[New Kanada]

Prior to this release, Adam Marshall’s New Kanada had served largely as a home to house and techno. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the mold-breaking record comes from Bob Bhamra. Operating under the West Norwood Cassette Library moniker for the past 18 months or so, Bhamra has shown a certain disdain for genres, mining the intersection of dubstep and house as furiously as any of his British compatriots. Say What? continues this theme, mixing tropes with more vigor than ever before. Who can say where they all come from, though?

The eponymous track is hung around a pattering breakbeat and singular jabs at the buttons of an old-school phone. Like his previous work, the whole thing has a dusty, sampled feel. Fittingly, Bhamra augments this with his fragmented structure. People often talk about songs “deconstructing,” but “Say What?” does it quite literally. The last two minutes are perc-free, slowing down achingly, like a wind-up toy running out of turns. Earlier on, lurches between disparate sections are achieved with a mid-range snarling; thread to the song’s cloth. This in itself seems borrowed from tech-step, only restricted to a milder finish. “Flashlight” is even stranger. Beginning with a psychedelic groaning, it quickly makes the transition to a drum-heavy loop. Over this, Bhamra layers in thrusts of springy synth. They’re weird too; forceful in the intensity of their strike, but somehow ethereal at the same time. The whole thing points to careful and idiosyncratic sound design. The trippy groaning rounds out the proceedings too, though a careful listen reveals its presence throughout the entire duration, lurking insidiously below the surface.

Adam Marshall’s remix of “Flashlight” manages to achieve a surprising level of normality given the nature of the source material. That’s not to say it’s totally conventional, though. Aptly sub-titled “No Air,” this version is overtly melancholy, with long, resonant tones lamenting their own suffocation. It’s a nice change from the sprightliness of the other two. Marshall backs up the mood terrifically, using parched, deliberate claps to great effect. Like the original, it’s also book-ended in an interesting fashion. A single synth whirrs its way up and down with cautious optimism, like a chopper in slow-motion. As distinct from the middle of the record, these end sections channel a similar kind of vibe to Dettmann & Klock’s “Dawning.” It’s a thoughtful cut which should please fans of New Kanada’s usual output. As for the other two: even if the end results don’t quite tickle your fancy, one has to admire Bhamra’s sheer ability to stand out.

[New Kanada]

For artists who have built their name on a certain aesthetic, a stylistic left turn can be as rewarding as it is risky. Because while familiar, oft-repeated patterns are good for maintaining the interest of dedicated fans, they present few opportunities for artists to reach new audiences, especially those who have written them off. Parisian producer Alexis Benard, known by the world as Seuil, has since 2006 been cultivating his fan base with a steady stream of minimal, somewhat utilitarian house tracks for labels such as Moon Harbour Recordings, Eklo, and Raum… Musik, among others. So when his Moonapark EP for New Kanada reached my ears I found myself checking the credits repeatedly, uncertain I was listening to the same producer. The small but noticeable current of nuance running through his past releases — particularly in the granular textures of his synth tones — had flourished into bold attempts at tackling new genres and complex melodic development.

“Nine Clouds” finds Benard mining the rich seams between dubstep and house often associated with A Made Up Sound and Ramadanman, but especially calls to mind Martyn’s mid-tempo material from his Great Lengths album. The dub washes and latticework beats read as dubstep but its backbeat hi-hat flirts with house, an associate that grows stronger if still flexible when he introduces more swinging percussion and organ riffs that swell and release with deliberate gusto. Nearly as striking and more recognizably house, “Blank Love” contrasts dissonant drones with reverberating progressions, gray chord stabs, and snarling bass runs, brooding like two friends pulled away from each other after a punch up. The old school rhythm patterns of “Lonely Place” clatter along the contours of stately pads and gently modulating progressions in a way that recalls Detroit techno but through the eyes of a contemporary artist like Kassem Mosse. Although Benard took a sizable leap outside his comfort zone Moonapark EP feels confident and sounds excellent — a slice of top notch material most producers would love to have in their discographies. If this burst of oeuvre-defying inspiration can be sustained he may have all new audiences saying his name with reverence.

[New Kanada]

“Tool” is almost exclusively used dismissively in dance music criticism, but must every track hold up unlayered, unmixed, or otherwise isolated? Some brilliant club tunes deserve your headphoned attention, but I think we critics sometimes lose sight of where classic moments in dance music occur — on the floor, with a deft selector manning the decks. Toronto’s Stuart Li, known in grimy house music circles as Basic Soul Unit, has become a DJ’s favorite for the very reason many of us might usually click the skip button: save his “Panorama Bar 02 | Part I” A-side, “Things Pass” from this fall, which found Li in veritable anthem mode, they’re unabashedly tracky. While Basic Soul Unit’s recent “Basic Necessity EP” for New Kanada might not contain a DJ’s main event, its contents provide the sort of sinews that hold great sets together, bridging the gap between the energy of one showcase track and the next.

While the “Basic Necessity EP” skews minimal in its composition, its sound palate stands firmly in the American old school, grabbing liberally from squelchy Chicago house and reduced Detroit techno. Li has kept the good vibes confined to Maurice Fulton-friendly opener “Hope.Unity.Vision,” where perky, ascending bass eggs on hyperactive hi-hats for close to eight minutes. I could have done without the sampled platitudes that give this track its title, but when dissonant synths bite their way through all this positivity, I’m suddenly willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. For my money, though, B-side wins this slab big. Basic Soul Unit may have sent another track to Ostgut Ton this year, but “Basic Necessity” could easily have been its substitute. Deep bass and dark acid flourishes gallop toward morning, pausing only for momentary clangs you’d imagine ripping through the most far-flung of warehouses. Slower but with as healthy a dollop of bass-bin dread, “Rhythm No. 1″ took a few listens for me to warm up to, but its stuttering drums and melodic ambiguity have finally revealed themselves to be another excellent trick up my sleeve. As a critic, I found that my appreciation of the “Basic Necessity EP,” if not of Basic Soul Unit in general, greatly increased once I took my headphones off, clicked on my second turntable, and started working these jams into my regular rotation. Home listeners beware: this one is marked “Club Use Only.”

Beyond producing quality house music for Thema, Cynosure, and Dumb-Unit (among others), Adam Marshall is also the head honcho for the up-and-coming New Kanada and KUJI labels. So when he sent LWE this exclusive new mix which seamlessly spans deep-house and techno with personalized edits, we knew it needed to be shared with the world.

Download: LWE Podcast 06: Adam Marshall (62:43)

Tracklisting:

01. Seth Troxler, “Love Never Sleeps” [Crosstown Rebels]
02. Minimal Man, “Make A Move” [Trelik]
03. Goldwill, “Book Duty” [Musik Gewinnt Freunde]
04. Mr. G, “Sometimez I Cry” (Radio Slave’s Panama Garage Remix) [Oproof]
05. Boola & Demos, “Toon” [a:rpia:r] (edit)
06. Mirco Violi, “Movida” (Kreon’s Marmol Remix) [Be Chosen] (edit)
07. Mathias Kaden, “Perclue” [GS]
08. Ane Brun, “Headphone Silence” (Henrik Schwarz Remix/Dennis Ferrer NoiZy Edit) [Objectivity] (edit)
09. The Sunburst Band, “Journey To the Sun” (Dennis Ferrer Dub) [Z Records]
10. Robert Hood, “Untitled” [Cheap]
11. Rose, “Macadame Shamanbo” [liebe*detail] (edit)
12. Bam Bam, “Where’s Your Child?” [Desire Records] (edit)
13. Norman Nodge, “Native Rhythm” [Osgut Ton] (edit)
14. Dettmann & Klock, “Places” [Ostgut Ton] (edit)
15. Plasmik, “Mindpattern” (Afrilounge’s Deep String Mix) [Connaisseur] (edit)
16. Phonogenic, “Smoking On a Loop” [Cocoon] (edit)
17. Function, “Burn” [Sandwell District]
18. Agnès, “Short On D” [Resopal Red]
19. Robert Dietz, “Lost Horizons” [Cécille Numbers] (edit)
20. Surgeon, “Atol” [Downwards] (edit)
21. Gavin Herlihy, “Praia Brava” (Jesse’s Made To Play Dub) [True To Form] (edit)
22. Dennis Ferrer, “Touched the Sky” (Joe’s Dub Beats) [King St. Sounds] (edit)
23. Raz Ohara, “Whitmey Na” [Kindisch]
24. Global Communication, “14:31″ [Sublime Records]

Read an interview with Adam Marshall after the jump.

When and where did you make the mix?

Adam Marshall: The mix was done at home. At night. With friends.

What’s the concept behind the mix?

No concept per se. Hopefully it evokes a late night at a good club — soulful, dark and raw.

Who are a few of your favorite DJs and why?

Hmmm… classics would be Derrick Carter, Theo Parrish, D-Wynn, Mike Huckaby, Harri, A Place Called Bliss, Murat, Laurent Garnier, DJ Harvey and Jeff Mills. Current faves would include Zip, Marc Schneider, Agnes, Cassy, Marcel Dettmann, Karizma along with Jeremy P.Caulfield, Mike Shannon, Jeff Milligan and DJ Traxx. Why? Because they have love and passion for the music they’re playing. And apart from possessing unique styles, technical skill and good taste, they can rock a club pretty hard . The whole DJ-experience is so environment-dependent I always find it hard to say who I like and who I don’t, but I know all of the above mentioned DJs have sent chills up my spine on numerous occasions.

What can we expect from you for the rest of the year?

I have a remix of a Seth Troxler track coming out on Crosstown Rebels in September, and a remix of Mike Shannon on his Cynosure label later in the year, among others. The next New Kanada release in October will be a track of mine called “Man and Nature,” with killer remixes from The Mole and Miss Fitz. There are also a few things in the pipeline for KUJI that I’m really excited about — new artists and new (mis)directions…

Download: LWE Podcast 06: Adam Marshall