- DJ Sotofett's arrival on Honest Jon's brings with it a sense of occasion. It's his fullest, juiciest record to date, the culmination of a two-year recording process with ten cuts spread across two 12-inches. Sotofett, a serial collaborator who uses his travels as an opportunity to hit the studio with friends in Paris or Frankfurt or New York, worked with six different artists on Drippin' For A Tripp (Tripp-A-Dubb-Mix). Its release on Honest Jon's is in itself an intriguing development, the meeting of a West London institution and the co-founder of Sex Tags Mania, one of Europe's most respected outlets for weird dance music.
The first 12-inch plays out like a homage to the pre-super-club era of Ibiza. The A-side sees Sotofett team up with Jaakko Eino Kalevi for the beatless "Ibiza Dub," marked by birdsong and guitar licks, and the more fleshed out "Main Bar Mix." Like much of Sotofett's best music, "Main Bar Mix" is part house, part reggae, with Kalevi's keys and guitar riffing against Sotofett's drum machines. The B-side features appearances from Phillip Lauer and Jeks (another alias for Jaakko Eino Kalevi). Their nine-minute "Nimbus Mix," whose focus is on synths and keys and swells of bass, is sandwiched between a "Space Dub" and a spectral "Spaced Outtro."
The second 12-inch explores darker, grubbier sounds, a yin to the first 12-inch's yang. The two versions of "Nondo" are excellent: there's something urgent and seductive about the original, whose slinky vocal from Maimouna Haugen serves as a centrepoint while Sotofett again brings the dynamics of dub reggae to house. On the D-side, Sotofett teams up with Versatile Records head Gilb'R—the pair have worked together a couple of times before, on 2013's Concrete Guajiro and last year's Cobra EP, both of which came out on Versatile. "Drippin' For 97 Mix" is a beefed up version of the title track from Sotofett's Pulehouse record on the Sex Tags offshoot Wania—the tune will instantly prick the ears of anyone who picked up that record back in 2012—and it might be the best thing on Drippin' For A Tripp, all fluttering chirrups, percussive clutter and swampy bass.
Sotofett has often used 12-inches to home in on specific themes: reggae-house for example, or techno or electro. On Drippin' For A Tripp he's stretched his legs, using the space a double-pack affords to pull off his most ambitious, adventurous and diverse record to date.
TracklistA1 DJ Sotofett & Jaakko Eino Kalevi feat. Thomas "Paleo's Buddy" Mende - Ibiza Dub
A2 DJ Sotofett & Jaakko Eino Kalevi - Main Bar Mix
B1 DJ Sotofett & Phillip Lauer feat. JEKS - Space Dub
B2 DJ Sotofett & Phillip Lauer feat. JEKS - Nimbus-Mix
B3 DJ Sotofett - Spaced Outtro
C1 DJ Sotofett & Karolin Tampere feat. Maimouna Haugen - Nondo Original Mix
C2 DJ Sotofett & Karolin Tampere feat. Maimouna Haugen - Nondo Riddimix
D1 DJ Sotofett & Gilb'R - Drippin' For 97 Mix
D2 DJ Sotofett & Gilb'R - 97-Riddim-Run
D3 DJ Sotofett - 97-Drop-Outtro