It was early days working at Phonica when I first heard Marcellus Pittman. Not coming from a house background, Erase The Pain on the 12″ of the same name on Fit Records blew my mind in a new way. I remember on first listen I thought it hadn’t been mastered properly or something, not used to a Detroit sound that raw. I found out it was meant to sound like that, and ended up rinsing it in the store, not quite getting it but for some reason obsessed. The day it clicked in my mind it became one of my most treasured records, as it remains today. Check the clip below.
Absolutely stunning.
As it turns out he’s recently delivered a mix as well for Fact Mag. And whilst we’ve established on these pages previously that none of us will ever be cool enough to read Fact Mag, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Here’s what they had to say about it:
Pittman has collaborated with virtually everyone worth their salt in contemporary Detroit, first coming to prominence with a bunch of Theo Parrish co-productions released across two 12″s on Parrish’s Sound Signature label in 1999 and 2002. He arrived at his own distinct sonic identity with the M. Pittman EP for Omar-S‘s FXHE label – unapologetically soulful and observant of the Chicago house tradition but unusually stripped, raw and minimal – and not long after founded his own bespoke imprint, Unirhythm. The Midwestern Advocates EP Part One is a modern classic, the austerely jacking B-side ‘Chicago Nights’ simply devastating, while this year’s Loneliness ‘Leave Me Alone’ / ‘Razz ’09′ has a more obviously Detroit beatdown flavour.
While his solo release schedule is relatively relaxed (and the quality control high), Pittman has plenty of other ventures on the go; he’s a member of the Three Chairs production team that also numbers Rick Wilhite, Kenny Dixon, Jr. and Parrish, has collaborated with Parrish and Omar-S as the T.O.M. Project and is part of the sprawling Rotating Assembly collective.
FACT mix 201 has a real lo-fi crunch to it, a quality with which fans of Omar-S and Kyle Hall will be intimately acquainted. It’s anchored with classics, including tracks by Louie Vega, Larry Heard, Marshall Jefferson, Ron Trent and ESG, but look out too Theo Parrish’s recent ‘Space Station’ and two heavy-duty productions from Pittman himself.
Check it below complete with download option and tracklist. Drop me an email if it hits capacity or gets taken down and you want a copy.
Tracklist
Scott Grooves – ?
Larry Heard – Washing Machine
KC Flight- Planet E(loop)
Marcellus Pittman – Loneliness Leave Me Alone
An-2 – Lazy Sun
Louie Vega ft. Arnold Jarvis – Life Goes On
Daniel Wang – Like Some Dream I Can’t Stop Dreaming
Chez & Trent – KMS054
Marcellus Pittman – Razz 09
ESG – Moody
John Consemulder ft. Lex Express (Piranhahead remix)
Marshall Jefferson- Step By Step (Ron Trent remix)
Lil Louis – ?
Theo Parrish – Space Station
On to the gig. Joy Orbison has extended his reach of his Doldrums label to put on what looks like a brilliant night…or at least night a night with two brilliant headliners. As you’ve probably guessed by now from the nature of the post Marcellus Pittman has flown over from Detroit guaranteeing some form of quality. The other tipped name on the bill has got to be Krystal Kleer, nowadays repping as a resident/artist to the Hoya Hoya crew out of Manchester. I had the pleasure of seeing him rock the show earlier in the year and he’s worth the price of admission alone.
The whole thing’s going down at Plan B this Saturday night, the 20th of November. Check the flyer below for more info.
