New releases last four weeks: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz

Review: On the long-serving deep house label's latest reissue, Large Music takes us back to 1997 and one of the most beloved (and these days, hard to find) EPs by Washington, D.C duo 95 North (AKA Doug Smith and Richard Payton). As it did first time around, the EP contains four contrasting versions of 'Jazz Ascension'. The EP-opening 'Red Soul Mix' lives up to its name by wrapping breezy flutes, syynths, pianos and spoken word samples around a bumpin' bassline and classic-sounding US deep house beats, whilst the 'Red Dub' delivers a stripped-back and groove-focused take on the same musically expansive mix. Over on side two, the slightly darker and more bass-heavy 'Hard Dub' compares favourably to the then contemporaneous work of fellow Washington, D.C-duo Deep Dish. A handy, spoken word 'Washapella' rounds of an essential reissue.