Artist: Sultan
Title: The Isabella EP
Label: Shinichi Recordings
By: Chad Harnish | 20 June 2003
Tracklist:

• A: Night Visions
• B: Night Visions (Dub)
• C: Grumpy Gourmet
• D: Isabella

Sultan "The Isabella EP"

Shinichi have indisputably been letting some great releases loose lately. From Blackwatch’s “Word Unspoken” to Envy’s “Faith” it is no wonder that this track is so awesome. Sultan comes the whole way from Montreal to drop this EP on us. As is the usual release style out of the Washington DC Deep Dish crew, you get 4 tracks each on their own side. Three original tracks and a dub each have their own record bag life. You will get used to carrying this single for a long time as will I.

“Night Visions” is a lush moody ballad with strong undertones. Such high levels of emotion in the sounds of this track are brought to a climax with the introduction of the sung song. Grabbing a past vocal partner, Sultan once again uses the talented Stephanie Vezina. She sings a sound that brings a fresh breath to the electronic music scene. This track has the smoothness of Circulation, the ambience of Chicane and the originality of Way Out West. Towards the end, Sultan drops everything down to light tribal beats to draw “Night Visions” to a close.

Given the dub remix on a separate 12”, DJs seeking more of that beat for a while to build suspense can mix it in on either end (before or after the vocal mix) for an equally powerful punch. With the Dub mix, Sultan peppers the brilliant drum patters with vocal slices. It will have people running to the booth to see who it is. This is the mix that would make Digweed’s show.

“Grumpy Gourmet”. The title says it all.

“Isabella” is a haunting excursion into breakbeat. It doesn’t have the warmth of Grumpy Gourmet, but it does have a tight snap. Where “Grumpy Gourmet” sneaks up on you, “Isabella” kicks it to you. Sultan proves he is a master of beats, both with Isabella and the grumpy track. Additionally, the grooves he lays over them is extremely sexy. If you haven’t listened to Sound Bytes 35, Chloe drops “Isabella” to close her set. Check it.

This is easiest my favorite single to review this year. And it is not just popular with me as this track is seeing heavy play with everyone right now. Additionally “Night Visions” is featured on Deep Dish’s Global Underground as well as Luke Fair’s “In House We Trust 3.”