Brooklyn Sway News

Brooklyn Sway's 8th installment arrives from outside with more unexpected debuts and riotous returns to form. Experienced Barcelonian Larry Lan's epic 10-minute opener 'WTNG' is minimal goes post-punk, repurposing well-known, undisguised lyrics into an aggressive take on early Perlon and explanation enough for his recent album drop on Cadenza. BKS vets N/UM return with 'A Free Woman in Queens' showing off a reduced side of their sound adjacent to mid-00s minimal with plenty of character, its stripped intro giving way to a fuller, dubbed-out second half, with the cheeky vocal and instrumental touches joined by a swelling pad. Featuring spoken vox from Mari Blue and the debut of BKS co-head Asha Jasz alongside DeWinter and Jay Prouty, 'Acid in Your Coffee' takes the dirtier route, with layers of zapping electronics, an insistent single-note acid bass, and synths drifting between tones and textures all veering off like its vocals before eventually returning to center. LA/Bucktown scallywag $coe brings it home with 'The Devil is a MF Liar', an acid jam whose profanity-laced vocal samples don't require divine intervention to decipher. Bookended by a pair of interludes, the first on the power of repetition and the last in memoriam BK legend Big Sexy in his own words, and again featuring striking artwork from notable NYC street artist Fumero, BKS keeps that Sway from going astray.

Brooklyn Sway's 7th drop might best be described as the black market edition, but as always we leave the gumshoe work to those heads out there savvy enough to figure it out themselves. Thugfucker alum Acid Tourist and BKS stalwart DeWinter remix celebrated West Coast sideman ROC's cover of a tune that needs no intro, transforming a torch song into an acid belter while keeping its quality intact. Charles Levine, best known as Charlie from Soul Clap, steers close to his usual antics with 'Ocean Waves & Ashtrays', his ashtrays obviously full of blunt ends as he runs the voodoo down on a sultry funk number laced with fat lead keys and ideal for beach party afterhours or smoky late-night sessions. Returning for a second BKS appearance, Ohm Hourani's 'SupaDupaFly' fetches the funk again with rap vocal samples sliding just inside the industry 10% rule set amidst seesawing synths for a woozy, extended effort sure to influence sobriety decisions. On 'Hearts & Diamonds,' label honcho Jay Prouty and mainstay David Paglia join forces jailbreaking two legendary NYC freestyle anthems into a combination that rocks more like high period New Order, so when you catch Fumero's psychedelic painting winking at you off the plate after a few spins, you'll understand exactly why the sway resides in Bucktown.

Now on our sixth release & going strong, Brooklyn Sway returns with a heady combination of local producers, further-afield figures and scene-setting interludes to get that real Bucktown mood, accompanied by bold new artwork from NYC "Grafstract" muralist Fumero.

After words of wisdom from originator David Morales, St. Xose, patron saint of afterhours, re-rubs his own entry from BKS-01 into an electro flip with a forceful but smooth strut, Nathan Nothing's ephemeral vocals vanishing in spaces between steady bass pulses and broken beats. Those looking for late-night addresses check Noha's 'Madison Street 932', where the PanickPanick! label head proves his local cred with a funky, vocal sample-driven house jam equally at home on its eponymous street corner or somewhere later, darker, and preferably inside.

Label regulars DeWinter & Emma return with 'Unity', the spoken word Spanish vocals interweaving with choppy snare patterns and a room-filling reverberating bass roar that hits paydirt when English vox and a kick hit late in its second half. C&K are local legends Connie & Karina, and while that may not be some punters' first guess for their moniker's meaning, the track is an exercise in restraint and class, jaunty house swathed in dub echoes and hand drums that positively sways when the trombone lead swings in to carry the tune.

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Brooklyn Sway returns for its fifth release with another all-star cast of names drawn from the Brooklyn underground, as always vinyl only and with label art from NYC mural legend Cern.

Label regulars Vivian Wang and DeWinter lead off the A-side in a tough-but-dreamy style on 'What About Love', the heavily processed vocals of NYC house guru Kevin Williams giving the tune a true NYC afterhours flavor. Next up is David Paglia, also a frequent label contributor, whose 'Spellbound' toughens up the rhythm section with dub bass and a steady breakbeat backbone while liquid pads and the vocal hook hold dancers in their spell.

The flipside ups the ante for grime, leading off with label head Jay Prouty, DeWinter, and NYC OG Emma's 'What We Do', precision tooled for when the afterparty gets dicey. A hip hop acapella floats through a dense web of flutes, breaks, and a rugged house beat: smart DJs will sense main floor potential here, swaying halfway between gangster lean & proper house dancing. Charles Levine from Soul Clap needs no intro, and his 'Gimme A Break' is equally literal, a funky breakbeat belter with effortless vocal flourishes that balances perfectly between hard and smooth, just the way we like it in Brooklyn.

A vinyl-only label out of NYC, Brooklyn Sway is back with their fourth release, this time varying slightly from their usual Various Artists format and enlisting two artists to fill out each side of the vinyl. The A-side features Montreal transplant, frequent collaborator, and minimal jazz master Ohm Hourani, who puts forth a tripped out, extended jam using classic Kim Cooper vocals and hypnotic beats. The B-side enlists live band N/UM for two improvised tracks, The Way and Any Time. N/UM is a 3-piece electronic band that uses classic analog instruments, vocals, modular synths, and guitar to create fully improvised live performances. In typical BK Sway fashion, interludes book end both sides of the record to tie the package together.

A relatively new label based out of Brooklyn, New York, their third release BKS-03 continues to build off of the success of BKS-01 and BKS-02 and again enlists local NYC underground heroes to fill out the Various Artist format, with interludes spread throughout.

The first track on the A-side enlists House Legend Eric Kupper, who frequently collaborated with the late Frankie Knuckles and is responsible for some of Knuckles' biggest hits, drops an absolute stormer of a track that will get any party started. Track two sees Andrew Licata go deep and dreamy with beautiful pads and great percussion perfect for an outdoor jam session or deep in the afterhours.

The B-side enlists BK Sway regulars DeWinter & Emma for a dance floor filler that's bound to shake any massive sound system. Track 2 sees After Touch and Jay Prouty get heady with deep jazzy vibes and a trippy spoken word to complete the package.

Label art from NYC mural legend Cern aka Cernesto.