Midlands based Lakosa is set to release his debut “12 for Shifting Peaks: the interestingly entitled  Nubian Minds, (Nubia is an ancient African civilisation), with remixes from Mau’lin and West Norwood Cassette Library. The track’s characteristic vocal monologue rhythmically calls up names of  revolutionaries, (from Malcom X to Luke Skywalker) in a manor reminiscent of (but more serious and vibe creating than) ‘Teachers’ by Daft Punk,  an anchor for a variety of different ideas and influences. The drum pattern/groove is a broken syncopation reminiscent of 2 step garage, but as this loops around and is enveloped in the simplistic deep synths and warm sub revolutions a tangiable tech house sound emerges. A Personal highlight is a driving midsection where the vocal fades and delays away and the warm synth into the ether and  the track is stripped down to beats, raw sub and a an erratically panned clicky woodblock pattern which give the track a moment of blunt techno toughness…

The remixes meet the high standards set by the original For his attempt, House holy grailist and analogue geek West Norwood Cassette Library sets up a characteristically infectious and funky bass groove, and classic house drum sound which are layered with techy vocal and synth stabs, some of which are ‘wet’ with phase and reverbate as if they were leagues underwater, making the whole thing have a subtle squelchiness above the groove, and no doubt will have people suitably splashing around like ducks in a puddle. You can hear his remix here.

The final track on this release is Mau’lin’s remix,  a real dark UK Funky  number, with towering FX sounds and a pushed up tempo, with a hollow tumping bass in a call and response style. This is the the biggest departure from the original, and it pays off. Mau’lin keeps the references to the track in tact and manages a banger which wil lreach out to a different audience or provide another reason to buy the package for those with a broader taste in tunes. You can hear Maulin’s remix here.

Nubian Minds is out to buy through all good retailers and download sites from this week.

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