Tortured Soul Will House You

ill Mami | 01/29/2008 at 1:00 PM | Comments (6)

The premise of Tortured Soul is easy enough: live house music.

Yes.

Live. House. Music.

I'm not talking about DJs rocking the house with live percussion or other instrumentation. I'm talking about live, deep house music that makes you forget about whatever your previous problems were and dance like your life depended on it.

Those of you already familiar with Tortured Soul and their remixed songs by remix master DJ Spinna are probably asking why we are deciding to feature them now. I guess maybe because I'm hoping that this will somehow start the clamor for them to release new material or perhaps play a live show close to me (which for any TS members who may read this is in LA).

Introducing Tortured Soul, released in 2004, created quite a stir within the deep house community, especially as they toured extensively and their live shows began recruiting a sizable fan base. I can honestly say that, after attending a show of theirs in 2004 where they were only supposed to play for 45 mintues and ended up playing for over 2 hours, barring Run DMC's 1987 Tougher Than Leather Tour, seeing TS live was one of the best shows that I have ever seen.

Brooklyn-based Tortured Soul, comprised of Christian Ulrich on lead vocals (and whose falsetto is even more amazing seen than heard) and drums, Ethan White on keyboards, and JKriv on bass and backing vocals, have a tendency to look like those missionaries on bicycles found in inner city neighborhoods of the Northeast, especially with their uniform of white short-sleeved oxford shirts, skinny black ties, and black pants. But, trust me, the only word their spreading is that house music is the truth. And you'd best believe it.

Tortured Soul: "Always In Heaven When I'm With You (DJ Spinna mix)"

DJ Spinna feat. Christian Ulrich from Tortured Soul: "Show Us How You Fly"

Tortured Soul [Official] [MySpace]

Tags: dj spinna, tortured soul

Comments

im in love. thank you for introducing them to me!

tea | January 30, 2008 4:52 AM | Permalink

trivia note:

Christian Ulrich is also a founding member of Cooly's Hotbox.

Can't believe it's been almost 7 years since I Might Do Something Wrong was unleashed on the planet's dancefloors. I had only been spinning house for about a year then. I bought that 12-inch from Dance Tracks in NYC. I'll always associate my journey into house with that record, as well as everything Yoruba was doing at the time and this compilation.

ahhh... memories.

First saw Tortured Soul live in '03 at DC Sanctuary. I think the best time I've seen them was at Club Five but I heard they mashed up 9:30 Club. I would have liked to see that to observe all the folks going crazy that didn't realize they loved house music until the moment the band started playing.

DJStylus | January 29, 2008 9:15 PM | Permalink

Tortured Soul is the hotness. I got hip to them in '05. I need to add them to my long list of shows I need to catch. Good looking out on the feature.

Butta | January 29, 2008 7:41 PM | Permalink

Come see them in Miami during the Winter Music Conference in March! I have a mad mad crush on Christian. You can also check out http://www.usualsuspect.us for video footage of one of their live shows.

sfsinger | January 29, 2008 6:45 PM | Permalink

ahhh the sweet melodic memories! glad to see them getting a lil love here on SB! good job. :)

che | January 29, 2008 3:39 PM | Permalink

LOVE THEM!!!! Saw them once at the 9:30 Club and they were hot!

TM | January 29, 2008 1:27 PM | Permalink