nothing but a heartache

well the freemasons have done it again. known for their disco-tinged house sound, they have been one of the most talked about dj duos of 2006. the freemasons are composed of russell small, house guise of one half of Phats & small and his co-producer, James Wiltshire. and they have been on a role as of late. their most recent single, "Rain down love" featuring the vocals of siedah garrett, is making the rotations of all the big house DJs. they consistently walk the line of disco and house music, with strong vocals and a sort of "hands in the air" feel. their newest and first compilation titled "Shakedown" was released this month and it generating quite a buzz. i have been a fan of the freemasons ever since i heard their remake of "love on my mind" a couple of years ago. and their remixes of "Mesmerized" and "Deja Vu" have been the themes to my trip to P Town for the past two years. there is something about their sound that just reminds me of the boat slip.

"shakedown" features remixes by the freemasons from the past two years. the first CD starts off with their massive remix of beyonce's "Deja Vu", a sample of some of their own production work like "atlantic" and "pacific", as well as remixes of angie stone and loletta holloway.

the second CD contains remixes of heather headley and luther vandross, as well as a sultry interpretation of rose royce's "love don't live here anymore", vocalled perfectly by judie tzuke. but what has really hooked me is the track titled "nothing but a heartache". simply amazing. this track is a cover of the obscure Northern Soul hit by the Flirtations (not to be confused with the other flirtations who did "like an earthquake" in the 80s. The original is on the Girl Group Sounds - Lost and Found boxed set, which was just nominated for a Grammy. The vocalist for "nothing but a heartache" is none other than sylvia mason-james, who once cover Diana Ross's "touch me in the morning".

the freemasons nail it with "nothing but a heartache". listening to this track takes me right back to P Town. it's sandwiches at Farland General store, its bike rides to herring cove, its sipping rum runners and flirting with boston boys at the boat slip. it's the A-House, it's spiritus pizza, it's David LaSalle, it's lobster bisque at the pot, its dancing with your friends to the grooves of Mary Alice. it's where i am going to be in a few months.......

The entire Freemason album, "shakedown" can be downloaded at itunes. and if you want the unmixed version of "nothing but a heartache", can be purchased and downloaded in mp3 format at xpressbeats.com.