'Grady has set with may favourite track of the year so far. Enjoy the track.
Groove Theory - Tell Me (Remix) by George FitzGerald
No comments:
Post a Comment