- The water in Detroit must be a bit more acidic lately. Jared Wilson has been impressing fans of classic TB-303 sounds and Roland beats, and now it's the turn of fellow analogue maverick Omar-S to put his spin on the genre. As with his The Grandson of Detroit Techno 12-inch, this one also plays from the inside of the record out, but Ultra Fine contains three different tracks to play with, the A-side consisting of two variants on the same 303 chug.
"Ultra Fine One" is the slower of the pair, its brittle hi-hats rattling atop a pulsing minimalist acid groove, which steadily gets more intense before introducing some perfectly placed claps at its crescendo. "Ultra Fine Two" is on more of a dark warehouse tip, with a dark and spacious vibe that should do some real dance floor damage on large sound systems over the summer. The way Smith teases in the 303 during the intro leads well to mixing, with its intermittent kicks spicing up the rhythm.
Flipside "Mid 90s" has more of a heavily modulated, snaking 303 sound, akin to much of the early acid coming out of Chicago. While Jared Wilson brings a cleaner sheen to his visceral take on acid house, Smith's trademark lo-fi touch makes these cuts sound like vintage material from the city that birthed the genre. Some will say that this is acid house how it should be done, others that they have enough of these records from the time anyway. But there's no doubting that this is a remarkable homage to the genesis of a sound which changed the face of house music when it first appeared.
Tracklist A1 Ultra Fine One
A2 Ultra Fine Two
B Mid 90's