On a more straight forward house tip, “Bredrin” lays hazy R&B vocals over a backdrop of rubberband bass and serious kickdrum action. Flip for the lick: a lovely and bouncing (but not cheesy) 4/4 number with a candy-colored paint job and hot detailing (shiny ’80s synths, rubbery bass stabs, and infectious male and female ragga vocals.
Rennie Pilgrem Coming Up For Air
Centered on the addictive prog-house vocals of Sara Whittaker-Gilby, Pilgrem heads straight for the top of the charts with a dirty groove and uplifting vibe that only gets deeper as Koma & Bones, Mara, J.D.S. and Rennie himself take turns giving it the remix treatment. Essential!
Search And Destroy Food Chain
Ouch! Something’s inside the sampler of Rinse FM DJs Search and Destroy, and it’s having the bassline of “Food Chain” for dinner. Tyrannosaurus breakstep stomps, scissoring acid sounds and fuck-you vibes make this one destined for greatness. “Brain Teaser” is equally versatile, with low-end detailing and breaks cribbed from the drum & bass darkside.
Lady Sovereign Chi-Ching (Cheque 1, 2)
Rising star Lady Sovereign delivers rapid-fire lyrics in a high-pitched voice that burns through the simple, droning beats ‘n’ bass. There’s also an instrumental, dub and acapella on here, but I can’t wait until some of the 4/4 cats get their hands on this Michel’le of grime.
Johnny Halo Mutha Plays Bass
This Northampton, UK, label hosts the talents of John Morrow, a former half of uplifting drum & bass outfit Foul Play. Not as angelic as you’d think, he delivers a sneaky stormer with buzzing bass and old-school noises (a “Dark Stranger” riff, sweet synth stabs) obscuring the breaks. “Let It Go” uses a classic vocal as the centerpiece of an upbeat, but mysterious, number.
Crackhaus Spells Disaster
Montreal producers Steve Beaupr» and Scott Monteith (a.k.a. Deadbeat) subvert the notion that minimal tech-house is a sober affair executed with stoic severity. Crackhaus cram more frantic frivolity (and insanely intricate sound design) per bar than anybody this side of Akufen or Rip Off Artist. Spells Disaster… captures the duo in a convulsive creative crucible, out of which comes seven tracks and four remixes (including those by Mole, Mike Shannon and EGG) that tickle funny bones with as much panache as they move asses. There’s a certain novelty aspect to Crackhaus’ sound palette, but the ingenious way they warp incongruous elements (blues harmonica, bottleneck guitar, seductive female jazz vocals) into crazy concatenations within a microhouse context negates any biases against sonic goofiness. Spells Disaster… is an antic renovation of the (micro)house that Matthew Herbert built.
Seth P. Brundel Devil’s Pawn
Part of Beta Bodega Coalition’s Algorithm crew, Miami MC/producer Seth P. Brundel earnestly agitates for political and social change without dropping verbal anvils on your noggin. Dead Prez wishes they sounded this militant. Brundel delivers his serious-as-prostate-cancer lyrics as if there’s no time to waste. Devil’s Pawn has no choruses, just caustic streams of polysyllabic words pouring out of an artist struggling to maintain sanity while obliquely articulating injustices and hypocrisies. As with El-P, you often feel like you’re being harangued on Devil’s Pawn, but the music’s psychedelic and paranoiacally edgy enough to overcome such drawbacks.
Franck Roger Summer
This is truly a breakthrough period for Parisian house producer Franck Roger, with releases for Versatile, Straight Up and other noted labels. “Mambo” takes deep, cosmic house bliss to the next level, “4 The People” bounces with percolating rhythms and electro grooves, “4 Suzy” chills out the EP nicely, and “Summer” is surely hot.
Albanek Free Wire
The Viennese artist Yo! dropped his Shade of Blue debut album last year, and “Free Wire” is its second single. In addition to the atmospheric original, Toronto’s Moonstarr corrupts the tune into a lean, mean syncopated wall of sound. “Suuupa Party,” previously unreleased, is a spacey techno-electro hybrid. A tight package.
Jazzflora Jazzflora EP
The Jazzflora long-player from Stockholm’s Dealers of Nordic Music is an excellent showcase for some of the finest in Scandinavia’s future jazz scene. This four-track, vinyl-only EP makes for a fine teaser. One tune of note (only available here) is a version of Hird’s “I Love You My Friends,” with Yukimi Nagano’s captivating voice. Not to be overlooked.
