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Subb-An & Shelton – Musik EP | Single Review

Monday, November 30th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments

Subb-An and Shelton are the residents of Below – Birmingham’s only decent answer to house and techno. They’ve taken the typical UK dance music route – learn to DJ, start a night, make a few records, start a label. Subb-An has already put a few tracks out on Leftroom and Immigrant so its time for the duo to start a label. One Records is the new venture and its first release is by the duo themselves.

The inspiringly named title track ‘The Musik’ is roaring tech house with acid spat in its face. Industrial clinks and a round kick driven bassline open the track before short bursts of acid squelches wriggle in between the beats. Standard issue string sighs and a “Musik” vocal sample punctuate the track to add some contrast between heavy and light. It’s punchy with an infectious groove and will definitely play on the basic emotions of any techno dancefloor in the UK.

For the name of the B-side, it’s clear to see Subb-Ann and Shelton have clearly spent some time talking about the “concept” of the label to give their tracks these edgey clean cut names – ‘The Musik’ and now ‘The Vision’. Anyway, names don’t win prizes, it’s the music. ‘The Vision’ doesn’t really win any though. Deep basslines, clinkering percussion and spooky synth snippets create a warm and hypnotic house track which is well rehearsed for 2009. It’s produced well but it can so easily blend into the background with all the other deep house tracks of 2009. Not what you need if you want your label to make a splash on its opening.

Tags: Below, Birmingham, Immigrant, Leftroom, One Records, Shelton, Subb-An