- Scott Ferguson has bucked the trend over the last year by reviving the vinyl arm of his Ferrispark label which had been put to rest in favour of digital in 2004, but for the leading track of Evolution of a Revolutionary, he's chosen a well-trodden deep house path: Civil Rights-era samples over a jazzy deep house beat.
On "Revolution," Malcolm X's rallying cry of "This is a new generation! Freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody!" is set against a mournful alto sax solo, skittering jazz cymbals and noticeably bare drums. Graduating to a hearty kick drum and dubbed out refrain of "revo-revo-revolution" it's spacious to a fault, with all the elements circling a hollow core.
Patience is a virtue, however, with the payoff coming two-thirds of the way in, courtesy of a swirling synth melody that centres everything in a less bloodless arrangement, but crams the best parts of the track into the final two minutes. The B-side Dub Mix has no such need for delayed gratification, getting straight to the heart of things with special attention paid to drums from the get-go.
The closer, "Evolution of a Revolutionary," is the business end of things here, even though it just grazes over the four-minute mark. A poignant slow-burner, with a base tone of sampled keys and a much-reduced BPM, it intermittently gives way for a slowly-stepping, descending bassline and spectral chords. An unknown modern counterpart to Malcolm adds, pensively, "It's like I'm fighting for freedom," adding the subtle but powerful impact that's lacking in the upfront dance floor tracks that precede it.
Tracklist A1 Revolution (Main Mix)
B1 Revolution (Dub)
B2 Evolution Of A Revolutionary