The Parkwalker: Degeneration EP
Nowar

The Parkwalker (aka veteran UK producer and Tragic Magic Records co-manager Affie Yusuf) inaugurates Mowar's newly-hatched sister label Nowar (Mowar is to techno as Nowar is to house) with a 12-inch stormer. Apparently Yusuf's been lying rather low after issuing a handful of deep house releases on Funknose, Pagan America, Swag, Superstition, and others in the ‘90s. Degeneration's intoxicating title cut rolls out a mighty house pulse that grows steamier with every passing second. Having anchored the cut solidly with an indomitable, bass-thrusting groove, Yusuf drops the tiniest of melodies into the track's center before shifting his attention back to the electric piano and looping a few muffled drawls of the title into the mix. Spiritual and soulful, the title cut's both transporting and earthy while the slightly less epic “Opendance” opens in deep, late-night mode before getting progressively funkier as it steps out in search of the next party. Yusuf brings sixteen years of recording experience to the material and it shows in the unhurried ease with which the tracks unspool.

June 2009