BnB Review: Steve Mac - Roots

Written by the B&B Crew

Dancefloor bomb detonator Steve Mac returns with a brand new album titled Roots, out next month on Saved Records. Here’s the full rundown.






Throughout his extensive career, Steve’s been working alongside such names as Todd Terje, Danny Rampling, and Jocelyn Brown to name but a few, squeezing out tracks (Paddy's Revenge!) that border between classic house to modern day mutations as he goes. After recent work on Rejected, Ovum and Renaissance and his own sMACK Recordings, Steve is now set to drop his new album Roots, which marks his third release on Saved. The album has pretty much what we’ve come to expect from him: a two-disc trip through block-rocking house grooves that draw both on typical textures as unexpected twists.

The first disc opens with the chilled and beatless Waiting, after which Steve serves up his signature house tunes such as the melodic tech-housian Biscuits, a tune remarked by warm sax samples and a very nasty bassline, and the NY funk-fueled Moosique (which holds a few very nice breakdowns). But the best track on it probably is Hear That, a rough ‘n tough piece of postmodern tech-house packed with soaring fx and a great overall beefy vibe. All in all a proper first half. Not too difficult or original, but definitely above average.

The second disc, however, is where the real action’s at. It’s content is much powerful and gritty as oppose to the first disc, and it is on this disc where Steve really reveals his craftsmanship. Dancing Together marks a strong opening in the form of the soulful, acid-tinged jacker, the piano house-structured Reaching (featuring some very nice vocal work), and the Strictly Rhythm-styled banger Respect. The second half of the disc is equally qualitative with the somewhat obscure Noise Bastard –a tune that will undoubtedly move the coolest kids in the clubs as well- and The Rave, which seems to be inspired by the all time classic Good Life track by Innercity. The second half’s where Steve scores, hands down.

Our verdict:
Roots has become a release that becomes better and better throughout its playtime. The first disc may sound a bit too much of the same, but the second one definitely makes up for that with eight full-on house grooves that’ll blow your mum out of her socks. Overall speaking a very decent release for house heads who still frequently like to dig up the old stuff too.

Rating: 7.2/100
Label: Saved Records
Release date: May 16th, 2011

Tracklist:
CD1
1. Waiting (Album Version)
2. Leave Me Behind
3. Biscuits ft Tom Gandy
4. Moosique
5. Give It To Me (ft. Nic Fanciulli)
6. Hear That
7. Gettin' Down (ft. Mark Broom)

CD2
1. Dancing Together
2. Diskoteca
3. Reaching
4. Respect
5. Noise Bastard
6. The Rave
7. World Change
8. Waiting

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