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(Om Records/Stomp)
If the Groove Junkies won an award at the Grammies, their speech would read something like, “I’d like to thank God, my mother, my gorgeous wife, my minister for converting me, oh and did I mention God, my heavenly father above”. (Keep reading and you’ll get the picture…. and in fact their thankyou notes on the sleeve read pretty similar). Evan Landes and Parrish Wintersmith, collectively known as Groove Junkies, have crafted a style influenced by soul, funk, R&B, jazz, gospel, and Latin rhythms. Launching Volume 3 of the House of Om Series, which has already been mastered by Miguel Miggs on one and Kaskade on two, Groove Junkies bring a double-disc set to the floor.
Opening with their own cut Just Groovin’ track featuring Solara, it’s organic percussive Latin and west coast US house feel, together with funky guitar licks, sassy sax and jazzy keys, heavy with gospel vocals and harmonies (to let the diva in you come out) set the sound for the the other introductory tracks on disc one, such as Reese Project, and Jay-J and Halo Varga (H-Foundation) collaboration aimed for the 10pm to 1am club spot. DJ Spen and the Muthafunkas add a more Afro-Caribbean feel. Spen also returns later in the mix with Karizma, who recently toured Australia, with a more traditionally vocal house number. Crowd screams at the start of tracks like the Jamie Lewis and Michelle Weeks collaboration Be Thankful, adds to the festive feel, and “asks you to raise your hands into the air to thank Jesus Christ”. The spiritual edge married with disco funk and smooth house grooves on Dennis Ferrer, Richard Earnshaw and Red tracks continues with the gospel feel, but relies less heavy on the vocals. Next the GJs drop Blaze’s huge track My Beat featuring Palmer Brown, in a welcome revival. Also graciously welcomed is Sydney’s own La Fiesta Sound System, representing our local crop with Dancando Domingo.
With the second disc (probably my pick) aimed for the 1am to 4am slot, the Groove Junkies take the beat up a notch with more loop driven sounds courtesy of Bobby Bianco, Rockers Revenge, Coffee Kids and Sandy Rivera. You’ll even notice a few familiar samples like “it began in Africa” which the Chemical Brothers used, and the Dangerous Frequencies monologue that NRK used on the Robotic House Movement compilation a few years back. Once again crowd whistles add a touch of atmosphere, while stepping disco bass lines, sassy sax, vocals and jazzy keys drive the mix. Segments like this really showcase the GJs talents on the decks mixing and filtering between a number of tracks at the same time. Classic funky house beats by Nu Rhythmix, Pepe Link, Hardsoul and New Cool Collective also get a workout. The tracks become heavy on disco strings and fat funky bass-lines, and GJs splice acapellas and evangelical preachers to really take it to the next level and return to their favoured gospel edge.
House of Om is funky and feel good soulful house music to dance the night away, just as long as the vocals and preachy edge don’t get to much for you.
