...be all you can be...

Sometimes a scene will have a particular artist or label blow up with a series of great releases and enjoy a sliver of critical acclaim, but ultimately never cross over into the realm of mainstream acknowledgment. Or even sell a few extra records. But for those of us in the know, seeing the steady stream of phenomenal releases coming from the bootleg label Gamm and it's legitimate parent Raw Fusion has been an incredible ride of funk (and funk-related heat) from the lost land of Sweden. Today's post is labeled GAMM001 and was the jump-off for a series of mash-ups, remixes, and re-edits that were supposedly "for promotional purposes only - not for sale". That was two years ago, and now that they're nearing 20 releases they've expanded to original hip-hop and breakbeat/soul, mirroring the output of Raw Fusion. The chosen artist for their auspicious debut was Red Astaire aka Freddie Cruger. He has since released more works both on Gamm and Jugglin' (the hip-hop sub-label of Raw Fusion), as well as his own label, Swedish Brandy. This particular debut features the huge hit (and GP lovething) "Follow Me", which takes D'Angelo's vocals from "Left & Right" and layers underneath a beautiful series of bossa nova driven vibes and swing. On the flip side is your typical big beat track utilizing old soul samples, specifically James Brown's "Unity" of course. What sets this apart is simply it's quality. Any DJ would be proud to add this to the set in the middle of the night. Nothing wrong with letting "Startime!" do his thing.

Red Astaire
Follow Me
Follow Me 12"
Gamm

Red Astaire
The Wildstyle (JB's Edit)
Follow Me 12"
Gamm