The sixth release from Phonica’s eponymous label is the product of serendipity — the result of a visit from 90′s electronica producer Bob Holroyd to their brick and mortar store. Holroyd, for those of you who were too young to notice at the time (like us), released the ambient/tribal hybrid “African Drug” to great acclaim in 1994 and saw its inclusion on prominent mixes by Coldcut and Francois K. Realizing its potential 16 years later, Phonica licensed the track and paired it with new remixes from Four Tet and T.Williams, the latter of which is our weekly download. The UK-based DJ/producer, most notable for being half of Deep Teknologi with S.E.F., latches on to the shuffling, hand drum percussion and makes it vibrate above purring bass weight. And by blurring the original marimba notes into a stuttering yet solid melodic line and adding his own synth strains to the mix, T. Williams maintains the intriguing vibe while excising any 90′s sonic baggage. Our thanks to T.Williams, Bob Holroyd and Phonica for giving this tune away.

Download: Bob Holroyd, “African Drug” (T.Williams Keye Mix)

[Phonica Records]

Berlin’s Hardwax, that Berghain-staffed den of alluringly anonymous white labels, might be the vinyl emporium of the moment. But what about London’s Phonica? Resembling more a design-minded record nerd’s studio apartment than a storefront adjacent to a Soho parking garage, Phonica has built an international reputation not by genre affiliation but on the high quality of the wax lining its walls. As a very green DJ studying abroad a few years back, I received my unofficial techno education at the shop, saddling up at a listening station once or twice a week with an employee-curated stack of new 12″s. I returned to the States with two suitcases full of Phonica’s wares (and a decimated savings account), and the bulk of my purchases still sound fresh today. So it’s no surprise that “Tension,” the first release on the shop’s eponymous label, features some of the most finely honed, built-to-last dance music on the shelves right now (not to mention some of the prettiest packaging).

A longtime Phonica employee and diligent DJ, Hector — collaborating here with Ben Bryant — has certainly upped his studio chops since “La Raza,” his ebullient but considerably less sophisticated 2008 debut on Horizontal. “Tension,” the kind of smooth, dubby burner that liebe*detail made famous, hardly reinvents the tech-house wheel. But Hector & Bryant, milking two tastefully epic breakdowns out of the template, have crafted one very special moment for after-hours dance floors. The stately A-side, however, offers little indication of the insanity to come. Abandoning the restrained sound the ex-Skull Disco boss has favored for his nascent Apple Pips label, Appleblim and Bristol up-and-comer Al Tourettes have inexplicably re-imagined “Tension” as a bona-fide technoid party anthem. Frankly, I can’t believe more tech-dubstep producers aren’t similarly eschewing the two-step-and-Basic Channel preset and opening up their sound to such bold, unhinged, and wholly unpredictable rumbling. But here’s to hoping this ambitious, Koze-like melding of the ecstatic, the accessible, and the absurd sets a trend.