I don't know anything about Itchy Pig Records, except that by glitch or design they've released four EPs in the last six days and I'm an unapologetic groupie for the producer of one of them, Matthew Kyle.
If you're not familiar with Matthew's edits (and if not, see the interview I did with him in April), I should preface this by saying that I'm not even sure these should be called edits at all. With many of the tracks he works with, the elements he samples are entirely minor - a phrase in the middle of a verse becomes his chorus, tiny flourishes become the focal point for an entirely new track. It's a kind of sampling different from the dead-end of filtered disco in the House Music world, in which classic tracks in some infamous cases are lifted in their entirety, and the most substantial change is attaching the new guy's name to it.
If you were a fan of Matthew's MK EP of slow disco edits on Diner City Sound, you'll find plenty to love here. "Dry My Eyes" is worth the price of the EP alone: a slow burner with vocal bursts like a string of firecrackers. I'm terrible at tracing the lifelines of samples back to their source recordings, but it sounds more like the kind of urban church gospel records from back when the music industry was more regional than national or global. The same goes for "Wake Me Up" which tosses on some thin, shuffling shake-shack drums to bits and pieces of a man singing his ever-living heart out.
"Overdose" has a neo-electro stomp more familiar to Nu Disco aficionados but that's just under the hood: the track (with a hestitating, muted "Overdose of Love" vocal sample) is just slathered in soul. The trembling strings are also a really nice touch.
[ - Review by Terry Matthew / June 2011 - ]
Available: Released a few days ago on Itchy Pig and available exclusively from Juno Download.
Southern Fried EP (Itchy Pig 007) by Matthew Kyle
| + | Track Listing | Duration | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01: | Matthew Kyle: Dry My Eyes | 5:56 |  |
| 02: | Matthew Kyle: Music Everywhere | 4:36 | |
| 03: | Matthew Kyle: Overdose | 7:12 | |
| 04: | Matthew Kyle: Wake Me Up | 6:18 | |
Terry Matthew is the managing editor of 5 Magazine. You can contact him at 
