We continue our new feature series in which we ask producers, DJs and electronic artists to pick out the records that define their ‘house’.
Here, idiosyncratic producer, world-renowned DJ and SNATCH! Records founder Riva Starr makes his personal section.
THE FIRST HOUSE RECORD I EVER MADE
Riva Starr ‘Bubble’
The first house record I ever made as Riva Starr was ‘Bubble’. I made it way back in 2005 and it was eventually released on Dirtybird in 2007. Riva Starr was devised as a new alias to be a clean break from my breakbeat alter-ego Madox. You can still hear the breakbeat influences in there and that’s why a label like Dirtybird picked it up. It’s an old record now, but to me it still sounds fresh after 10 years!
THE TRACK THAT REINVIGORATED MY PASSION FOR HOUSE
Solid Groove ‘This Is Sick’
This is the record that got me into house music again after I went through a fairly sustained breakbeat/drum ’n’ bass period. Thick grooves, sexy vocal and a wild bass. Switch and Jesse at their best. Still a classic nowdays.
THE TRACK I PLAY THE MOST IN MY SETS
Audion ‘Mouth To Mouth’
A track that always gets spins from me every now and then and that will NOT be leaving my record bag anytime soon is Audion ‘Mouth To Mouth’. It’s one of those records that I wish I had made; it sounds so fresh after so many years and still rocks the crowd like a boss.
THE TRACK THAT REMINDS ME OF MY YOUTH
The Chemical Brothers ‘Leave Home’
This is the record that really sums up what I was playing as a kid back in the ‘90s. I remember I had to buy a second vinyl of this as I played so much the first one that the needle couldn’t read it anymore. It’s breakbeat, electronica and rock all blended in a pure energy dancefloor bomb. There so many tracks from people like Leftfield and Underworld that I could also have included here, but this is probably the one record that sums it up for me.
THE RECORD I LIKE TO CHILL TO
Massive Attack 'Protection'
A classic that I always like to pick and play in my chill time is Massive Attack’s album Protection, particularly the single of the same name sung by the amazing Tracey Thorn: probably the stand-out tracks from this seminal album from the Bristolian collective.
Square Pegs, Round Holes: 5 Years of SNATCH! is out 24 May 2015 (Digital) on Snatch! Records/ITH - order from iTunes An album sampler is available now from Beatport / Traxsource / DStore
Riva Starr plays for Defected Gets Physical at Fire 12 September - click for full line-up and tickets
