For more than three years I’ve been telling you to stop what you’re doing and go listen to Ortella. I have to believe someone has heard me, but the fact that this guy’s records aren’t yet the high concept news event they deserve to me suggests a communication breakdown somewhere. 69K 003 should fix that: another four tracks of raw’az’hell Chicago-style House and I felt like I’ve been slapped upside my head by each and every beat.
“Song for Umara” has a sweetness underlying the passion: some keys picked out amid that Prescription-style tone quickly turn into a virtuoso performance that will melt your heart. “69ers” is amped as fuck, with the throwback vocal loop of some fella saying “House Music” over a track so driving that it would slide in the pocket of a vintage Lil Louis set. The way the beat drops out of “Echec et Mad” is brilliant: there’s a rough-hewn quality to the beats, as if they’re found sounds less programmed than salvaged, but that bassline stripped bare and alone is like the beating heart of this EP. It’s a tremendous effect – not quite a pregnant pause, not quite abrupt enough to wring out a dance floor, it’s just enough to take a room stuck at 8 and turn it up to 10. This is another brilliant record, my favorite of the month and if we had a Deep House Records of the Year chart it would be in select company.
It’s Time: originally published in 5 Magazine Issue 147 featuring Kevin Yost, Jenifa Mayanja and Sound Warrior, Gavin Hardkiss, why music got cheap and gear got expensive (and it’s mostly your fault) and more. Become a member of 5 Magazine for First & Full Access to Real House Music for only $2 per month!
Ortella: 69K 003 (Mad In Lyon)
A1. Ortella: “Song For Umara” (6:29)
A2. Ortella: “69ers” (6:05)
B1. Ortella: “Echec Et Mad” (6:22)
B2. Ortella: “Work It” (7:01)
