Off The Tracks

Off The Tracks
  • Blog
    • Interviews
    • Miscellany
    • Special Guests
    • Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • The Vinyl Countdown
  • Back Catalogue
  • About
    • About
    • About the banner image
    • On Song
April 15, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

Peggy Gou: Once (12″ EP)

downloadPeggy Gou

Once (12” EP)

Ninja Tunes

South Korean-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer Peggy Gou is making (sound) waves within house music and electro – those faceless, anonymous beat-filled genres where the best music can seem so fleeting but the truly timeless tunes have that something special: the right hook and groove; personality.

So on this 12” vinyl EP Gou kicks off with the somewhat ironically titled It Makes You Forget, this memorable dance-floor hook is a good, good time. I’m reminded of that feelgood, insatiable vibe of Sidewinder’s Stanways Revenge or The Ananda Project’s Cascades of Colour, those classic late nineties/early noughts drum-machine fueled pop party grooves that just flow and pulse.

The real hook here though is Gou’s vocal – moving from mumble-singing to a type of spoken-rap, and all in Korean; she’s like Slick Rick and Grace Jones rolled into one, and you all but lean in to try to hear more, to decipher, your heart racing, your feet moving, your head a flurry of bees.download (1)

There are no vocals on the next cut, Hundres Times, just a harder club groove, throwbacks here to the sort of rhythms Tosca and Smith & Mighty used to push but with a more modern thrust. It’s a bouncing, energetic track that oozes perpetual happiness, somehow Gou finds just the right balance between riding the repetitive nature of house music for all its worth and imbuing fresh personality.

The retro celebration is most obvious on the closing Han Jan, vintage 808s and little splashes of sound-colour around the groove that recall straight away the Kraftwerk cuts that had the biggest impact on Afrika Bambaataa as Gou works a fairly straight but deep electro rhythm and raps a simple chorus “You gotta do it right/Enjoy your life/You gotta do it right” to delirious effect – whether for the boiler-room, the bedroom, the car, the gym or in the background as you work or dine this has a great living-soundtrack vibe.

Smart and danceable, totally – utterly – dig-able, Gou remains one to watch and absolutely one to listen to.
26239151_1987590661496009_7670101297658390996_n-770x771You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron

Posted in Blog, Reviews and tagged with 12-inch, 12", Album Review, Berlin, Club, Dance, DJ, Electro, EP, Han Jan, House, Hundres Times, It Makes You Forget, Korea, Ninja Tunes, Once, Once (12" EP), Once (12), Once (ep), Peggy Gou, Producer, Record, Vinyl. RSS 2.0 feed.
« Bettye LaVette: Things Have Changed
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 52: Waylon Jennings – “Honky Tonk Heroes” »

One Response to Peggy Gou: Once (12″ EP)

  1. Pingback: V/A: Peggy Gou – DJ Kicks

Popular

  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 8 – Mark Knopfler
  • Janna Lapidus Leblanc: Four Years In Pictures
  • The Sad Story of Bob Welch: Fleetwood Mac’s Most Undervalued Member
  • Prince: Tokyo Dome 1990
  • Time Casts Its Spell: When Silver Springs Became The Secret Weapon It Had Always Threatened To Be
  • Everything Must Go: My Last Time At The Record Fair
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 11 – Lindsey Buckingham
  • Bono’s Book
  • On: Neil Young’s Decade
  • R.I.P. Ronny Jordan

Archives

Tags

Album Review Auckland Blog Book Book Review Chat Compilation DJ DVD DVD Review EP Film Film Review Gig Gig Review Guest Blog Guitar Interview Jazz Live Live Gig LP Movie Music NZ Podcast Poem Poetry Record Records Simon Sweetman Soundtrack Spines Spotify Stub Stubs Sweetman Podcast The Vinyl Countdown Vinyl Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron Wellington Wgtn Writing You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron [OST]

Categories

  • Back Catalogue
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • Miscellany
  • Mixtapes
  • Playlists
  • Podcasts
  • Reviews
  • Scene Of The Day
  • Special Guests
  • The Vinyl Countdown

Off The Tracks is the home of Sweetman Podcast, a weekly interview/chat-based pod. It's also home to my reviews across film, TV, music and books and some creative writing as well.

Off The Tracks aims to provide quality reviews and essays, regular blog updates about the shows, albums, books and movies you should be experiencing.

It's a passion project. Your support will help to keep Off The Tracks online.

All content © 2022 by Off The Tracks. WordPress Themes by Graph Paper Press