(Aroma/Stomp)

I’ve been waiting for this album for a long time.  Swirl People’s first album ‘Hi Mom, Let’s Dance’ released on Sole Music back in 2002 is one of my all time favourite house artist albums and I don’t think I’m alone here.  Their productions always seem to pull off that rare combination of dancing and listening grooves that work well both in a club and your lounge room.

Swirl People, through numerous releases and pseudonyms (Swirl People, Swirl Peepz, Cozy Creatures, Different Noodles and Tiger Sprouts), have become one of Belgium’s foremost house projects.  Made up of DJ Raoul Belmans and keyboardist/producer Dimitri Dewever, Swirl People formed back in 1997 and have since had over 50 singles and remixes released on labels such as Aroma, Amenti, Lowdown, Music For Freaks, Panhandle, and Wally’s Groove World.  Raoul is resident at one of Europe’s leading house clubs, Food in Brussels and his understanding of what moves a dance floor is evident in his production work.

Special Combo opens with first single Lideloo Dow Dow and introduces us to the sublime vocals of Cathy Do Canto.  Combined with a superb double bass line, brushed drums and saxophone licks this sets the live jazz-based theme for the album.  The pace then slowly picks up, moving from the Spanish guitar of Nonicone and the broken beats of My Thoughts (Fly away) into more traditional house tracks How Do I Get Thru? and Let U Go with it’s deep, driving bass line.  Next up are the two vocal highlights of the album and no doubt later single releases.  No Judgement Sauce again features the vocals of Cathy Do Canto and is a catchy, fast paced track with nice use of harmonies and shuffling beats.  We Used To Party featuring vocals by longtime Chicago DJ Heather follows this and is destined to be huge even if the message in the lyrics is not the most positive?  Say What starts out with a much harder, darker and techy edge to it but the sun comes out later with the nice use of keys and vocal samples, while Feel Real Good features vocals by Alexander East and is almost a tribute to early New York Garage with its piano riffs and harmonies.

A lot of work has gone into this album, with exceptional production making every track sound clean, crisp and tight.  Swirl People follow a simple formula very similar to Inland Knights, of keeping the listeners interest with the use of original drum programming, catchy bass lines, vocal snippets and the underlying funk elements that make a good dance tune.  The vocal tracks are never overdone to the point of sounding too commercial and the album flows well without becoming stale.  They have also ensured continued 12” sales by releasing all the best tracks as singles so the DJ’s and vinyl addicts out there have to buy the album and all the singles!  An excellent release and well worth the wait.