Craig Richards deserves a prize for shining a neon light on some of tech-house and electro’s most interesting underground producers. A resident jock at London’s beloved Fabric club, Richards threads together 37 tracks over two CDs, with only a few clumsy segues and dud selections. The first CD digs deep into minimal tech-house’s quirkiest seams, eschewing huge peaks for a stream of inventively warped and economically chugging highlights by the likes of Seafoam, Pantytec and Mirwais. On disc two, Richards makes us fall in love with electro all over again, excavating nuggets from the genre’s past and present with only one descent into kitsch (Chicks On Speed aping Trio’s bare-bones banality). Fabric 15: Tyrant ranks along with mixes by Michael Mayer, Triple R and Villalobos (represented here with a slinky, floor-churning remix of Sieg Uber Die Sonne’s “You Never Come Back”) as one of the most scintillating comps of the decade.
Various Artists Sportler Of The Year Vol. 1
People think that Har Mar Superstar, Felix Da Housecat and Princess Superstar are sleazy, but I say the Dekathalon Records camp has got them beat. They serve up really severe German electro shit that you can imagine yourself hearing in a sweaty S&M basement. Anyone can rap about screwing or snorting, but when Gater proclaims “I like to do it with my friend/sometimes we videotape it/ then we watch it and do it again” over the proto-acid house/industrial beats of “Taboo,” it’s so feral you can feel your palms getting sweaty. Generation Aldi, Zombie Nation and My Robot Friend get similarly nasty, making Sportler of the Year not only a good introduction to Dekathalon’s artists, but a perfect antidote to the sea of paint-by-numbers electroclash.
Various Artists Dura Matters
I’ve got to hand it to these kids from Milwaukee-they think that IDM and breakcore are going to save the world. Listen to Dura Matters, the new compilation from Wisconsin label Zod, and I defy you to tell them that they’re wrong. There’s some good stuff here-notably, Curtis Chip’s videogames-meet-haunted house d&b on “Non-Working Mouth” and the echoing emo glitch of Binray’s “Ekward.” And even though tracks like Ground Chuck’s “Slowneck” and Com.a’s “Miami Planet” make you feel like there is a ping-pong ball bouncing around in your brain, that’s exactly the kind of music you want to hear when running around a field on three days’ worth of crystal meth.
Various Artists Riddim Driven: Celebration & Dreamweaver
If ya dunno dancehall nice again, just check these two riddims, sure to blaze all summer long. In the same uptempo vein as the massive Buy Out comes Celebration, where the real gems are the collaborations. Ele and Swade, Vybz Kartel and Lukie D and Zumjay and Daville all bust big, but soloists Hawkeye and Kardinal Offishal hold their own, too. The Lenky-produced Dreamweaver is a driving riddim reminiscent of Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See,” whose melody Elephant Man appropriates on “Blessed.” As with Diwali, Lenky alters this riddim for each artist, making it work beautifully for all of them.
Various Artists Dedicated to All Believers: 10 Years Of Kanzleramt
Berlin’s slick and gritty surface ripples with a creative urgency that has a special place in my heart. That dark soul is echoed by Heiko Laux’s Berlin-based Kanzleramt label, celebrated here by Germany’s Groove magazine. This compilation details the path of the label, starting with its beginnings in straight-ahead techno-like Johannes Heil’s “Paranoid Dancer” and Laux and Sammy Dee’s Detroit-fueled “Moonside Playground.” It then moves into tech-house territory via hit-maker Alexander Kowalski’s vocal “Hot Spot,” Fabrice Lig’s joyous “Universal Tech,” Christian Morgenstern’s dubby “Malaria”, Diego’s speedy “Me Fragments” and a quality electro cut by Anthony Rother’s Family Lounge. The variety makes for a fun first listen and the quality of the tracks ensures repeat rotations on your iPod.
Various Artists Hecho En Cuba 2
On the second installment of the Hecho En Cuba series, the Buena Vista Social Club members create songs that are low-key and vibrant at the same time. None of the 15 tracks, which include contributions from new BVSC associate Roberto Fonseca as well as the Afro-Cuban All Stars, have the rip-roaring sound that pisses off the neighbors; but the sense of joy woven throughout this album reminds you that it is good to be alive. Ibrahim Ferrer, well into his ’70s, contributes three excellent tracks, and Omara Portuondo shows why she’s still a grand dame with the passionate, romantic “Alli.” Any of the tracks here would be standouts on a lesser album, but taken together, they go down like a delicious spoon full of sugar.
Various Artists What About Us?
Anyone tired of hearing how many women an MC scores per night should pick up this disc. What About Us? includes tracks with a social conscience, focusing on questioning the United States’ post-9/11 politics. Blackalicious contributes the outstanding, apocalyptic “Sky is Falling,” Zion I reps with the melodically beautiful “Dune,” and California’s The Piper stands out with the didactic “U.S. History.” A snippet of an interview with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who voted against war with Iraq, gives additional perspective. “There’s those of us who are gonna fight,” she says, and you can only hope she’s right.
Various Artists BBQ Beets 2: Return Of The Yams
Chill out that manages to warm you up, this collection of 18 tracks (mixed tag-team by DJ Olive and James Healy) keeps the ear engaged while easing the mind. “AA” by QPE sets the bar high early on, with languorous beats and spare instrumentation. Israeli-born Badawi (a.k.a. Raz Mesinai) brings his training in Middle Eastern percussion to “The Approach,” a beat-heavy collage of influences, while a number of other tracks, including Nettle’s “Firecamp,” flirt with dub. The yams might remain a mystery, but BBQ Beets 2 is a straightforward pleasure.
Various Artists Inde Sessions Vol. 1
This album proves that indie hip-hop can have plenty in common with the mainstream: good production, large artist rosters and the same tired bragging and misogyny that makes listening to the radio so dull. To that end, some tracks on Inde Sessions are so trite they border on embarrassing. “So Freaky,” for example, is such a standard yawner about freaky sex that it might have been cribbed from a middle-school bathroom wall. Luckily, tracks like “So Beautiful,” Divine MC’s ode to his mom (which contains a weird wife comparison-say what?) and “Contradictions” from Storm the Unpredictable save the day.
Various Artists The Outernationalists Present Ethnomixicology
If the title didn’t tip you off to this compilation’s explicit ethnic influences, then walk away now. If you’re into world music fusion, though, join Simon Emmerson of Afro-Celt Sound System and UK producer/DJ Phil Meadley as they musically meander the globe. On Ethnomixocology, the duo blends Turkish percussion band Harem with the clear, strong vocals of South Africa’s Doreen Thobekile and so on. They end the whole adventure back in the UK with an Afro-Celt track called “Deep Channel,” whose futuristic melding of bagpipes and beats probably has a Celtic warrior spinning in his grave.
