- 2005 and 2006 were slow years for Scott Ferguson release-wise. But he's returned with a vengeance over the past few, just in time to catch the wave of the cresting deep house revival. Ferguson, of course, is no newcomer to the genre. His work as label manager for Ferrispark both as producer and in the A&R realm are unquestionable. Here, he offers up his first EP of the year, the curiously catalogued FPR 13.5. The focus, as always, is on a few elements. A forlorn piano runs through "Uncle/SOSAD (Hope)." At times, it sounds like something composed by a child. The chords are easy, the beats almost shockingly simple. But like Larry Heard, Ferguson's secret is to harness this naiveté. And, in the process, the sentimentality and weight win out. It's not bare, it's elemental. It's not simple, it's simplicity.
By the end, it gets pretty funky too. Especially the A-side, "Warehouse Dream," whose deep, low-lying line is acid slowed down to a crawl, adding traces of menace to what is already a moody track. Ferguson slips it in effortlessly, but he's a master at this sort of sleight of hand. Take your ears off what's going on and he's transformed that thin 4/4 bounce into a deep house burner; turn your head for a moment and you're smack in the middle of an acidic nightmare. The lesson? Don't sleep.
Tracklist A Warehouse Dream
B1 Uncle
B2 S.O.S.A.D. (Hope)