Locked Groove “Keep Thorough”
Locked Groove‘s “Keep Thorough” served as a highlight on Turbo’s somewhat inexplicably Miami-themed compilation earlier […]
Locked Groove‘s “Keep Thorough” served as a highlight on Turbo’s somewhat inexplicably Miami-themed compilation earlier this year. Now, placed under the microscope again on its very own 12″, the stripped-down house tune still proves to be a worthwhile effort, especially when joined by reworks from Dutch duo Juju & Jordash and budding Montreal resident Iron Galaxy.
If Locked Groove has demonstrated anything with the continuous stream of records he’s penned so far this year, it’s that he is certainly no one-trick pony. “Keep Thorough” continues to carry that torch, showing the Belgian producer’s ability to spin sunken house grooves and quasi-tropical percussion seamlessly into his production sphere. It’s not that the end result sounds completely unlike any other Locked Groove production, but “Keep Thorough” is certainly a bit of a sidetrack from the man’s more usual fare, albeit one that still fits the man’s reputation for delivering loaded dancefloor excursions.
While the original track finds Locked Groove letting a bit loose, the normally adventurous Juju & Jordash duo actually seems to tighten up on its remix contribution. The pair creates a sharp rhythmic grid that holds the track together tightly between a deeply stretched bassline on the bottom and gorgeous, organ-like synth pads on the top. Iron Galaxy takes a similarly direct path with his rework, dipping Locked Groove’s churning rhythms into a bath of hi-fi gloss, but still electing to hold the tune’s high-end elements up using a bevy of analog tones.
When all is said and done, it can be hard to choose a highlight from the three separate versions of “Keep Thorough” presented here—each strikes a similar vibe while taking enjoyably distinct paths to get there. Perhaps this is just one of those rare cases when a months-old track and its two accompanying remixes actually make for a rather essential 12″ record.