- Late last year, Willie Burns hosted Jackmaster on his weekly radio show, WTBS. Jack Revill, the hilarious Scottish party animal, and William Burnett, the wryly funny record store employee, made for an odd couple, especially during the interview sections. But with the arrival of Where Is The Love, the fourth Ultimate Hits record, the duo's partnership snaps into focus. Revill has something to do with the vinyl-only label. A look at his Twitter account makes it seem like he does A&R for them, using it as a personal outlet for modern beat tracks that fit nicely with his '90s Chicago fixation. On Where Has The Love Gone, Burnett pantomimes a number of vintage styles with his blocky, Emu SP-12-centric method, offering up four infectious and idiosyncratic tracks.
Burnett references a classic Midwestern dance music title on "Bang The Box," but it's unclear if he's looking back to D.J. Deeon, DJ Godfather or Richie Hawtin's one-off as Jack Master. In any event, the music pays tribute to Dance Mania, which initially feels awkward. The rhythm starts as a bizarre, punky motorik, before it falls into a Miami Bass formation, with a few vocal samples bouncing off each other in lieu of melody. The title track is the EP's least DJ-friendly track and its finest moment. Utilizing the psychedelic live guitars and murky pulse that defined his Black Deer project, Burnett turns Julie Stapleton's "Where's Your Love Gone?" into a mournful, 4AD-style siren. By mixing contemplative synth leads with vocal snippets lifted from the 1991 deep house track, he finds a kind of forlorn, experimental pop.
TracklistA1 Bang The Box
A2 Got To Be A
B1 Checking Your Heart Rate
B2 Where Has The Love Gone