Back after something of a break since his last album Tuned In & Spaced Out comes Bristol big beat producer Steppin Tones with new EP Melody Shaker. A five-tracker, it consists of three original cuts of which the third, Tickle Style, comes with two additional mixes. But more about those shortly. First up is Dance For Me – a Jamaican-dancehall-flavoured midtempo breakbeat skank – pushing all the right buttons to get the party started, followed by Kasper’s Cowshed. This second cut is a more uptempo affair in the classic Steppin’ Tones mould (if you caught his The Feeling Is Mutant LP) featuring sixties samples over a cavernous funk drum break and paves the way for the three versions of Tickle Style. It’s arguably the most party of the 3 cuts and neither of the remixes tinkers with the overall rhythm (which wasn’t broken and certainly didn’t need fixing) so it’s more about the vocals and additional sound effects that have been added. In the case of the ‘Rory Hoy Fab Edit’ that means a bit of piano and some psychedelic rock vocals while ST’s own ‘Street Fighter Mix’ opts for some timely (given the release of the film later this year) Street Fighter FX and samples. All of which provide 3 slightly different ways to optimise that peak time dancefloor energy.
(Out now HERE)
