PENDER STREET STEPPERS OPENIN UP FULL

Built around a shuffling snare and kick pattern with fidgety bass and organ keys that flutter around the beat, it’s the kind of track the duo excels in, catchy yet still fuzzy. Soon another sax line swoops in, sending the track even higher into the rain clouds.įor Mood Hut obsessives, the most notable track here is “Molto Bene,” which was pivotal when the duo first slotted it into their Resident Advisor mix back in 2015. Clean-picked guitar lines enter against a fluttering arpeggio (and upon repeated playback, a voice humming along in harmony). But whereas previous PSS productions would have just ridden that sound around and around, now Jutson and Butler deftly fold in more elements. The melody is carried by what might be an electric saxophone from a 1980s infomercial, its cheesy, cheap tone closer to a duck quack.

PENDER STREET STEPPERS OPENIN UP FULL

Listening through the Mood Hut catalog, you’re not quite sure if they are ideally suited for bobbing on a dancefloor or else strolling across the quad, and “Raining Again” strikes that balance.ĭespite the inherent dejection in its name, “Raining Again” is perky, full of the crisp hi-hats and dubbed-out toms that give their productions a heady feel. The crew often toys with expectations, as when they released a compilation of dance edits entitled Disco Mantras: mellow and woozy, they drew from unlikely sources like new age reedman Paul Horn. Though the beats hew closest to house music, they are by turns breezy and hazy, and you may find yourself zoning out to them rather than moving.

There are traces of boogie and funk to be had, but dub, smooth jazz, and new age also blip up. With little of the Mood Hut catalog available digitally, the label’s sound is a slippery one to pin down.

Pender street steppers openin up