A cheeky brown 10″ from Russ Gabriel on Planet E from 1996 – a period when pretty much everything Carl Craig’s label released was utterly essential. Russ had already built up a name for himself through his own Ferox label, and his killer Alligator Voodoo 12″ came out on Soma around this time too, but this was the first time he dropped the tempo and made such overt reference to the disco and funk sounds that influenced him. Built around a memorable sample from Unlimited Touch’s I Hear Music In The Street, the track maintains a slinky, midtempo groove but piles on spiralling analogue arpeggios and tremelo-laden chords to take it somewhere utterly unique. It’s one of the highlights of a fine catalogue from a producer who never really got the props he was due.
Nowadays Russ is working on film full-time and is making a documentary about this golden era of techno, called – appropriately enough – Golden Era. Sounds like it’ll be essential viewing – keep up to date with it at Funky Barber Films.
Nothin' But Magic 