Voodoo Killer – Todd Terry (Sound Design)
In House Records, Catalogue CMC 1021

This IS house music. Todd Terry’s latest offering represents an awesome arrangement of deep house sounds with a darker edge than one would normally expect from the godfather of house. The sound quality on the white label copy is less than perfect, but I’m hoping that the track goes back to the studio before general release. Nonetheless, the tune is absolutely rockin’, and there is no doubt that on this record Terry has captured that disco house music brilliance that made him famous.

Starting out with a series of dark, eerie sounds, possibly some reverse cymbals with a little bit of enhancement, the track slowly builds its simple but special bassline and, as only Todd Terry knows how, swiftly breaks into a sweet, soft vocal arrangement. We’re not talking about a dominating, cheesy diva vocal, but more like a subtle background melody, with the low volume levels on the track making you listen for it even more closely. The track also makes occasional use of a few strings, but again, not your average drawn out synth arrangement. Instead, Terry opts for a short, muffled string sequence that is all the more funky. This track is not your pumpin’, funky house, but about 129bpms, this record would slide nicely into any set on the house tip. It is more subtle than it is sensational, but represents one of those nice deep house tracks that really grows on the listener. This is not a classic in the making, but a good solid tune with a touch of disco.

Do not mistake “Voodoo Killer” for the track on the record’s flipside, which for Todd Terry serves as the exception to prove the rule… that is, it sux. This is NOT the house music that we have come to expect from Todd Terry, and thank god for that!