Review: Layo & Bushwacka! – Deep South (Linkwood & House Of Traps remixes)

Artist: Layo & Bushwacka!
Title: Deep South
Label: Juno
Genre: Deep House
Format: 12″, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records, Juno Download

Layo & Bushwacka! comprise of Matthew ‘Bushwacka’ B, a former member of the infamous Rat Pack, and Layo Paskin, a North Londoner immersed in the acid house scene. They met through Mr C whilst Matthew was working at his studio, and by the mid 90s the two had started writing music together.

By 1999 they composed their debut album, Low Life, released on End Recordings. The album announced the arrival of the duo as a force in electronic music, with a record that brought together electro, house and breakbeat fused with blues, dub and downtempo; all underpinned and informed by their collective experience of underground culture.

One of the standout tracks of this was “Deep South”, with its Bessie Smith vocal sample, jazzy trumpet solo, luscious, techy instrumentation and irresistible dance groove.

On this release, the ever-mysterious Edinburgh crew Linkwood and House of Traps chip in with two remixes, picking up on Layo & Bushwacka’s early acid house influences and using a lot of tape and silver boxes to achieve an authentic-yet-contemporary Chicago sound.

Review: James Thomson