YSE SAINT LAUR'ANT Vinilo y CD

Review: Hailing out of the Rhythm Plate universe, Yse Saint Laur'ant is back with more of that fanciful house music he does so well. This latest drop on Vinyl Only leads in with 'Rivers', a beautiful warm-up track led by a powerful spoken word performance from an unknown source. 'Finality' is a smouldering, slow-build epic which finally releases in a burst of brass to get a big mass of bodies moving as the sunnier days hit and we head outdoors to dance. 'Your Man' is a dustier affair for the heads down crowd, 'Paradiso' slows things to a gentle murmur and 'Entrance To The Future' takes a sharp left turn into synthwave territory. If you like bags of personality in your house music, look no further.

Review: Yse Saint Laur'ant is the alias of Hong Kong-based Ant Plate, who heads up the Vinyl Only imprint (its 14th release here) in addition to some great ones for other fine purveyors of the disco edit such as Whisky Disco and Editorial. The Tomorrow EP features six generous servings of vintage inspired goodness: from the urban beats of "Grifter" leading intro the sultry and low-slung grooves of 'Now I Am God' and 'Look Who's Here' respectively. On the B side, check out the hypnotic steel drum action of "Flight Of Eros" and the dreamy beatless excursion "Never Got To Say Goodbye".

Review: Stepping through the double doors of Rhythm Plate HQ comes Yse Saint Laur'ant, offering up more of that silky disco tackle to get your people swooning hard to. 'One True Light' is pure luxury - the easiest of beats to ride with all the funk where it counts, and a sweet nocturnal mood up top to keep the atmosphere sultry. 'Language Of The Heart' hits a more poignant tone, both musically and lyrically, and why ever not? 'Warm Wind Brewing' leans in on a subtly nasty groove and masks it with illustrious, swooping strings that sound like they floated in from an early Hollywood epic. 'Sit On The Groove' drops the pace and lets the soul pour out, and 'Can't Make It Without You' actually delivers a 'weepy' to close out this powerfully emotional record.

Review: Out of the Rhythm Plate multiverse comes another delightful dish of discofied delicacies from Yse Saint Laur'ant, leading in with the cheery brass and swooning strongs of slow and saucy heater 'F It'. Plying a trade in sticky funk with a loose-as-you-like beat, 'Up You Wake' makes for an especially potent brew for those who like their parties freaky, while 'It Beats The Music' takes on a meandering jam band quality that doesn't skimp on groove. 'Life' is the more upfront disco burner on the record, while 'Too Young To Fail' slips back into the lower tempo range with a strange but soulful stew to get bleary eyed to.

Review: Matlock maestro Ant Plate (he of Rhythm Plate fame) has been turning out edits, reworks and original productions under the alternate YSE Saint Laur'Ant alias for the best part of a decade. His release rate has slowed of late, though, with this Whiskey Disco outing marking his first release for almost a year. The material on offer is very strong, particularly lolloping opener "Just As Bad As You", a head-nodding revision of a Hammond-sporting soul jam that combines samples from an obscure 1970s cut with subtle new instrumentation. Other EP highlights include the gospel/dub disco fusion of bongo-riffic flipside opener "I Know I've Been Changed" and the percussive, jazzy, slow motion bumper "New York Paris", a killer groove marked out by layered congas, ear-catching double bass and fuzzy, post-punk style horns.

Review: As Yse Saint Laur'ant, Ant Plate (one half of ever productive duo Rhythm Plate) takes some time out from crafting refined deep house music to indulge his more wayward tendencies. Amongst the music coming to light in this intriguing diversion from a prolific artist is the fantastic "Just Because...", which comes on like early Wagon Christ material with a modern production sheen. "Space Is Defunct" meanwhile slaps down some chugging 80s flavoured grooves, "2106" reaches for the boogie and "Don't Make Me Think" channels a laid back Balearic mindset. It's a mixed bag of a record, make no mistake. That's also what makes it marvelous.

Review: Chugging disco ain't goin' nowhere as far as Whiskey Disco are concerned. Yse Saint Laur'ant proudly demonstrates this on the lead track "Sunset Woman", whose vocals are enough to bring the house down alone. "Crying Woman" is a little grubbier and lo-fi, in a way sounding like it could have been made for New York's break dancers of the '80s, whereas, conversely, "Ghetto Woman" is a slow, funked-out, sultry deep house track made to unite dancefloors. It's the great vocal hook and guitar licks of "Psychodelic Woman" that complete this sturdy four-track EP by the regularly impressive Yse Saint Laur'ant.