HOUSE REVIEWS
BEN ARNOLD [email protected]
QUICKIES
Seb Wildblood
Feel
Church White
8.0
The ?rst release from Church's
new side label. Church White
will put its focus into original
productions, with this ?rst foray
from Seb Wildblood, formerly
seen on Kerri Chandler's Madtech
label, setting out the stall. ‘Feel'
is heavyweight gear. Moody,
soulful and quietly magical. Apes'
'5am Jam Mix' jettisons the
subtlety in favour of a frenetic
techno workout.
tINI
4th Street
Supplement Facts
7.5
Catz Eats Dogz
Munich's tINI delivers two,
honest-to-goodness, headsdown chuggers for Guy Gerber's
Supplement Facts. 'Hat Baxx',
featuring Joe Le Groove on the
vocals, feels airy and sparse, but
without that 'big room' sound,
reverb-heavy atmosphere. On
the ?ip, 'Turn Around' features
Charlotte C.A. on the vox duties,
a more syncopated rhythm which
builds layers of percussive swing
over haunted vocals. Classy stuff.
Pets Recordings
Rhythm feat Ben Westbeech
Music Man
9.0
Anonym
Crazy Says What EP
Lokee
7.5
Only three releases old, the label
run by party people Lokee is
already impressively exporting
the sounds from its dance?oors.
Here Detroit's Anonym — who,
as you might surmise from the
name, retains a certain degree
of anonymity — presents a
sturdy two-tracker, opening with
'Chick Flick', a 4am freak-out
with an unsettling breakdown.
There's also the title track 'Crazy
Says What', a slab of sub-aqua
deepness. Jozif's mix of 'Chick
Flick' gets the A* here, though,
a heavy, dark disco devastator of
the ?rst water.
198 djmag.com
Jovonn
Time Has Changed Records
Dogmatik
Love The Popo Vice
7.5
Four great tracks here
from Acumen. This is
on the Frenchman's
own imprint, with the
EP closer 'Perspectives'
the pick of a delectable
bunch.
Cormac
Is This Love?
WetYourSelf!
7.5
Whitesnake asked a
very similar question.
Hailing from Fabric's
Sunday night session
WetYourSelf!, Cormac
drops four slabs for
their own imprint.
There's much to
recommend it, notably
the wonky, slightly
unsettling 'Retrace'.
Body N' Deep EP
7.5
Old school don Jovonn
gives it some New
Jersey welly, with
the excellent 'You' a
straight chugger, while
'Let It Ride' is spooky,
slightly off key, and
irresistible.
Kyle Watson
Throwback EP
Gruuv
7.5
No need to
overcomplicate matters.
South African producer
Kyle Watson knows
how to work a garage
groove, and here
there's four of the
bastards, each with
more poke than the last.
Vin Sol
Deetron
There was only one real choice
for this month's Money
Shot, and it's the Swiss
supremo Deetron's stunning
collaboration with Ben
'Breach' Westbeech whipped
from his debut album, 'Music
Over Matter'. If you've been
anywhere near a discotheque
over the summer, it's likely
you've already been beguiled
by the swelling magni?cence
of this piece of most sterling
work. It soars, it swoops, it
makes the hairs stand up
on the back of your neck.
Complete with two dark, ruffas-buggery mixes from Will
Saul and October, and another
from Baltimore's eminent
Karizma, this is among the
singles of the year.
Acumen
Stinky Lollipop EP
7.5
The triumvirate of Polish pair
Catz 'N Dogz and Eats Everything,
Catz Eats Dogz feels like it's an
overdue excursion. Mr Everything
describes the track thusly: heads
down, hands up. It's both of those
things. 'Evil Tram' is ?erce, but in
an understated fashion, if that is
indeed possible, where 'House'
shuf?es and shakes before
unleashing almost uncontrollably
loose hi-hats. Rydim comes with
his own mix of 'Evil Tram', which
begins quite unassumingly, but
soon its nagging percussion
gnaws its way into your psyche.
CTEPEO 57
The Missouri Breaks EP
Tartelet
8.0
Those Danes at Tartelet are back
presenting three tracks from
CTEPEO 57, who, seemingly,
we may know but under other
aliases. It's intricate and layered,
but thankfully never overcomplicated, and despite obvious
craft, it never loses its sight of
the dance?oor. 'The Missouri
Breaks' slams dissected funk and
soul breaks into sublimely deep
house music, while 'Sputnik 1'
cross-references the glory days
of Etienne De Crecy's 'Super
Discount' album. 'Mono 66' wins
by a nose, laden with necksnapping funk and clattering
drums.
It's House
Soo Wavey
8.0
It bloody well is house, too. Drum
machine nut Vin Sol teams up
with the legendary Tyree Cooper
for Cali's Soo Wavey label. An
innocuous beginning — with
some spoken word knowledge
from Mr Cooper — breaks into
ice-thawing Mr Finger pads, then
jittering drums. It’s beautiful.
The Zanzibar mix ups the shuf?e
count considerably, simple
but devastatingly effective.
‘Real Fresh’, with label mate
Matrixxman, is sparse machine
music, while ‘Out The Box’ builds
thrashing snares before dropping
a Mayday-style bassline. So good.
RICHY AHMED HOT CREATIONS
Waifs & Strays Vs. Lukas
01 RICHY AHMED FEAT KEV KNAP ‘It’s The Drums’ Hot Creations
HPJJ
02. MINEO ‘Turn Out The Lights (Jamie Jones Remix)’ Hot Creations
Gimme Luv
7.5
Bristolians Waifs & Strays go
head-to-head with Futureboogie
type Lukas for Heidi's
Jackathon Jams imprint. Oh,
and pleasingly Chi-Town don DJ
Sneak is involving himself in the
dance?oor affray too. The title
track is a bubbling, heads-down
jam, with an extremely solid dub
also provided. Over, 'Dance Me'
employs a quite monstrous hoover
bass, while Sneak's version of
'Gimme Luv' ups the BPMs for a
Derrick Carter-esque boompty
workout. Very classy.
“It’s the new one forthcoming on Hot Creations.”
“This is a wicked EP with a fresh remix from Jamie.”
03. CREEPY AUTOGRAPH ‘Mind Image Made’ Ultramajic
“Absolute massive nasty synth track from Jimmy.”
04. SOUNDSTREAM ‘Love Jam (Maceo Plex Remix)’ White
“Loved the original and Maceo has turned it into a peak-t ime bomb.”
05. RICHY AHMED ‘101 Jam’ Hot Creations
“The B-side to my ?rst Hot Creations full EP.”
06. TREVINO ‘Another Life Time’ The Nothing Special
“One of my favourite producers at the minute. Epic track.”
07.
DUNGEON MEAT ‘The Fuck Off Track’ My Love Is Underground
“Does exactly what it says on the tin.”
08. DENSE & PIKA ‘Colt’ Hot?ush
“My favourite Dense & Pika track so far. Love the piano.”
09. KENNY LARKIN ‘Integration’ Plus 8
“Old techno track from the master.”
10. FLYNN ROGERS TONG ‘Pressure’ White
“This totally went off at Paradise closing.”