Ben Watt’s well-documented reinvention from singer/songwriter and platinum-selling international pop star (with Everything But The Girl) to successful (and underground credible) DJ, club entrepreneur and label owner has been a fascinating transformation.
”Lose Control” by Darkmountaingroup
Through his crowd-pleasing marathon sets at top venues across the globe, original productions, energized re-workings of tracks by Sade, Me’shell Ndegeocello, Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia, Ananda Project, Zero 7 and Low, and his indispensable Buzzin’ Fly imprint, Watt has carved out a formidable legacy as one of dance music’s most fervent devotees. Since launching in 2003, the Buzzin’ Fly has become a leading dance music institution, acclaimed for its unmistakable artwork, website, radio show, rocking parties and edgy, floor-filling releases from an eclectic roster of rising newcomers like Justin Martin, Darkmountaingroup, Manoo and Francois A and Abyss. To commemorate their fifth anniversary, Ben has carefully assembled a definitive 27-track, 3-disc anthology highlighting the label’s dynamic output. The unmixed set (ideal for DJs and collectors) features a treasure trove of fiery dancefloor nuggets from the now-legendary imprint’s vaults—past, present and future. Disc One, Up, is a potent retrospective, culling ten of their most successful and essential anthems including Justin Martin’s “The Sad Piano” (Charles Webster remix), Rodamaal feat. Claudia Franco “Insomnia” (Ame remix) and Watt’s own classics “Lone Cat” and “A Stronger Man” feat. Sananda Maitreya (aka Terence Trent D’Arby). Disc Two, Down, is a much deeper, darker and moodier affair, showcasing the label’s more eclectic and sublime titles such as Unity’s incandescent “I Love You,” Automagic’s “Do You Feel?,” Nova Dream Sequence’s expansive re-imagining of Lephtee’s “So Far Back” and John Tejada’s retro-futuristic re-rub of Jimpster’s “Square Up.” Disc Three, Forward, neatly closes the collection with seven newly-signed tracks from the label’s next wave of emerging innovators including London’s own Spencer Parker, Hamburg’s Martin Stimming and St. Petersburg discovery BarBQ.
