Thursday, 28 November 2024

Posted by Gerry Hectic | File under : , ,

Mark E has been at the forefront of the deep house underground some some time, is it now the time to 'Take A Deep Breath'? 



I've kept an eye on Mark for nearly 20 years as he caught the ear of label's like Sonar Kolletive, Golf Channel Recordings, Jiscomusic back in the day as he had a knack of spotting a sample that could move dancefloors; DJ Gilles Peterson (BBC 6 Music, Worldwide FM, Brownswood Basement) has been a fan as far back as his Radio 1 days where Mark's edits had "intoxicating ...repetitive groove(s) harnessig elements of jazz, house and deep electronics".

And nothing's really changed except this Wolverhampton-reared, Birmingham-based DJ/producer set up his own label, MERC to release his own productions.  

This new EP, 'Take A Deep Breath' maybe his first 12" on MERC for many years, it has 4 new tracks that are trademark multi-layered dreamy and upbeat all at the same time.   'Deep Breath' is like a track made up of Jaco Pastorius and Joe Zawinul in a whirlwind of a dub lab, 'Ultra Violet' goes a bit Afro/Mali influenced and 'Sun Dog' bites your heels in a warped synth/harp theme (as played by Dubmission (aka DJ Kerem Gokman, WYEP); and if you put them all together and add 'Transient Neighbour', you've perhaps the definition of "intoxicating ...repetitive groove(s)".

Can't make you're mind up which is the most best track, get 'em all on 12" at Phonica Records.  I used to love seeing Simon Rigg and Heidi Van Den Amstel behind the counter back in the day as they always the best tunes and have been big fans of Mark/Merc from the start; even if Poland Street is a long way from Mark's own Black Country Roots 

Phonica have been celebrating over 20 years as the shop, which saw them set up their own a label with releases by Ben Sun (more on him soon), Felipe Gordon, Paul Woodford, Penny Gou, Eli Escobar, Midland and many more at the cutting edge of electronic music. Always worth a visit if you're in London Town.


Artist: Mark E
Title:   Take A Deep Breath
Release date: 29th November, 2024
Label : Merc
Catalog Number :MERC027
Format:  Vinyl @ PhonicaDigital / Bandcamp 

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