Artist: Bart Van Wissen
Title: In Da House EP
Label: Deep Records
By: Nick Williams & Brandon Wade | 24 January 2006
Tracklist:

• A1: Upstairs
• B1: In The Kitchen
• B2: Downstairs

Bart Van Wissen "In Da House EP"

Dutch producer Bart Van Wissen is a name that we all should be familiar with in the progressive house scene, with releases on some of the biggest labels in the business. He has a signature style of deep music that spans genres, with lush, gripping melodies and superb production. His latest offering is on Deep Records, and we will be your real estate agents for 'Da House' and take you on a brief tour.

The tour of the house starts 'Upstairs' with pounding beats and a sharp snare. Little stabs of percussion follow with a driving, subsonic bass stab that gets things rolling. Out of nowhere, a noisy crescendo of swirls brings us into the first breakdown which introduces a gritty bassline that keeps building and building. This is definitely the peak-time, late hour song to play. By the melody lines that come in now, complete with euphoric key changes, it invokes small smiles on our faces. Some cool key stabs come in with great reverb and keep the vibe going as we take a small breather before the next build. The bassline gets a bit noisier now and the percussion builds until it pops right back into the synth line, this time wailing more with heavy filtering. This track has loads of progression throughout with layers coming in and out all the time.

We continue our tour 'In The Kitchen' and it seems like we have a bit of Daft Punk throwback on the radio. This track is totally centered around a distorted electric guitar line that morphs into a deeper electro synth bassline. Fret noises are thrown in really well here that break up the beats a bit and add a certain roughness that suits this sound very well. As soon as the breakdown comes in, vocoded vocal loops along with a very Daft Punk chord progression bring us down and we are then punched in the face with an onslaught of guitar riffs and a raygun. This would be a great theme song for a remake of 'Ghostbusters'.

Our house tour concludes 'Downstairs', and we must say that this is the selling point that would get us to put a bid down on this EP. This is a fun record that blends styles very well, as we hear influences from house, techno, funk, and trance. Very driving from the get go, with buzzy fills and a fun bongo line, we would definitely get our groove on to this. It even has a woodblock, and we like that. Electric guitar plucks bring the funk aspect to it with a great deep bassline, which gets thicker and thicker as we go on. Cool chords progress in the background with very subtle breathy stabs that really bring some air to the dancefloor. Before you know it, you have pounded your drink and your rump is flying around the dancefloor with no regard for anyone’s safety. We like that too.

Before you decide to go into escrow for the 'In Da House' EP , keep in mind that this is a fairly different sound from Bart. For those who are a fan of his deeper, more organic productions, you may want to hear a sampling of it before you hand over your down payment. You will still find those awesome chordy synths that he is known for, but over a more disco house feel. Our appraisal of this EP is that it comes recommended and should be consider next time you are browsing the market for new musicial investments.