Afshin has been a mainstay of the Parisian club scene over the last decade and is responsible for a body of earthy edits that often take root from mid-twentieth century sounds. His most recent output on G.A.M.M Records comes in collaboration with Kiss My Black Jazz, an entity of which apparently not much is known. Whoever it is, these two sublime cuts tread the ground between modern club textures and old-school gospel, funk and organ jazz in a way that can only send you the right way up.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uny8c2pCY14&w=550&h=425]
‘Trouble In My Way’ on the A-side is fast but slow-burning, full of the kind of hand claps and tribal percussion that invites excitement on the floor. The gospel blues vocal sample used here is sweet, soulful and soaked in reverb, leading the electronics into a dizzy charge towards the unknown. Wait for it to stall, then get that drop. Dancefloor POWER.
‘The Riot’ on the flip is an organ jazz-funk groover with a boot wedged firmly up its low-end, somewhere between Jimmy Smith and James Brown and complete with all the fills, trills and riffs to heat up the loft room at midnight. One for the party that never wants to stop. Dirty and powerful filler juice.
Pick up GAMM127 at the label’s Bandcamp page – two left at the time of writing.
