Artist: Simon & Shaker
Title: Pure State / Last Trip
Label: DK Records
By: Colin C. | 5 October 2006
Tracklist:

• A: Pure State
• B: Last Trip

Simon & Shaker "Pure State / Last Trip"

For the past few years Spain has been the "go to" region of the world when it comes to getting your house music served up in grinding, tribalicous portions. Amongst the producers and DJ’s filling themselves under the Iberican sound, two producers managed to stand out and grab my attention when they dropped 'Coming Up' as the Sundayprayers on Intesno back in 2003. These two (known as Simon Garcia and Karim Shaker) had me glued to my headphones with their ability to pound out some of the most ass shaking grooves which quickly established them as a duo to watch out for. Here the boys step out of Spain and find themselves in with Dutch DJ and producer Matthew Dekay for their latest double A-side release.

'Pure State' kicks things off with a nice round kick drum knocking around some housey percussion layers. The syncopated movement of the signature Simon and Shaker groove gets left behind here as the focus is set firmly on crafting something more uplifting and straight forward. A catchy bass line falls in to make up for the lack of syncopated, tribal elements as a breezy set of strings and backing pads pull through the mix. As the track progresses into some big key changes, it's easy to see why Dekay snatched this up as this falls more in sync with his style than Simon & Shaker's. As the track winds into a typical breakdown, it’s hard for me to find elements of the style that hooked me on Simon and Karim’s sound. The production is spot as usual, but the overall message of this track just lacks their personality for me.

Up next is 'Last Trip' which kicks it off with a hypnotic bass line and a pressurized groove starts grinding away. Slowly bringing in more percussion, the duo start to filter it down for a club friendly break before jumping back into a rolling groove that brings in a little more of that Simon and Shaker style we were expecting. But again they opt to bring in some swirling synths and end up focusing more on them than honing a solid, grinding beat. Which is perfectly in step for the DK Label, and will keep the Dekay fans pleased.

I guess that's what it comes down to, I've not been that big of a fan of Dekay and I have to admit I was a bit surprised to see this duo on his label. Simon and Karim have plenty of talent when it comes to making things that shake the floor, but here I don't think they were trying to channel that vibe and it unfortunately lands them with a double release that (I hate to say) is a bit of a yawner. However, I'm sure this won't be the last for the duo and they sure haven't lost me yet.