Shortcuts: Atjazz & Domu ft. Yannah Valdevit, Andy Ash

Shortcuts will be a regular type of post on Beyondjazz, featuring two or more recent or upcoming releases, kind of like mini-reviews. We kick off with two big names teaming up, and one upcoming name in the scene.

Development music is the label of the Manchester based party night with the same name, and last year they brought you that funky Zed Bias & Jenna G 12″ with Sound Of Love & Let Me Change Your Mind. This time they’re back with two big shot producers teaming up, and inviting the Croatian vocal chords of Yannah Valdevit – of Eddy meets Yannah.

Domu kicks off with a beautiful broken beat summer anthem, which will go down very well on numerous festival floors. Reminds me a bit of that brand new track by Eddy Meets Yannah, Nostalgic – full on production, strings, horn stabs, catchy melody. Domu is then joined by Atjazz for a 4/4 remix that sounds exactly like how you would expect a Domu-Atjazz liason to sound like.
Atjazz delivers his personal sound on Info People, with the trademark deep bass sounds and synth lines. On the floor dub version he even sprinkles some old school house flavors on top. And finally the two dons team up again for their Bruk Mush mix, a more experimental approach but very enjoyable. All in all a top notch package!

I’m not sure this is the final tracklist, but here goes:

1. Domu ft. Yannah Valdevit – City Madness
2. Domu ft. Yannah Valdevit – City Madness (A&D’s 4 The Summer Remix)
3. Domu ft. Yannah Valdevit – City Madness (Acapella)
4. Domu ft. Yannah Valdevit – City Madness (Instrumental)
5. Atjazz ft. Yannah Valdevit – Info People
6. Atjazz ft. Yannah Valdevit – Info People (A&D’s Bruk Mush Mix)
7. Atjazz ft. Yannah Valdevit – Info People (Atjazz Floor Dub)

Andy Ash, an aspiring house producer from Liverpool, drops his first full release for the Universal Vibes label. You may have heard him before, on labels like Stilove4music and Five20East (check his full discography). This EP opens with Astro Travellin’, the very dope slow burner that was featured on the Universal Vibes compilation This Is What The Universe Sounds Like. I still love it, and it’s the best tune on this release.

Going Down has a nice tribal African flavor to it, with percussion and thumb piano, but has a hard time to retain my attention for seven and a half minutes. Paracosm is a lot faster, an experimental foray into glitchy tech house. Raindance finally suffers from the same flaw: great ideas, but a little flat and a bit too long. You can definitely hear the talent here, but the diamond may still be a bit rough. Let’s keep an eye on Andy!