DNAudio drops The Gene Pool EP with more redefined tech tumbling and speaker rumbling. “Block” finds Silent Witness & Break delivering fine slices of filth that grind over mechanical slumps and beat slapping bumps, while Klute joins Break on the Detroit techno roller “Cowpoke.” Part two gets grimier with “Close to Zero,” and Break and Fierce round off this high class EP on the slippery “Singular.”
Nu:Tone 7 Years (Matrix Remix)
Matrix gives the re-rub to Nu:Tone‘s vocal driven “7 Years,” supplying his signature stretched out grooves throughout. Flip on over for the real gem, “Stay Strong,” with its infectious guitar distortion, high/low bass passes, and galloping drum rhythms. A pair of tunes perfect for the long summer days ahead.
Soul Mekanik Eighty-One
Mechanics Danny Spencer and Kelvin Andrews perform a complete overhaul of house on Eighty-One, tearing down the form to its barest 4/4 essentials and building a completely new vehicle ready to jack your body. Though they work from a full-flavor tech-house frame, a given tune is as likely to be laced with classic diva vox as vocodered French, as likely to be flooded with disco guitar scratch as electro gurgles, as likely to be rife with acid squiggles as iconic hi-hats. Eighty-One doesn’t reinvent the house wheel, but it does slap on a shiny new paint job and some spinning rims.
Various Artists Fax Collaborations And Remixes
Electronics know no borders, so it should be no surprise that Ruben Tamayo calls Mexicali, Mexico home. Tamayo assembles engaging, mostly minimal techno, with rolling dub basslines weaving in and out of the programmer’s dithering, clicking rhythms. For FAX Collaborations and Remixes, Tamayo calls on allies from across the globe. Vocal tracks with Alex Ayuli and Pepito comprise a modern glitch-ified take on synth pop, while Jonas Bering and Tamayo create hypnotic cross-continental microdisco that sonar pings its way across the Atlantic. There are a few boring collaborations here (Murcof’s post-Pole dub drags), but otherwise this is a testament to the good kind of globalism.
Groove Counsoul & Woody Mcbride Paragraph One
Cannibal‘s bold second release is a classic Mcbride ESP adventure through a thick, driving techno soundscape. Polyrhythmic drums lead us to a morphing synth drone that evolves throughout the mix as analog bass loops add a hypnotic and sensual touch.
Stereofuse Headfunk
Thorsten Diegel and Martin Worner display their affection for late night techno on this minimal single. Over a meaty kick foundation, bleepy percussive synth hits and a choir pad haze make for a deeply textured tune. Flip the disc for an acid-fused, bit-shifted club groove.
Various Artists Camping
On “When Will I Be Famous,” Sasha Funke somehow finds a plosive “b” in “famous,” lets the sample ricochet, and builds a hook out of it. It‘s the catchiest thing I‘ve ever heard. And Ellen Allien‘s “Wish”-with its odd rhythm, plaintive guitar line, and trite but endearing lyrics about petroleum wars-is strangely awesome. But the rest of the material here is relatively straightforward, mostly repetitive tracks with large, club-tweaked production. Funke and Allien come out of this looking pretty good; might as well pick up their albums instead of wading through Camping for a couple good songs.
Dempsey Sunrise Sunset
Kieran “Four Tet” Hebden‘s rock band, Dempsey, sits squarely in the Gorillaz/Cornershop genre of genre-bending, hook-based pop. Hebden produced half the tracks, which seamlessly merge live and sampled elements. “Big Time” jumps from an East Indian riff to blues rock with layers of looped harmonicas and distorted flutes. When frontman Geoff McIntyre sings about doomed romance, you can‘t help but think the ladies left him because they couldn‘t believe a word he says. Perhaps the most disingenuous singer in rock, when he mentions trains or dry martinis, it‘s like he‘s never encountered these objects, only heard them mentioned on Rolling Stones records.
Daedelus Exquisite Corpse
MF Doom speaks the truth when he says, “This beat is strictly retarded, yo/sound like it came off the late Ricky Ricardo show.” Daedelus gets a lot of mileage from the contrast between his fly beats and string-soaked samples from old TV soundtracks and public domain 78s. Mike Ladd guests, describing the forlorn smell of Taco Bell as experienced by an expat returning to the US, and Jogger‘s remix has pants-wettingly good synths. Exquisite Corpse is a concept album about death-it doesn‘t sound like a showtune about getting gunned down in Vegas, gangsta-style, but more like a lullaby for dying in your sleep.
Tosca J.A.C.
Dedicated to their three bouncing baby boys fathered since Dehli9, you‘d expect Tosca to sound impotent on <>J.A.C. After all, this is music for playboys; well…them and Jil Sander boutiques. But have no fear, fatherhood has not tamed the sumptuous stylings of Vienna‘s Huber & Dorfmeister. The most marked difference on J.A.C. (named for babies Joshua, Arthur, and Conrad) is a new full-piece band: the familiar dub-soaked swirls are there, but expanded far beyond the programmed beats of yore. The dangerous electric bass on “Sala” will sate longtime Tosca and K&D aficionados alike, but it‘s the lavish piano tricklings and curiously uptempo rhythm on “Züri” that truly show you who‘s daddy.
