25 May 2009 marks the release of ‘The Wired EP’ by Sheffield’s leading purveyor of red-hot underground house D Ramirez, on his own Slave imprint. Both original tracks ‘Wired’ and ‘Road Of Excess’ feature the vocals of LDV, a mysteriously anonymous star, also from the steel city. Remixes come courtesy of house and techno veteran Rob Babicz and D. Ramirez himself.

Already championed by Pete Tong on Radio 1’s Essential Selection, ‘Wired’ is Inspired by the artist’s home town of Sheffield and its industrial past. Heavy on the bleeps synonymous with the town, ‘Wired’ is dark and searing electronic house, featuring pitched-down vocals that recall that other home of machine-inspired funk, Detroit. The production is tight, the energy is unrelenting and the drops are heavy.

Second up is the masterful, Robert Babicz remix of ‘Wired’, a particular favourite of Ramirez that’s been a heavy staple on his recent storming sets. The aggression of the original mix is tamed and replaced with a deeper, housey groove, which teases out the vocals, dowsed in effects to create a trippy remake of epic proportions.

Not your average hedonistic dance music fayre, track 3 ‘Road Of Excess’ was inspired by the ramblings of William Blake no less. A hooky, twisted vocal from the undercover LDV, further provokes the question, “who is this man?” As tweaky and wonky as it is sexy, this is Ramirez at his best.

He still treats us to an extra solo D.Ramirez mix, though. It catches Ramirez in a vibe which sums up his current DJ sets perfectly. The energy is there, but there’s a sinister and deeper undercurrent which permeates the track, providing a real standout club anthem, which more than indicates the future of Slave, musically speaking.

‘The Road Of Excess’ originally featured on the Azuli ‘Headliners’ compilation which D.Ramirez mixed. It was one of the four singles that were written exclusively for the comp. ‘The Road Of Excess’ has been re-produced and re-mixed with a fatter mix-down and added drama in the breakdowns.