These were Guidance Recordings’ third and fourth releases. The label went to my place of birth, Glasgow, Scotland, for these and both are classics in their own right. The Fresh & Low EP is deep as fuck house and the Blueboy EP contained the soon to be hammered in every club, restaurant, and clothing store, “Remember Me.” My gut feeling about Guidance was that it was going to be a definitive label of the ’90s and onwards. I was right, Guidance went on to really stand out among the other fine labels from the U.S. and Europe. However, it’s great to remember back to these first, seminal releases and revisit that sense of excitement when the needle fell on the tracks for the first time and the nothing was set in stone, Guidance was just another new label among many new labels.

Fresh & Low – Wind on Water EP
Blueboy – Scattered Emotions EP
Guidance/US/12
Two of Scotland’s finest deep house manufacturers get their stuff out via the forward looking chaps at Guidance in Chicago. Fresh & Low, who have given us tracks on DIY’s imprint, opt for kicky, bass-heavy and sparse mood alterers that prove the less is more adage once again. All four tracks are of a high quality but “Intersect” really does it for me with its excellent beatage, bounding bassage, washed out stringage and oth-erworldly keyboardage. Get my message? Blueboy also offer four excellent tracks, from the warped disco of ‘So Lonely” and “Funky Friday” to the Detroit dynamics of  “Clickwork ’91” and the soulful hip nop of “Remember Me” Scotland is certainly becoming a place to watch and Guidance is a label to watch, so keep watching. Chris Orr