- Zesty house and disco from a staple of the American queer underground.
- You might not know about Baronhawk Poitier, but the gays do. Poitier is a Washington DC DJ, professional dancer and Karizma protege, as well as a cofounder of the NeedlExchange crew and club night. He has a vivacious, percussive style that feels informed by disco, Baltimore club and deep house. With Temperado Tornado, he brings that energy to his own productions, four restless tracks full of busy drum patterns, unexpected changes and earworm hooks.
There's no one style or vibe to Temperado Tornado: you could easily be convinced it was made by four different producers, each with their own master drum programming. The title track is the most memorable, inspired by the jazz, swing and bossa nova of Poitier's anime soundtrack collection. Zesty horn riffs are looped over a chunky disco house beat loaded with shakers and cowbell. It's one of those tracks that would steal the spotlight in any mix.
The other tracks are subtler. "Lowside Heights" has a downcast chord progression and detached vocals from Poitier himself, while "Gasp + Grasp" is moody house with horns flown in from some dub record, replete with vintage '70s-style delay. "Phakie Phattie" takes the cake, with psychedelic panning and drums that seem to fold in on themselves.
Tracklist01. Temperado Tornado
02. Phakie Phattie
03. Lowside Heights
04. Gasp & Grasp