Props from Pedro Winter, Friendly Fires, DJ Sneak, Tim Paris, Jose Padilla, dOP, Severino, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs...

"If you like your grooves funk-fuelled and analog, then look no further than James Curd’s rather glorious triple track ep. ‘Checking Out NYC’ is a growling plucked bass, tight vocal cries, trickling keys and a spoken word vocal for extra cool. The piano chords go to church, amping up the energy all the way, whilst the 303s add that acid burble that gives rave reflux a good name. ‘Vertigo’ is a crisp snare and bungee bassline dance off that will make the old skool househeads lose their shit and make the nu-schoolers green with nu-acid house envy. What marks it out from the acid house wish they weres is that it layers on a tropical steel drum top line that is so beautifully musical and hooky that you can’t help but love it. Like the lyric says ‘At first I’m feeling high, then i’m feeling low, i’m trying to keep my focus, feels like vertigo’… We live this out on the dancefloor. It speaks to us. It gets my vote for this lyric alone. ‘Dance and Dash’ is an upbeat treat with double bass, 808s, bottle hits and steel drums going in and hard at it with the odd vocal whoop just for fun. Funky Chi-town vibes for those who know." (https://www.dmcworld.net/reviews/james-curd-checking-nyc-exploited/)

James Curd has been busy with scoring and supervising movie soundtracks in the last months but finally found time to deliver new music. He has been collaborating with Filip from Daytime Discoact Poolside from LA as well as Chicago Legend DJ Deeon. Upcoming releases include cult Chicago label Trax Records, Repopulate Mars (Lee Foss’ new label - including mixes from Lee Foss himself and Felix Da Housecat), Eskimo, Sweat It Out and us: Exploited:) We can’t clearly remember how many Old Chi Acid House Tracks he sent us but in the end here are the 3 tracks we chose. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Checking out Nyc

Vertigo

James Curd - Vertigo | Exploited

Shir Khan started Exploited in 2007. Exploited Rec now plays host to some wide-ranging and innovative electronic talent - including Adana Twins, Claptone, Budakid, Joyce Muniz, James Curd, Shir Khan (to name a few) - and its artists have been receiving numerous supportive spins from the likes of Solomun, Pete Tong, Soul Clap, Wolf&Lamb, Azari&III, Jesse Rose, Axel Boman and A-Trak.
This is serious dance music at it's most cutting edge with all the juice to really get you going. It's totally contemporary, innovative and has a chunky dirty feel. "Exploited" take you on an invigorating roller coaster ride back to your youth when you first listened to dance music with all the thrills and spills you so enjoyed about clubbing. It's heavy, exciting and special.
'"Exploited Records" is a seamless melting pot of varied styles that simply can't fail to please even the most discerning ears. Highlights here are plentyful. Not to be missed at any cost.' (Clash)
'Musical hybrids are truly the flavour of today, but few have managed to capture the atmosphere of an unpredictable microcosm of a night out on a recordlabel - until now. Shir Khan's label "Exploited" bottles the zeitgeist's giddy thrills with plenty of style and substance. This is dance music hybridism in all its most glorious forms, and Shir Khan is an expert at making square pegs fit round holes.' (DJ-Mag)
'"Exploited Records" boss Shir Khan has been gaining a lot of acclaim recently, and deservedly so - as he has shown us the high quality, diversity and forward-thinking nature of his label. Engaging, riveting and diverse.' (Data Transmission)