Even with the his productions being buy on site already, Trus’me has smacked this one out of the park. The double LP titled Treat Me Right is incredibly on point, old-school analogue vibes that go across the board on a level that only few can match.
In 2007 the Working Nights LP became a standard, as did the follow-up LP In The Red from 2009. Four years on from the debut and the Prime Numbers boss has somehow managed to evolve with our ever growing expectations. Trus’me manages to skate his sound in to a unique area between the soulful Detroit and Chicago house creationism and something funky and modern akin to current London techno. That vintage drum machine bump and lush analogue organ vibes all play a part, with David James Wolstencroft’s multi-instrumentalist background meeting his vinyl digging lifestyle, and possibly being the key to what makes him stand out ahead of his contemporaries.
Strangely enough, out of those in the same league as the Manchurian Trus’me, a fair few hail from Scotland, referring of course to the Firecracker crew. Linkwood, Fudge Fingas, House of Traps and company seem to be among those channeling a similar house tip, though past the love of analogue gear there’s a common denominator for quality house that we’ve not quite cracked.
Across Treat Me Right you can hear the skill coming from every cut, proper knowledge on how to make a tune that will sound good on big system from and the ability to make Trus’me ideas sound spot-on. The release has come under fire for sounding like too many ideas from different genres, but I’m not getting this it all. Rather, the LP is a series of variations of the Trus’me signature sound, combining fresh ideas for structures in to his quality musicianship.
End of the day the results are blinding. Proper house music that we can’t wait to take to the floor. Big ups Trus’me and the whole Prime Numbers crew, stunning release.
via Prime Numbers
February 2013 sees the release of ‘Treat Me Right’, a new album from Trus’me. Its his first album in 3 years and to a certain extent marks a change in direction from the predecessors, ‘Working Nights’ & ‘In The Red’.
Here’s what the man himself has to say as way of an introduction to the new album.
“Since ‘In The Red’ I found myself traveling as far as Japan and South America and experiencing new scenes and people that has influenced my sound both in the studio and behind the decks. Traveling so much has forced me to change my way of making music, I would say now I have a more ‘anoligital’ approach to my production techniques. The final production stage will always remain an analogue process but the creative process has become more digital. You can’t take all those lovely synths and machines on the road with you.
With ‘Working Nights’ I wanted to create a cohesive hour of music from start to finish, whereas ‘In The Red’ was a way to push myself and learn new engineering and production techniques, working with live musicians such as Amp Fiddler and Dam Funk. ‘Treat Me Right’ saw me move into the realm of synths, drum machines to create the sounds of the scene I had been submerged in over the last 4-5 years. Working on new music while on the road is hard, and fragmented sessions all came together once I was stationary in Manchester. I stayed away from the impulse of my love of sampling and musicianship and trapped myself in a room, so that the final outcome would be a true representation on the sound they call analogue.”
On a separate note I’ve got to be honest in saying that the hype over the sleeve has been more than disappointing. Accusations of sexism and obscene gratuity to sell records are misplaced, and represent ignorance of a scene that’s birthed Trus’me and his tracks. Look at the way it’s styled and shot – this is a throwback to the classic jazz, disco and soul records that had a similar feature and elegance with the women on the sleeves. A little while ago we posted a small piece on Ellen Michaels, the Salsoul Orchestra girl (https://awkmo.co/ellen-michaels-salsoul-orchestra-gir/) and a few weeks later Ellen actually got in touch to thank us, still proud of her work and what she stood for.
Trus’me referencing these classic sleeves is no different to other labels referencing comics or classic black and white photos of cities they grew up in. Herb Albert, Jimi Hendrix, Terry Callier and Serge Gainsbourg are among those who’ve been down this path. Show some respect to the greats.