The Rurals - "No Sunshine" Stockholm Mix Sessions by Jesper Dahlbäck 1999 Deep House
It's pretty shocking to me what a blind spot both AllMusic and Wikipedia seem to have for Bristol's Andy Compton and his Rurals project, because for someone who's been so prolific in putting down consistently quality jazzy and soulful deep house jams since the mid-90s, you'd think one of those websites would have at least one or two sentences to say about the guy, but neither of them do; and that's honestly criminal, because he really is so fucking good at what he does.
Andy began his deep house career in around '93, but in '99, he also launched his own label, Peng, which has largely served as an outlet to release his own work, and is still up and running to this very day. The first thing he ever released on Peng was a 12-inch called Once Again, which closed out with this female vocal beaut, "No Sunshine," whose glisteningly chilly keyboard tones and unrelenting use of chirping bird nature sounds are guaranteed to make you feel like you're dazing and vibing out in a forest that is so enormous and covered in trees that the sunbeams from above can't even penetrate the ground during the daytime. And combine that setup with a multi-layered drum-track that, in addition to its four-on-the-floor kicks also includes ones that are deliberately lo-fi and choppy, and another drum with a really nice popping sound, and you've got something that seems to be more or less representative of Andy's own sublime and meticulously delicious handicraft 🙌.
Featured here as it appears on Sweden native Jesper Dahlbäck's excellent Stockholm Mix Sessions mix for Montreal label Turbo Recordings that was released the same year as this song.
