(Buzzin’ Fly/Stomp)

It’s hard to overestimate Ben Watt’s impact on the musical landscape of the last two decades. As one half of Everything But The Girl (with partner Tracey Thorn), Watt has been responsible for some of the most beautiful music of our time, from the early naïve folk pop of Amplified Heart to the later more avant-garde EBTG releases. In the early 90s a  little track called Missing became one of the defining moments of dance music thanks to a rework by Todd Terry, and Watt’s journey into the world of dance music was well and truly underway. Through the 90s EBTG continued to break new ground and release incredible music, and Watt has since gone on to do great things as a producer, DJ and promoter. Just to top it off he also owns the terminally cool west London club Neighbourhood. What next? Why, a label of course. Buzzin’ Fly is Watt’s new baby, and this is the first release on the fledgeling imprint.

Part label sampler and part cross-section of current movements in the underground deep house scene, this compilation combines a handful of previously unreleased Lazy Dog tracks, some obscure licenses, and a very fine Watt remix. Basically it’s a whole lot of oustanding deep house that you won’t find anywhere else. And in a climate of cynical major label driven “dance” releases full of tired overplayed tunes and commercial guff, that is exciting in itself.

Watts track selection, although fitting neatly into the deep house bracket, is a stylistic mixed bag. The Martin Solveig dub of Believe by Soldiers of Twilight is textbook soulful jazzy deep house, 6 in the Morning (Francois A and Manoo) takes a detour into choppy filtered funk, and the lethal bassline of S.O.M. featuring Barbara Mendes’ Musica adds a bit of tribal bootyshaking to the mix. Watt’s mixing is absolutely superb, and his sequencing is spot-on in creating a cohesive well-flowing set.

Forthcoming Buzzin’ Fly single A Stronger Man sees Watt enlist the vocal talents of Sananda Maitreya, who most of us would know as Terence Trent D’Arby. It’s a stunning track, Watt’s production showing that restraint and clarity can be infinitely more powerful than bells and whistles.

For lovers of deep house, EBTG fans, and dance music enthusiasts in general, this is absolutely essential listening.