- Seekers, a small but well-formed party based between North Italy and East Berlin, expanded to run a record label in December 2014. Their debut release was an in-house effort from Alex Picone, and Seekers' latest comes courtesy of cult Australian producer Ewan Jansen. For Rip Tide, he gathers together four rich, elegant house tracks produced around the turn of the millennium.
As its title implies, the EP has an aquatic theme, and each selection is said to have been "recorded in DAT between 1998 - 2002." At its best, Rip Tide stands toe-to-toe with Jansen's best work. Lush, shimmering opener "Gypsea" sounds like house music found at the bottom of a pearly ocean, while "Water Funk" includes faint crashing waves in its tranquil sound palette. Standout "White Squall" is an intricate, utterly charming after-party cut, with a baseline that sounds like S-Max at his most playful. Only the slightly busy "BluePool" fails to deliver, though it sounds better when pitched down a bit. And yet this remains an impressive house record, musically complex but imbued with an everyman quality.
TracklistA1 Gypsea
A2 Water Funk
B1 BluePool
B2 White Squall