Jasper Williams - Opaque Shadows

Album Out Now

01 - Breathe
02 - Diamond in the Ruff
03 - Little Rock
04 - Misnomer
05 - Fortissimo
06 - Snake
07 - Ryan Sullivan - Interviewee (Jasper Williams Rework)
08 - Propulsion
09 - Ryan Sullivan - Monday Music (Jasper Williams Rework)
10 - Facet
11 - Dissonance
12 - Ahh!
13 - Scream
14 – Boo! – Come (Jasper Williams Ambient Mix)

Just in time for the South African Summer, Jasper Williams debut album ‘Opaque Shadows’ is released on Gut Feel Records. Loaded with both chilled out and floor trembling progressive dance music, this album is a sure winner, suitable to be enjoyed any time or place.

Jasper is very well remembered in the South African dance scene for his deep and twisted progressive house Dj sets and his releases on Glo-Tech Africa Records. Although he has been quiet in the dance music scene in recent years, he has still been extremely busy, recording and producing bands like Boo!, Arno Carstens, Chris Chameleon, Fevertree and plenty more in his Johannesburg based Lapa Studios facility.

After his quiet spell, Jasper Williams has returned with ‘Opaque Shadows', featuring 14 tracks ranging from wonderfully arranged listening music to some pretty heavy dance-floor shaking grooves.

The album invitingly begins with ‘Breathe' (signed to John 00 Flemings' Unfold compilation) and ‘Diamond in the Ruff' (Supported by Dj's like Ariel Cybana, Deviant, Marcus Wortley, The Mystic Force & more), both enjoyable journey tracks with solid groove. ‘Little Rock' picks the mood up a little with its uplifting feel while ‘Misnomer' and ‘Fortissimo' remind you that you're on a dance-floor. We have a huge pick-me-up moment with ‘Snake' and its melodic bite before going back to deeper depths with Jasper's remix of Ryan Sullivan's ‘Interviewee' which paves the way for some heavy ‘Propulsion', an edgy track sure to crack the dance-floor in half. Another one of Jasper's slick remixes in the form of Ryan Sullivan's ‘Monday Music' along with ‘Facet' offers a hands-in-the-air melodic journey before bringing things down a little with the vocal chants of ‘Dissonance'. ‘Ahh!' and ‘Scream' remain on a solid dancing path as Jasper's ambient mix of Boo!'s ‘Come' settles things down for the chilled-out vocal outro…”since you've been gone…”.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable emotional journey through sound, typical of Jasper's Dj sets back in the day...

 

To preview and purchase, visit www.beatport.com/labels/gut+feel+records

Ryan Sullivan - She Hates Techno

EP Now Available

01 - She Hates Techno
02 – Take it Back

As we near the end of 2008, South Africa heads into its vibrant summer season, perfect timing for Ryan Sullivan's ‘She Hates Techno' EP.

Don't be fooled by the title, the EP is not quite Techno as you know it, however inspired by the infamously heavy genre it may be. A fun song with serious intention is how I would describe the A side of this record. Tried and tested on dance-floors in South Africa, I've seen the mess the inspiration from an apparent woman hating techno can create on a dance-floor…wonderful stuff.

With its fun-filled bass line, driving drums and a large synth-line playing some energetic chords, you can get into this song right from the start. Add a female vocal chant to the mix and you start to see why ‘She Hates Techno' is making waves across the globe! The song really does hammer you whether in a club or just enjoying it for listening purposes.

‘Take it Back', the other side of the big black coin, is more of a progressive house number. The song slowly progresses with heavy drive while gentle sounds and pads sweep in and out, left and right, taking you on quite a journey. This deep piece of music is definitely more suitable for the darker, perhaps more underground enthusiast, however don't let that deter you as this EP is a must have!

To preview and purchase, visit www.beatport.com/labels/gut+feel+records

Be sure to also visit www.ryansullivan.co.za for more info.

 

GFR Release Party @ MinTEX

MinTEX is hosted by Layered and Gut Feel Records every Thursday evening at Malabar in Fourways, Johannesburg. Residents Ryan Sullivan, Chris Palmer and Simon Kaind drop anything from progressive house to techno through the night alongside regular guests such as Andi Dill, John Vichos, Jason Lee, Jimmy Chronic, Nick Lumb, Nick Grater and Andre Frauenstein amongst others...

On Thursday 10 July, we will be celebrating our new release GFRD001, the ending of our 8 month struggle and the Birthday of Simon Kaind (I think that is all reason enough!).

Issue after issue bowled us over after 3beat (our previous distributor) closed down in November 2007 and after much dispute to get our catalog back into our own hands, More Music, South Africa's premier dance label, is now exclusively responsible for our distribution. Finally, in July 2008 we are proud to bring you GFRD001, Ryan Sullivan's 'Step Up The Game EP'.

We have started from scratch, pulling our old catalog and will re-release some of our previous releases along with our new releases.

Join us at MinTEX on Thursday 10 July 2008...with Dj's:

Ryan Sullivan
Chris Palmer
Simon Kaind
Richard Santana (aka Speedy)

plus Visuals by Vj Lilli

Drinks specials and giveaways etc.

Hope to see you there...

AVAILABLE NOW

Ryan Sullivan takes a slight turn from his previous moody progressive works to deliver a superb tech infused serving of house music.

“Step Up The Game” is the A side of this EP, tearing through the dance floor with it's tough drum groove and solid bass line. The lead is introduced quite early but keeps building larger and larger through the track. The breakdown calms the storm, teasing you with melody stabs until everything slams back in...creating dancefloor mayhem.

Awkward is the first track on the B side, carrying a progressive house feel due to it's emotional content. Warm atmospheric synths compliment the organic bass sound while the melody cuts right through this friendly musical piece. Clean, tight production is the order of the day, taking Awkward beyond enjoyable.

Need Help, the second on the B side is another tough affair with a very chunky groove, edgy percussion and hard synth stabs. Creepy sound effects and an evolving synth line adds a big-room feel to this funky yet dark track.

This floor friendly EP has proven to be very effective on dancefloors accross South Africa and is fast finding its way into the boxes of many dj's across the dance music spectrum.

Early DJ support comes from: Chris Palmer, Chris Sterio, Hans Von Burg, Jasper Williams and many more.