Celesta Recordings’s 24th release is an excellent LP from Ezikiel. Across the course of nine moving tracks, Unite
showcases the producer’s slick studio skills and adds up to a fine musical adventure.
The Swiss artist has a Jamaican heritage that means he has a unique grasp of dub and drums that stands his
music apart. A regular at the likes of Hive Club and Vision Festival, he has released on the likes of Cadenza and
Deep Vibes as well as this label a couple of times in the last year.
The slick drums of Rototomwav are slippery and hypnotic and with snare fillers and dry perc it really gets you
moving. Etipia is more party starting with big piano chords layered over the supple drums and vocals stitched
into the groove. Trinidad then gets freaky with trippy sound designs and middle eastern instrumentals that are
brilliantly exotic and Selassie is a fresh and cool afro inspired deep house track with more deft synth and
studio skills on shows.
These always long tracks are epic and journeying and Song of Freedom features enchanting African vocal calls
and acoustic stings next to the great drum programming. Rainbow Warriors is more kinetic and tightly coiled in
its grouches, then Never Come Back is the most spaced out and deep of the lot. It is a cavernous track that is
cerebral and absorbing, while Mental Slavery gets more wild and The Women From Balkan is an experimental
layering of vocal calls, indigenous instruments, finger clicks and sweet drums that gets you under a spell.
This is a masterclass in drawn out grooves that brings plenty of authentic afro flavours to the dance floor.
DJ Support from the following
Francesco Quieti
Christian Burkhardt (Cocoon)
Andeffect
Alex Zed - Inside Out Records
Lorenzo Calvio
Ralph Session
Gel Abril (Get Physical,
Be As One, Ovum)
LTJ Bukem
Matthias Tanzmann
Published: 23