DJ Rasoul - Soul Searching Vol. 4 (LAR-048)
Yogi Haughton | DJ Magazine
Double 12" business which leaves you wondering if Rasoul can go
the full distance ‰ yeah, he sure can. The title track makes for
a very convincing early '80s funk track, the bass is a stuttered
affair of little stabs over the drums. This track has been cited
as being one of the main causes of funk-de-ology, a complaint where
your ass twitches continually, and there is no cure except the rather
radical step of removing the needle from the record. 'Wishing' is
a punchy one word sampling effort that is driving me up the wall
cos I can't remember the sampled track (I do have this fucker somewhere
but I'm beat). 'Tropical Moods' is a kinda downtempo-ish tech/house
groove with an electronic bass which is surrounded by light sprays
of keyboards and female vocals arghhhs. These all lighten the load
and take the edge off that menacing bass. 'Dance 4 Life" sees the
beats pick up pace but the bass stays nice and phat, a disco stylin'
vocal sample chases the rumbling bottom end and makes for a slightly
under produced but funked up effort. 4/5
Chris Harris | Blues & Soul
A 5-track EP spread over two twelves makes this double-pack an awesome
package for any of the headz out there who like it dark and deep.
All tracks are tops, but two stick out especially. 'Requiem' us
a quality track; a deep bassline provides some serious head-nodding
while major chords, spaced out keys and vocal snippets atop make
this a very cool affair indeed. 'Wishing' is a filtered disco groover
with a kinda Van Helden 'Phunk Phenomena' styled drum programme.
I could imagine this being played at the likes of the Sub Club,
Plastic People and Space just as the temperature is rinsing and
everyone's getting into it finding their space on the floor!
Alan Russell | Inside Trax/Sound Factor Section | 23. October
1999
San Fran's DJ Rasoul gives us a double-pack of real quality in this,
the latest in the excellent Soul Searching series. Six tracks
spread out over four sides of vinyl for that extra beefy cut that
we like so much. And these tracks deserve a proper pressing. 'Dance
4 Life' kicks things off with its incessant filtered piano hook,
hooky vocal samples and melodramatic strings all dominated by a
super-phat analogue bass that takes me back to the Levan-era and
remains a constant theme throughout the set. In an even phatter
form it turns the wickedly cool 'Soul Searching' into a fierce dubbed
out bass-fest that is going to destroy a lot of systems. Seriously,
dangerous bass is everywhere on this set with all the other tracks
worth working. Rasoul has got himself a nicely original sound and
style here that lovers of the soulful and seriously deep will really
go for in a big way. Superb stuff. 4/5
For Your Eyes And Ears Only...
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