the sleepy seaside town of sligo, based on ireland s atlantic coast, seems an unlikely location to base a deep house label. more remarkably, this debut 12- from sligo-based splendor & squalor comes from two residents of the town: longtime dj buddies and hip-hop/deep house fusionists brame and hamo. it s a strong first outing, with each of the three original cuts coming doused in smooth soul and hip-hop influences. that s means beats that swing, sensual strings, chunky bass and the kind of pads that seem to wrap themselves around your body. the duo s collaborative clockwork arguably the pick of the bunch - is also remixed by session victim (think ultra-deep goodness), while hamo s sample-heavy soul offers the perfect balance between smiling deep house and classic hip-ho

stepping up for the second ep on brame & hamos own imprint splendor & squalour is top boy hamo with his debut solo ep -the cotton club. with his partner brame he has already released staggering eps on dirt crew recordings and dam swindles own heist recordings. a fierce rise in the deep house community for sure! we already had a small taste of hamo s solo productions on the clockwerk ep that was released beginning of this year as the first ep on splendor & squalour. now we are giving you a full 5 tracker with a remix from box aus holz/ torben boy kickflip mike. the ep kicks off with title track - cotton club - a jazzy deep house jam, keeping the hip hop vibe present. up next is -wonce- which is a little bit more on the melodic side. we would also like to welcome more of our sligo family to the label with this side up, the hip hop trio is featured as third on the a side with the straight hip hop track in control. on to the b side we have the brilliant kickflip mike adding a much clubbier vibe to -wonce- a real early mornings bomb. to close the ep hamo has given us black lodge, a dusty house groover with delightful hi-hats and very clever sampling going on as in all his works, solo or with his homey brame.