Weekend At Raymond’s Place

Butter Side Up’s 12th release, ‘Weekend at Raymond’s Place’ comes from San Diego’s hotly tipped John Manhard. A densely textured and unpredictable six-track EP whose languid groove and swing will sound equally sweet warming up a dancefloor or late into the following day. Based in LA and resident of cult party V:isions, John’s been on a roll of late, with releases on the likes of Mui Mui, Perfect Timings & InTheBagg (alongside Dylan Payne) cementing him as a singular producer with an impressively broad reference board. The EP’s first track, ‘Shake Your Body’ immediately gets under the skin, a bouncy groove and synth-line pulling you under its command. Over the next 30-odd minutes the spell doesn’t lift – deep house tropes twist and turn playfully over shuffling breaks and swinging basslines, reminiscent of West-Coast house’s finer moments. Manhard’s studio-craft and ear for the unpredictable give a fresh perspective to a much revered and distinctively Pacific-coast sound. This is music for the fuzzy margins either side of peak time. It’s fitting that Hamish first met and heard John’s music at a hazy afters in LA back in 2022, drawn to a selection of tracks which were largely his own. Two years later these ideas have refined to form another stellar release on