Review: Hunee – Tour De Force

Artist: Hunee
Title: Tour De Force
Label: WT US
Genre: Deep House
Format: Digital
Buy From: Juno Download

Never has an EP title been so apt; Hunee’s Tour De Force is just that – having swept all before it, charted by just about every house/disco DJ with a finger on the pulse.

Hunee (aka Korean born, Berlin-based Hun Choi) is in many ways the symbol of the modern deep house renaissance; young, raw and patently not from Detroit or Chicago. But this music has soul. Choi clearly – defiantly -favours warm house sounds, in contrast to the stark minimal techno that dominated the past decade in his adopted city.

He’s not alone of course – there’s Motor City Drum Ensemble aka Danilo Plessow (Motor City being a dual reference to Detroit and his home town of Stuttgart, the automotive manufacturing hub of Germany), whose Raw Cuts series has been ubiquitous in 2009.

The title track on Tour De Force has an underlying drive that works harmoniously with high end key stabs, while the percussion on “Cut Down Trees” is reminiscent of the best Wolf & Lamb material. Meanwhile “Rare Silk”, surely the EPs highlight, utilises a warm bass and piano line along with cut-up vocals that makes it simultaneously deep and funky.

Hunee is a newcomer to the production game – this is only his third release, all of which have come this year – but his ability to combine luscious pads, clever samples and catchy piano lines means he will be one to watch in 2010.

Review: Aaron Coultate