Track of the Day: Greco - Playground
Ahead of our show with him tomorrow, I saw it fitting to review one of Greco's latest free drops this week 'Playground', via his popular promotional label Spira Music. Be sure to grab a pre-sale ticket as it will be getting pretty crowded at the end of the Santa Monica Pier: http://bit.ly/lamp-hush
Greco - Playground
Using the combination of a big breakbeat kick and punching clap, 'Playground' kicks off with that quintessential 80's/90's funky rhythm. A delicate array of shakers, tambourines and other cool jingles intertwine with acid-style, FX stabs and other one shots to round out a crisp percussion arrangement with tons of cool transition elements. Early hints of a familiar vocal sample cooing "Plaaaaygroooound" pan in and out of the intro until the main bass groove kicks in welcomed by some notable guitar licks. Once the main organ lead kicks in you're transported right back in time sporting that b-boy stance and sizing up the dancefloor competition. Speaking with Greco today, he noted that he specifically used the instrumentals off the vinyl from Another Bad Creation's version of 'Playground' to build the framework.One thing I always enjoy about Greco's free tracks on Spira is his knack for pushing the ghetto-swing style of drumming to the forefront without diminishing the quality of the what's he sampling. Another part of his production arsenal that I respect is his ability to cleverly remix and sample older tracks without tiring out the listener, by diversifying his chops and clips and introducing multiple versions of them across the composition. I'm thoroughly looking forward to catching his set tomorrow at our show.For those who are curious (or recoginize) what that catchy organ riff is actually from, you can thank the Mohawks for their 1968 tune 'The Champ'. It's one of the most sampled tracks in Hip Hop history from the popluar 90s jam 'Slam' by Onyx to Big Daddy Kane's 'Smooth Operator'.If you're still not familiar with it, I highly recommend checking out Spira Music as they curate an awesome collection of jackin' house with an east coast flavor stacked with Free Downloads that pay homage to some of classics.Happy Friday and see you tomorrow night!
Enjoy,MR PUZL