Lazy Dog
Lazy Dog is London's premier deep house night, a "real music" club run by DJ Jay Hannan andEverything But the Girl's Ben Watt. Documenting the rise of this Sunday social, Ben kick-starts the party with a heads-down set featuring lush strident grooves such as "That Day" from Julien Jabre, a generic standard made better by the a capella version of his own "The Future of the Future" laid on top. Not that we need the reference, however, because the mix which then unfurls is enough to convince any doubters of this man's absolute faith in the music. Although the rhythm rarely alters beyond a steady 4/4 axis, the flavors spread on top are infinitely more varied, with gospel, jazz, and blue-eyed soul melting easily into the mix. Hannan is more Latino in spirit, upping the pace with fiery percussive classics such as Negrocan's "Cada Vez" and exotic jazz-funk flora. All in all this is real house music--no filters, no Vocoders and, thankfully, not a single drum roll in sight.--Paul Tierney