EarPIPE

EarPipe Has an Even Hazier Look Back at the Music Through 2008

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 | Music, News | 1 Comment

I normally struggle to think what tunes have been and gone in the last month, so trying to remember what I was listening to back in January is a mountainous mission in itself, which is probably why I’m going to write this avoiding any specifics and will talk around the subject pretending I know what I’m talking about like any good politician would do. But from what I can recollect “minimal” became housier (or maybe I became housier?), Dubstep collided with Techno and Disco has undergone a massive revival

So lets start with the shift towards the housier sounds. We noticed a lot of DJs ditching the repetitive and bland “minimal” sounds that were starting to stagnate and instead nudging more towards the house end of the spectrum. This meant a bit more funk and soul embedded into tracks, more vocals and jazzier samples. It may sound like we’re harking back to the funky house days circa 2000-02, but this was slightly different, it was more an amalgamation of what came out of the “minimal-tech” sounds which dominated ’05-’07 with older house music sensibilities as seen from the Chicago deep house days. A perfect example of this is probably My My, their remix of Djuma Soundsytem’s Les Dijnns ’s typifies where the sound was during 2007 whilst their latest release Everybody’s Talkin’ is a glimpse into the house sound doing the rounds at the moment. The same goes for Josh Wink’s Stay Out All Night and Matthew Styles We Said Nothing, both distinctly Chi-town influenced numbers which bebop’s to a fun and funked up skipping rhythm. In a similar vein who could forget Johnny D who’s had a fantastic year. His track Orbitallife was causing raucous everywhere through the summer not to mention all his other releases.

But then it wasn’t all fun funked up house, this year saw a lot of dub style house and techno music with heavy basslines at a relaxed pace. Tracks like Trus’me’s W.A.R Dub particularly stood out as did a lot of the output from Gedde’s new label MurMur which had artists like Bearweasel pumping out deep and hypnotic house. One of the best tracks of the year for me was the highly elusive Wax1001. There was no artist or label, just this white label containing the rawest house track ever. A simple track with clunky beats, classic hi hat patterns and a dark raw bassline made Wax1001 show how less is definitely more.

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Tags: Afefe Iku, Ame, Appleblim, Bearwesel, Disco, Disco Bloodbath, Dixon, Djuma Soundsystem, Dubfire, Dubstep, Fabric, Geddes, Henrik Schwarz, Hercules and Love Affair, Horse Meat Disco, house, Innervisions, Italo Boyz, James Murphy, Johnny D, Josh Wink, Laurent Garnier, LCD Soundsystem, Lindstrom, Metro Area, Minimal, Mulletover, Murmur, My My, Mymy, Osborne, Pat Mahoney, Prins Thomas, Quiet Village, Radioslave, Ricardo Villalobos, Secretsundaze, Shackleton, SiS, Skull Disco, Smalltown Supersound, Stimming, techno, Trus'me, Villalobos, Wax1001

Luciano – Fabric 41 Review

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 | Album Review | No Comments

The quality line ups continue at Fabric this month with the turn of the cheeky Chilean Luciano. Luciano’s productions and DJ sets have seen a meteoric rise in popularity in recent times. His combination of South American rhythms and melodies with the mechanical and electronic elements of house and techno brought new dimensions to the sound, breathing in soulfulness and an air of sensuality. Tracks like ‘Father’ and ‘Yamore’ have a minimal and techno edge, yet they sound so full and organic, as does much of the output on his own label Cadenza. His DJ sets follow in a similar sense by being raw and hypnotic but still with plenty of warmth and feel. It will be interesting to see if Luciano can capture that atmosphere which has made him a world renowned DJ. There has also been a slight Luciano backlash with some people over the past year, mainly due to his sets becoming tired with the same usual suspect tracks of Freaks Come Out, M83 Church and that Rose Rouge remix, so all eyes are on this CD to see if he can hit back with something fresh and innovative.

The mix starts lively with an array of beats and percussion from new find Rhadoo on his Cadenza track ‘Slagare’. Through his ever effective use of the filters Luciano is already stepping up the percussion and heat by dropping into D’Julz’s ‘Yo Momo’. Both tracks are simple percussive loops but Luciano plays and teases with the tracks before settling down with his remix of Getting Late. This track is sure to divide opinion with its sing along vocal but personally I think it works. Its kaleidoscope of synth lines and quirky percussion gives the track individuality and lightens up a consistent 4/4 beat.

The mix dips and climbs in and out of hypnotic percussion to more soulful and colourful reaches. Reboot’s ‘Be Tougher’ lays down the hypnotic foundation before allowing a clear house vibe with Alex Picone’s ‘Floppy’ and Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts excellent mix of Mogane. Mogane brings back an old US house feel with its African American vocal sample and dare I say funky bassline. The funk continues through with piano stabs and soulful vocal samples combined with ass shaking percussion on Johnny D’s Chicago-esque OrbitalLife, before Luciano skilfully layers in Jungle Beatz which allows the mix to reduce down.

Dropping the mix back allows Luciano to dig out one of his most favourite and overdone set pieces, the classic M83 Church euphoria moment. He simmers the Jungle Beatz down to just bird chirps as the epic organs of Church soar high, giving you that sunrise ecstasy moment. He then takes it all away and brings back the Jungle Beatz to complete the moment. I criticise for it being over done, but I got to give it to him, it is rather effective.

The mix continues along a quirky route through Tiefschwarz’s mix of ‘Rise from your Grave’ and the massive Schneider/Galluzi collaboration ‘Albertino’. From here we see a glimpse of the old style Luciano and his party technoness which is unfortunately cut short for the need to wind down for the CD’s outro with Kenny Larkin’s ‘You Are Original’. However Luciano does have a skill in using beautiful pieces music which he does here by ending the mix on Chymera’s ‘Arabesque’. Epic comes to mind.

Having seen what Luciano has done in the past, I and many others had high expectations for this CD. Unfortunately it’s not as groundbreaking and out there as we were all hoping for. But quite often with most things, if you hype and build it too much you will most likely come away disappointed. If you don’t let any preconceptions cloud your judgement about this CD, you’ll find that Luciano has come up with a great mix which shows his technical flare of layering tracks and percussive elements brilliantly. It’s a fun and enjoyable mix which has been receiving repeat plays from me. And every time it grows that little bit more on me. A solid effort and it will give you an insight into a Luciano live set. So hopefully it will inspire you to check him out as recent reports have been saying the man is back to his usual self.

Buy Luciano’s Fabric 41 on CD

Tracklisting (Follow links to buy tracks):
01. Rhadoo – Slagare – Cadenza Records
02. Brothers’ Vibe – El Baile [Acapella]– Som Underground
03. D’Julz – Yo Momo – Intacto Records
04. Los Updates Ft. Luciano – Getting Late [Luciano’s Getting Late Remix] – Candenza Records
05. Reboot – Be Tougher – Cadenza Records
06. Alex Picone – Floppy – Cadenza Records
07. Sety – Mogane (Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts Remix) – Circus Company
08. Johnny D – Orbitalife – Oslo Records
09. Julien Jabre – Jungle Beatz – Defected
10. M83 – In Church – Gooom Disques
11. Inner City – Good Love [Luciano Remix] – KMS
12. Phuture – Rise From Your Grave [Tiefschwarz Remix] – Strictly Rhythm
13. Schneider, Galluzzi – Albertino – Cadenza Records
14. D’Julz – So You Know – Ovum
15. Kenny Larkin – You Are Original – Planet E
16. Chymera – Arabesque – Tishomingo

Tags: Fabric, house, Luciano, techno

Argy – Focus On (Pokerflat) Review

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 | Album Review | No Comments

Argy first came to my attention way back in 2005 just as I was getting into the whole, dare I say, “minimal” house thing. His track Love Dose was blowing up all the usual hang outs from Sonar to DC-10 and Fabric. Its slow and sexual pace and warm round bassline epitomised what was happening in the dance music scene. Fast forward a few years and the man has a whole album out.

Argy’s Focus On is a kind of artist album come mix compilation, similar to what Villalobos did with his Fabric release. He mixes his productions or remixes, old and new to produce a deep and sensual tribal soundtrack. Intricate percussion and warm basslines course through the CD as it glides effortlessly through a dark and winding journey.

Argy teams up with Jerome Sydenham of Sandcastles fame for track three, In The Mist. This track is exclusive to the mix and combines the deep, dark and tribal powers of both producers. The dark and hypnotic track slips into the eerie but familiar Love Dose. Its acid squelches and alien synths continue the subtle and tribal mood.

The darkness is lifted for a brief moment as Argy and The Mole collaborate on another exclusive for the CD. Cantstandlovegetaway is classic house reminiscent of the late 90s. Funky loops and disco-esque beats urges some ass shaking before dropping into the DJ Gregory collaboration Our Drums. The result is an old style big room tribal track and it’s good to hear this sound again. DJ Gregory’s penchant for African rhythms and percussion ooze out and form a formidable sound with Argy’s dark and hypnotic sound. Tribal is surely going to make a come back this year!

His dubby remix of Ryo Muraki’s Down The Sky takes influences from that classic prog sound of yesteryear. Its dubby synth stabs and chugging bassline injects some bright energy as the mix begins to wind up to Argy’s recent organ lead ‘1985’. The organ creates a perfect sound to round the CD off.

This mix has shown Argy’s ability of creating great house music from across the board, be it tribal, minimal or straight up classic house. This man can do it all. It’s a great mix which showcases what a talent he is. Lets hope we see more and more from him. 8.5/10

Download Argy – Focus On from Beatport

Buy the CD from Amazon

Tracklisting (* exclusive to CD):

01. Jerome Sydenham, Texu, Romantic Couch:
Ebian (Argy‘s Legendary Bonus Beats)
02. Argy: The Storm
03. Argy & Sydenham: In The Mist *
04. Argy: Love Dose
05. Argy: Malena
06. Argy & The Mole: Cantstandlovegetaway *
07. Argy & DJ Gregory: Our Drums * /
Argy & Bayoga: Under No Illusion*
08. Argy & Solomun: Anemone *
09. Ryo Murakami: Down The Sky (Argy Remix)

Tags: Argy, Focus On, house, Minimal, Pokerflat, tribal

Shlomi Aber – In Theory Yes/Efrat Review

Thursday, June 12th, 2008 | Single Review | No Comments

I don’t know whats happen but the last year or so Shlomi Aber has just come out of nowhere and started knocking out quality tracks like nobodies business. He ravaged the scene back in 2007 with his release Freakside on Ovum and this time he returns on his own label Be As One.

Side A is titled In Theory Yes. It runs with a subtle tribal rhythm and a warm round bassline that wobbles about the beats. Simple synth stabs hold your attention in the foreground periodically settling down to allow the warm bassline to rise through. Its straight forward in idea, but the simplicity creates its infectiousness.

Side B takes more of a summery deep house route in Efrat. Shlomi resurrects a combination of deep and prog house across a similar format seen in ‘In Theory Yes’. Bright synth stabs pop open over a routine house and shaker beat to create another simple and effective mover. To be honest this second track lacks imagination but Shlomi’s production skills deliver such a clean and smooth sound you’d be hard pressed to find better quality in other productions.

Great tracks if not a little formulaic. But it will certainly entertain the dancefloors out there. 7/10

Shlomi Aber – In Theory Yes/Efrat is out now, Download from Beatport

Tags: deep, Efrat, house, In Theory Yes, Minimal, Shlomi Aber, tribal