There is something unique about Savage Skulls members Måns and Carli’s natural charisma. Ever since I met them in a not-so-good italian restaurant in Paris I knew right away that I wanted to be friends with them, that I needed to be DOWN with them, that I wanted to BE them. After all they have that dichotomy that has always fascinated me with electronic music producers who are able to hang out with Robyn at the Swedish grammy awards, produce songs on her album, drop an EP on legendary label Dubsided, make beats with maestros Douster and Tony Senghore and still find time to co-produce one of the most forward-thinking underground/weird bangers of recent memory: Carli and Marcus Price’s “Matt Bira Kvinnor Weed”. So we sat down and ate that bad italian food and right away we started talking about my old obsessions for crazy Swedish singers à la Neneh Cherry / Leila K, my passion for smoked fish, my collaborations with swedish rappers... They had answers to all my questions, they told me fun stories about finding Jean Nipon’s long lost smiley gloves, I was mesmerized, and we had an amazing time. But it’s only a couple of months later that Orgasmic and I litterally fell in love with one of their tracks, the mighty “Caravan”, while hearing it in a Brodinski set. The track was unsigned, we HAD to have it.

“Caravan” is a nicely updated throwback to the early Sound Pellegrino days of sample-based tech house, think Renaissance Man’s “What is Guru” and Solo’s “Rawmania”. Except it’s not really a sample, but tiny little bits of chopped-up re-sung vocals, transformed and molded via modern Swedish studio magic from the future, recreating the melody of a classic jazz standard we all know and love. Crazy sensual breaks and build ups, irresistible grooves, instant catchiness make “Caravan” an absolute sure shot on any dancefloor. Ask Brodinski or Jesse Rose who have been playing it non stop in their sets since the last few months.

Montreal prodigy Jacques Greene known for his releases on excellent labels Night Slugs and Luckyme, who is single-handedly buiding the proverbial bridge between true skool house aficionados and UK-obsessed garage heads, provided us with a fantastic 90’s sounding remix of “Caravan” in his signature groove, complete with funky stabs and vintage drum sounds.

We asked Savage Skulls to come up with a b-side to “Caravan” and they delivered “Watching You”, co-produced by Tony Senghore and featuring Sprinkle Juice. This one’s a filthy backroom anthem reminiscent of the best of Green Velvet, and early Tiga club bangers from --dare we say-- the electroclash days? Minus the pompous new wave references and with added tech-funk sexyness + dangerously FAT kicks. For those too shy to cope with the Sprinkle Juice vocals but who still wanna hear the word “nasty” whispered in their ear, we included a dub.

And then came Payme’s 303 rework. Payme is the latest alias of Idiotproof’s Jamie Anderson, known for his collaborations with Switch, Deepgroove and Jesse Rose. His remix strips down the original to its most essential parts and adds a classy discreet acid line while keeping it highly tool-esque and hypnotic. Special DJ tip: it sounds even better when slowed down to 120 bpm!
Released by: Sound Pellegrino
Release/catalogue number: SNP017
Release date: Feb 14, 2011 

Infart Crew