SEVEN DAVIS JR Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Seven Davis Jr continues exploring his sound via his own Secret Angels label, unfettered by external input and able to present his creative vision as he sees fit. He's in club mode on this second instalment of his "Sev Was Here" series, but this time round it's not quite as edgy as its predecessor. Davis Jr's vocals are out front, dealing with matters of the heart over those crucial, distinctive deep house bumps. "Your Lover" is a snappy, sexy number that works around an addictive, looped up hook, while "Rollercoaster" takes things a little more jacking. "Birds & Bee's" keeps the percussive pressure up, before the husky vocals come back in full force on killer closer "Cupid."

Review: Unstoppable Dutch duo Detroit Swindle are back on their own Heist imprint, with some sensual deep house in the form of "Flavourism" which is the first single lifted from their forthcoming album entitled High Life. Featuring the smooth as silk vocals of the inimitable Seven Davis Jr, the release is accompanied by some fine remixes too: the sexy late night mood lighting of John Barera & Will Martin's Boomerang dub does the job fairly well, but let's not ignore the true highlight here - not one but two renditions by the mighty Pepe Bradock. The Atavisme boss and all round hero of the French house scene delivers the depe dan and dusty Bittersweet mix, in addition to a handy Urgent Spookapella.

Review: A third round of edits from The Love Below stable arrives and is perhaps the best thus far in the prospering series, with contributions from Eliphino, Seven Davis Jr and Rekchampa. Londoner Eliphino is first up and digs into the archives of Will I Am, drawing on a highlight from his underrated 2001 BBE LP Lost Change. In original form, "Lost Change" was a hazy number blessed by seductive vocals from Terry Dexter and it's to Eliphino's credit that his rework retains much of the charm, whilst upping the tempo and implementing some nice rhythmic edits. Many comparisons have been made between Seven Davis Jr and Prince (not least thanks to a great cover of "Controversy") and the former's excellent broken version of "Purple Music" will only serve to strengthen such a flattering viewpoint. Don't sleep on Rekchampa's killer rerub of Jimmy Bo Horn's funk standard either!

Review: The ever-prolific Seven Davis Jr has been thoroughly generous in sharing out his smoky, sensual strain of deep house in recent years, with the dust still settling from his last album. Now he's back with a full tilt five track EP that hints at a new direction to come, embracing the momentum and minimalism of techno without losing the distinctive bump that his music just can't do without. "No Mercy" is a dark, kinetic affair while "Lipstick" gets tougher, funkier and rawer. "Super Model" is a sleazy jam that revolves around a strutting beat and a nasty bassline, with some of Davis Jr's cool and deadly vocals rolling over the top. "On The Catwalk" has a rugged Dance Mania feel to the groove, and then "To Be Continued" spells out that this new, ruffneck direction for Seven Davis Jr has got a future.

Review: Given the effortless swing and low-end bump of his productions, it's little surprise to find Seven Davis Jr popping up on the reborn Classic label, now part of the sprawling Defected family. Certainly, there's a brilliant eccentricity about the sparse, bumpin' rhythms (created, in part, by the L.A producer beatboxing along with the groove) and quietly soulful vocals that mark out lead cut "Friends"; it's the kind of thing that you'd once have expected from Classic stalwarts Iz & Diz. "Beautiful" is built around more straightforward Chicago house beats, but is still blessed with the distinctive late night shuffle and baked soulfulness with which Davis has become known.

Review: It's never easy keeping up with all the absolute gold that comes flying out of Seven Davis Jr's studio, but it makes it all the more fun playing catch up. Having kicked off his Secret Angels label last year with an EP and an album, he's already back with yet another long player spread across two discs and dripping with that irresistible, neo-soul enriched boogie. This is house music how it should be done, channelling the influence of P-funk, Prince and D'Angelo to make some of the sweetest party-starting material you're likely to hear all year. Do you need any more convincing?

Review: One of the undoubted joys of any new Seven Davis Jr release is its' unpredictability. This latest extended player is every bit as eclectic and eccentric as ever. While title track "Dancing On The Sun" is a wonky, chopped-up chunk of bass-heavy Chi-town techno, its' even more chopped-up rework - "See The Light" - is rubbery, soulful and throbbing, with Davis making great use of some particularly cosmic vocals. Elsewhere, "Church" sounds like intergalactic boogie dragged through a Motor City warehouse party backwards, while "Spliffs" sees him take a paranoid trip into the stoner stratosphere in the company of discordant guitar solos, freshly baked wonk-hop beats, and vocals that sound like they were recorded in an echo chamber.

Review: Seven Davis Jr. describes Karizma and Osunlade as "close friends and kindred spirits", so it's little surprise to find them remixing a couple of tracks from his Universal full-length. It's the former who kicks things off, donning the lesser-used Kaytronik guise to lay down two versions of "Sunday Morning". The Ruff Kut Mix doffs a cap to both bumpin' deep house and the cut-up garage explorations of Todd Edwards, whilst retaining the inherent soul of Davis's original. His Love Break Dub, meanwhile, turns to the stuttering breakbeats of B-more club jams for inspiration, again utilizing some sweet melodies from the original. On the flip, Osunlade delivers vocal and instrumental interpretations of "Welcome Back", both of which sound like swinging, ultra-deep Yoruba Soul classics in the making.

Review: There was something rather fitting about Seven Davis Jr appearing on Classic last year. Here, the two thrillingly eccentric, low-slung, Prince-influenced boompty house cuts that made up that 12" get the remix treatment. Detroit Swindle handle the A-side, turning "Friends" into the kind of acid-laced, Derrick Carter-influenced, bumpin' house monster that would once have appeared on Classic offshoot Music For Freaks. On the flip, Dubliner Krystal Klear continues his journey into the world of clap-happy, peak-time house, with a version of "Beautiful" whose power is derived from a colossal sub-bass line, fizzing synthensizer flourishes and some kicking drum machine percussion.

Review: After a busy year that saw releases on Funkineven's Apron and Classic, Seven Davis Jr returns to London's Ninja Tune with a new LP, his second to date and a follow-up to this year's Wild Hearts EP for the same label. Universes is a stunning body of music comprised of fifteen tracks, all of which showcase Seven's many different styles and abilities behind the mixing desk...after all, it is called Universes! Our favourite moments have to be "Everybody Too Cool" because it reminds us of Outkast at their most daring, the off-kilter beats of "Karma", "Options" and its pseudo techno stance, and the abstract soul wails of "Fighters". Check it, there's plenty of goodness inside.

Review: Given his meteoric rise over the past 18 months, it's no surprise to find Seven Davis Jr bringing his hard-to-pigeonhole brand of dancefloor soul to Ninja Tune. "Wild Hearts", his first 12" for Coldcut's veteran label, finds him in fine form, delivering the sort of dusty, off-kilter, floor-friendly effort that sits somewhere between the soulful, jazz-tinged deepness of Moodymann, the bumpin' swing of Derrick Carter, and the impeccable modern soul of Amp Fiddler or Peven Everett. It's arguably his strongest single for sometime, with the L.A-based producer's vocals riding a thrusting groove (blessed with rubbery jazz bass), warm organ chords and jaunty pianos. We await his LP for Ninja Tune with real interest.

Review: The emergence of Seven Davis Jr has undoubtedly been one of this year's defining narratives with the promised displayed on two diverse 2013 offerings on Izwid and Must Have truly built upon with output on Apron, Classic, The Love Below and more. P.A.R.T.Y. (Live Bonus 12") finds Stevie Funkineven's Apron outfit rebooting Seven Davis Jr's label debut from earlier in the year, issuing the cuts on a shade of purple that would make Prince most envious. As you might have guessed this record features live versions of four of the tracks that made up P.A.R.T.Y. and that off the cuff element brings EVEN MORE energy to cuts like "Celebrations" and "PARTY".

Review: **REPRESS ALERT** The second release on Kutmah's IZWID imprint is a rare collection of bugged out electronic soul from the Los Angeles-based vocalist, producer and poet, Seven Davis Jr. "The Lost Tapes Vol. 1" spans 12 years of experimental, cosmic out-of-body-and-mind music, of mostly four and eight track recordings once lost in storage via a lengthly hiatus due to drug addiction and depression.
Resurfacing in 2012, Seven Davis Jr.'s 'Thanks' appeared on Kutmah's much lauded "Worldwide Family Vol. 2" compilation on Brownswood Recordings, after which the kaleidoscopic artist released the clattering funked beats of "Lo-Fi Vintage" and house-inspired "One" EP.
For IZWID, "The Lost Tapes Vol. 1" is a creative blueprint for Davis Jr.'s brilliantly unorthodox approach with his beautifully raw drums and psychotropic harmonies. "I made a lot of this music many years ago and other labels and artists hated on me for it," says Davis Jr. of the lost tapes. "They said it was too weird, too different, sounded like drug music (it was) and they told me I was going to hell, for 'Pornostar'. Years later; new life, new city, new day and age. I found the music again, which I never stopped loving and decided to send it all to Kutmah.

Review: Are you ready to P.A.R.T.Y.? Initially conceived as an outlet for Funkineven's own gritty club jammers, the Apron label has gradually teased out a curatorial side to the Eglo artist with like minded US producers Greg Beato and Delroy Edwards contributing to the imprint's peerless run. Seven Davis Jr is next up with the P.A.R.T.Y. EP which follows superb break out releases on IZWID and Must Have last year. There's a sobering story to how Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter and poet arrived here, overcoming drug addiction and depression, and introduced to the world by Kutmah through Brownswood's Worldwide Family Vol 2 compilation curated by the respected selector in 2012. Five tracks deep, the P.A.R.T.Y. EP is perhaps the musician's most confident collection so far, just try not to dance along to the confident gliding funk of opening track "Celebrations" whilst "Highways" is the sort of soulful disco Ron Hardy would spend hours playing with. What Seven Davis Jr does from here on will be fascinating to observe.

Review: The Lost Tapes Vol. 1 draws together material spanning some twelve years of unreleased four and eight track recordings from Houston-born Seven Davis Jnr. "once lost in storage via a lengthy hiatus due to drug addiction and depression". Plucked by Kutmah to appear on the Worldwide Family Vol 2 issued on Brownswood last year, Davis Jnr. has subsequently self released material via bandcamp, dropped a killer house focused 12? on Jay Simon's Must Have Records and has a record with Funkineven on the way . Brandishing a rough and rugged mastery of drums and a truly soulful vocal, Seven Davis Jnr has the capacity to cover a broad range of styles (a cover version of Prince's "Controversy" that can be found online is a notable highlight). This much is more than evident on the newly issued collection of works for IZWID, with the bugged out mutant soul of "Sorry" being a stand out track.

Review: The uniquely soulful talents of Seven Davis Jnr were introduced to the wider world last year when the Houston-born and Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter and poet was picked by Kutmah for inclusion on the selector's Brownswood compilation. This EP for Jay Simon's Must Have label finds Davis Jnr applying his talent for bugged out soul and rattling rhythms to a house template and it's sublime from the very off. Lead track "One" bumps along with the infectious nature of a KDJ cut and it's truly blessed by Davis Jnr's husky vocal delivery on that most timeless of subject matters - rarely is there house music these days that is filled with genuine soul but this track certainly is. The twilight tones of "Breaker" present a more urgent production, all rapid drum fills and handclaps lent a sense of yearning by the vocal, and "All Kinds" (Loud mix) operates at a similar zippy tempo yet glides high. A final two track suite sees Davis Jnr operate on a slower, almost beatdown slant which will be explored more on a soon to drop record for Kutmah's IZWID. Highly recommended stuff!

Review: The past few years have seen Seven Davis Jr firmly grip his second chance at music with both hands, his signature to Ninja Tune for a debut album coming after working with the likes of Izwid, Apron and Classic. With his forward-thinking brand of modern electronic soul now firmly established, the US musician is given the intriguing chance to compile Future Society, a collection of tracks from some of his favourite new, unsung and like-minded forward thinking artists to highlight the talent he has encountered on his travels. Shouts to UK label R2 for giving Davis Jr the platform to express himself, with the producer calling on artists from New Zealand, U.S.A., U.K. and Switzerland to provide mostly exclusive and unreleased tracks spanning electronic, soul and house tracks with a pioneering spirit.