I have been living with BodyMoves’ latest EP, North Spaulding, for a little while now and it just gets better after every listen. The spacing and manipulation of the samples is expertly combined in this joy to listen to.
The release is Keep Up Records’ second of the year and the Brixton-based DJ and producer’s debut, packed with instrumental hip hop, soul and beats, carved out from a three-month stay in and around Los Angeles. Armed with a Native Instruments Maschine and a turntable, and inspired by the sights and sounds of record shops, yard sales and swap meets, North Spaulding is a raw yet soulful production.
However, this EP is more than an homage to the LA beat scene. Opening track This Is Gabor’s House is more dusty Afrohouse than Flying Lotus with rootsy percussion, chanting and otherworldly melodies running throughout. Mellow Cotton is an off kilter hip hop number, this time working a soulful vocal sample and reshaping it into some entirely different. What You Gonna Do edges towards disco with a memorable brass hook and the same Maschine edit treatment. The EP closes on a mellow but soulful, swinging tip with Next Up¨by using a cleverly chopped up sample which seems to be playing backwards as well as forwards and a killer sub.
BodyMoves has been playing soulful house, beats, funk and disco around South London’s eclectic dancefloors for over five years and other different guises (but mainly as BRXTNFNK) he has had support from the likes of Josey Rebelle, iZem, DJ Gilla and Dom Servini. He hosts regular radio shows on Nula FM and Dinamo FM as well as guesting on NTS Radio with CDr and was a finalist at the Samplethon beatmaking competition in 2014 organized by WhoSampled.com and iconic music library Boosey and Hawkes.