Inkswel - Graffiti House (People Must Jam)


We've been following Inkswel's rise through the boogie ranks ever since we stumbled upon his first release for Boogie Bash back in 2011 (one of those rare tunes my mrs actually likes). In a few years, the Australian producer's catalogues has grown exponentially with releases on esteemed imprints like Wolf, Hot Shots, Burek and Dopeness Galore, to name but a few. It's been intruiging to see his sound move more and more away from the slick analogue boogie of his first releases - a sound that producers in L.A. seem to be so good at making - to the kind of unpolished fusion of ghetto boogie and raw house that he's pushing these days. While not everything he makes tickles my pickle - I'm not big on those heavily distorted drums he sometimes uses - his productions are always worth a listen and when he gets it right, he gets it RIGHT.

When we caught wind of People Must Jam - one of our favourite imprints around - snapping up an EP by the man, our interest was immediately piqued. The record took a lot longer to materialise than planned (all smaller labels are suffering from the congestions at the pressing plants these days) but the Graffiti House EP finally found its way to my doorstep this week and it truly is a glorious package. While the stomping title track's vintage hiphop attitude certainly has something going for it, the tune is a bit too rough for me. 'Hold On' with its badass slapbass and big snare drums really hits the spot though, as does the deep  'Linoleum Magnets', a collab with Freekwency (who was involved with that amazing Nite Class LP that came out last year), which is my pick of the litter with its fresh claps and moody synth lines.



Flip over for a pair of proper 4/4 reworks, courtesy of Lay-Far and Ugly Drums. While the prolific Lay-Far is without a doubt having a bit of a purple patch these days and turns in a heavy-hitting rerub of Graffiti House, it's the Ugly Drums remix of Linoleum Magnets that really gets my juices flowing. It's superfast but rest assured, it retains its driving qualities pitched down at -8. So, so fresh.

Listen to all the tracks / order the record here

Massive thanks for sending over the record (getting sent records in the mail to review never gets old). Up next on People Must Jam is another V.A. with some truly delectable reworks by Out In The Sticks, Rahaan, Beaten Space Probe and Andy Ash, keep 'em peeled for that (or, better yet, pre-order a copy from Ed Davies)

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