Moodymanc – Black Paint (Tsuba Colours)

Written by Manu Ekanayake

Deep House -

Black Paint by Moodymanc is a heavy little underground house number which is pure future soul. There’s a dub too, plus a remix by Larry Heard, but to be honest, we’re feeling the original the most.

If the original mix of Black Paint doesn’t move you, there’s something wrong with you that only a qualified medic should try and deal with. Not your pal ‘Phil the Chemist' either, this will require a real Dr. Because Danny Ward (aka Moodymanc – the name’s a tribute to KDJ, of course) has done it again here, showing off his jazz background with the general smoky-5-in the-morning vibe, the horns in the background and the soulful spoken word vocals of Gil Scott-Heron, which are also evocative of classic deep house records… just like Larry Heard makes. So it’s fitting that he provides the After Dark Mix, which takes the already-classic original mix and adds a shimmering, tougher bass with a more discordant touch. It’s not much different, but like it says on the box, it’s just a heavier mix for a later time-slot.   Oh, there’s Danny’s dub too, but to be honest all that does is pump it up and lose the amazing vocal. Which makes a rocking track into a nice DJ tool –lovely horns on the end, but why wouldn’t you play the original?