Justin Martin has certainly had a bit of a golden year. His album ‘Ghettos and Gardens’ is pretty sure to earn the title ‘seminal’ in the coming years – the perfect combination of carefully crafted melodies and filthy bass lines. A lot of people actually forget that Justin Martin has been honing his craft for over a decade – one of the most beautiful pieces of house music ever made has got to be his ‘Sad Piano’ on Buzzin’ Fly, back from 2003. Since 2005 the Dirtybird brotherhood has grown from strength to strength, probably emerging as one of the forerunners of underground music imprints, and also as a brand. Justin is thick in the fold along with Claude and the lovely Greg and Voitek from Catz N Dogz as a long standing member of the Dirtybird crew. ‘Ghettos and Gardens’ received high acclaim, with not just one but most of the tracks being played on BBCR1 and featuring in every mix and podcast under the sun. So to the remixes.
First of all, let us say, what a true delight it is to see Bachelors of Science on the remix package. Purveyors of the finest old school liquid drum n bass!! They have added a definitive old school DnB edge to Ghettos and Gardens, with choppy drums and a warping bassline. Also on the package is Dusky, the boys have taken their go on ‘Don’t Go’ and added their own brand of bouncy muscular bass and punchy kicks. French Fries has added his own dark twist to ‘Molinki’ and Danny Daze has changed the format of ‘The Gurner’ to have a deeper and more acidic bass line. Also on the remix package are brothers in arms Catz N Dogz and Ardalan. Catz N Dogz’s of ‘Butterflies’ is supreme, with edgy synths and disjointed samples. Overall it’s a display of how solid and prolific the original album was in being able to carry of such strong and fresh remixes. We can’t wait for Vol. 2.
Artist: JUSTIN MARTIN
Title: GHETTOS & GARDENS REMIXES VOL 1
Label: dirtybird
Mixes: Danny Daze / Dusky / Catz ‘n Dogz / French Fries / Ardalan / Bachelors Of Science
Release date: 3rd October 2012