This is the debut EP from D’Monk which is pronounced duhmunk. It comes on renowned London DJ’s Touching Bass label and they’ve got good ears so lets go…

This one kicks of with some heavy techno machine soul business… Driving drums and hissing high hats rolling away on a break as the 808 tom clips away.. The baseline is super heavy and you get a little vocal around the ‘Broken Rhythm Composer’ title… It’s wicked. The drums are messed up but still keep a tight groove and it’s very “forwards”. Flanged drums ride in half way though and well…it’s pulled me straight into the whole E.P to see what else is here…

‘Listen’ chops a little vocal loop over the bass and reverbed drums Three minutes in a riser takes you into a break before there is (excuse the language) quite the drop… A dubbed out sound acid squelches and then the beats ride back in on a rolling baseline. This is Detroit via a whole load of other places. It takes in London (maybe specifically that time when W10 producers were riding those broken beats), Berlin and more.. Heavy jazz keys come in to take this into some Herbie Hancock freaked out funky business towards the end of the track. It’s just really really well produced music… it knows when to push and when to pull. When it all gets super musical it just stops and drops back to the bass and beats. D’Monk has clearly spent his time on the dancefloor.

‘U Light Me Up’ is so up my street. Sweet chords on hissing 606 sounding beats and a nice open bass sound… It’s worth buying the record just for this one track… It reminds me of a Detroit B side from way back then. The type you couldn’t stop playing. It just goes and goes on the same chord sequence as the solo moves around… A little arpeggio comes in to keep it moving… It’s so nicely produced. It’s pure machine soul music. In the second half the acid arrives and the high hats hiss as it takes you all the way home. It’s 9 minutes of class.

“U Just Don't Know What U Do 2 Me (Live)” Is a very broken beat built around that vocal sample. The pads and keys hold it together but it’s wild. It’s not normally my thing but it’s so well done you can’t help but get into it… All of these tracks are real journey pieces.

‘Don't State The Obvious (Live)’ drops the Lynn Collins break but makes it sound fresh… Again it’s proper jazz funk vibes. You know when you hear a lot of new jazz doing that sort of Roy Ayers thing with the synths and stuff and it sounds a bit “old timey”, this does that and makes it sound brand new…

The last track is ‘Shine (feat. Yoofee)’ and a soft landing. Maybe the least forward thinking of the tracks and it’s nice and that but maybe not as forwards as the other tracks. The ‘free your mind’ refrain suffers from the 70s thing I mention above but the music is pure killer once again.

If you like Detroit. Bugz In The Attic, nice pads and things that aren’t afraid to get a little jazzy when they feel like it then this one is for you… Start at ‘U Light Me Up’ then go form there. Quality record and as a debut EP it’s going to be fun to see where he goes next.

This one is out mid-Octobe 2024. Head to BANDCAMP HERE to put the order in. Photo by NORA CAMMANN.