Artist: Steve Lawler
Title: Andante
Label: Bedrock Records
By: Simon Jones | 17 October 2002
Tracklist:

• A: Taiko Mix
• B: Low End Specialists Year Of The Drum Mix

Steve Lawler "Andante"

Steve Lawler has made a name for himself over the years through residencies at his own Midweek Sessions and Harlem Nights residencies, in addition to the superb Dark Drums albums as well as a groundbreaking double cd for Global Underground entitled Lights Out. In addition to this he has put his hand to production, remixing artists such as DJ Sandy Vs Housetrap and BT and a while back released Rise In to a great response on Bedrock. Now he follows that up with Andante, a track that builds on the success of Rise In with the intention of taking the ideas to a whole new level. Let's find out if this is the case..

The Taiko Mix is the original of the package, casting a spell of dark, driving beats amidst a sinister groove that sets the mood nicely for the captivating, powerful african chants to drive their way to the surface, pushing us into a series of bottom end beats which culminate in a massive break which then pushes the energy level up somewhat, ensuring that you cannot resist the enticement of the groove within. Stunning.

The remix on this disc comes from The Low End Specialists who have been on fire as of late with such tracks as Smoked Piece and an array of big room remixes doing the business on dancefloors everywhere. They don't deviate from that winning formula here, and strip things back to a more minimalist pace which serves for the arrangement to hold the hypnotic charm that will grab the musical side of you and lead you onto the dancefloor totally unaware. Magical indeed and another notch for Ali and Mac C's resumé.

Andante manages to rival and in some ways better Rise In with ease, and with the superb remix from the Low End Specialists, you must ensure you jump on this and make it a part of your collection.