Simba - Tales from the Green Room EP (Shadeleaf) /w Exclusive Guestmix by Simba

Our good pal That Man Monkz is doing a terrific job curating his Shadeleaf imprint. The man from Sheffield has never been one to toot his own horn, but he's been quietly building a killer catalogue over the past few years, developing that rare thing: a signature sound that is instantly recognizable and refreshingly authentic. Deep, moody basement club tackle that's a little rough around the edges but soulful at the same time, more often than not by enlisting proper vocalists. It usually takes a few listens for a Shadeleaf record to really sink, always a sign of music with a decent shelf life in my book.

The label welcomes Simba (Chris Grant) to the fold for its 10th outing. The Preston-based producer isn't the most prolific of producers, with only a handful of releases over the past few years on labels like Stripped & Chewed and Home Taping Is Killing Music, but a few skips through his Tales from the Green Room EP are enough to establish we're dealing with a producer at the top of his game and a foursome of tracks that simply scream 'Shadeleaf'. Make You Move on the A is a beast of a tune, with rolling drums, a massive bassline and vocals by J. Gordan. It reminds me of Peven Everett's Stuck (which is one of my favourite house tunes of all times, the Phil Asher remix in particular).



Susan Sorandom comes with some seriously bitchin' drums and swirly synth lines and seems to be made for those special 8AM moments in a dark basement in Berlin. Flip over for Compete, a lovely and relentless Afro chugger, and Marvellous, a killer cut and paste affair that shimmies and stutters in all the right places.

Tales from the Green Room is out in the next few weeks, have a listen or pre-order the 12" here

To celebrate the release, Simba strung together a pitch-perfection selection of contemporary machine soul music and we're thrilled he's letting us share it with you.