Made up of Jonas Kenton and Silas Moldenhawer, the Danish duo Kenton Slash Demon marry an appreciation for dance floor techno with the pop songwriting instincts they utilize as members of synth poppers When Saints Go Machine. After a two records for Aroma, the pair hit their stride and found wider audiences upon joining forces with their compatriots at Tartelet Records. Their well received The Schwarzschild Solution series for the imprint concludes with its strongest entry yet and is backed by two remixes from buzzed over Swedish producer Axel Boman.

From the start of “Daemon” it’s evident that KSD prize sound design above DJ utility, as its bustling blend of textures warms the air in lieu of kicks or hi-hats. The track snaps into floor mode once its rich bass line drops into place, accompanied by winsome vocals from WSGM member Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild and Bear In Heaven’s Jon Philpot. Fans of the Caribou’s Swim will likely appreciate how it’s worthy of club play but not bound to it. Boman’s “Epic” remix idles outside crossover territory, swapping in a bevy of unruly strings and tiptoeing syncopated percussion. At once more atmospheric and amenable to DJs, his dub mix takes advantage of swelling bass tones to form something worthy of a warm-up set. Despite the middling remixes, The Schwarzschild Solution Part III is a fitting denouement that suggests Kenton Slash Demon’s next story arc will be worth following closely.

This is LWE’s last Download of the Week post until 2011 so we figured it was time to share a bunch of goodies that might otherwise languish on our hard drives. We’ve also rounded up our 10 favorite LWE-hosted downloads from 2010 at the bottom of the post.

Escort, “Cocaine Blues”
This one has been floating around for a while but it’s too good to ignore. Escort have always been among the best of those seeking to emulate and reinterpret classic dance music/funk sounds and “Cocaine Blues” finds them just as good at updating blues classics as well. The band’s first single in three years reminds me of Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band with its infectious vocals riding on plump disco grooves. We can hardly wait for Escort’s long awaited album to drop after this one.

Robert Owens, “Heart and Soul”
Chicago’s best known house crooner and belter issued his fourth album, Art, in 2010 on Compost Records, a double LP with production roughly split between old friend Larry Heard and French maestro Atjazz. “Heart And Soul” was producer by the latter and is a bit closer to funky R&B than house, its rubbery bass guitar line wriggling through relaxed rhythms as Owens delivers a spot on vocal performance. A strong follow up to material from his 2008 album.

Fatback Band, “(Do The) Spanish Hustle” (Danny Krivit Edit)
2010 saw veteran jock Danny Krivit release his second compilation of edits with leading reissuers Strut. Slightly more obscure than the first volume, this one includes Fatback Band’s biggest single, “(Do The) Spanish Hustle,” expertly stretched to nearly nine minutes of Latin-tinged disco. Sounding a bit like Liquid Liquid leading a disco orchestra, it’s one of those edits no disco fan should be without.

Jatoma, “Little Houseboat” (Kenton Slash Demon Remix)
With only one release in their discography, Jatoma was an unlikely candidate for having their debut album issued on Kompakt. Yet just last month their self-titled LP landed with a Kompakt thump and they’re on to remixes. Kenton Slash Demon were an inspired choice to reinterpret “Little Houseboat,” as they managed to meld chunky, organic-sounding rhythms with dreamy, amorphous synth strains. Besting not only the original but many faddish IDM crossover acts like Gold Panda, this remix suggests we should all keep our ears trained on KSD.

Silver Columns, “Brow Beaten” (JD Twitch Optimo Remix)
Your guess is as good as ours as to why JD Twitch was recruited to remix Silver Columns’ “Brow Beaten” more than a year after its initial release but we’re glad he was. Far from the near hi-NRG style of the original, Twitch goes for the jugular with a bass-heavy techno assault broken up by syncopated snare hits. Although the raving synths towards the end are eye-brow raisers, this powerful remix keeps our attention much more steadily than the original ever could.

LWE’s 10 Favorite Downloads of the Week, 2010:
(links, not downloads; in no particular order)

St. Plomb, “Precious Soul” (Ripperton Remix)

Santiago Salazar, “Jamilia’s Theme”

Sepalcure, “Feeling That I Know So Well”

Brandt Brauer Frick, “R.W. John”

Shed, “No Way!”

Tin Man, “Scared”

Azari & III and Friendly Fires, “Stay Here”

Fabrice Lig, “Fusion”

Anders Ilar, “Traveller”

The Hundred In the Hands, “Dressed In Dresden” (Kyle MF Hall Remix)

When we last checked in with Silas Moldenhawer and Jonas Kenton of Kenton Slash Demon they had just released their first single for Copenhagen’s increasingly noteworthy Tartelet Records. The Danish duo, who are also members of indie rockers When Saints Go Marching, have since returned with a much more ambitious project: a trilogy of singles under the banner of The Schwarzchild Solution. The first edition presents “Sun,” a track which pushes The Books-styled acoustic samples into bumping tech-house forms. The flipside, our Download of the Week, is Portable’s melancholic remix of “Sun.” The way Alan Abrahms repeats the title in his emotive tenor it’s a bit like a dirge, but the original’s shimmering samples lighten the mood as they mingle with his unusual battery of percussion and snaking, almost acid-house-like synth progressions. The overall affect is like dancing in a cable car as it zips across power lines with the sun setting in the background. Leave it to Abrahms to make such a peculiar track even weirder and more compelling. Our thanks to Kenton Slash Demon, Portable and Tartelet Records for sharing this tune with all of us.

Download: Kenton Slash Demon, “Sun” (Portable Remix)

The name Kenton Slash Demon is probably not too familiar to most house and techno fans, but they are in fact members of indie band When Saints Go Machine (recently featured as remixed by dOP in Koze’s RA podcast). You’re not going to find any dance-rock or blog house or whatever it’s called these days here, though. “Khattabi,” the sixth installment for Copenhagen’s Tartelet Records offers multi-faceted tech house with a couple of surprises thrown in.

Percussion that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Oslo record and deep bass tones opens the title track until suddenly spiked with Eastern melodies from nowhere, a disorienting twist. Descending strings make an slide in to quickly change of pace until the tipsy rhythms come stumbling back in. “Singla” features similar drums but with vocal hums providing the only real melody, a nice counterpart to what preceded it. “Brunn” takes things in a very different direction, featuring big band horns evoking a swinging parade. Near the end the horns change their tune and a ride cymbal arrives to anchor everything in place. It may sound like too much for its own good, but the surprise is that everything works here. African-tinged percussion, brass instruments and odd Eastern instruments are all things that we’ve seen used by producers to make bland records sound interesting, but here that’s not the case. “Khattabi” is original without sounding like Kenton Slash Demon are trying too hard, and looks to raise their profile a bit in the dance scene.