Redanka takes the ballsy step of bypassing Beatport and gives fans first dibs on new single.

As soon as you hit play on Redanka‘s ‘Roots’ Mix it’s hard not to notice the old electro house and funky house references. The mid-bass square synth riff, the rising string pads, and the cut-up vocal stab all scream older sounding M.Y.N.C. Project and Ran Shani electro house, which is cool to hear. Even the use of a dedicated tom drum riff, the first element you identify with in the track, is pretty electro-proggy (think Djuma Sound System). The breakdown is also very nicely done: there’s a lot of space created in it, through very nice use of reverb, and the ambience of the individual elements fit together very strongly to form a cohesive stereo feel, which conveys the emotion of the track very poignantly.

Quivver‘s Remix takes us in a slightly different direction. The fun, old school elements that make the original stand out so markedly are all there, but John Graham does us one better with the incorporation of his much more modern, funky flavors, just like he did with “Ain’t Nothing Going on but the Rent“. The bassline here is a powerful dancefloor filler, with a low mid richness that has become a prevalent factor in modern deep house. The cool percussive groove is all still present, and the vocal stabs once again are really well done, thus the spirit of fun and the uplifting feel that Redanka created is honoured and kept in tact with Quivver’s interpretation. Both traditional and new-school Deep House DJs alike will find themselves very at ease with adding this take to their crates.

It’s cool to hear some music that’s not afraid to incorporate a lot of these elements and I applaud both producers for their creativity in warping those elements into some catchy tracks. Both Redanka and Quivver’s versions have a very positive feel to them, capturing that “feel good” vibe that deep and electro were so well known for during their hey days. I wonder, sadly, if the modern crowd is up for truly appreciating the spirit of what this sound stood for? The production quality on both tracks is top notch, as you’d expect. Well worth a listen.