By Tony Price

Tom Carruthers is one of the greatest contemporary producers in dance music. In era of sensorial overload and mindless genre-mashing, his elemental approach to production cuts through the nonsense with maximum impact. Concerned primarily with beat and bassline alchemy, his sound evokes the spirit of a specific period of time in the late 80s-early 90s when little more than speaker-busting basslines and spine-cracking snares were needed to light a dancefloor on fire.

These five selections by Tom largely represent a snapshot of a sound coming out of New York City in the late 1980's that, much like the Bleep sound coming out of the UK in parallel, utilized technological innovations in synthesizer and sampling technology to combine various strands of music from the previous decade into something sparse, bombastic and catalytic. This is music made largely in the wake of Todd Terry’s foundational early house singles under the Royal House, Masters At Work and Todd Terry Project monikers. As with Terry’s productions, the energy, ethos and influence of electro, freestyle and hip hop lingers between the trunk rattling low end, skippy snare drum syncopations and spattering metallic hi-hats.

TRIBAL HOUSE - “DIM DAE”

Year: 1988

Label: Pow Wow Records

Producer: Winston Jones

“This ones a relatively rare one, you’d be hard pushed to hear a DJ spinning this 12”. It’s produced by Winston Jones who did the NYC hit “Cultural Vibe - Ma Foom Bey”. Proper warehouse material!”

THE SOUND VANDALS - “ON YOUR WAY (DEEP MIX)”

Year: 1991

Label: Nu Groove Records

Producer: Howie How & Little Carlos

“A timeless house cut by Brooklyn duo How & Little. Still sounds fresh to this day!”

TECHNICAL ONSLAUGHT - “THE CALLING”

Year: 1990

Label: Allabi Records

Producer: Joey Beltram

“This track is my favourite Beltram cut. Dark and moody, as it should be. Holds it own in any techno/breakbeat set.”

CHANNEL ‘H’ - “FEEL GOOD (CLUB MIX)”

Year: 1991

Label: Astor City Records

Producer: John Spice

“Quite a rare NY house cut. Only those in the know know about this one. Classic NY style joint with complex percussion, a heavy bassline and clever sample use. One of my personal favourite records I own.”