Goin Up

Geneva-born, NYC-bred DJ Olive T has spent years spinning other people’s records, so it’s fitting that her debut label EP arrives with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what the dancefloor needs. Goin Up, released on San Diego’s Bouquet. Records, is a four-track slice of 90s New York house and techno that wears its influences on its sleeve—the sort of record Bandcamp Daily tipped for its Frankie Bones and Lenny Dee energy, and you can hear why.

Opener Opaque is the mission statement: a raw, uncompromising 909-driven workout where the kick sits proudly at the front and the hats hiss with a pre-2000s disregard for polish. Above it all float chords that feel bathed in the first light of an after-hours sunrise, giving the track a warmth that balances its rugged rhythm section. This Is A Bop follows the same blueprint but leans further into the swing, its vocal stabs and loose, lo-fi percussion channelling that early-90s warehouse spirit with real affection rather than mere pastiche.

The remixes on the B-side are where the EP reveals its versatility. Matt Karmil’s rework of Opaque strips things back, letting the space between the drums breathe and coaxing out a more hypnotic, heads-down mood that suits the morning crowd, while Tiro!‘s take on This Is A Bop stretches the track to a little over seven minutes, adding a deeper bassline and letting the groove roll out at a pace built for the peak of a long night.

Goin Up isn’t a record trying to reinvent anything, and that’s very much the point. It’s unpolished, direct and steeped in the history of the city that made it, and for a debutant it shows a remarkably assured hand. Olive T clearly understands that the best house music doesn’t need to be complicated—it just needs to move you, and this does, relentlessly.