Document One - I Got a Fever / Follow Me [Technique Recordings]
Document One - I Got a Fever / Follow Me [Technique Recordings]
Since Document One stormed onto Technique's roster, this production duo have set about marking out their very own niche in the D&B spectrum. Songwriters' musicality and an appreciation for multiple genres, while still keeping focus firmly on the dance floor, makes for a powerful combination. Now, with this latest release, they're back to consolidate their status and draw together some more threads in their ongoing multi-form musical narrative.
“I Got a Fever” wastes no time in laying out the formula. A swing-time low-end perforates smoky jazz club ambience, with loose percussion holding down the beat. The bass morphs between upright plucks and synthetic sweeps to neatly underline Document One's approach of providing a slick modern twist on foundation sounds. As the track builds, a vocal sample signals its time for the bass and drum to tighten up and drop into a cowbell-led funkstepping ride. This is summer music, as much about fun and partying with a smile on your face as it is about serious musicianship.
Then there's a whole different take on the summertime vibe for “Follow Me”. Ethereal vocals float over crisp and punchy drums, accompanied by long liquid bass tones, delicate trumpet and laid-back keys. It's a gentle soulful roller... But then it's suddenly not that at all. Document One puncture the atmosphere like a sharp intake of breath and kick us with a boot made from filthy bass. And now the light and floating sounds from before just serve to accentuate the heavyweight drive of the rave engine this tune has become. When the dance floor needs a kickstart, here's one to draw for.
So, Document One have proved once again that they not only understand the palette of sounds and textures offered by jazz, funk and soul, but they're also willing and able to twist them into their own paradigm. They make music to make musicians nod in appreciation, but to make everyone else rave hard.