Artist: Astroglyde
Title: Crawling
Label: Music For Vinyl
By: Antonella Sirec | 11 August 2006
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Luke Fair Main Mix

Astroglyde "Crawling"

For those of us in the Southern hemisphere, the spring/summer season is just creeping around the corner. As is always the case, it's around this time of the year that we start to hear a lot of summer tinged releases entering the market. With that in mind, New York duo Astroglyde are set to release 'Crawling' which is something that's going to fit right in that mould and no doubt feature in a lot of DJ sets for those lucky to be in the warmer climates. Released through the mighty Infusion's own label, Music For Vinyl, 'Crawling' is set to further establish this duo in the minds of those that love quality house music.

The original mix of 'Crawling' is very much an energetic bass driven number that's more about funk then outright house while still retaining the later elements but with much more subtlety. Opening with an infectious beat that grabs the listener's attention instantly, the subtle background vocals make way for the dubby bass that takes over the direction of the track. This combines quite well with the main vocals to create a very dancefloor friendly tune that's going to be instantly recognisable. Having repeatedly listened to this version, I can't help but feel that the Astroglyde boys have some how managed to shrewdly pay homage to a club sound that was around in the early to mid 80's. And no, that era wasn't all about electro or what people now think was electro, it also had a lot to do with very groove infused excursions. It's a sound that I remember fondly and is more then apparent in this tune.

The Luke Fair Main Mix is in a different league altogether and manages to take the track onto a completely different level of listening pleasure. The character of the track has changed into something quite different as the piano infused interpretation verges on a New York disco sound but with a very 21st Century feel. The vocals have been dramatically filtered down and there's a predominance of washed out synths, understated high hats and touches of string samples. It still retains that funk element that's abundant in the original version but there are more percussive elements to this version on a whole. This all merges together successfully to form one hell of a summer time tune that has Luke Fair's signature sound stamped all over it. It's one of those tracks that the more you hear, the more you want to play it again and with that, each listen gives you an added bonus in sound. A superb remix that's going to find a place anywhere in the world whether it be on a beach on Ibiza or on the terrace at Home, Sydney.

This is more then a gratifying release from Astroglyde and one that although may not be ground breaking in sound, is still going to please a lot of people. I can see the pseudo electro kids going crazy over the original take of 'Crawling' but it's the Luke Fair remix that's going to cause many a house head to go slightly crazy. Overall, both versions of 'Crawling' manage to instil a sense of fun and pure club mayhem that sometimes a lot of producers tend to sacrifice for the sake of their art or their musical credibility. At the end of the day, it's all about dance music really. And this sure as hell makes me want to grab a cocktail and dance til the sun comes up.