Artist: Vince Watson
Title: VW20 Introspection
Label: Everysoul
Released: 29/08/2016 (Bandcamp), 10/09/2016 (Everywhere)
With a 20 year back catalogue to draw from, which has seen Vince Watson release tracks on labels like Planet-E, Ovum and Cocoon, we were always going to be left with something special on this 34 track release.
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We braved the arctic blast and ventured up to Glasgow to see the return of Glasgow’s prodigal son, Lars Sandberg (aka Funk D'Void) for a hometown gig on New Year’s EveThe man from Scotland put in some serious work for this compilation. This is clearly something close to his heart and also sees him dropping the release on his very own label, Everysoul. This has all the signs of a labour of love. A labour of love that seems him returning to his much adored tracks and bringing them right into 2016. Full reworks to get that sound right on point using today’s production techniques and approaches to mastering. Everything comes together as a 34 track box set or also across 6 EPs.
Without going for this in a blow by blow account of each track, we really should talk about some of the standouts. On ‘Bubbles’, we have a track that just pours itself out of speakers with its hypnotic bassline and wonderfully bright and colourful main synth. Some driving percussion will give this a place in many DJ sets and for a track that was first released in 2001 on Alola, it only goes to prove the depth and strength in Watson’s work. Timeless stuff!
2012’s ‘Found What I’m Looking For’ allows us to see another side of Vince Watson. A very interesting broken beat works alongside some lush strings and muted orchestral stabs. The pretty much perfect soulful vibe is the name of the game here. There is a big sound to this track that is equally at home when the sun is coming up as it is when the sun is going down. Taking a step back to 2004 and to a track that I remember well, we have ‘Pure Innersence’ which was originally released on F… U! FCOM, a dancefloor oriented sub-label of Laurent Garnier’s powerhouse label, F-Communication.
This re-touched 2016 version sounds great. From the offset, you have a great synth. Once you hear it, you will always remember it. The hook that is generated leaves you waiting for each element and as they all come in, you a left with a masterful example of the talent of this man.
For a producer that has seen his talent put his name 200 releases, 80 remixes, 8 albums and even TV and advertising spots, there was always going to be something good to come out of a compilation such as this. Having listened to this many times over the past few weeks, Vince Watson has proved himself yet again with Introspection. All the work that went into the overall sound and I’m sure the running order too, has paid off. A superb compilation that well please his long term fans and definitely earn him some new ones too.
