The 17th release from the Amsterdam based Area Remote label comes from in demand producer Butch - best known for his previous works on Trapez and Great Stuff. Here he teams up with DJ/vocalist Virginia for an edge-of-your-seat peak hour thriller along with a satchel full of remixes and B-sides.

Mass Appeal opens the EP with a strong samba beat and some great popping and bubbling sounds that blend perfectly with the ambiance of any DJ stuck on a Saturday night at the local liquor sling. Far from being grimy and dank like the above mentioned booze pits, the track morphs into a soulful main room floor filler thanks to a Butch trademarked bass line. The line is deep and warm like any good house track's but as it slinks up the sequence into something more flavorful it becomes obvious there is something special about this cut. Virginia's vocals on here add little more than percussive texture and gentle urging to an already dynamic A-side but also do little to detract from this hit in the making.

The B-side Free heads off in the opposite direction with a slower, funked out early night groover. Here, Butch shows off his R&B background with a throwaway track that references Miguel Migs with sultry San Francisco house laced movement via Sao Paulo. “Free” also has some nice cinematic, almost down-tempo qualities courtesy of excellent rainy day percussion work and earthy Rhodes piano melodies. Virginia's vocals soar on this song making it the centerpiece of her work on this EP.

Las Vegas born Julie Marghilano turns in a super deep version of Mass Appeal that doesn't try to outdo the original, instead choosing to focus on creating a dark, percussive atmosphere. The remix is perfect for late night jocks always on the hunt for something a little different and left of center. Marghilano also cleverly reworks the vocals on the original into something a little more upfront on the re-rub.

The last three mixes on this EP are found only on the digital version with Butch himself handling a clubbier edit of Free that brings more juice in the form of bass to this gentle deep houser without abandoning its lilting qualities. He also re-does the A-side as a dub that really belongs as a companion piece to the original. This mix just isn't strong enough to stand on its own but could be perfectly mixed into, augmenting the original as one big gyrating dance-floor anthem. Mysterious newcomer Stipe (not Michael-BTW) adds some nice cowbells to a radically re-crafted dub version of Free that contains none of the down-tempo qualities, instead opting for a nice bonus beats house version, again for picky jocks on the prowl for something unique.

Track-listing:

1. Mass Appeal
2. Free
3. Mass Appeal (Julie Marghilano Remix)
4. Free (club edit)
5. Mass Appeal (dub)
6. Free (Stipe rmx)