- One of two releases this season that showcase recent signings to the label, Visionquest's clunkily titled Club Edition Spring Summer Collection 2011 offers floor-ready contributions to the soundtrack of warm weather hedonism; its companion the Beach Edition is meant to accompany more sandier circumstances. On Vernon Bara and Igor Vincente's "Don't Feel No Way," the presence of scratchy, radio-transmitted voices hints at the expanse to come: used to great effect on mind-warpers from groups like The Orb during the heyday of ambient house, such walkie-talkie ghosts convey a feeling of distance through their shitty fidelity. It sets the stage for a muscular sidewinder that never flags in momentum despite numerous twists and turns.
The other two tunes here are domestic, preferring the cozy confines of a deep groove. "Gruff" is certainly a fitting word for Matthew Burton and Nick Lawson's track. Over a rubber band bassline, there appears to be a grunt-only conversation between a barrel-chested Neanderthal and a bioluminescent panther: the former speaks solely in uggh ugghs, the latter in lazerlike growls.
Laura Jones' warm, engaging "Live a Little" is the most melodic of the three, albeit in shreds that never coalesce into song. Its production centerpiece is perhaps a little excited burst of group singing that specifically recalls Thomas Melchior's sampling on "Choir," the B-side to 2008's "Who Can Find Me." Like its predecessor, "Live a Little"'s vocal sliver evokes a tribal celebration on the African savanna, a cheerful exaltation that's been plucked out of time and thrown like a ghost into the track's soupy dream world.
Tracklist 01. Igor & Vernon - Don't Feel No Way
02. Nick Lawson & Matthew Burton - Gruff It
03. Laura Jones - Live A Little