Review: Jesse Rose/Zombie Disco Squad – Playing Around Again

Artist: Zombie Disco Squad, Jesse Rose
Title: Jesse Rose presents Playing Around Again
Label: Made To Play
Genre: Minimal House/Tech House
Format: CD, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records, Juno Download

Berlin based kingpin Jesse Rose has been completely on point recently. Over the past 12 months he’s put his considerable industry cred behind some standout underground house and techno producers; Iditotproof, Oliver$ and Zombie Disco Squad among others. It’s all paid off. Made To Play has released some of this year’s more memorable tribal-tech and bass-heavy house EPs.

Made To Play has stamped its mark on the clubbing consciousness of ’09, and this double compilation album is a deliciously moody celebration of the post-Crookers era we live in.

Curated by Jesse Rose, it’s a two disc compilation featuring London upstarts Zombie Disco Squad in the mix on side 1, and an almost identical unmixed side 2 for DJ’s.

It’s a role call of essential artists and tunes for any self-respecting back room vandal. De-tuned filters and firetwirling basslines sit alongside straight up funky and glitchy tech-house. The tone of the release is carefully devised – no minimal, no gypsy horns – just screaming peaks and subbed-out drops. Plenty of sidechain and saws, just done in tasteful two-oh-nine fashion.

The blog-raiders among us will have heard alot of the tunes on show here, but there’s some real treats to be found for the more casual tech-house observer. Highlights are Jan Driver’s house-wrecker ‘Rat Alert’, Idiotproof’s ‘The Deacon’ and the double king-hit of Riva Starr’s ‘Squash’ and ‘Snatch!’

Review: Duncan Byrne