Lab '94 [12"]

Lex (Athens) - Lab '94 [12"]

Greek producer Lex (Athens) revisits to Delusions of Grandeur with a four-track excursion into the deeper, more playful corners of house music, bringing together dusty Chicago grooves, Mediterranean warmth, jazz-inflected instrumentation, and a little Italian cosmic weirdness along the way. A long-time student of the dancefloor, Lex draws heavily on the classic house vocabulary while keeping things loose and instinctive, favoring live instrumentation, improvised moments, and grooves that feel built for extended hours rather than quick fixes. The EP opens with “Lab ’94 (Dub Vocal Mix)”, featuring Boot Slap, an old-school Chicago house track bathed in Adriatic sunshine. The track takes its name from Lab, a small stage at Athens’ legendary Alsos Club during the 1990s, and carries something of that era’s carefree spirit in its loose, rolling groove. Boot Slap adds just the right dose of hip house attitude, delivering his spoken-word vocal with a laid-back swagger that sits perfectly inside the stripped-back rhythm section. “Friday to Monday” digs further into the pair’s history, inspired by the wild early-2000s years when Lex and Boot Slap were immersed in Berlin’s hedonistic club scene. Once again, the ingredients are deceptively simple: house drums, a bassline that refuses to overcomplicate things, and plenty of space. Live percussion and beautifully loose, soloing keys gradually lift the track, giving the whole thing the feeling of a long weekend that somehow never quite ends. Flipping over, “Lab ’94 (Full Organ Mix)” takes the original and removes the vocal to let the instrumentation do the talking. The groove remains locked, but this time the spotlight falls firmly on inspired B3 organ flourishes that push the track somewhere altogether different. Jazzy, soulful, and touched with a gospel sensibility, it’s a perfect example of how a few simple ingredients can be transformed when the musicians are given room to breathe. Closing proceedings is “Back to Mad (Cosmic Version)”, with Lex joining forces with Italian hero DJ Rocca for a trip into outer galactic territory. A hint of classic Italo flavor creeps into the machinery, as improvised lead synths soar overhead and brass stabs punctuate the groove, accentuating every rise and drop. Beneath it all the crunchy vintage drum machine rhythms and a pulsing bassline keep the whole thing firmly grounded, maintaining the pressure and keeping the dancefloor locked until the very last bar. A1. Lab '94 (feat. Boot Slap) (Dub Vocal Mix) A2. Friday to Monday (feat. Boot Slap) B1. Lab '94 (Full Organ Mix) B2. Back to Mad (with DJ Rocca) (Cosmic Version)