- House music from one of the scene's biggest personalities.
- We've heard Jus-Ed's vocals a few times over the years, perhaps most memorably on Dum Jams, a 2013 10-inch that contains what could be modern house music's only diss tracks. (Carlos Hawthorn summarised the "beef" between New York's Dope Jams and Jus-Ed in his review.) Ed is in a better mood on the Grand Combo EP, a collaboration with the New York producer Son Of Sound. He sounds especially nice on "I Have You On My Side," the record's highlight. Zip has played it over the last a few months, and it's easy to see why: fun, groovy and a little bit strange, it's an unconventional club bomb with plenty of character.
The other tracks work with Ed's usual deep house sounds without leaning on one in particular. Where "Chuchifritos" and "Bridgeport 2 Brooklyn" are sunny warm-up jams, "Manhatten's Projects" is a little more intense, stomping with twanging melody and hyperactive vocal samples. Ed's own vocals return on "Wicked Self," another standout. This time the mood is introspective and spacey, hovering in a zone somewhere between melancholic and hopeful. It's a mood many of Ed's best tracks touch upon, which helps explain his appeal 13 years on from his first release.
TracklistA1 Cuchifritos
A2 I Have You On My Side
A3 Bridgeport 2 Brooklyn
B1 Wicked Self
B2 Manhatten S Projects