The Essential Omar-S

Omar-S doesn't need a massive introduction — if you know, you know. If you don't, then you've probably not stepped foot in a club in the last decade. The Detroit producer, DJ, and label owner — his own FXHE imprint the only place to find his raw, churning, metallic house jams — is undoubtedly one of the big boys of the scene. He's brash, bold and brassy. How many other dudes out there can get away with stuffing a Fabric mix with their own material and then denying any knowledge of Ricardo Villalobos?

Alex Smith is a force to be reckoned with, a one man assembly line of tight and taut club ready jams that turn on a sixpence, a craftsman who works with simple materials — the eternal throb of a 4/4, the click and clash of cheap snares and hats, the chime and churn of pads and organ presets — and spins them into total gold.

Given that this month saw the release of another smasher — this time with sometime-collaborator OB Ignitt — we thought we'd spin through a healthy batch of the main man's best moments. Open an office/bedroom window and get these cranked on full. Even Sandra from accounts/your dad might get something out of it.

"Romancing the Stone"

"Romancing the Stone", presumably named after the pretty terrible 1984 Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner jungle romp, shows off Smith's sensitive side. It's a gorgeously icy, sensual slab of sadlad deep house. Pads waft over and under diving bell deep organ chords, delicate pianos curlicue, and the whole thing's underpinned by the biggest kick you've heard since Kerri Chandler started fucking about with his 808s way back when. Perfect for those times when you want to leave the club drenched in your own tears.

"Day (A1)"

I have to admit, my judgement of this tune has been altered forever by the fan-made video above. I can now only think of "Day" — a spectrally subtle, slinky, dusty, lithe groove paired with a floating, ephemeral, ethereal Supremes sample — as a front garden or carpark dancer's anthem.

Omar S Presents Aaron "Fit" Siegel Feat. L'Renee - "Tonite (Detroit Mix)"

Sometimes, quite often in fact, there's nothing better in this world than hands in the air, upfront, no-fucking-about piano house. This is a perfect slice of that. If it doesn't make you want to hit the nearest Wetherspoons for five pints, a Cheeky V and a Jaegerbomb or two before going out to any fucking club that'll let you in, then there's something deeply, deeply wrong with you. A joyful paean to the transcendental joys of nightlife.

Omar S and OB Ignitt - "Wayne County Hill Cop's (Original Mix)"

Another collaborative classic here, seeing Omar team up with fellow Motor City man, OB Ignitt. As it's title suggests, "Wayne County Hill Cop's" comes on like some long lost cop-show theme tune. A glossy, high end, probably Miami based police procedural stuffed to the gills with coke busts, bank heists, rainy neon, luridly long strip club scenes, facial hair straight out of a dodgy porno, thick plumes of Cuban cigar smoke, endless avenues blocked with health-and-safety-bothering cardboard boxes and a hard drinking superintendent with a heart of gold.

"Just Ask the Lonely"

To paraphrase Peter Kay's sadly forgotten Marc Park, this one's full of PUM: Pure, unadulterated melancholy.

"Strider's World"

"Strider's World" is an absolute stormer, a slow-motion sci-fi grinder that literally, well, strides through the room, chirruping and chirping maniacally. It's like an arcade machine where the aim of the game is to traipse through some seriously brutal, abandoned chemistry lab in a deep, dark, dank part of the former USSR. Except it's incredible, rather than as joylessly squalid and grim as that game sounds. Perfect for those November evenings when you want to make strolling to Tesco in the rain to pick up an avocado and some Cushelle feel really, really important.

"Blade Runner"

Do you like being terrified by music? Do you listen to Wolf Eyes for pleasure? Do you bang Regis mixes in the car? Is your favourite moment in any song ever the bit in "Dominator" by Human Resource when the fire alarm kicks in and it sounds like you're being dragged into the very depths of hell? You do? And it is? Here's just the thing for you. For the purposes of this article I pretended to play my mum this down the phone and my mum, again, for the purposes of this article, pretended that she found it so dark and disturbing that she refused to speak to me for a fortnight.

"Here's Your Trance, Now Dance!!"

DO IT! DANCE NOW! DO IT!

"Flying Blind"

This one's delicate. Super delicate. Like, "touch it slightly too hard, but ever so slightly mind you, yes, that slightly," and it'd smash into smithereens delicate. Probably a good Omar-S tune to make love to if you've found someone in your life who'd let you make love with an Omar-S soundtrack rather than the muffled blurting of whatever's playing to a crowd of none via Netflix from a laptop that's now sat under a pile of underwear and grubby t-shirts. If you've found the special someone, congratulations!

"Psychotic Photosynthesis"

No list of Omar S' biggest smashes to date would be complete without a nod towards what's arguably his best known and biggest track. "Psychotic Photosynsthesis" — a stone cold classic in it's own right — forms the centrepiece of Smith's flawless contribution to the Fabric mix series. Few records are as perfectly paced, immaculately conceived or as maddeningly perfect as this. It builds and builds, bobs and weaves, shuddering to climax after climax. It's restrained yet maximal, malleable yet firm, utterly organic yet unlike anything else out there. An undeniable masterpiece.

Editor's Note: Somehow the UK team forgot to include "Set It Out" from AOS 002, we deeply apologize for their massive oversight.

"Set It Out"

Omar-S doesn't do social media.

Josh Baines does.