Kerri Chandler – Downtown EP Pt. 1

Review: New Jersey garage-house and deep house great Kerri Chandler continues to celebrate a frequently overlooked period of his career. Like its recently released partner EP, Downtown Part 2 showcases some of the gems Chandler released on his own Downtown Records imprint in the early to mid 2000s. Side A is all about 2004's 'In Search of Mr Ford', with his original mix - all swirling, sampled orchestration, loose and rolling drum machine beats and squelchy synth bass - coming backed with a previously unreleased take that swaps the strings for his own spacey synth solos. Over on side B, we get the locked-in dancefloor deepness of 'House Is House', where tight Rhodes riffs, sweat-soaked drum-breaks and spoken word snippets catch the ear, and the dreamy, emotive excellence of 'Out To The Boonies'.