ALEX Vinyl & CDs

Review: Alex "Omar" Smith has covered all bases this year, offering up singles that flit between more experimental, off kilter fare, head-nodding beats informed by hip-hop culture and the unique blend of Detroit deep house and techno that has long been his stock-in-trade. His final single of 2019 sees him gleefully charge further towards disco pastures with "Another Man", a bouncy, club-ready house workout that peppers a good-time disco groove (think rubbery slap bass and crunchy drums) with spacey synth sounds, twinkling melodies and male spoken word samples ("I can quite understand... she left me for another man"). He's back on deep house mode on flipside "Suv's AKA Fatass Mobile's", where a drowsy riff and sustained synth strings bob along atop a sea of sweaty machine drums.

Review: Choosing favourites among the prodigious creative outpouring of Omar S isn't easy, but this one from 2009 is usually riding high on any list. 'Here With Me' is the one - a twitchy, futuristic house cut with detuned chords tumbling about the mix while a heart-aching vocal from Diviniti rings out with raw soul. Elsewhere is the raw minimalism of 'Three Blind Rats', the deep throb of 'Stop Running Around' and the forlorn synth work of 'Sign & Drive.' A timeless EP for sure.