Back in January, Manchester-based party/label Big People Music (BPM) released Tee Vish‘s Cordis EP, an effort that slowly began to percolate through the dance music world, reminding people of the power that a really effective garage track wields. Tee Vish, who hails from Norwich and lives in Brighton, has built up a resume that draws on classic swing of garage and distills the manic energy of bassline into a populist sound that can both fill out huge clubs and carry the rowdiest of house parties. Butterz, specifically Royal-T hits like “I Know You Want Me” and “Inside The Ride”, are obvious touchstones, but Tee Vish has approached the subject matter with a free wheeling sense of inclusiveness, whether that comes up in his mix work, which features both Atlanta rap and contemporary R&B or in his willingness to work with vocalists.
“Don’t Hold Me Back”, featuring Jenna G, is the center piece of Cordis and a good bet for crossover hit of the Winter, a track that hits all the right notes on a pop scale, but retains enough gruffness to satiate the heads. Which is pretty much the Tee Vish aesthetic in a nutshell, a keen understanding of underground sounds hidden under a more overt pop sensibility. And his Astral Plane mix represents that to the fullest, a run through Horsepower Productions, Commodo, Roska, Funkystepz and other dark songs, set off by Kelela and Jenna G. Quick mixing and high tempos are the name of the game here as Tee Vish connects traditional sound system culture sounds with the spatial ambiguities of modern grime, Radio 1 ready hooks with Sheffield-bred bassline. Check out Cordis in full here and peep the track list after the jump.
The Astral Plane 