It seems Detroit protagonist Kenny Dixon Jr AKA Moodymann has been spreading his A&R net a little wider than usual of late, surpassing the talent pool of The Motor City and heading transatlantic to pick up some serious up and comers.
First on the agenda was young London producer Dan Shake, who after meeting Dixon Jr. at last year’s Dimensions Festival and handing him a demo CD, has recently achieved the unlikely accolade of being the first non-Detroit artist to have their work (let alone their debut release) put out on Moodymann’s much revered Mahogani Music.
Now it appears it’s the turn of the Blackburn-born singer songwriter Charlotte OC, who this week finds herself sitting on the producer’s other, perhaps more legendary KDJ imprint, with not one but two Moodymann remixes of her current song ‘Hangover’.
Originally released last November as part of her ‘Colour My Heart’ EP, the original version of ‘Hangover’ (peep the official video below) is a seductive wander through new R&B influenced pop territory, OC carrying a rootsy vocal not too dissimilar to Lana Del Ray in range (an artist who has also received the Detroit touch of late on Moody’s ‘Born 2 Die’). In Dixon Jr’s hand though, things are of a slightly different hue. The digital exclusive ‘Moody Guevara Remix’, nod to Argentine Marxist revolutionaries withstanding, is amped up with raucous yelps, a beefier bass line, elastic drums and clever use of effects to produce a proper 313 banger, ringing out the more sultry aspects of OC’s vocal to really accentuate the feeling of the song. On the more electronic ‘Moodymann Mix’, which forms the basis of the b-side of the soon to be released KDJ-45 twelve, he takes snatches of the original vocal and loops and chops his way to a slow-building, hypnotic stomper that more than matches his recent work.
It goes without saying that the pricing of some Detroit releases tend to owe more to market forces than actual physical demand, so it seems a good thing that Dixon Jr. has sought to join the Bandcamp revolution. Both this release, and his most recent (well-received) self-titled album in expanded form are available to download on the platform, and for those of you who may not be fussed about format, it seems the most cost effective way to secure the music moving forward.
For the hardcore vinyl heads amongst us however there’s still an incentive to wait for the vinyl. The new KDJ-45 will also feature an exclusive Moodymix of album highlight ‘Sloppy Cosmic’, the moody one vibing with George Clinton and Amp Fiddler in the studio and cutting up the master tapes from the original 1973 release.
Preview the ‘Hangover EP’ in full below and decide for yourself whether to part with your hard earned. It’s already in the Soul-Identity bag.
