After an excursion in initiating their new subsidiary 'City Fly Records LTD' to release new, interesting projects - in which they presented a super exclusive in the form of a beautifully packaged limited edition clear 10 inch by 'UglyInk' aka drum machine deviants and aural aestheticians Ugly Drums and Inkswel - City Fly are back in familiar territory with some house flavour on the hallowed 12-inch format. To celebrate their tenth release City Fly revive their 'Visions' series which has previously featured house heroes such as Pablo Valentino, Lay-Far, YSE and Basic Soul Unit. The ethos of the Visions EP's are to present an array of artists from an international palette - representing the full house spectrum and showcasing house in all its forms. As well as welcoming back label mainstay Ugly Drums and former Midlander-turned-Berliner Red Rack 'em, City Fly are proud to bring Marlow and Simbad into the fold for Visions Vol 3.. MARLOW - I'M RIDING HIGH
Though consistently featuring house heavyweights on their releases like Andres, DJ Nature, Fred P, Kez YM and Inkswel, City Fly like to push those left in the shadows to the forefront - continuing their quest in discovering and nurturing hidden house talent.. Step forward veteran German producer Marlow aka Mario Weise who's been on the scene for over two decades. Having recorded for house labels as varied as Moon Harbour, Room With A View, Fifty Fathoms Deep and Dennis Ferrer's Objektivity imprint (not to mention an array of remixes with Compost's Rainer Truby), Marlow has been at the fore of the many facets of house. More recently he released on Jazzanova's influential institution Sonar Kollektiv with the cosmic-infused disco and honeyed harmonies of his 'Backroom EP'. For his City Fly debut Marlow drops a jutterin' house rhythm with an old dusty male vocal filtering through the squelchin' stabs and percussive patterns, culminating in an ethereal crescendo awash with soaring synths and soulful vox serenading 'I'm Riding High'. A soul-drenched anthem that you'll lose yourself in..
UGLY DRUMS - WHO'S GETTIN' DOWN
Not content with featuring one German on the EP, City Fly welcome back Cologne native Ugly Drums for their tenth release. Ugly Drums has an inimitable style that has seen him appear on a host of choice house labels such as Rush Hour, Freerange, Kolour, Black Key, and Fifty Fathoms Deep plus his debut 'Saturn Memories' LP on the discernible Quintessentials imprint. More recently he featured on the aforementioned 'UglyInk' 10inch and Bartellow's 'Humming Birds' EP for City Fly turning out an acid-induced interpretation of the title track that was a highlight. So naturally it was only a matter of time before City Fly got this production wunderkind back on wax again.. As the 'Who's Getting Down' title suggests, Ugly Drums brings to the plate a proper filtered beatdown joint that's got its eye firmly on the dancefloor complete with a deep dose of disco added to proceedings. Just when you're gettin' lost in the groove suddenly the track goes off-kilter with stuttering keys bound to make you jit and deeper synths coming into play. Definitely one for the more discernible dancefloors to get on down with..
RED RACK 'EM - DARK BOXING
Berlin-based Red Rack 'em aka Danny Berman returns to the City Fly family after releasing the well-received 'Zoned EP' last year complete with a funk-fuelled and soul-soaked interpretation from DJ Nature. His genre-defying productions on choice labels such as Ramp, Philomena and Wolf Music are always in the bag of revered purveyors such as Mike Huckaby, Move D, MCDE and Kyle Hall. With the Midlands connection (where he resided before jettin' to Berlin) it was only natural City Fly got him back representing again. His contribution typically takes us on a deeper trajectory - the smoky haze of the jazzy keys and dusty vox sounding like it could be a long lost blunted KDJ joint flowin' with some Motor City soul. One for the lights down low..
SIMBAD - MY TIME
For their final contribution of the EP City Fly are proud to present London-based French DJ/production extraordinaire Simbad to bringing his varying flavour to their house palette. Initially coming to prominence over a decade ago under his 'Marathon Men' alias with kindred spirit Freddy McQuinn, tracks like 'Sweet Exorcist' on G.A.M.M. were picked up by tastemakers such as Laurent Garnier, Moodymann, King Britt, Norman Jay and Gilles Peterson - who made their 'In Paradise' track a permanent fixture on his Radio 1 show 'Worldwide'. Simbad's chameleon-like ability to fuse together a meltin' pot of genres including jazz, funk, soul, disco, house and hip-hop has seen him appear on a variety of choice label's under a myriad of guises including Twitch, Heal, Les Barons, Mowgly, TettoryBad (with Grooveman Spot & Masaya Kobayashi of Jazzy Sport fame) plus collaborating with Karizma under their Izmabad. On to the track and 'My Time' is a typically soul-infused groove reminiscent of his Raw Fusion classics - the frenzied percussion, driving bass and electronic flourishes all intertwining effortlessly with Eric Rico's yearning larynx. One to take the dancefloor in a different direction.. More