People Must Jam - Label Special /w exclusive mix by Riccio

In a scene that seems to get more beige by the day, Australian imprint People Must Jam continualy keeps us grumpy, picky buggers on our toes and at the edge of our seats. The label's output ranges from moody deephouse (Mark Seven) to lush Balearics (Ptaki) and chirpy and upbeat disco (Frank Booker, Andy Ash). There's simply nothing they can't tackle genre-wise, and when they do they're on point taste-wise too, picking out the cream of the crop from artists' demo folders. Matt Trousdale - who runs the imprint and is also on the industry's nicest chaps in the game - got in touch a few weeks ago with a mix Riccio had just finished in support of his forthcoming EP on the label. He'd also just sent us an advanced copy of an EP by Kid Sublime's that's slated for release later this summer, so we figured we really should be doing the needful: a proper label spotlight with Riccio's mix thrown in as a special treat. We've covered a bunch of the previous releases on these pages, so let's pick things up with the label's most recent missives.

The label's been on a bit of a roll, with releases coming in thick and fast since the start of the new year. Scottish disco don Al Kent kicked things off in style in 2016 with a one-sided, limited 10" affair that came out in January.  Mr. Kent obviously knows a thing or two about tweaking disco nuggets and his rerub of Eddie and The Movements 'Alive and Kicking' is as essential as they come. Matt: 'Al is an absolute gent and that track is a total testament to his talent. That little 10" is a killer, killer disco cut'.



While we're usually not too keen on single-sided releases (waste of perfectly fine plastic) we'll gladly make an exception here as the tune on the A is such a disco delight, chances are you'd never bother to check out the flipside anyway. Use the blank side to calibrate your anti-tracking settings properly then, and everybody wins. We asked Matt why he opted for a limited release. 'Having something that is of limited pressing is like a bit of a reward for making the effort to go out, seek it out, hunt it down and getting your hands on it'. This inevitably led to a discussion about the merits of vinyl as such, on which the label takes a stance we're all too familiar with. 'We love vinyl - always have and always will - and we press just enough it seems that everybody that wants a copy gets one without us having to go down the digital road. To be honest we're not big fans of digital files, the way music can be so accessible it seems to take away the fun of the hunt. The online/digital domain is a completely different world to the dusty-fingered world we all came from. It's just not what we are about'. Amen to that, even if it means you get e-mails from people accusing you of being 'misguided elitist cunts'.

Al Kent's record is gone from all the usual haunts, but a few copies still linger on Discogs for a fair price, so now's the time to strike ladies and gents.

Our good friend and crackerjack disco fiend Riccio (Super Value Edits, Fly By Night Music) is about to grace PMJ08 next - coming in fine form with the next in the series, which is due out this week. PMJ got in touch with Riccio once Matt stumbled upon Super Value Edits 08. 'We started playing a lot of his edits. When the label started kicking off we contacted him to see about doing a record for us, which he was up for. In the meantime we became (e-mail) buddies and have chatted about everything from island life to funk to food. He loves cooking. The art of pizza making was a good discussion one day!'

We've been playing these tunes all over the place for a good while now and they have yet to disappoint, 'Deja Vu' especially putting punters in quite the dilemma of not knowing whether to cut a rug or skip to the booth to find out what's playing.




The next cut 'Dyson Jam' comes in a couple of flavours - the o.g., a lovingly crafted, winding 4 a.m. nugget with lush pads - and a bombtastic Payfone remix, which flips the track on its back and churns out a slower, cut-up dubby version - (however still deep as balls) that could work a treat again at 4 a.m. or as a mega/mood builder to start up the festivities. The Golf Channel regulars once again showcase their knack for fusing proper machine soul with devastating basslines. Finally, 'Mystical Stretcher' brings things back arguably to what Riccio does best - 100bpm Rhodes grooves that twinkle like none other. Beautiful stuff.

Listen/order here

Finally Kid Sublime gets busy with the ninth PMJ record. That's right, another release, another fine spot of international A&R-ing. Dutchman Kid Sublime - or Jacob Otten to his mum -  is no stranger to the underground dance music scene, and has been putting out fresh wax on class labels like Dopeness Gallore, Jahwell and Kindred Spirits for a decade and a half or so. His Basement Works series from the late 90s are some of the most coveted records in our collections, and seem to have stuck a similar chord with Matt. 'We are massive fans of Jacob's work. He is a hugely underrated guy. Personally I have collected many of his records (go seek out the Basement Works records) over the years and again, once the label was getting off the ground we approached him to do a record for us. It took a while to actually get the EP from him as he's a very busy guy, but he came through with a cracking selection of house cuts'

He puts his best foot forward with a foursome of tunes for his 'I Like 'Em Dirty EP' indeed, ranging from the druggy, minimalistic fare that is Bank Like Sims to to dirty basement stomper I Like 'Em Dirty. Killer stuff, that sounds very 'now', but at the same time if you told me it came out in 2001 and was produced by Fred Everything for OM or Naked Music I'd take your word for it. It's that kind of timeless house.

  

It's safe to say that People Must Jam is slowly but steadily cementing its reputation as one of the most interesting and consistent labels out there. Not by playing it safe, or relying on one or two in-house producers, but by continually searching for new pastures and fresh sounds, that invariably end up staying in our record bags for good. There's more to come too. 'We are talking with lots of different people (locally and globally) to keep the release schedule as varied as possible. We are still trying to represent the People Must Jam sound from our Sydney warehouse parties (house, disco, boogie, funk, balearics, soul...). We have records from System Status and Das Komplex almost ready to go with a few exciting other people contributing remixes, plus some other stuff but it's a bit too early to mention names. We're also about to launch a new imprint that will feature deeper, more obscure cuts from different diggers' collections. The first one is almost ready to go too - a record full of collectable gems edited by Albion'.

We salute you, Matt Trousdale, a true kindred spirit.

To wrap things up properly, we're excited to share an exclusive and magnificent mix by Riccio with you. 'With the imminent release of his Deja Vu EP, we asked Riccio for a mix to showcase his sound to which he happily obliged'. Filled to the brim with boogie and disco delights (including a most welcome airing of Deja Vu, the title track of his new PMJ EP) it'll have you tapping your feet and wagging your tail before you know it. Start busting out the ID requests everyone, because trust us: we'll be needing all of these.