BnB Review: Spencer Parker – A Gun For Hire

Written by Manu Ekanayake

House -

We've been looking forward to this album for a long while, but it wasn't what we expected... it's even better.

Spencer Parker has been a stalwart of the house scene for over a decade now, so his first album is long overdue, especially as he's been producing since 2005. But it’s hard to begrudge Mr Parker the time this opus has taken, as it has allowed him to release a mature, considered debut instead of just a collection of storming club tracks.

A Gun For Hire takes a while to build, but it also explores the depths of Spencer's love of house music. ‘Underground house’ is how he sums up his sound; a deceptively simple phrase which covers a lot of ground. It’s also the chosen rationale of some of BnB’s favourite DJs, so we’re glad to see Spencer nail his colours to the mast of the ‘true school’, who realise that house is a feeling… and one that can take many forms.

For instance, there’s the melodic and guitar-laden Chouchou (French for ‘pet’), which proves that house music can be very musical and lush, or the sublime The Look (a collaboration with Dan ‘Jam Factory’ Beaumont, below) that’s pure Prelude, utter late 70s/early 80s brilliance. There’s some serious sax-lines here, which always go over well with this reviewer, but even despite them it’s still one of the most infectious disco-housers around at the moment; we’ve been rinsing this one for ages.

But Spencer’s a producer of many parts, so if you’re more for your stripped-back techier sounds, go for Kleine Schwarz Katze (‘Little Black Cat’ in German) or the wonderful deep houser Riding on the Rhythm , which sounds like a vintage Chicago find. The spoken words give it a very individual feel, as well as making it a very fine contrast to the next track, Harmonious Forms, which is all spaced-out basslines and simmering keyboard stabs. All these hint at the variety that is the key to Spencer’s sound.

Rating: 8.5/10
Label: Saved Records
Release date: September 14^th, 2011

Tracklisting
1. Start (again)
2. Welcome To The 36
3. Kleine Schwarze Katze
4. Oscar's Here
5. 2E2L (2 Early 2 Be Late)
6. Bring It
7. Riding On The Rhythm
8. Harmonious Forms
9. Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close
10. Chouchou
11. The Look (by Spencer Parker and Dan Beaumont)