Cheap & Deep - Deep In The Feeling/Warm Seqs

Artist: Cheap & Deep

Title: Deep In The Feeling/Warm Seqs

Label: Cheap & Deep

Catalog #: CHEAPANDDEEPREPEAT

Release Date: January 5, 2010

Rating: 8

Although Jay Ahern has grown into a tremendous force with his Cheap & Deep record label and alias, perhaps a little refresher course is necessary because people deep down miss the soul of mid-90’s dance hedonism. Or it could be that Ahern feels that he is so prolific that even his older material can stand up to the dance-floor anthems of today.

The A- side, “Deep In The Feeling”, revisits work that Ahern did under his Hydronaut moniker, with a “re-versioning” by Morgan Geist. The original soul of the song remains intact while Geist takes all of the pieces that are most pleasurable and accentuates them to giddy delight. “Deep” opens up with a bouncing muted bass that immediately plugs into your cerebellum and puts your body on autopilot. From there, the very first “Deep” halts and slaps an ellipsis on our good time. Not to worry, with every vocal break Geist brings in a little bit of what you need. With the last “Deep” trailing off we are thrown into the fervor of a 909 hi-hat pattern that demands uniformity, yet still leaves room for some improvised grooving. Before you know it, Geist employs an ethereal, warm pad that takes us there, wherever that may be. Every break, every bass drop refreshes “Deep” to the point where I never really want to leave.

On the B-side, Carl Craig provides his own take on “Warm Seqs”, a little gem from Ahern’s days on Astralwerks. The go-to descriptor for this track would be “gorgeous”, but I’m going to have to go with the more sensual “luscious”. The ebb and flow of the flanged pads completely take over. “Warm Seqs” finds Craig completely unabashed and fully embracing the over-the-top vocals. It is hard to escape the feeling of early 00’s Depeche Mode that has come and gone since “Warm Seqs” original release, but Craig employs enough signature sounds that I can’t help but be immersed. Militant claps and percussion gives this track a much-needed male bravado while the delicate interplay of the airless sub-melody and bass keep all the dissimilar parts in sync with each other.

Cheap & Deep’s “Deep In The Feeling/Warm Seqs” is a welcome return to the mid-90’s club heyday, with remix work that still holds up even more than a decade after its original release. The effectiveness is due in no small part to the work of two producers that operated with the soul and intent of the original in mind while still bringing everything that they have to the table.

-Andrew Reilly

Tracks:

A) Deep In The Feeling (Morgan Geist Mix)

B) Warm Seqs (Carl Craig Mix)