The Standard

Saturday August 18, Zev Le Wolf is back at Le Bain for another Wolf+Lamb wild night - this time with William Rauscher (a.k.a. Night Plane) as a special guest. William has been an early fan of the W+L label and is one of the up-and-coming artists in the family, with his first album to be released soon. Get ready for the deepest and sexiest New York party. Below Night Plane has selected his favorite Wolf+Lamb tracks for a Standard exclusive playlist.

William Rauscher aka Night Plane

1. Night Plane’s Super Favorites:
2. It’s inevitably hard to cull a list of favorites out of a label with a discography as intense as Wolf + Lamb’s. Here’s seven W+L tracks that either changed my life, stayed stuck in my head endlessly, or made me wish I’d recorded them.
   

Wolf+Lamb If U Had (Shaun Reeves Edit)

The first time I heard W+L was on an Ibiza Voice podcast mixed by Seth Troxler. It was all tracks that hadn’t come out yet. I had an epiphany while I was listening to it. I distinctly remember thinking “this is what house should sound like.” It was stripped as hell, sexy in a mysterious way, and a tad otherworldly. “If U Had” sums up that sound to me. It repurposes a haunting Gladys Knight vocal, laying her soulful yearning over a deep, almost absurdly minimalist groove and some laser noises. An early track that I think is still one of the best they’ve ever put to wax.

Gadi Mizrahi I’ll Set Your House

Another track from the same era as “If You Had” that really struck me. I felt like I waited forever for it to get released after hearing it in that podcast. I have no idea how Gadi made the vocal sample sound that way. It’s super mangled and creepy. I am fascinated and frustrated when I can’t figure out how something was recorded. The track is also a great lesson in deepness – it doesn’t flow in a linear way, doesn’t simply build and build and climax and then release, instead it wanders around in a shadowy underground world.

Zev Don’t Break It

I first heard Soul Clap play this at Love in New York. Absolutely killer vocal that Zev claims he doesn’t remember where he got it from. Remarkably minimalist production: vocal, some shuffling drums that never change, a kind of acid-y sound. Done. Instant anthem. And then there’s that weird-ass modulation when she sings “IIIIIIIIIIIII can’t take it!!!” that just smashes people in the face on the dancefloor. Also it’s great to have crying sounds. Non-linguistic human voice sounds are always effective in tracks - crying, moaning, laughing, sighing – because they send pure emotional signals.

Soul Clap Love Light

In 2009 Wolf + Lamb started their Black Label edits series with a couple of cuts from a fresh-faced Boston duo called Soul Clap. Not hard to see why – this one and its partner “Conscience” are just ridiculous. “Love Light” taught me how to edit, and after the big trend of dance edits has kind of subsided this one still stands out because it’s so well-constructed. It has all kinds of peaks and valleys and uses flurries of delay as a means of moving from section to section. And like many of W+L’s finer moments, it’s very versatile – you can play “Love Light” on the dancefloor, at home, in the dentist’s office, and it will do the job every time.

Lonely C & Baby Prince Be Yourself

One thing that you might know about W+L is that they are relentless comedians and shit-talkers. I think that comes out on this EP, which is a collab between Charlie from Soul Clap and Gadi under their solo aliases. For example, another song on this release is called “Herpulese & Love Disease.” “Just Be Yourself” features Charlie (I think) talking in a Noo Yawk guido voice, spewing that sort of self-important hot-air nonsense you sometimes hear nightlife promoters say and I’m sure as a DJ he’s heard one million times. It’s completely hilarious. And then Gadi (I think) replies by admonishing “just be yourself…” I love the production too, especially the weird, noodly keyboard line. It’s the kind of line that doesn’t sound like a human person played it, it sounds like the keyboard is just humming something to itself.

Tanner Ross Goodbye Summer

Last year at WMC I was in the booth during the Wolf + Lamb label showcase while Tanner played. He spun all his own stuff. I was really taken with how spare, careful and melodic everything was. He kept the party going even though sometimes there was just a flute playing or something. You could really feel the negative space that drew you in and made you listen closer. Tanner’s abundant production talent is evident on this cut from the posse album that is the Wolf + Lamb vs. Soul Clap DJ Kicks – you can hear the graceful song elements and the wobbly-wobble bass notes that have since become Tanner trademarks.

Double Hill Wanna Get

This one is from the Gadi-run W+L sister label Double Standard. I don’t know who Double Hill is, but “Wanna Get” never gets old. It’s an artfully produced deep house cut with great fuzzy keys and tasteful xylophone decoration. There’s nothing more that DJs love (and I am completely making this up because I am a live performer not a DJ) than a track they know will work every time, and “Wanna Get” certainly fits that description. It’s a spot-on sexy back-room soundtrack that instantly makes me recall all those darkly-lit intimate milieus with sweaty strangers where I’ve heard it play.

Saturday August 18, Le Bain presents a Wolf + Lamb night featuring Zev Le Wolf and Night Plane. The Standard, New York. Doors 11pm.