Nik Frattaroli – Synesthesia [preview]

December 22, 2011 by DJ Elroy

Nik Frattaroli – Synesthesia (Sangoma Music, SM001) (Preview Clips) by Kahua Music

Artist: Nik Frattaroli
Title: Synesthesia
Label: Sangoma Music (UK)
Style: Deep/Tech House

The debut release from Sangoma Music sees label boss Nik Frattaroli deliver two tracks – ‘Livin’ In The Box’ and ‘Synesthesia’. The former is classic sounding deep house; heavy on the bass and complimented by a soulful vocal, while the latter is an atmospheric, deep and hypnotic groove. With releases for Soulman Music, Digital Disco NY, Killawatt Recordings and LOCO Records already on the digital shelves Nik has steadily been hitting the mark and thanks to Sangoma we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in future.

Originally from Manchester, Nik was right in the middle of the early 90s madness in the North West, cutting his teeth at some truly legendary clubbing institutions like The Hacienda, The Boardwalk, and Cream. It is no surprise that he was inspired to emulate some of the DJ heros of the day (Sasha, Laurent Garnier, Carl Cox etc.), and that his DJing style can move right across the deep and techy spectrum, informed by his original love for Acid House, Hip Hop and Indie. You can see the Manchester effect in Nik’s production as well – Acid and old-skool noises are never far away from his trademark deep and tribal groove.

Quality not quantity – we’ve heard it all before, but all too rarely in the music business, which is why that ethos is so important to Sangoma. For Sangoma stands for the highest quality underground house, when the time is right – not when the calendar dictates it and certainly not for the sake of making a few extra cents.

With label boss Frattaroli in tight control of quality and quantity matters, this is all about getting blown away by magnificent tracks… there’ll definitely be no fillers on his watch. No digital bonus mixes. No generic dub versions. No DJ tools. No compromise. But within Frattaroli’s law there is room for artistic license: the sound of Sangoma is a building process of experimental sounds on top of deep and tribal foundations, inspired by the likes of Moon Harbour, Freerange, Tsuba, Plastic City and Crosstown Rebels.

Elroy says: This is HOT! “In the Box” is my pick, but “Synesthesia” is a great complimenting cut on the flipside.