Single Review
Le Le – Disco Vraiment | Single Review
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | Single Review | 1 Comment
I can’t seem to find much about Le Le. All I know is that they’re a French/German pop outfit with an indie edge, or maybe that’s the other way round. Either way their latest release bypasses most of that to take a big hit of Disco influence which sees them take on a bit of an In Flagranti guise. On this release there is only one track called Disco Vraiment and it is quite simply an infectious combination of disco loops over a big beat. It’s simple and it works. The up beat rhythm makes it highly danceable whilst the disco loops inject plenty of funk. This is sure to go down well with the recent influx of italo and cosmic disco out there. There is a radio and long version, but the only difference is one is longer than the other. And that’s about all that can be said on the matter.
Tracklist:
1. Disco Vraiment (Radio Edit)
2. Disco Vraiment (Original Mix)
Benny Rodriguez – I Like EP | Single Review
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
The Shlomi Aber stable Be As One delivers two cuts of old skool influenced house by Rotterdam’s Benny Rodriquez. According to his press write up, Benny seems to have been around a bit, from multiple festival gigs at Dance Valley and DEMF to tours with Josh Wink. So with a fair bit of history behind him Benny has injected some of that into his latest release.
Title track I Like is a full on Roland 909 work out with the bulk of the track revolving around classic cow bells and kick drums as echoed sonar blips provide a slight hook. Whilst the groove is catchy, Benny doesn’t really keep it as interesting as he could do, causing the track to stagnate as the same loop keeps coming and coming. It has to be said the real gem on this release is the b-side Reel. It’s looped funked up house beat and bass repeatedly punctuated by a snippet of a hypnotic jazz organ creates a simple and fun track which will get many bums a shakin’. And for me this is the true old house sound where a simple infectious groove was enough to run any party.
DJ Hell – The Angst Part 1 & The Angst Part 2 | Single Review
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
The first single from DJ Hell’s new album Teufelswerk is to be The Angst & The Angst Part 2 where DJ Hell binds guitar folk melodies with the electronic preciseness of the techno and synth pop genres. The entire track is a massive progression from the folk end of the spectrum to the electronic. It begins with a gently strummed guitar riff which casually unfolds to subtle electronic beats and undertones, which gives it a slight Radiohead feel. As the track progresses, soaring vocal harmonies begin to carry the track away from the guitars towards the electronic end of the spectrum. Come the half way point and The Angst has completely transformed into a pulsating techno track with flashes of white noise and distorted synths. It’s an interesting and quite epic journey but I do wonder whether the full on techno ending is really needed.
Henrik Schwarz on the other hand offers to make The Angst a bit more formal by providing his “Innervision”. From the very beginning Schwarz sets out to create a techno come house track, using the folk elements to add texture to the track. The vocal harmonies are brought in early on to help with the gradual build of the intro. As more and more elements slide into the mix the track finally bursts at the seams with a distorted wall of synths. Whilst it is a little too drawn out it is a good interpretation of the original. However with this being Henrik Schwarz I was expecting a little more from him to make it more epic.
Tracklist (Click for Mp3):
1. The Angst & The Angst Pt. 2 [Original]
2. The Angst [Henrik Schwarz remix]
Adultnapper – Anglia EP | Single Review
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
New York’s Adultnapper debuts his Anglia EP for digital spin off Crosstown Digital Rebels. The former punk rocker delivers a two track EP entrenched in tripped out electronic sounds. First track You Just Arrive manages to fill every crevice of the low end spectrum with an incredibly warm and spacious bassline. That bassline lazily lugs itself around whilst an infectious pattern of castanets pop and click alongside a haunting piano hook and an occasional wailing outburst from a vocal sample. Its dark and moody overtones do well to engulf you in what is a deep and infectious work out.
Second track Other People keeps with the eeriness opting for a shuffling beat to compliment another fine and full bassline. Multiple synth lines of a haunting flavour descend on to the track creating a dreamy and mysterious atmosphere. It’s a murky mixture of basslines and synths scored with sharp animal sounding stabs equals another decent deep and moody house track.
Tracklist:
01. You Just Arrive
02. Other People
Mobilee Back to Back Remixes Part 1 and 2 | Single Review
Friday, February 20th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Mobilee start the year with a double remix package to support Miss Jools forthcoming Back to Back compilation. For her complilation Miss Jools chooses her top Mobilee picks from 2008 on the first CD and then on the second CD she mixes a compilation of Mobilee remixes. And its that second CD which has spurred this double release.
Part 1 sees one of Mobilee’s finest Sebo K remixed by Nick Curly and Efdemin. The 8Bit and Cécile records extravaganza Nick Curly takes on Sebo’s Diva, one of last year’s biggest Mobile releases. The original was a ballsy tribal monster with striking diva vocal snippets. Nick Curly totally transforms the track into his own. He saps out the ballsiness and swaps it for smooth funk. The first half of the track is spent building up to the first kick drum with crisp percussion and a slap bass funk line which slowly comes to the fore. When the kick drum releases all the pieces fall into place. The diva vocals are sparingly used and quite rightly so. The funk riff and crisp percussion is all it needs for the excellent house vibe Nick creates.
Franco Cangelli – Create Your Own Space EP | Single Review
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Franco Cangelli’s Create Your Own Space is the forthcoming EP on new upstart label Mowar. Hailing from that hot bed of talent that is Gent in little old Belgium, Franco has created his own little slice of Detroit. Locked On the first track on this package has futuristic layers which swell with intensity as glimmers of old skool percussion puncture through. It’s a no nonsense track with a full sound but I do wish it would crescendo somewhere along the way. Estoe’s remix adds a lighter touch by muting the percussion, throwing in some classic old skool wood blocks and making the riff smoother and lighter. Again the track moves in one direction but the airiness of the track itself creates the movement. A good interpretation.
On the flip we have title track Create Your Own Space, a track layered with string stabs and whirring space sounds which drifts over a bulbous bass and percussion arrangement. The result is a laidback yet slightly jittery track. The remix comes from Solab who re-jigs the track into a more peak time big room sound. He fills out the space of the original with fatter basslines and airy pads to create a quite progressive house sound reminiscent of the old Sasha and Digweed days.
A nice rounded package which hits different bases. Hopefully this is a label we’ll see grow over the coming year.
Buy Franco Cangelli tracks on MP3
Tracklist:
A1. Locked On
A2. Locked On (Estroe Mix)
B1. Create Your Own Space
B2. Create Your Own Space (Solab Mix)
Vibe Corner – Long Time Gone | Single Review
Monday, February 9th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Vibe Corner’s Long Time Gone is the first release for Mat Playford and Thomas Malo’s Architect Records. Long Time Gone delivers a cut of deep spaced out sounds precariously stretched over time. Restrained percussion and haunting pads patiently breeze through as the track gradually builds. Singular notes then trickle through as a sinister but subtle growling bassline begins to throb unleashing the full width of the track. It is a brilliant dark and moody track spoiled slightly by the vocal stabs that puncture through. I think the track would have been perfect without them. But that’s just a minor gripe.
On the remixes, label heads Mat Playford and Thomas Malo deliver their version of events. They stay with the moody theme and reuse much of the original parts. However a new bass riff compliments the trickling singular notes and the annoying vocal stabs are toned down to the background to transform the track into a warm prog workout. This is exactly what I would have done with the original. Perfect.
The other remix is Mat Playford’s KM5 remix which is a little head nod to the Balearic lounge bar. For this track Mat explores his ambient side swapping the progressive for sunkissed pads and sunset horns. The vocal stab is made more prominent but I guess that fits in with the whooshes of the strings. It certainly delivers a KM5 sunset moment but it hardly stands out from all the others. A well delivered warm and mellow track but hardly unique.
Tracklist (Click for Mp3):
1. Long Time Gone
2. Long Time Gone (Mat Playford & Thomas Malo Mix)
3. Long Time Gone (Mat Playford’s KM5 Mix)
Seth Troxler – Aphrika EP
Monday, January 19th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Seth Troxler’s Detroit upbringing has led to another experimental EP for Wolf and Lamb. Aphrika, the title track, is a simple but interesting track. A basic drum track of hollow tom toms and hi hats provide a subtle background for the spoken word monologue. As the monologue progresses prolonged synth lines slowly engulf the foreground in a warm blanket before taking hold to see the track out. Its subtle in its affect, but one you take notice of.
On the other side of this release is Seth Troxler’s remix of Nicholas Jaar’s The Student. It’s a contrasting mix of subdued and fierce percussion which slowly builds to a drop of trashy cymbal hits and splutters of electronic blips. The contrasting subdued percussion and guitar sample still runs throughout the track which creates this weird multidirectional pull. Its hard to make sense of which is ironically both detrimental and interesting at the same time.
Seth Troxler – Aphrika EP is out Feb ’09. Buy other Seth Troxler tracks from DJDownload.
Tracklist:
1. Seth Troxler – Aphrika
2. Nicholas Jaar – The Student (Seth Troxler Mix)
Riz MC – Radar Remixes | Single Review
Saturday, January 17th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Last year Crosstown Rebels released an electronica cross pollination track with Riz MC called Radar. To start the New Year Crosstown have come back with the remixes. The first comes from Ashley Beedle of X-Press 2 Fame. His Ill Communication mix starts with the angry, thundering percussion taken from the original. But it rather quickly transforms into a mellow and luscious track as sweeping strings soar to neutralise thundering percussion. The vocals awkwardly sit somewhere in between the two. And when the track fully metamorphoses into its cloud nine form, the vocals seem like they’ve been shoe horned in like a fat Essex girl in tight hot pants. If anything this should be a dub mix. EDIT – according to the press release there is a dub mix for the digital release only. So hopefully that will do the track justice.
The other mix in this package comes as a little venture into the Dubstep world. Sukh Knight uses a synonymous mechanical dubstep beat accented by light reggae/dub notes. Knight then excellently works the vocals in by taking snippets of the chorus, adding a vocoder effect to bring it inline with the mechanical nature of the track. The result is a raw and well worked remix.
Riz MC – Radar Remixes is released on vinyl 26th Jan/digital 9th Feb. Buy other Riz MC tracks from DJDownload
Tracklist:
1. Radar (Ashley Beedle’s ILL communication mix)
2. Radar (Sukh Knight remix)
3. Radar (Ashley Beedle Dub) (DIGITAL ONLY)
David Keno – Discoteca EP | Single Review
Saturday, January 17th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
David Keno makes his debut on Kindisch with his Discoteca release, a funk fuelled three track house EP. Title track Discoteca splices disco bites over a grooving house rhythm. The slithers of disco bass and guitar twangs swell the track with funk as a fidgety vocal snippet reminds you of the name. It’s very straight forward with no breaks making it the perfect lever to change gear with.
Second track Karacho has a similar level of funk fuelled fun with its cheeky bassline riff. But its use of sporadic single notes of various horns as a focal point isn’t particularly original and ultimately quite tedious. On the other side Grutane is a darker creature. Its staccato hook and subtle string sighs come together well and delivers a good release for the breakdown. A solid effort.
Buy David Keno tracks from DJDownload
Tracklist:
1. Discoteca
2. Karacho
3. Grutane
Shlomi Aber – Namego/Black EP | Single Review
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
There seems to be no stopping Shlomi Aber. Out of no where this little known Israeli producer has been making massive waves in the house/techno pool. After making a name for himself on Cocoon and Ovum, Aber has been pushing his own label for the past year with Namego/Black being the latest EP.
Namego is a fierce and energy filled techno number centring around punchy galloping beats and a shuffling bassline. There isn’t much width to this track, instead Shlomi tweaks and adjusts the existing elements to give the track body whilst using filters to create the breaks and drops. Its simple, effective techno. The production values are high but I do wonder if it sounds like the latest roll off from the big room techno conveyor belt that Dubfire et al all seem to be using.
On the flip we have Black, a tamer incarnation of Namego. Familiar beats are toned down whilst tribal elements are brought in to give the track some swing and groove. A whirring tribal chant sample cycles back and forth through the track to crystalise Shlomi’s aim of producing an African tribal-esque house come techno track. Nothing groundbreaking, but like so many of Shlomi Aber’s productions done to a very high standard.
Tracklist:
A. Namego
B. Black
Dyed Soundorom – Naked/Beautiful Eva EP | Single Review
Sunday, January 11th, 2009 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
The latest and only second release on Crosstown Rebel’s digital label comes from Parisians Dyed Soundorom. They’ve also roped in long time Detroit producer Aaron Carl for a vocal work out. A side Naked is a laidback deep house track where spaced out chord stabs are punctuated with the slightest of sonar blips. Aaron Carl lays down some breathy spoken word vocals in true US house style to produce a typical but effective deep house cut.
On the flip is Beautiful Eva, still keeping very much in the house vein, Dyed Soundorom turns to punchier percussion and quaint vocal samples as landmarks on a pretty flat house track. It has a great groove but lacks some spark to differentiate itself from the others.
Released 19th January exclusively on Beatport
Tracklist:
1. Naked
2. Beautiful Eva
Nick Curly – Critical Mass EP | Single Review
Friday, January 2nd, 2009 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
Episode 6 of the MurMur adventure. We’re a little late on this latest Nick Curly release which came out around the start of December. But we thought we should give it a mention for the New Year. Title track Critical Mass is a beautiful multi-faceted melodic number. Conservative beats provide the grounding for layer upon layer of hypnotic melodies which swirl and intertwine beautifully to create a muted crescendo.
Geddes remixes b-side Kalimba. He uses tumbling beats and basslines to edge closer to an understated three note riff breakdown. Blink and you’ll miss it. Classic deep hypnotic house with an infectious raw groove.
Tracklist:
1. Critical Mass
2. Kalimba (Geddes Mix)
3. Kalimba (Original Mix)
LDOE – Crimes | Single Review
Friday, December 5th, 2008 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
Classic are back! After being out of action for the last few years with the quirky chi town sound falling out of flavour they’re now on a revival with the recent upsurge of all things funk, disco, deep and house. New release Crimes by LDOE is the dab handed work of JT Donaldson and Chris Penny. They’ve created a Prince come punk funk amalgamation which struts some incredibly funky rhythms. Bass guitars slide over crunchy beats and an incredibly infectious Chinese style glockenspiel hook hits home. Add to that some vocals with a hint of attitude and a splash of cow bells and you’ve got the perfect funk strutting DFA Brooklyn loft party track.
On the remixes Luke Solomon attempts to take things darker. A deep growling bass throbs as the cow bells and percussion have been rearranged in a scatty mess with sporadic snippets of the vocal. It’s dark but too busy for my liking. You would need to get your timing perfect to drop this full on busy track.
And.ID – Sand on the Floor | Single Review
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
And.ID is Mobilee’s new signing. He must be a bit wet behind the ears because I can’t find any info about this person/group, plus the name And.ID doesn’t really lend itself to the Google search. So in clichéd style we’ll let his music do the talking.
First we’ll start with the mediocre b-side Acapulco which sees unified tribal beats forming the base as big “Audion Mouth to Mouth” style synths drop in the same haunting manner. It’s well produced but pretty run of the mill and too much like Audion for my liking.
However title track Sand on the Floor totally redeems the release. It has a great South American rhythm to it a la Luciano/Villalobos. The syncopated percussion provides a great urgency as more and more layers bubble to the surface. It simmers away slowly with various subtle layers phasing in and out as the occasional horn cuts through like a knife through butter. Its subtle movements and intricate layers accentuated by the horns make for a hypnotic rolling track. Great track, more of this And.ID less of the other.
Buy And.ID tracks on MP3
Luca Bacchetti – Afrikaans | Single Review
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
Luca Bacchetti just keeps going from strength to strength. His latest release Afrikaans is out on Josh Wink’s infamous Ovum label. Title track Afrikaans is pretty much what you expect coming out of the Italian minimal house/techno scene, a pogo beat and bassline, some intricate bongo percussion with an African chant to validate the title. Sounds very generic right? Well it is but it works so well, the samples are catchy and the dynamics are sure to have you dancing. This is a fine example of how to do this sound right.
Afrikaans was good but El Matador is even better. More pogo beats and basslines with the main sample being based around an unfolding Spanish guitar hook. But it’s the little details which make this track interesting. Hidden away in the background are these springy wood block sounds and infectious castanet claps which completely grab you subconsciously making you clap and dance along. Its big but subtle, great release from Lucca and great for Italian techno.
Tracklist (Click for MP3):
1. Afrikaans
2. El Matador
GPM 100: Happy 100th Release GetPhysical! Review
Thursday, November 20th, 2008 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
It seems like yesterday when GetPhysical first broke onto the scene with MANDY’s Put Put in 2002. So I don’t know where that puts their world takeover with Body Language and Manderine Girl in 2005. That was release 27 and 29 respectively. Since then until now the GetPhysical clan have notched up 100 releases on their bed posts. To mark this century milestone they’ve brought in all their favourites to collaborate with each other on a nine track monster EP.
MANDY rekindle their partnership with Bookashade to come up with a Donut. No that’s not a derogatory term for the track it’s the title. They use some round beats and a bit of healthy wood percussion with whirling synths to create in moody bobbing monster. Its eerie and quirky but with a little funk to get down too. Its no Body Language, this is MANDY Vs Bookashade 2.0.
Two of my favourite producers the Italoboyz and Noze get together on Double Trouble. I’ve loved the way the Italoboyz cleverly sampled old jazz and jive records whilst the quirkiness of Noze is hilarious in a good way, however when they go head to head on Double Trouble its just disturbing. There are jazz drum and sax skits left, right and centre which make for an extremely scatty track. Then add the freaky vocal samples from Noze make for a sample martini shaken to hell. That said I’m sure the silliness of this track will find its niche at some German after after after party.
On Funkshovel, Lopazz and Heidi hit back with some attitude laden grooves. A ghetto tech bassline oozes attitude as basic yet intricate tom toms fidget along with a sporadic vocal sample. Its simple and o so diiiiirty. In a similar vein, Dakar and Siopis’ Dubai has the filthiest saw tooth bassline ever, combined with its big splashing drum hits results in a down and dirty mechanical boogie.
The other efforts from the other collaborations are also worthy, Einzelkind and Meat creates the simple and driving Gin which hums away brilliantly. The Djuma Soundsystem and Raz Ohara take on a slow italo disco form with piercing vocals, twinkling notes and a galloping electro synth. DJ T and Thomas Schumacher produce an intricate bubbling track with round bass and scatty woodblocks. And finally Patric Baumel with Cathlin Devlin and Tiger Stripes with Audiofly both create dark driving numbers.
Tracklisting
A M.A.N.D.Y vs Booka Shade – Donut
B1 Italoboyz vs Nôze – Double Trouble
B2 Dakar vs Siopis – Dubai
C DJ T. vs Thomas Schumacher – May Contain Nuts
D1 LOPAZZ vs Heidi – Funkshovel
D2 Einzelkind vs Meat – Gin
Digital
Patrice Bäumel vs Caitlin Devlin – 7 days
Djuma Soundsystem vs Raz Ohara – Zillion Lights
Tiger Stripes vs Audiofly – Hundra
Tom Demac – Stand Beside Me Single Review
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
Geddes and label MurMur must have a broken quality tap somewhere in their headquarters because that blasted thing is releasing a constant stream of quality tracks. Release five sees rising star Tom Demac grease the wheels of future juggernaut label.
Tom has two tracks on this release. Title track Stand Beside Me is a moody tech house plodder which has a mildly sinister groove punctuated with outbursts of hi hat percussion that are sure to prevent those crowds from gormlessly swaying. Three by Four is the other track from Tom Demac. It has clunky beats, round basslines and an aggressive saw synth with a few muted bleeps and tones chucked in for good measure. Its progressive in nature with enough reverberation to make you feel hungry.
Head honcho Geddes remixes the title track by reigning in the loop lengths making it snappier and punchy. It shuffles along nicely but misses the outbursts of the original. Its typically Geddes and that means dark, techy and dubby. As the ambassador always says, “Excellente”.
Riz MC – Radar | Single Review
Thursday, November 13th, 2008 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
Crosstown Rebels goes leftfield on their latest release with Riz MC, combining raw electronica sounds with thoughtful rhymes. He’s being hotly tipped as one of the UK’s bourgeoning talents with a growing list of advocates from the likes of Massive Attack and Nitin Sawhney. And when he’s not doing music he’s having a crack at being an actor for BAFTA winning TV. Pretty talented eh? Well that’s not the end of it.. A friend of a friend tells me he graduated Oxford with a first and had the pick of all the top finance jobs in the city earning crazy money.
But rather than go down the disgustingly rich route, Riz MC decided to follow the path of what he loves. His effort for Crosstown Rebels is a two track effort. First is Radar, a raw electronic thudding track which subtly supports the pacey lyrics. Heavily distorted static noises and striking electronic sounds denote verses, choruses and words adding a hidden level of emphasis and oomph. The second effort People Like People has a heavy breakbeat come Baltimore breaks feel, think M.I.A but more electronic. This is undisputedly raw output for the Crosstown Rebels.
So not to make the release to out there for Crosstown fans, Loco Dice is called in to completely strip the track down. Muted beats flutter with tight percussion as Mr Dice twists Riz MC’s vocals in to a garbled sample. It’s such a contrast to the original, but that definitely gives it big crossover potential for the house and techno fans.
Silverclub – Crash This Car | Single Review
Thursday, November 13th, 2008 | Music, Single Review | No Comments
Silverclub is the joining of techno/electronica producers Duncan Jones (formerly DNCN), Tommy Walker III and Leftroom’s MarcAshken. They’ve put their heads together and the result is a kind of synth-pop band between Beck and Depeche Mode.
Crash This Car is their debut single, backed by Matt Tolfrey’s Leftroom means this is a slight divergence from their usual sound. I don’t really have an opinion on the title track it’s more the TASH and Jimmy Edgar remixes which interest me. First of all Jimmy Edgar slows the pace down, cutting and looping snippets of the vocal over simple beats and synth lines. If you listen carefully I’m pretty sure you can hear Super Mario samples in there. However that doesn’t really save a relatively flat and lacklustre track.
On the other hand TASH aka Matt Tolfrey and Marc Ashken take us in a Detroit-esque direction. They use the light patter of muted kick drums whilst bourgeoning warbled synths phase in and out. Approaching the breakdown snippets of the original vocals are looped in a hypnotic way before fluttering strings intensify to abruptly drop back to the rhythm. In three words, hypnotic and effective.
Tracklist (Click for MP3):
1.Silverclub – Crash This Car (Original Mix)
2.Silverclub – Crash This Car (TASH Mix)
3.Silverclub – Crash This Car (Jimmy Edgar Mix)
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