Posted by Budgie at June 14, 2005 02:59 PM

This should have been the first post when I relaunched The Pipe...

There are records that you adore and love. Records that stand head and shoulders above everything else in your collection. Records that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

For me, this is one of those records. It's easily up there in my Top Ten House records of all time...

It came out in 1999 and, to my ears, sounded like nothing else. It's now 2005 and it still sounds like nothing else.

It's a record that is never far from my turntables. It's a record that has proven to have people question, "What is that?"

Track : PEPE BRADOCK - "DEEP BURNT"

Who is Pepe Bradock?

I don't particulary want to know. His music is mysterious. His releases and remixes are incredibly sporadic. They are incredibly hard to come across and can be musically unpredictable. A special mention should also go to the sinister record sleeves with demonic, twisted heads on them that would put some Metal bands to shame (see below). For me, that does the job. I don't want to know about him. I just want to listen to his strange music.

It was back in 1997 when I first heard him. A track entitled "Lara" appeared on an album called "My House Vol.2". It was sat amongst other French dance acts like Motorbass and Alex Gopher and beside tracks by the UK's Global Communications and Chicago House legend, Larry Heard. But "Lara" stood out. It was different. There was no denying it was a House track, but there was just something about it...

It wasn't until the "Burning" EP (from which "Deep Burnt" is taken) that Bradock's name registered with me again. The track was easy enough to listen to, but like before, there was just something about it. From that moment on, I became obsessed with his music. It took me years to track down his debut album, "Synthese", and many a lunch break was wasted trawling through record shops on the off chance that a new Bradock tune had been released. When I did find one and played it, you could guarantee that "that something" was lurking within the groove.

"Burning" is simple. It's repetitious to the point of being hypnotic. It's those strings. But there is something else, something special, something hard to pinpoint.

It deserves to be held aloft and proclaimed a dance classic.

Go Visit : Pepe Bradock @ Atavisme Records

Go Buy : Various Pepe Bradock Records

Go See : Front cover to the "Burning" EP
Go See : Front cover to the "Intrusion" EP
Go See : Back cover to the "Intrusion" EP

Feel free to leave a comment about this track in The Pipe section of the forum

Ta,
Budgie.