a decent album always shows up in january - tokyo black star left it late, but 'black ships' is making the early running in 2009. essentially a selection of their singles for innervisions (and one for dutch label reincarnation, who released that rocking trus'me/linkwood collab), it holds together very well as an extended, compiled listen. the pr blurb paints it as some sort of intergalactic nonsense voyage - but you know what? the pair pull it off over 70-minutes of deep house, pleasingly wonky deeper techno and hi-tech funk: they may be gazing upward, but their rear-view mirrors are working, as this record contains subtle nods to 'galaxy 2 galaxy' and equally clued-in references to the red planet series.
i can't think of any other artist albums that have stood out this month. ben klock's 'one' has its moments ('gloaming' and the amazing 'goldrush'), but feels like a missed opportunity. tadeo's didn't click with me at all - i think the 12" format suits him best - while gui boratto's new set - admittedly not without its moments - was so saccharine-sweet overall that i had to brush my teeth afterwards.
nothing like starting off the new year with a terrific pile of new records. it's not often that every 12" you take a 45-second-clip risk on delivers, but it sure did this time. not too much in the way of light/colour with the below, but it's that time of year i guess...
unknown 'unknown' [equalized002]
the a-side is a speedier, space-ier reprise of the lead cut on eqd001 - so quite useful - but once again the action is on the b-side: an outstandingly assured dreamy breakbeat techno cut that's equal parts 'another wedged chicken' and 'at les'. a classic, no doubt. 5/5. actually, 10/10.
levon vincent 'invisible bitchslap' [deconstruct]
thought i'd missed this sketetal, skanking dub monster after it disappeared from the uk-based online shops, but hardwax saved the day. heavy like bricks...
norman nodge 'b1' [mdr]
usually too industrial for my tastes, nodge's injection of an almost groovy fluctuating acidic bassline amongst the raw-as-onions dancemania-style percussive elements on the b-side cut makes this a paul johnson-a-like winner.
rahaan 'together' [stillloveformusic]
amazing, amazing, amazing re-edit of timmy thomas' 'why can't we live together'. true, it's already been written about by wiser men than me elsewhere, but this did the doo for me in various niteklubs all over the festive period. get it before it's gone. amazing.
hardfloor 'the life we choose' (erp remixes) [hardfloor]
i would like to know how this one came about. who do you think contacted who, eh? anyway, e.r.p. calms things down considerably with his first take - the roaring 303s are compressed, reverbed and given some room to manoeuvre alongside the icy chord washes - before dropping the temperature a few degrees further on the purist-meets-miami flip. entertaining etched messages too: 'the underground is where we dwell: that's where i find my heaven and you'll find your hell!'
robert hood 'spectral nomad' [metroplex]
available again at from the nice people at rubadub, thanks to a warehouse find apparently... oh wait, it's gone again.
two paths 'scald' [wandering]
good to see the one-man army behind wandering - the same chap who run the incredibly fine mojuba/artless stamps - knows how to have fun: 'scald' is a brilliantly daft dj tool that sounds like riiiiccchhheee's 'pannikattack' engaged engaged in a game of ping-pong with itself. i'd place a small bet on this becoming something of an unlikely crossover hit.
tony lionni 'free your mind' [aesthetic audio]
you know the way a few of the recent planet e releases (perhaps plucked from the demo bag? i was most surprised to see an open call for tracks on the label's myspace) have been sort-of-ok-at-first-but-actually-quite-hollow-when-you-listen-to-them big room detroit/house variants (or to put it another way, records that sound like martin buttrich productions)? well, this is a straight-up good 'un that goes for the jugular with those lovely flanged stabs, R-Tyme-y Juno pads and a couple of well-placed acid lines...
a remix package featuring surgeon, marcel
dettmann, substance, martyn, jamie vex'd... could this be any more appealing to
the trend-conscious nerd? a tip of the hat to whoever at hot flush pulled this
one together, as it contains some right corkers. the natural reaction is to
reach for surgeon first, and you'd be right: what starts as a twitching, broken
atmospheric affair kicks up a gear with the arrival of the 4/4 kick, morphing
into a pleasingly direct techno-meets-half-stepper. martyn continues his rich vein
of form with another technicolour two-step affair, while jamie from vex'd does
drunken, wonky, pitch-shifting detroit-hop brilliantly. marcel dettmann and
substance pull things underground, while scb - a variation of both name and
sound for scuba - suprises with a simple, detailed and well-executed take on
minimal techno.
chez damier 'can you feel it' (mk dub)
[kms]
picked this reissue up on interstellar
sounds recently. christ on a bike, it's amazing, mk with some help from derrick
may. i'd like to say i remember it from my yoot, but i don't, apart from
hearing it played out a couple of times. have a listen here
trench 'comatose' [subject detroit]
flying in the face of the doomsayers, dj bone's label have been banging them out recently - the original mix on this grey coloured release is the pick of the bunch. on first listen, it comes across as a deliberately strange, but the nighmarish trippy spoken vocal draws you in. soon, the driving blake baxter-esque beats, dramatic stabs and verse/chorus/verse will have you wide awake.
alex under 'multiplicanciones 3' [cmyk]
the net 28 crew is flexing their muscles
again after an extended siesta. the mara trax release does nothing for me; the
damian schwarz album is ready for rotation while, in between, this
three-tracker from alex under is filling the gap nicely. a change in style to
reflect current climates, but the tight production and distinctive edits
remain.
i like this label, but i've not quite got
it - as in shelled out for a 12" - to date. when the vinyl arrives, this
remix from function will break my sandwell district duck. on first listen, the
crunchy, reverbed riff might make you lump it in with the many other mediocre
dubby offerings at the moment, but there's something mesmerising about the
stripped, rigid and slightly industrial simplicity...
ican 'chiclet's theme' [planet e]
ring the bells, the recent 'what to finish
a set with' conundrum is over, thanks to this almost-by-numbers S2-produced piece
of uplifting techno. File alongside Los Hermanos.
windsurf 'coastlines' [internasjonal]
me and windsurf, we've clicked see. this is
the first album release on prins thomas' label, pairing the excellent
four-tracker from earlier this year with (what we are nearly sure are) six new
tracks. not all gold, but there's certainly enough to provide you with an
afternoon of balearic bliss.
continuing the occasional burdern brothers retrospective, this graceful
number from 'detroit techno city II' is a classic. i often wonder why i
buy certain new 12"s when there are ones like this tucked away, in need
of some attention... (edit) you can listen to it on youtube here actually. the amount of decent tracks cropping up on the channel is amazing - seriously, have a look. for those about to upload, we salute you...
fuck buttons 'street horrrsing' [atp]
prompted by the arrival of
a weatherall remix on the new single, i got stuck into this album again
yesterday - for the first time proper really. 'colours move' knocked my
socks off. in tesco too, how terrible.
koen holtkamp 'field rituals' [type]
afterwards, i listened to this. polar opposites sonically, but
roughly the same intensity. the pastoral feel and slow-evolving synths
are reminiscent of 'apollo-era' eno, but there's a decent dose of
seefeel otherworldy-ness there too.
zsa zsa la boum 'something scary' [kaos]
a pile of re-issues cropped up on both picadilly and phonica this week:
lil' louis, armando, mike perras, k-alexi and some others. all are
worth buying - decent pressings, which makes a change. this sleek, sexy
nu-beat-meets-chicago twister is my pick of the bunch - get it.
'rnb drunkie' didn't catch my ear the first time around, but after getting to know this fantastic three-tracker (on lovely grey vinyl), i've shelled out for the re-issue. 'slave1' is top, a measured, slo-mo grind with a seriously catchy vocal hook, cool key changes and a summery bassline. sticks like glue. 'human' is deadly too - tracky, gloopy mid-tempo house with a filtered vocal snippet that gradually flexes its disco muscles.
2562 'aerial' [tectonic]
promotional cds that arrive with anti-pirate voiceovers generally head straight for the bin, but 2562's debut album was worth 51 minutes of robocop. i played it to someone recently and they were fairly non-plussed about it, but sonically, it's right up my street, so i'm sold. it's as cohesive an electronic album as i can remember - the excursions into 'almost 4/4' territory get me quite excited indeed: 'morvern' blends a skeletal beat, blue chords and varying percussive elements, while recent single 'techno dread' is magic: the metallic riff and rude, wobbling bassline are polar opposites, but work so well. over the ten tracks (six of which you will have on 12 if yer a fan) it's apparent that huisman operates within a fairly defined sonic palette - there's no need to namecheck the references, is there? - but so what. for me, two factors make his productions repeat players: the ability to blend seemingly the disparate styles, and more importantly, the attention to detail. can't wait for his next a made up sound release...
quiet point 'high hopes for salvation' [exile]
the xdb efforts on the flip aren't up to much, but quiet point delivers his best to date with 'high hopes...' - deep, off-kilter techno that sounds fabulous on a big system. still haven't quite worked out how to mix out of it though...
jape 'ritual' [v2/co-op]
sometimes, being slightly familliar with an album before it's finished kills it. over the past two years, i've heard stuff from jape at gigs, gaffs, on the radio and in rough draft form. so saturation point should have been reached at this stage. but 'ritual' arrives like an old friend with a fairly new haircut. the songs i'm most familliar with have been given a new coat of paint - re-tweaked and re-worked; on 'graveyard', a new chorus is added, pulling the track in a different, darker place. the album's simplest moment, 'phil lynnot', is the stand-out right now. it deals (like most of the record) with the most important things - music, religion and death - with beautiful simplicity and a storyteller's eye for detail.
