About this time back in 2007, Bruno Pronsato was finishing up his debut album, Why Can’t We Be Like Us, and struggling to fit in one final song: an epic, electronic ballad called “The Make Up The Break Up.” It was an especially compelling track, and Pronsato did everything he could to fit it onto the album, but in the end it was just too long and had to be left out. Why Can’t We Be Like Us dropped at the end of the year — promptly receiving a deluge of praise — and “The Make Up The Break Up” remained a work-in-progress, appearing only in scattered cameos throughout his live sets.
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Freestyle Man, Vibin EP
August 5, 2009 – 10:01 PM
Many producers and their fans defend limp, threadbare minimal house tracks as “DJ tools” whose usefulness is lost on audiences who hear them out of context. Yet every now and then an exceptional DJ tool comes along that lays bare just how pathetic such an excuse can be. Klas Lindblad, better known as Sasse/Freestyle Man and owner of the Moodmusic label, is rarely mentioned in the same sentence as a DJ tool, as his productions for labels such as Freude Am Tanzen, Dirt Crew Recordings, Keys of Life and his own imprints tend to come out fully formed and ripe for solo play. More than 15 years spent behind decks and drum machines, however, tends to give producers like Lindblad a sense for which additional elements spice up DJ sets, as well as how to work them into a record. His latest as Freestyle Man, the “Vibin EP” for Bear Entertainment sub-label Hairy Claw, shows lazy toolmakers how it’s done.
BBH: Teste, The Wipe
August 5, 2009 – 10:01 AM
Looking back at Teste’s limited output, it would easy to write the Canadian duo off as a minor footnote in the history of techno’s early years. Their discography never extended past two official releases, but with their debut 12″ known as “The Wipe” they left an indelible mark on the techno landscape.
Various Artists, Return of the Samurai Parts One & Two
August 4, 2009 – 10:01 PM
Not yet a year since the release of the first “Tsuba Samurai EP”, the London house label offers up a sequel, “Return of the Samurai.” Though this two-part release brings a keeper to the bin, three remaining tracks are compilation fodder — representative, likable, but altogether unmemorable. Despite its too-restrained style, “Return of the Samurai” is altogether a practice in good taste.
Margaret Dygas, Invisible Circles
August 4, 2009 – 10:00 AM
Her first two releases showcased a producer with a penchant for oblique, compelling electronic arrangements. The third finds Margaret Dygas hitching up her dance floor britches while keeping the thrilling patchwork of ideas inherent from her beginnings. Now residing in Berlin, Dygas has perhaps drawn on inspiration garnered from playing in the clubs there for this late night minimal two tracker.
Brackles, Get a Job
August 3, 2009 – 10:00 PM
Apple Pips have spent their first five records mining the area between techno and dubstep, releasing 12″s from established techno vets and some of dubstep’s biggest, freshest names. Appleblim, however, is not content to stick with a single sound, and the latest records from his Bristol-based label bring even more genres into the melting pot. Their sixth comes from Brackles, a man earning lots of attention for both his fantastic DJing and his productions as well. Brackles has previously collaborated with Shortstuff, but his first completely solo 12,” “Get a Job,” brings in a totally different sound to the Apple Pips camp.
John Roberts, Mirror
July 31, 2009 – 10:01 AM
Though he sports one of the less memorable names in house music (as compared to, say, “Black Jazz Consortium,” “Mr. Fingers,” or “Sascha Dive”), John Roberts possesses one of the most distinctive and individualistic sounds of the moment. His tracks are wonders of acoustic sound and digital grid structure, of quirky detail and suffusive mood, of widescreen scope and hand-lettered modesty. All of which has made him the torch-bearer of the day for Hamburg’s Dial Records. “Mirror” finds that torch in good hands indeed.
Tony Lionni, The Games People Play EP
July 30, 2009 – 9:02 PM
Tony Lionni’s involvement in the Manchester dance crews scene of the late ’80s/early ’90s is a known entity now, but at the time he revealed the fact it was nothing short of revelatory. Here was an artist coming out with serious house and techno records without any solid threads to his origins, to the experiences that brought him to the here and now with what seemed like such unfettered ease. Once you understand how Lionni’s connection to music formed through the club culture of the Hacienda, jazz house dance battles and his own self-confessed study of “black music in all its forms” you realize that this is no passing fancy for him. And the fact that Lionni is a former dancer doesn’t hurt his chances of getting asses moving either.
Pépé Bradock, Swimsuit Issue 1789
July 30, 2009 – 10:01 AM
Pépé Bradock’s catalog falls into a few different modes. There’s elegant deep house (the famous “Deep Burnt,” the achingly beautiful “6 Million Pintades” EP, most recently “Mandragore”), hip-hop and electro-inflected grooves (several tracks from his early “Un Pepe En Or” EPs), and eccentric experiments (the fucked up “Rhapsody in Pain”). Though Bradock seems to have left overt hip-hop behind while maintaining the influence in subtler ways, deep house and experimental electronica are in full effect on his excellent new 12″, “Swimsuit Issue 1789.”
Rick Wade, Intelligence
July 29, 2009 – 9:01 PM
“Intelligence” is not a word that comes up often in house music. In this context, it almost seems like a challenge; this record wasn’t titled for “Soul” or “Sex,” or any of the other social concepts excessively invoked in dance discourse. Though an intellectual emphasis is unusual, it shouldn’t be a surprise; this EP is the inaugural release for Laid, a vinyl-only subsidiary of Hamburg’s reliable Dial, and features music by lesser-known Detroit heavy Rick Wade.
Lusine, Two Dots
July 28, 2009 – 9:01 PM
Given that Jeff McIlwain aka Lusine has studied sound design for music and film it’s no surprise his productions are filled with a deeper than usual sense of atmosphere. Counting film scores among his recent projects also explains why we haven’t heard much from the Texan for the past few years. “Two Dots” is, in fact, his first proper release since 2006’s “Emerald EP,” and it finds McIlwain refreshed from his film score sabbatical. A significantly more pop-based affair than the majority of his previous output, “Two Dots” is released ahead of the forthcoming A Certain Distance album, and features the sprightly, lilting vocals of Finnish songstress Vilja Larjosto.
Unknown Artist, Freak For You / Point And Gaze
July 28, 2009 – 10:01 AM
If Beats In Space‘s Tim Sweeney showed up to play your town’s roller rink with his signature blond shag dyed coal black and fresh blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, would you be terrified or freaking pumped at the prospect of pogo-ing to satanic slow-mo disco edits until he had to tuck back into his coffin at dawn? Assuredly, “Freak For You/Point And Gaze,” the latest 12″ from Werk Discs and its founder Actress’s shadowy Thriller imprint, would be at the front of his crate on such a spooky evening.
Ramadanman/Pearson Sound, Revenue/PLSN
July 27, 2009 – 11:01 PM
That David Kennedy is only 21 years old may come as a surprise to those who’ve seen all the man has achieved. He’s the co-founder of Hessle Audio, a label experimenting all across the dubstep axis while keeping the sound firmly planted on the dance floor. He’s at the top of his game as a DJ with a packed tour schedule and equally packed sets, containing everything from techno to Ludacris. More importantly, he’s a producer whose diverse work defies even his fans predictions for what he might release next. It could be the punishing simplicity of “Blimey,” the sunny, entrancing vibes of “Humber” or his explorations in house with Appleblim. His latest 12″s, “Revenue” for 2nd Drop and “PLSN” for Hessle Audio as Pearson Sound, Kennedy again draws influence from disparate sources while sounding like little else out there.
Mount Kimbie, Sketch On Glass
July 23, 2009 – 11:27 PM
“Sketch On Glass” is the highly anticipated second release by Mount Kimbie, following their highly rated “Maybes” EP from earlier this year, also on Scuba’s Hotflush Recordings. These guys are in the zone! Pioneering a catchy brand of light-as-air, deep-as-the-ocean, feel-good dubstep, here they offer us four more superb tracks.
Steinhoff & Hammouda, Touch
July 23, 2009 – 11:11 AM
As one of the founders of the Smallville Records retail store and record label, Hamburg’s Julius Steinhoff has a proven ear for quality when it comes to forward-thinking dance music. The same refined taste can be detected in Steinhoff’s handful of collaborations with Abdeslam Hammouda (and, in this case, Dionne as well). Last year’s “Tonight Will Be Fine” EP was built of cottony hums, cascading melodies, and patient grooves. Their sophomore EP offers warm, deep house to get lost in — a perfect compliment to the immersive, deep techno of the year’s other Smallville release.
Disco Nihilist, Disco Nihilist
July 22, 2009 – 9:00 PM
Dance music has always had a DIY spirit that puts punk to shame. Not in a band? Just put on some records. Can’t play an instrument? Buy a sequencer. Can’t get signed? Start your own label. It is this mindset that brings us Disco Nihilist’s first release, in both literal and aesthetic terms. Label Love What You Feel is masterminded by Thomas Cox — proprietor of infinitestatemachine and frequent LWE commenter — who discovered the Austin, Texas producer’s work through Myspace. The process of putting out the record (no surprise, it’s vinyl only) has even been documented in a series of posts on ISM. The label seems to be aptly titled; this is not the work of professionals or insiders, but of dedicated fans.
Kenton Slash Demon, Khattabi
July 21, 2009 – 11:02 PM
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.
Roman Flügel, Stricher EP
July 21, 2009 – 9:38 AM
It seems reasonable after 20 plus prolific years spent producing music that Roman Flügel’s recent output has slowed to a trickle. This isn’t to say the many monikered producer has been resting on his laurels — the excellent “Neues Testament” EP under the long dormant Roman IV guise puts paid to that notion — but the venerable producer just doesn’t need 10 to 15 releases per year to retain top billing. Yet you can hardly blame Flügel’s fans for hoping another few morsels meet his quality control standards and end up on wax. Surprisingly, Tiga’s Turbo label (rather than old reliable Playhouse) provides a home for his first original material of 2009 — the varied “Stricher EP.”
Shonky, Chocotox EP
July 20, 2009 – 11:30 PM
When choosing a name for your production alter ego it can be fun to take the piss. The playfulness of a good moniker is suited to a music as carefree as its characters, perhaps nowhere more so than within the world of electronic music. 2 Phat Cunts was a one-time pseudonym adopted by BT and Sasha for a late nineties breakbeat collab called “Ride,” while Mancunians Ben Davis, Dick Johnson and Kiwi house DJ Soane flew under the Troughman banner (it referred to a certain eccentric who liked to lay in wait in the city’s club urinals for someone to water him) for the track “La Sourcier.” French DJ and producer Shonky has been active for about four years, so carrying on the personality of one who is “of slightly dubious quality or performance” is somewhat of a brave move, especially if some of your output lives up to your namesake.