- ARMA returns with the three-track Bourbon Skies EP from Chicago producer Area, AKA m50. Vocals come from fellow Windy City artist Keter Darker, while Vakula and DJ Sprinkles remix the title track. Launched back in 2011, this is only the fourth release from Moscow club ARMA17's label, and the three very different shades of house music are further proof that it values quality and diversity over quantity or convention.
Area's original slowly maneuvers into a moody swagger, leaving plenty of room for Darker's effects-laden vocals and Area's distinctively airy minor-key drones. Vakula opts for a lighter vibe, and it's a treat to hear him move fluidly through such a wide range of sounds. DJ Sprinkles' "St. Petersburg Three-Four Blues" remix is dense, melancholy and oh so gorgeous, locking into the sort of groove that could only come from Terre Thaemlitz. It winds down a record filled with wonderfully off-kilter ideas—and one that puts another feather in the cap of both the artists and the label.
Tracklist A1 Bourbon Skies
A2 Bourbon Skies (Vakula Remix)
B Bourbon Skies (St. Petersburg Three-Four Blues Remix by DJ Sprinkles)