Vanguard Sound follows up on Guerilla Soul’s self-titled EP with label co-head Chris Mitchell delivering Feng Shui Flow. Feng Shui Flow is an exploration into deep harmonic textures in the form of three distinct offerings.
vanguard sound
Guerrilla Soul! – Guerrilla Soul! [VS006]
Amir Alexander with his project The Guerrilla Soul! comes with versatile 4 track deep house EP for Vanguard Sound.
Amir Alexander – Stardust Kisses EP [VS005]
An audio love letter. Four eclectic dance floor flavors, each burrowing to the heart of the groove from different angles. Alternately crazy, playful, sputtering, tribal, chunky, & broken . Featuring Clara Stjarna on vox.
Joey Anderson – Act Of Speech EP [AC002]
VA – Introduction [AC001]
Anunnaki Cartel is the newly launched sub label of Amir Alexander’s Vanguard Sound operation and this first release sets the bar high; Alexander himself features alongside cuts from Joey Anderson and Chris Mitchell. The latter producer leads the way with “Illuminescent Invasion” a relentlessly rewarding concoction of fierce snares, deviant saw tooth synths and almost criminal abuse of the 303. Amir Alexander is growing into a personal favourite of the Juno review team and “Ostinato” demonstrates why in abundance. It’s a direct and druggy assault on your sensibilities based around discordant square synths and a undeniably funk heavy groove. Things get even weirder on the flip as Joey Anderson drops the kind of off-kilter, off the grid house production where all the elements appear to be pulling in separate directions but somehow combine for a unique cohesive groove. Mitchell and Alexander join forces to close this excellent 12″ with the cosmic techno of “Dark Memories” which has got the best snare sound since “Set It Off”.
Chris Mitchell – Snakes, Heat and Concrete [VS004]
Amir Alexander – Idiot Savant Masterpieces EP [VS003]
Idiot Savant Masterpieces is the 3rd release and the first full solo EP by Amir Alexander on the Vanguard Sound record label. On display is Amir’s somewhat off kilter take on U.S. dance music. An approach so different that one critic described the work of Amir and his crew as Idiot Savant Masterpieces. All bases are covered, acid, deep, big room, and banging techno with a little hip house thrown in for good measure.
Chris Mitchell – Phrenetic EP [VS002]
Chris Mitchell is up next on Vanguard Sound with a solo piece called Phrenetic EP. A four track 12″ that shows off Chris’ versatility as each track has a different style and feel. Some new music from the American south that is making waves as Chris is creating his own sound.
VA – Vanguard Sound Vol. 3 [VS001]
There’s some serious ruffness to this breakout four track compilation from the shadowy Vanguard Sound collective. The Detroit roots of the label shine through, not least on Amir Alexander’s tough, haunting jacker “Violence”. Militant samples and scuffed arpeggios scream Motor City from the off, much like the stripped sci-fi techno of Chris Mitchell. DJ Spider’s “Tribal Mechanism” creates an industrial nightmare out of a rootsy percussion premise, and Hakim Murphy excels with a stalking slice of stripped down menace, capitalising on a broken kick pattern to deadly effect.
The Hipodrome Of Music 