Jordan Peak - Mean Streets

Jordan Peak
Mean Streets
One Records

With all the low-slung, sub-124bpm disco-house coming out lately, it’s nice to hear an up-beat, jackin’, proper house ride for a change. Jordan Peak delivers just that with the Mean Streets, featuring two originals and remixes.
The original of Mean Streets is the sort of thing DJ Sneak would be proud of making, and definitely the sort of thing he would play. Demonstrating that simplicity often is the best approach, Peak doesn’t need much more than some ghetto vocals, a basic, stabby five note bassline, and dope open hi-hat rides to create an irresistible groove. So simple and so effective.

Done Did is a bit cheekier and more accessible than the title track. Stripping back the percussive elements to just a chunky kick, snare and clap rhythm, Peak fills out the space left in the track with some 90’s styled synths and keys and a bouncy 303 bassline. Catchy and easily recognisable, this will grab even the most disinterested wallflower’s attention.

Chris Carrier turns Mean Streets into a dark, rolling tech house workout but with liberal splashes of funk. The low, filtered bassline, heavy effects on the vocal loop, washes of white noise and high-pitched pad give the track a decidedly twisted feel, but the percussion (complete with occasional tom-tom rolls) and 303 stab which pops its head up every now and then lighten the mood and make Carrier’s remix an enjoyable dose of “freaky funk”.

Rounding things off, Sisi Rosch’s remix  takes the freakiness factor and turns it up to ten. Removing a lot of the percussion from the original jackin’ groove (except for the most important part: the hi-hat rides), replacing the funky bassline with a growling, warping monster, adding in some quirky synth patterns and messing around with the vocals, Rosch manages to retain the funk of the original while presenting it in an entirely new light.

Listen to Jordan Peak on Pulse Radio