General Midi twists Aquasky’s paean to Spanish house, “Seville,” into an electro-flooded rave track with tweaky touches and a long, minimal intro. But turn this baby over for the real magic from Deekline and Ed Solo, who face ass-ward toward Miami with a squelchy booty-bass remix of “Coffee,” featuring bouncy vocals from the Ragga Twins. Get low!
Fifth Element Stone Cold EP
Fifth Element is a five-man collective anchored by Loxy & Ink, who deliver both beats and raps on this experimental d&b outing. The breaks ultimately compete with streetwise lyrics on all cuts, from the original-a dark roller with scissoring synths-to Keaton’s lackluster remix and Bad Company’s pounding dancefloor version. Hip-hop fans make sure to check DJ Crystl’s piece, an innovative number full of breaking glass and rock guitars.
Elite Force Melodik Hypnotic
Melodik Hypnotic is a serviceable trancey breaks cut, in which steady minimal breaks give way to optimistic technoid melodies that sound ripped off an R&S record circa 1994. Flip for the hotness: “Jack the Joint,” an acidy, jackin’ number that melds nu-skool sounds with Chicago traxx synth vamps and subtle tribal drums.
Freestylers Get A Life Rmx
Fierce vocals that get fxed, twisted and dubbed out elevate Poxy Music’s remix of “Get A Life” above the rest of the hip-hop-inflected fare, as spongy bass and up-rocking snares form a solid backdrop. Should you need to get your glowsticks out, visit the flipside for Krafty Kuts’ version of “Punks,” which combines hi-NRG breaks with Wu-Tang samples to give the effect of being in the middle of a DJ Dan set circa 1994.
Phobia Future Soul
The dramatic “Future Soul” borrows as much from old-school Doc Scott as it does from LTJ Bukem. It’s a banging slice of drum-driven floor power, with sliced-up percussion, classic Metalheadz-esque vocal stabs and metallic elements. The flip’s “Mandalay” is similarly retro-drenched, with nostalgic keys, an “I feel it” female vocal, and deliciously bouncy breaks. Total Science, eat your heart out.
Dykehouse Midrange
Former Planet Mu recording artist Mike Dykehouse signaled his new direction with a reverent cover of Wire’s soaring psych-pop classic “Map Ref. 41? N 93? W” on Ghostly’s Idol Tryouts comp. With Midrange, he indulges his shoegazer rock fantasies to the hilt. Unfortunately, Dykehouse’s transformation from IDM geek to guitar hero has been smooth-too smooth. A gooey sentimentality clogs many of Midrange‘s 14 tracks. Dykehouse has a soothing, beige voice that gracefully glides over his music, but his 1984-style melodramatic stadium alt-rock and silky smooth interpretations of My Bloody Valentine’s tone-bending guitar wizardry seem more like fanboy pandering than inspired homage.
The Opus Breathing Lessons
The Opus’s debut, 2002’s First Contact 001, hinted at the underground hip-hop duo’s weird approach, but it still seemed too indebted to DJs Premier and Shadow. On Breathing Lessons, Chicago’s Mr. Echoes and the Isle Of Weight instantly submerge you in their mysterious, subterranean world with a down-pitched, seesawing sitar loop, trippy Moog emissions and martial-funk beats. Next level duly achieved, the Opus continues to flaunt their genius for bizarre samples, elevating hip-hop into a dystopian sci-fi future that sounds oddly thrilling. Supernaturally dark, warped and peculiarly funky, Breathing Lessons furthers hip-hop’s ongoing and welcome psychedelic renovation.
Sluta Leta Semi Peterson
Sluta Leta used to be Swedes Bengt Liljestad and Jonas Bergkvist; now the group consists of Andi Pieper and Ramon Bauer and Gerhard Potuznik of Austrian laptop deviants General Magic. The first incarnation of Sluta Leta produced abstract funk for Chocolate Industries and Cheap, and I don’t know why established producers would assume another group’s identity. But I’m glad these Central Europeans (powered by exceptional drummer ddkern) have shape-shifted, for on Semi Peterson they add Dadaist convolutions to old warhorses like electro-pop and funk. Along with recent works by Tujiko Noriko and Fritz Ostermayer, Semi Peterson continues Mego’s detour into more song-based yet defiantly original electronica.
Damon Wild Downtown Worlds
Seasoned New York techno vet Damon Wild built his bulletproof underground rep with banging acid techno for heads into Beltram, Stoll and their ilk. With Downtown Worlds, Wild refines some of the abrasiveness out of it while easing the pressure off the gas pedal. Far from smoothing out his tracks, these changes serve him well. Now Wild’s music’s more about finesse than velocity. Like Surgeon and Marco Bailey, Wild transplants primal African and Asian elements into relentlessly propulsive, hypnotic techno frameworks. Downtown Worlds is a potent fusion of “tribal” and “machine” elements-a combo many have tried to master, but few as wildly.
Computer Rockers Tech-No-Rock
We have EDMX, among others, to thank for keeping the old-skool electro candle burning into the future that the genre so ably predicted a quarter-century ago. Armed with a vocoder, Linn Drum machine and a viral sense of nostalgia, Ed leaves none of da rock unturned with some of that clean, straight-ahead future-shock junk á la Grandmaster Flash’s “Scorpio.” Jam on it.
