TuneLab
AUNTIE FLO afro-tek set in The Lab LDN
The term ‘afro-tek’ gets thrown around a lot, usually by people who own one copy of ‘Pata Pata.’ Auntie Flo is here to school us all, and we are dutiful, note-taking pupils in the front row. The Lab LDN feels transformed, thick with humid, percussive energy and the warm glow of analog equipment. This is a masterclass in Afro-house, operating at a patient 115 BPM average, with the hypnotic, minor-key pull of 7A establishing a deep, trance-like groove.
The energy is overwhelmingly low-end focused at 64%, a physical, chest-rattling foundation that lets intricate mid-range percussion and vocal snippets dance on top. Flo’s mixing is organic and dubby, with long, overlapping blends that emphasize texture over abrupt change. The opening salvo, OSKIDO’s ‘Tsa Ma Ndebele’ via Manoo’s remix, is a statement of intent: authentic, driving, and spiritually charged.
From there, we get the timeless, aquatic throb of Osunlade’s ‘Pheramones’ and the raw, tribal pulse of Pablo Fierro’s ‘Tembo.’ The true journey track is Jerome Sydenham & Dennis Ferrer’s epic ‘Sandcastles,’ a twelve-minute dive into deep, jazzy house that feels like a reward for paying attention. It kicks off with that OSKIDO remix, finds its hypnotic peak in the relentless drive of ‘Sandcastles,’ and dissolves into the traditional folk cadence of Ozo’s ‘Anambra,’ leaving us in a state of blissful disorientation.