Liquid Funk

When I started buying dance records for real, I was more into Hood and Mills and stuff, a techno fan lost in a land of psytrance and vocal house. I had to make do with deep Chicago stuff, few 12"s from Detroit and the occasional Tresor vinyl (no internet back then, and postal orders were more than expensive and totally insecure). Then I discovered a british label called Offshoot, mostly due to the magnificent 'Style Wars' EPs by Bushflange aka Leftfield's collaborator Nick Rapaccioli.

At the same time, I frequently came across 12"s from a guy named Aubrey. I liked most of them; I bought some, mostly Solid Groove stuff. But what I distinctly remember is that when I mentioned his name to the guys at the record shops, I always received the same answer, more or less something like: "Ah, Aubrey, yes, well, we grew up listening to him". All of them, house mongrels that they were. But I learned, and understood.

As I had promised there, I had to present this album (his only one as I just found out...). Most of the stuff I wrote there also apply here.

No need for a bio, just check his discogs page or HisSpace here. His time was the '90s, later he withdrew for some reason I'm not aware of. His music is placed somewhere between Detroit techno, UK techfunk and house. Or not. Cause he's also into funk and hip hop. And disco. And samples everything he likes, loops it and toys with it for six minutes in the purest Acid House tradition, over solid beats and funky basslines, creating mesmerizing technoid gems from out of nowhere. Or just plays some honest, down to earth house music.
In this record he exposes most of these tendencies, creating a sound of his own. Not thanks to his outstanding production skills or his avant-guard experimentations - he just has this gift, to merge all these elements into a coherent formation, to use familiar sounds and tricks to create unexpected results. In a conventional, clubby way; yet he succeeds.

He recently had a digi release, hope he returns better than ever - a lot of his classmates do, anyway.

Aubrey - 1999 Liquid Funk
Info here.