Andy Vaz – Shadow City review

Artist: Andy Vaz
Title: Shadow City
Label: Yore Germany
Genre: Deep House
Format: 12″, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records, Juno Download

Yore label boss Andy Vaz returns with his imprint’s 21st release, “Shadow City”. This three tracker takes on the deep, soulful music that lies somewhere between house and techno that he and his label have become renowned for.

Yore was set up by Vaz in March 2007. He wanted to focus on the ‘days of yore’ and re-create the authentic old school sounds of House and Techno. Distancing itself from the trendier, often indistinctive minimal hype, Yore aims to bring back the depth and soul that dance music has been so desperate for. The label places a strong emphasis on material from some of the finest old school producers, such as Todd Sines, Rick Wade, Terrence Dixon and others.

It is with this sentiment then that on “Shadow City” Vaz has dropped three deep, percussive and hypnotic house tracks with strong influences from the Motor City. “The “Y” Theme” opens the release with a deep, funky and percussive number. The track pulsates and grows, edging ever nearing to its acid finale. A trippy vocal ignites the track, adding intensity which only builds and escalates as Vaz begins to plunge even deeper. Deep inside the hypnotic groove we then come face to face with the aforementioned old school finale.

On the flip “Shadow City” begins in much deeper territory but again ascends into a dizzying and furocious house attack. Its progressive vibe would make it a useful weapon for dancefloors the world over. “Mumbai Dweller” takes things even deeper. All about the low end, a throbbing bassline lies beneath an almost tribal-like house groove. Some dark chords intensify the atmosphere, finishing the package on a darker tone.

Put simply, this is exactly the sort of raw house music from the days of yore, brought to today’s dancefloors by Andy Vaz and his team at Yore.

Review: Tom Jones