- It wasn’t all that long ago when I was wondering who were Soultan and Tone Depth. Only a month ago, after their chilling rendition of Portishead’s classic “Roads,” that the twosome have continue that low-end deep pumping style of tribal house. Now getting a copy of the vinyl release of “Back To You” on Tao Recordings, I’ve become a believer! There style may not be new, but the par stands right next to G-Pal as Gods creating ravishing late-nite tribal progressive affairs! This Canadian duo has emerged on of my current “da shit list” as the DJ and production team has gone absolutely insane with this release.
Now you know a bit about Soultan and Tone Depth and their style of music, you might be wondering a bit about Tao Recordings. Well, their another new label to enter the underground straight out of the Maple Leaf courtesy of main man himself, Martin Villeneuve (MV) or to most tribal fans as the infamous producer Envy. Not a newbie himself, he’s profile seen releases from Deep Dish’s Yoshitoshi and Shinichi with releases from Satoshi Tomiie’s Saw.
This piece of dark black vinyl sees one progressive cut and on the flip, MV feeds you a breaks mix back 2 back!
As when Chable when released “After The Storm,” The Original Mix by Soultan and Tone Depth looks to be the beginning of a big thing for both the production duo and Tao Recordings. The Maple Leaf province has done it again with importing more of their domestic talent across the globe. Canada has always been known throughout the world as a breeding ground for musical talent and Soultan and Tone Depth continue that legacy. The track is equipped with deep atmospheric sounds that combine with the bass-pulsation of heavy low-end snares and bass kicks. Throw in hypnotic heart pumping of Heroic hymns and vocals that builds itself into a behemoth of a monster on the dancefloor. It’s moody and inspiring at the same time – blissful and gorgeous.
MV’s Back 2 Breakz Mix is an infected water drain from your body as a thick ripple of rolling breaks fills the track for a room full of women. Nothing delicate here; the tide builds quickly as the breaks hit hard in conjunction with the originals vaporous layers that push the track forward. A very rockin’ reinterpretation that’s very effective and dynamic.
Listening to both, everyone will most likely go with the MV’s breaks mix more than the original as most progressive heads are leaning towards the breaks and moving on from that four-to-the-floor beat. Nevertheless, in the end, the original is the heart and power that will continue to drive boys and girls on the dance floor to rip it out in the late nights of Friday and Saturday. With their deep sultry late nite house sounds burning slowly into the dance floors across the world, I think it should be time that everyone else gets to know Soultan and Tone Depth.
I think it’s a bit odd that so many new labels are popping up as of late. Boys like James Holden (Border Community), James Zabiela (Hearing Aid), and now Martin Villeneuve (Tao Recordings) are risking a lot to further the progress in electronic music in a time where it does not seem as though there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. This is frankly not a time to invest in a label as many have known of Hooj’s sad demise (RIP good friend :( , but I applaud their admiration and respect must be given when it’s due.