ELECTRO REVIEWS
DAVID MCCARTHY [email protected]
QUICKIES
I Killed Kenny
Militant EP
Four40 Records
8.0
The whole remit of this page is to
feature music that brings together
a range of different influences and
styles and somehow manages to
pull them into a sound that kind of
reflects 'now' without trying too
hard to be 'of' now. This weird-andwonderful amalgam of UK house,
garagey grime and late-night
techno shows that the Dartford duo
are doing precisely that. 'Nobody'
is a genre-crossing cracker that
respects no borders and takes no
prisoners.
Shook
Keys Of Light
Hottwerk
8.0
Freeform Five
Brandy Alexander
Exploited
9.0
Berlin's Exploited label has
a consistently high quality of
output. Much of it isn't quite
suited to this page, being
of a slightly purist housier
feel than that which floats
this particular boat, but
here Anu Pillai aka Freeform
Five arrives on the label and
serves up a wickedly bubbling
electro riffy acid blend that
is right on message. Pillai's
track record speaks for itself
and here his experience and
talent shines through, with
the instrumental being the
real killer.
Boom Merchant
Tokyo Skyline
Tribal Pulse
6.0
'Brooding' is overused when it
comes to this kind of techy latenight groove, as is 'dark'. Dave
Seaman's remix utilises both aspects
of the original to bring a slightly
more accessible touch to what is
essentially a dour double-header.
Not everything needs to be 'in yer
face' but in order to stand out from
the vast, vast numbers of releases
that fall into this category you need
to have, I don't know, a little 'je ne
sais quoi'.
DJ Licious
Fields Of Freedom
Can You Feel It Records
8.0
Yeah, this is a nice one for anyone
looking for a simple delight.
Another bit of funky, bass-slapping,
discofied electroness this time from
064 djmag.com
Belgium-based DJ Licious. It's
straightforward but blurs enough
lines to show originality and
quirkiness, such as incorporating
a sneaky build-up that leads into
a flute-led interlude. Remixes come
courtesy of Beauriche and Flapjackers,
but neither have the charm or subtlety
of the original version.
Finitribe
DeTestimony
FFFt
8.0
25 years after its original release,
Finitribe's 'DeTestimony' gets
a limited-edition 12" reissue
featuring some top-notch remixes.
Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33's
mix clangs away on the tubular
bells over a suitably determined
groove. The Optimo camp have
been fairly low-key of late and it's
nice to see the stamp attached to a
slightly more deconstructed affair
which again bases itself on the bell
motif but with just enough added
weirdness.
Dutch producer and multiinstrumentalist Jasper Wijnands
comes up with a neat contemporary
take on a classic 'French Touch'
approach. 'Keys Of Light' highlights
his funky grounding as well as
a knack of hitting an instinctive
dancefloor groove. It also proves
that Hottwerk is becoming a more
fully-rounded label with each
release. It’s worth checking out
everything they release.
QUICKIES
Krayons
Little Mike
Black Deer
Heroic
Bromance
Peak Oil
Sweetest Thing EP
Mordedura
6.0
The 11th release on
Heroic features Dutch
producer Krayons
from Utrecht and it's a
pleasant enough dibdab
of muted autobahn
muzak that would work
best in a boring traffic
jam.
TV On The Radio
Mercy (Enjoyed
Remix)
4.0
Apparently Little
Mike's 'Mordedura'
is an attempt to
"retranscribe the rage
and anger that have
been floating around
me over the past year".
The resulting track has
transferred it all to me.
Piemont
Definition EP
The Factoria
6.0
Soundcloud
6.0
Self described ‘electrohermit’ Enjoyed took
parts he found on the
net and made this remix
that he put up on his
Soundcloud. And it’s
not bad at all.
'Definition' is a nice
little late-night/early
morning chill-out
groover that manages
just enough attitude
to avoid the dreaded
'bar DJ' effect. Worth
checking.
Black Deer
8.0
This Willie Burns
side-project maps
out fascinating
possibilities. Chiming,
raw guitars and
ice-sculpted synths
dominate on the epic
'It's Like The Way It
Used To Be', but there
are also echoes of
synth-pop, Aphex Twin
and Durutti Column
throughout.
Spherical
Co-ordinates
Vector Projection
Token
8.0
The unstoppable Token
delivers more killer
techno from Christian
Wunsch and Oscar
Mulero. From the deep
groove and chiming
bells of 'SCFLS-05'
to the acid-soaked
'SCFLS-11' and the
Submersible Machines
Isobaths
Lunar Disko
grubby, Lost-style
looped groove of
'SCFLS-12', it's
obvious that these
producers bring years
of experience to the
studio.
Hexagon
Blue Hour
Transcendent
8.0
Boris Bunnik goes
even deeper than usual
for 'Blue Hour'. In
places, the release is
similar to his Versalife
project, but the real
highlights are the
melodic ambience and
fragile synth melodies
of 'Physical Dimension'
and 'Forecasts'.
Vereker/Florian
Kupfer
Untitled
Russian Torrent Versions
8.0
Is this label a side
project of Morelli's
L.I.E.S? No one can say
Simon/off
Molecules EP
Phuture Shock Musik
7.0
Austrian producer Simon/off follows
his 'Planetary Communication'
EP on the Bristol-based label with
this second offering of three techy
breakbeaty garage-influenced
tracks. Lead track 'Molecules'
syncopates across several
boundaries with ease and manages
to achieve that most cherished
accolade, that of being pretty much
uncategorisible. 'Rhythm 38' is
slightly more straightforward future
garage, and then everything rounds
off with the experimentally ambient
UK funk 䁽