Globetrotting German mixmaster Ray Okpara, who helms AMA Recordings and has recorded and remixed tracks for Anja Schneider’s Mobilee Records, Nick Curly’s 8Bit and Get Physical, has outdone himself on his three-track Gipsy EP, a release which serves as his debut on Nic Fancuilli’s Saved Records.
The refreshingly inventive title track is founded on a wicked groove accented by jangly guitar chords that meander in and out of the mix. After building momentum, “Gipsy” unfolds into a boiling-hot houser that simmers on its own, thankfully without the use of a clichéd breakdown.
But there’s more! With its pitched-down vocal samples (“oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!“) — is this a tip of the hat to Yello’s classic “Oh Yeah”? — Okpara takes “Atlixco” into a deeper, somewhat darker direction, while “Buster,” a sinewy vocal 4/4 number, wields a massive kick drum that takes no prisoners.
If you’re one who thinks outside the musical box on the dance floor, you’ve just discovered your next DJ hero.
Ray Okpara’s Gipsy EP is released September 1 on Saved Records.