Marking the inaugural release for the newly launched label arm of longstanding creative outlet Maison Nue, The Curves EP from Parisian duo Mad:AM is set to drop next week. Though “Circle” will not be featured on the record, it features a similarly garage-bent house beat interspersed with distinctly British vocal bits, making for a clean and sophisticated track. The Curves will be digitally released on March 25; a preview of the five-track effort can be found after the jump.
As the market for bass-heavy revivalist house races toward the point of oversaturation, well-curated labels like Aus Music—Will Saul’s and Fink’s reassuringly consistent outlet for leftfield club music—are more necessary than ever. Similarly, it’s fortunate that artists like Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman (a.k.a. Dusky) exist; along with a handful of peers, including the likes of Bicep and George Fitzgerald, the pair forms part of a small vanguard of rising producers who can be trusted to breath a little personality into the seemingly endless wave of garage-tinged house records that are currently dominating the UK’s dancefloors. Here, the London-based twosome returns—buoyed by the sleeper success of last year’s Justin Martin remix—with a four-track EP that combines plenty of straightforward dancefloor pleasures with a decent amount of sonic creativity.
The eponymous opener is the most straightforward and probably the least exciting of the four tracks here. It’s a relatively simple—albeit pleasantly soulful—work of deep house, complete with bouncy claps, a rising vocal loop, and a three-note bass hook. That said, it’s by no means a weak tune, as the backdrop of arpeggiated synths and scattershot percussion hits are enough to keep “Nobody Else” from feeling too generic. It feels, however, like a track that’s been designed to slide into a club set with a minimum of hassle rather than one intended to push any boundaries.
Fortunately, as the EP progresses, Dusky begins to loosen up a bit. “What I Never Knew” sticks with the bouncy 4×4 beat, but strips back the vocals and synth lines to create something far moodier and more slow burning than the track that preceded it. Here, Granger-Howell and Harriman take a simplistic house chord progression and go to town with the filters and atmospherics, allowing the track to gradually morph into something altogether darker and grittier as it progresses. Closing track “Dummy” works around a fairly similar template; the pair takes a driving, repetitive house groove and elaborates on it with increasingly incomprehensible bursts of effect-drenched vocals.
“Atone” is the standout track here though. It sees the duo marry its melodic tendencies to a harder, rhythmically ambitious template. The soul samples and synth pads are replaced by crudely chopped vocal syllables, a rough percussive lead, and a distorted kick pattern that’s pure grime. Dusky’s deep-house roots are still there though, and the track eventually gives way to a brilliantly melodic breakdown that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Kerri Chandler tune. It doesn’t exactly tear up the rulebook, but it certainly cements the notion that Dusky is at its best when the duo is testing the boundaries of classic house a little. Still, while this sort of vintage-leaning house continues to be a dominant force within contemporary dance music, it’s fortunate that there are artists like Dusky who know how to sneak the occasional curveball into the tried and tested 4×4 blueprint.
Booka Shade has been relatively quiet since the release of its last album, 2010’s More!, issuing only a handful of EPs over the past few years. Apparently, that’s all about to change, as the long-running German duo will soon be releasing a new EP via the Blaufield Music imprint, which will reportedly be followed by the outfit’s fifth full-length. The Blackout: White Noise EP (artwork above) will be available for sale at Beatport on Monday, March 25, and the title track is described as a “menacing” cut where the pair’s “signature dark undertones and expert understanding of space, atmosphere, and composition combine with analog warmth and classic Chicago nods to create an essential floor-ready Booka Shade moment.” The song also happens to feature veteran house act Chelonis R. Jones pitching in with some guest vocals. Speaking of collaboration, the EP also marks the first occasion where Booka Shade is teaming up with famed designers La Boca, who will now be contributing to the duo’s visual aspect, including the design of a limited-edition 12″ that’s in the works for Record Store Day next month. In the meantime though, “Blackout: White Noise” is streaming in the player below.
Earlier this week, Bristol’s Kinky Leighton released his second EP for France’s Dead Speaker Office imprint, I Will Be Bringing You (artwork above). To spread the word, the label has passed along this bonus remix of EP cut “Everything” from Bordeaux-based producer Sevenfive, who slows Leighton’s tune down to a silky crawl while tuned kicks, gliding pads, and a half-time step provide the bed for the track’s repitched vocals. This remix does not appear on the EP, but ones from Show-B, Knowing Looks, and Aleph do. Those reworks, and I Will Be Bringing You‘s two original efforts, can be streamed in full after the jump.
Over the course of his career, Scott Monteith (a.k.a. Deadbeat) has taken a stylistic path that has often—especially in recent years—taken its share of unexpected turns. The Infinity Dubs Vol. 1 is the latest such deviation into new territory, as the one-time Montreal, now Berlin-based producer launches a new series of singles set to offer elongated productions which end in locked grooves. Vol. 1‘s pair of efforts make an excellent case for the appeal of such a series.
There’s an art to making tracks that run for 10 minutes and are built with only a handful of loops. Aside from the strength of the actual loop material presented, a mix of subtle movement and modulation, attention to detail, and a sense for sonic space are essential. In his decade-plus-long career, Monteith has made his best music while exercising his command of this particular skill set, and to The Infinity Dubs‘ advantage, this craft is at center stage on both of its patiently driving tracks. While the simply titled “ID1” and “ID2” incorporate different moods—the former is an unmistakably housey production, while the latter offers more of the dub-techno ilk with which Deadbeat usually concerns himself—they otherwise take on essentially the same shape as full-bodied, sustained rollers. Throughout their runs, neither track builds or dismantles its momentum; instead, the songs maintain their chugging flow for large chunks of time. One might fear that the tunes would become stagnant, but the gradual tweaks made to the floating chords and flickering percussion provide the necessary amount of evolution to keep the tracks moving forward without falsely leading the listener to believe that something grander is on the horizon.
Labelling the offerings on The Infinity Dubs, Vol. 1 “simple” would do them a bit of a disservice, but they certainly are not complicated either. “ID1” and “ID2” find strength in their efficiency and tunnel vision—the groove is the focus, and it goes virtually untouched for 10 minutes per side. Fortunately, due to the expert craftsmanship with which Deadbeat develops these rolling excursions—not to mention the compelling elements he uses to create them—they make for exceptionally enthralling pieces of dance music.
While we’ve taken almost every possible step to avoid talking about Skrillex’s OWSLA label, we have finally caved in, as the imprint run by the EDM poster boy has enlisted one of our favorite LA beatsmiths, Teebs, to rework one of its artists for an upcoming release. Rather than turn in a traditional remix of Hundred Waters‘ “Boreal,” Teebs elected to make a new ambient composition inspired by the original track, even going so far as to have the group’s Nicole Miglis contribute a new set of vocals to the tune. Teebs’ take on on “Boreal” can be streamed in full below before it sees an official release on March 26.
During our Bubblin’ Up Week at the start of this year, we forecasted that UK producer Ejeca would be an artist to keep on the radar, and he’s just announced the impending release of a new, four-track EP, which is slated to drop next month. Last year proved to be quite busy for Ejeca, as he collaborated with house duo Bicep on the You/Don’t EP, and then dropped the Horizon EP on Needwant, not to mention a few vinyl-only releases. This year looks to be just as productive, as he’s already issued the Frequency EP via Last Night On Earth and is now preparing the new Life In Flux EP for 2020 Vision. Due on April 29, the EP is said to suit the dancefloor with Ejeca’s brand of energetic deep-house grooves. The artwork and tracklist are below.
1. Jump
2. Purnsley
3. Home
4. Agent Of The Deep
The organizers of the London’s Shoreditch Street Party have embarked on a new venture, FOUND, which will take place on June 15. The festival’s maiden run will feature a wide array of talent, including sets from Midland, Maya Jane Coles (pictured above), Huxley, and many more. Lee Foss will go back-to-back with house legend Marc Kinchen (a.k.a. MK), Tom Demac and Henrik Schwarz will each perform live, and the DJ roster will be filled out by the likes of Dark Sky, Breach, Axel Boman, Tim Sweeney, Wolf + Lamb, and Floating Points, amongst others. There are also two headliner-caliber acts—one from London and another from New York—that have yet to be announced. FOUND actually began as a series of 15 club events in London and is said to represent “the melting pot of subgenres that came to define the re-birth of house and techno” in the city. The festival will be taking place at Haggerston Park in Shoreditch. Early bird tickets are sold out, but regular tickets are still available here. The full line-up can be found on the flier below.
Kerri Chandler’s MadTech imprint has been busy since its launch last year, dropping a slew of releases from artists like Citizen, Krystal Klear, and Thefft, while also running a free download series under the MTDL banner. The latest free offering comes from Birmingham-based producer Dominic Hammonds (a.k.a. The Golden Boy), whose “Do You” lays down a fairly straightforward four-to-the-floor beat and tops it with preset cymbals, garage-tinged vocals, and a sense of artistic dexterity that makes for a pleasurably bobbing track. Grab “Do You” below, and keep an eye out for an upcoming release from The Golden Boy on Ministry of Sound.
Swiss producer Deetron (pictured above) will drop a new single next month featuring remixes from London house maven George FitzGerald and Bulgarian hardware tamer KiNK. Appearing on the Music Man imprint, “Out of My Head” features Ovasoul7 on vocal duties and is said to serve as the second single—in addition to last year’s “Crave”—from Deetron’s as-yet-untitled forthcoming LP. “Out of My Head” will drop on April 29; its tracklist is included below.
01 “Out of My Head (feat. Ovasoul7)”
02 “Out of My Head (feat. Ovasoul7)” (KiNK Vocal Mix)
03 “Out of My Head (feat. Ovasoul7)” (KiNK Dub)
04 “Out of My Head (feat. Ovasoul7)” (George FitzGerald Remix)
05 “Out of My Head (feat. Ovasoul7)” (Dub)
