- As much as I like FaltyDL's albums, I tend to prefer the New York producer's singles and EPs. There's so much going on in his music—rhythmically, harmonically, timbrally—that it often benefits from the focus imposed by a narrower frame. And these two tracks are remarkably focused, like lasers. "Make It Difficult" is a 125 BPM house cut with all the requisite vintage touches—moody chords, repeated vocal phrases, a plunging bassline vaguely reminiscent of Blaze's "Lovelee Dae"—but it's FaltyDL's signature that predominates, as drum machines and breakbeats come together in a wild, rhythmic scrum, jostling for possession of the groove.
A hair or two faster, "Jack Your Job" hones in on white-hot open hi-hats and staccato handclaps, carving out a jagged course that overflows with supersaturated samples—keyboards, voices, even an unexpected snatch of jazz flute. (Maybe what's unexpected is that the latter works so well—jazz flute being, you know, jazz flute.) The only quibble might be the predominance of a voice declaiming in the unmistakable cadence of an African-American preacher, a trope that's been done to death in house music. That the voice apparently is that of Louis Farrakhan, at least according to the press release, would seem to run counter to house music's spirit of equality, not to mention its roots in gay culture. Sure, it sounds compelling—a thick, meaty voice shouting "Control over your job!"—but it muddies the waters, scattering FaltyDL's otherwise laser-like focus.
Tracklist A Make It Difficult
B Jack Your Job