- There are few better ways to promote your second single than to grab a feature in The New York Times, but something tells me that The Martinez Brothers will find a way to top it once their third release comes around. This is, after all, a duo that has played with P. Diddy at WMC, and been mentored by dance music heavyweight Dennis Ferrer. That last point is key here, as The Martinez Brothers would be nothing without the music to back the press up—and that's exactly what they've done here.
"Debbie Downer," a collaboration with Argy, follows in the minimal mold of "My Rendition," but burrows even deeper. A bomb of a track, it utilizes the ever-popular art of sampling voices for their melodic effect, dueling two of them over a door-slam beat. Far from the classic house sounds you might expect from their DJing, The Martinez Brothers are forward looking in their productions, grafting soft deep house vocal fillips onto this tech house template.
Much has been made of the supposed "help" that the Brothers had from Ferrer on their first single, and the Argy collaboration will give further ammunition to the haters. Hopefully, though, those that suspect foul play will give "Where's Mr. Brown?" a spin, as it's just as solid as "Downer," if not quite as anthemic. It's a DJ tool first and foremost, but it's one that has enough personality in its syncopated rhythm and dubby chords to reach beyond the designation. While it's still too early to say—remember, these guys only have three-and-a-half tracks to their name—The Martinez Brothers seem to have a bright future ahead of them.
Tracklist A Argy & The Martinez Brothers - Debbie Downer
B The Martinez Brothers - Where's Mr. Brown?