Presence

Tracklist:

Gotta' Be Paid

Partyboy

Work On Me

I Believe

Charles Webster’s Spectrum EP, originally the first on his Remote Label in 1996. One of the 15 records that built Vinyl Underground! Reissued here for 2022

‘Gotta Be Paid’ sets the tone, a huge deep house number reminiscent of the Prescription/Murk/Shelter Mix camps with shuffling drums, sweet low end and a looping vocal sample. Across the rest of the tracks Webster nods to various strains of US dance music that inspired the British club scene of the era but shows why he is regarded as one of the best in the business. A2 ‘Partyboy’ continues on with the well-swung, punchy attitude, underlying keys seemingly harking back to the bleep days prior to the hardcore continuum. The sound is classier and more refined though, mostly due to the improvement the mid-90s saw in production opportunities and Webster’s clear affinity to the New York scene across the pond. The b-side has the big goodies for us... ‘Work on Me’ opens the B-side with a big room diva mantra imploring all the dancers to get to work. Simple and totally effective. ‘I Believe’ grooves along ever more subtly, an after-hours burner rounding the 12” off in a wide-eyed romantic fashion.