Review: Linkwood & House of Traps, Fudge Fingas – EP 4

Artist: Linkwood/House of Traps/Fudge Fingas
Title: EP 4
Label: Firecracker
Genre: Deep House
Format: 10″, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records, Juno Download

It’s been a long time coming but Firecracker have finally unleashed the fourth volume in their EP series.

The Boutique Scottish imprint has built up quite a following since their inception in 2004, with their infrequent output from Linkwood, Fudge Fingas and House of Traps taking deep house music as the central sound but delving into influences as diverse as jazz, reggae, hip-hop and Detroit techno. The label’s distinctive artistic direction with limited runs of 10″ vinyl that combines bold fonts with comic book illustrations on a hand screen printed finish has helped secure Firecracker cult status amongst the vinyl fetish disco edit lovers.

Firecracker’s most celebrated son, Linkwood has already dropped a hugely impressive debut album this year (of course you know this already) and his two contributions to EP4 provide ample evidence of his production nous. “Barely Eagle”, his collaboration with label buddy House of Traps is a slo-mo disco burner that has already got fans in The Unabombers and Trevor Jackson and is likely to find itself as a set opener for many a mixtape.

“Who La La” is perhaps the highlight, a bouncey uptempo edit that reaches into 80s electro boogieland and has some sublime synthwork. Fudge Fingas provides a more downtempo excursion into Cosmic Soul on “Situation Diminished”.

This is an essential purchase for Firecracker obsessives and a very good place to start for those intrigued.

Review: Tony Poland