9 West – What's On Your Mind EP

Veteran US house label King Street has noticeably been embracing more contemporary house styles of late, and further evidence of that comes in the form of this four-track EP from Greece's 9 West, AKA Kostas Tikis.

Protest leads the charge, and is a fairly typical but very playable slab of techy deepness, chugging along at an unhurried pace with plenty of atmospherics in the background and some treated male vocal snips to add musical interest. What's On Your Mind works a slightly more tribal-influenced rhythm, a suitably big n' rumblin' bottom-end and occasional echo-y female vocal stabs, while In Love operates in more traditional deep house/garage territories with its drawn-out vocal wails, dramatic bass swells and overall dreamy feel.

The vocal on the latter actually reminds me a little bit of Eterna by Slam, but that's probably just me. The pick of the EP, though, is Sometimes, which is all about the big, throbbing organ line… and you know how fond TIWWD is of a big, throbbing organ*! Despite the nostalgic organ sound, though, the track's actually quite current-sounding otherwise, what with its techified beats and sparing use of the vocal.

It all adds up to a strong EP all round… and like I say, good to see King Street keeping it fresh!

Out: This week

About: As ever, more info at the King Street website

*I remember JoeB at King Street once sending me a CD with one of the tracks marked with arrows and a scrawled note that read, “Oi, speed garage throwback!” Hello Joe, if you happen to read this.