Disclosure nod to J Dilla and beyond for debut Essential Mix dutiesDisclosure Essential Mi Review

Disclosure nod to J Dilla and beyond for debut Essential Mix duties

For fans both new and old, the agenda for Disclosure‘s debut Essential Mix was hard to predict. Guy and Howard Lawrence would not recite the music that shot them to star status, but they also probably were not going to regurgitate their recently gold Settle to their fanbase on Radio 1. Disclosure are not an act that can easily be painted with the brush of popular discipline, but with so much attention brewing, there was a considerable middle ground to strike on such hallowed airspace as Radio 1’s Essential Mix.

Their intro was a nod to the sound of J Dilla — an artist whose masterful beats may not have been the most obvious stimulus to the Howard Brothers to the untrained ear. From here, the mix pointed to the great field producers of American hip-hop, rallying Slum Village, Gang Starr, Jaylib, Q-Tip and the studio wizards that sealed their respective immortality along the way. This wasn’t a cheap party trick, but a tip to liberal nature we have come to expect from Disclosure – that all encompassing appreciation for good music that has not only hallmarked their discography, but fortified their dual persona of unpredictable turntablists and definitive live dance assets along the way.

At the cue of Linkwood’s “Secret Value,” however, the Brothers’ more recent house fixation was found in full effect. Despite being relative newcomers to the genre, cuts from across the more obscure and unspoiled plains of underground club land were given a more than ample seeing to. New material from Dusky, Ben Westbeech (or Breach) and Friend Within was accompanied by more obvious cuts emerge from the likes of Paul Woolford, T.Williams and George Fitzgerald along the way, opening something of a who’s who of deep-er house trailblazers to the equation with considerable force.

Album opener “When A Fire Starts To Burn” and the recently revealed Maddslinky remix of their first chart-topped “Latch” made up the sparing Settle tributes for this two hour offering, alluding to the fact that for all the celebrations of late, Disclosure are saving their more obvious assets for the live show. On this occasion, their programming hits the nail on the head where Disclosure’s mass appeal now rests amid the waves: spoon-feeding the masses incredible music that they could have so easily skimmed over in any other scenario. With the likes of Soul Purpose, Hannah Wants and Dornick’s motive head turner “Something About You” catered for, the Lawrence clan cannot be accused of softening in the face of popular appeal. If anything, the range of their dance floor collateral has never been better seasoned with the spice of variety.

Disclosure’s debut Essential Mix was everything we have come to expect from the duo — evasive of the obvious and indicative of the bigger picture so many breakouts before them have lost enroute to glory. Needless to say, a welcome return is unlikely to go amiss for one the more legendary Essential Mixes to bless Pete Tong’s infamous radio waves since Sasha and Digweed’s historical 2002 offering. More than a decade down the line, definitive moments in British dance music still seem to be driven in pairs.

TRACKLIST:

01.Onra // Intro [All City Dublin]
02.Slum Village // Players [Good Vibe Recordings]
03.Gang Starr // Put Up Or Shut Up [Virgin]
04.Jaylib // React (feat. Quasimoto) [Stones Throw]
05.Q//Tip // Let’s Ride [Arista]
06.Vic Mensa // Orange Soda
07.Moodymann // U Ranaway
08.Linkwood // Secret Value [Shevchenko]
09.Mike Huckaby // Melodies From The Jazz Republic / I Get Deeper (Acapella) [Still Music]
10.[unknown] // J.A.W.S.
11.Trankilou // Bill Collector [BPM Records]
12.T. Williams // Three Letters [PMR]
13.Bassjackers & Apster // Klambu [Sneakerz MUZIK]
14.Dusky // Sunsets & Dolphins
15.Midland // Archive [Graded]
16.Mark Henning // Trojan [Cityfox]
17.Ten Walls // Gotham [Innervisions]
18.Disclosure // When A Fire Starts To Burn [PMR]
19.Rachel Row // Follow The Step (Breach Hood Remix) [Defected]
20.New York Transit Authority // 95′
21.Soul Purpose // Sublim3 [Lo:Rise]
22.Friend Within // The Scene [Method Records]
23.Paul Woolford // Untitled
24.Hannah Wants // Teardrop On The Fire
25.GoldFfinch // Once You Wrap
26.Adonis & Charles B // Lack Of Love [Desire]
27.Native Soul // A New Day (Spencer Parker’s A Gun For Hire Remix) (feat. Trey Washington) [Defected]
28.Eddie Niguel // Absolute [Midnight Shift]
29.Omar // Feeling You (Henrik Schwarz Remix) [Peppermint Jam]
30.Hauswerks // Puppet Factory [Moda Black]
31.Disclosure // Latch (Maddslinky Remix) (feat. Sam Smith)

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