The IN / ROTATION crew is weaving together the fifth installment of its ever-growing ‘Rotate’ compilation series.
During the closing months of 2019, Insomniac’s offshoot imprint took the leap to celebrate all-things-house-music in album form. Having kept its eye out for the next wave of producers, the label gave rise to its very first ‘Rotate’ album, which set out to unearth the most underrated artists who are making noise from the realms of bass house, tech house, and any other house variants. After a few years of staying true to its vision, the series has given a platform to a whole host of blossoming talents from the likes of Peace Maker!, Cazztek, MNNR, NOISES, Qlank, No Thanks, Animate, Arnold & Lane, and the list seemingly never ends. The crew is back at it again with its next haul of body-moving grooves with the release of volume number five.
Canada’s finest, Cloverdale and FWLR, tag-team on “Old School,” as the two forces jump into collab mode on a acid-tinged number that is drizzled with golden-era rave elements without ever feeling rinsed. L.A’s tech house sensation LUCATI dials in with “Kol Me,” a minimalistic rhythm that rings off the hook with looped vocals and cheeky phone samples. Casmalia makes an appearance after she popped up on the most recent ‘mau5trap x Insomniac Records’ comp. The house maven from San Diego speaks to her strength of crafting deep-riding shakers with “Talk To Me,” a carnal jam bolstered by commanding vocal refrains and slippery synth warbles. On “Let Me,” the UK-based FOULPLAY shows us the way by laying down a lysergic tech house cut that’s guided along by shuffling drums and a squelchy lead.
House Divided, the fast-rising duo from Los Angeles, cranks up the volume on “Turn It Up,” as they blast through a low-slung drive that’s dotted with off-kilter textures and running basslines. The extremely volatile producer from Dallas known as Isenberg dips into classic influences on “Gotta Be,” serving up a jazz-infused concoction that takes cues from garage with its steppy drums, hazy chords, and smooth piano motifs. The Miami-native MISS DRE bangs out a coquettish cut called “Shape A Thought,” creating a body-tingling movement through her use of sultry vocal loops, rumbling low-end, and midnight-hued melodies. SODF and Double Agent make a late-night call on “Come Over,” as the two Aussie talents keep the sexual tension running high with their blood-pumping bass house collab.
German duo Makla crosses streams with the budding artist from Miami, JC Ordonez, working in unison to douse the space with a dank and incredibly bouncy track appropriately named “Drip.” Also operating on collab mode are not the father and Eric Mark with “Shake N’ Bake,” which races through fast-paced percussive arrangements, whispering vocal licks, and warehouse-ready stabs. The Broken Music Syndicate label-boss Left/Right switches up the tempo with a propulsive and moody offering titled Change,”—which, until now, has been a tightly kept secret weapon in his sets—employing his significant other and his own vocal work for good measure.
London’s Event Horizon peppers in a little flavor from his native land on “Beat Rider,” roping in the low-end enthusiast from Poland, Shahay. The two emerging acts fuse together seamlessly, hitting up the set with a dark and heavy-duty beat that props up some proper MC hooks. Wrapping up the package with the album’s final offering, “Need You,” is newcomer Violet Park who dishes out a piano-led house track anchored down by powerful belting about cutting ties without any remorse.
“Nick (FWLR) hit me up to write a song about being ‘Old,’ says Cloverdale. “I mean, at least that’s what I thought it was about. Being old may be something he is, but clearly, I am not. Turns out, its about being ‘Old School,’ which to my knowledge is completely different. Old-school people like 303 acid synths, 909 hats and RAVE STABS; that’s something we both know all about. We jammed them all in this track, making the dopest old-school banger we could!”
“This tune has been a mid-set favorite of mine for over a year,” explains Left/Right. It combines a driving groove that opens up into soaring melodic elements and is a great dancefloor mood-changer. (It even features some vocals from myself and the wifey.) I wrote this tune when I was going through some heavier personal things and this tune was my resolution to ‘change’ and move forward positively.”
“I’m absolutely buzzing to release a track on IN / ROTATION,” adds FOULPLAY. “It’s been a huge goal of mine since the start. ‘Let Me’ was born from me finding a weird acid sound and the whole track flowed from there. I think I made it in one studio session. I just wish I could play this track in a club and hopefully see it go off.”
“This track is a collaboration with Polish producer, Shahay, who I was keen to collaborate with after hearing his track ‘Acid,’ tells Event Horizon. “I came up with an initial idea but was struggling to fill the gaps. Shahay was quick to add his signature style synths and the track then came together very quickly. IN / ROTATION is a label I’ve aspired to release on for a long time now, after seeing many of my favourite artists release on this label, such as Bleu Clair, MNNR and Qlank.”
With 13 well-rounded tracks filling up each of the slots of the latest edition of ‘Rotate,’ there most certainly will be a vibe found within that hits close to home for almost every type of house-head in the scene. Between the bumpin’ bass house to the more reserved tech grooves, this new batch of tracks shines a light on key players from all corners of the community. Keep it locked, because the latest haul of artists are guaranteed to make massive ripples in the house circuit sooner rather than later.
