- In September last year, the producer Bobby Siadat, AKA Draino, quoted Moodymann to describe the spirit in which dance music in Vancouver is typically made. "I think it's bands [we were in]," he said. "Some of us still use gear, certain guitar pedals that we use that scuff shit up. Everyone uses mixers that have been used and worn. That whole thing—it's not what you have, it's what you do with what you've got." The city's best labels have turned making do into a virtue. The music—much of it deep house, but there are numerous exceptions—can seem lived-in and tender, as cosy as a lounge shrouded in incense smoke. That feeling extends to what you might call Vancouver anthems. Jack J's "Something (On My Mind)," Flørist's "Marine Drive" and Lnrdcroy's "Sunrise Market" are wildly popular, but none have, say, the brassy vocals of a house party standard or a festival hit.
Dvote by Flørist, AKA Logan Sturrock, samples one of the brassiest going—Robin S.'s "Show Me Love." But that song's euphoria is dialled down considerably on "Dvote" and the longer edit on the B-side. Sturrock loops inconspicuous parts of the vocal. A line from the verse—the part about devotion—becomes "Dvote"'s hook. (When Robin S. sings "Show Me Love"'s hook on "Dvote," a low-pass filter muffles the vocal.) As Sturrock softens the sample's edges, he adds some features of his own. Synth chords shimmer. Sturrock's bassline and finger clicks make "Dvote" flow and snap. Sustained organs lift up the hook. Dvote is a party record, and yet its joy seems muted, as though a cloud is hanging over it. It's the sound of an overcast summer.
TracklistA Dvote
B Dvote (Bank Holiday Edit)