For three decades British house hero Luke Solomon has unwaveringly championed a musical ethos that’s deep and soulful. Even when he’s flirted with pop music, he’s done so on his own terms with his his integrity in check. Solomon, who famously co-founded Classic Music Company along with Derrick Carter, recently restarted his Business As Usual: Live from the Washhouse radio show (listen to the April edition here), a program in which he goes beyond the traditional mix show format by championing new tracks as well as rare nuggets. The mixmaster extends his good musical vibes to Luke Solomon’s Unfinished Business Volume 1, an upcoming 32-track compendium featuring tracks by James Curd, Matthew Styles, DJ Nature and Mikey V out May 24 on his aforementioned imprint. Here Solomon enthusiastically waxes poetic on five of his favorite songs of the moment on SoundCloud.
1. Kenny Dope – Gorilla Mode EP
A series of tracks that were released exclusively on Traxsource. All vocals, all awesome. Masters at Work inspired, stripped back, fresh and funky as hell.
2. Floorplan – “Baby Baby”
The remarkable Robert Hood recorded an album last year under the guise of Floorplan. The album was definitely one of the greatest highlights of last year clubwise. I have had five or six of the tracks on rotation for 18 months — incredibly honored that Robert allowed my usage of his tracks on my album, a rare occurrence.
3. Seven Davis Jr. – “One”
He is the freshest musician I have heard in quite some time. Reminds of Prince meets Losoul set in 2014. About to hit the Classic Music Company with an absolute monster of a release. Look out for it peoples.
4. Toddla T – “Acid”
A three-track EP of some new-school/old-school freshness. Awesome to hear the much-used 303/acid sound taken into a different realm with some proper songs and some out and out freakouts covered in character. Deserves a proper crossover this does.
5. David Duriez and Manuel M – “9 Minutes of Pure Madness”
After a mammoth hiatus, David returns with newcomer, Manuel M, with “9 minutes of Madness,” made especially for the Classic Music company. A hark back to the Chicago Warehouse days — this does exactly what it says on the tin.