[Turbo]

Azari & III began their career with two extraordinary singles, “Hungry for the Power” and “Reckless (With Your Love),” both ultramodern updates of timeless vocal house motifs that hooked pretty much everyone who heard them. Whether they like it or not, these tracks are going to loom large over everything they do, and it’s difficult to look at Indigo, the duo’s first release for Turbo Recordings, without taking them into consideration. The 12″ recalls these early releases in mood, but deconstructs their widescreen vision into something trackier, and in places, more formulaic.

The title track sticks a sinister, driving bass line atop a rattling, classically Chicagoan rhythmic structure, highlighted by some fantastically slippery hi-hats. Vocalist Starving Yet Full’s familiar soaring wail is relegated to “ohhhs” and “yeaaahs,” which is the biggest puzzler here, aside from the inclusion of an acapella of those same “ohhhs” and “yeaaahs.” Replete with ravey synth stabs, a classicist organ melody, and sumptuous, icy pads, “Indigo” certainly isn’t lacking in character but it does feel pedestrian when SYF is out of the picture. When he isn’t, the track sounds like a dub version of a more anthemic track, an epic that could have been. Oddly enough, the 12″ also comes with a dub version that’s more an alternate mix: its melody is a bit more central and obvious, adorned with some acidic stabs, and paired with vocals that are more spaced out. It’s an acceptable, albeit less visceral, substitute for its parent version. Finally, “The Worker” is a straightforward acid-tinged arpeggio chugger, which, although executed well, is not the freshest idea in 2010. It’s a little worrisome that the duo’s flamboyance is being compromised in favor of trackier fare, and its inclusion feels like pandering to the label’s aesthetic. Azari & III aren’t totally slumping with this release, and at least that defining air of nocturnal danger remains apparent. Yet it fails to reach the heights of their first two singles, largely because it sounds too safe, too calculated. Here’s hoping they let loose for the next one.

[Turbo]

It seems reasonable after 20 plus prolific years spent producing music that Roman Flügel’s recent solo 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.”

The EP’s three tracks reach for old friend analog synths recognizable to longtime Flügel followers. Splitting the difference between galloping Italo disco arpeggios and tinny electro rhythms, the title track seems all journey and no end destination, leaving husks of synth tones to fizzle, detune and tangle in main riff’s erratic wake (rather like the calculated deconstructions of Villalobos, Bruno Pronsato and even Norman Nodge). In fact, the ribcage-as-marimba rhythms and fastidiously tweaked tones of closer “Prinzessin X” could be mistaken for the work of the first two gentlemen, though the latter portion embraces sinking video game motifs loved by dubstep producers.

Yet the highlight of the “Stricher EP” sits at B1 — the unusually lovely “Discofiasco.” Its aims are obscured by seemingly arbitrary plinks and plonks across the keyboard, held together by an abstract thread linking his vamps to jazzy improvisation. Its jovial bass line, square claps and carefree tambourine hint at a happier motive that grows apparent with the introduction of two clearheaded counter melodies tugging “Discofiasco” away from haphazard motifs. Then, as if the stars have aligned and the pieces fallen into place, gorgeous harmonic pads glide into view, a sonic epiphany of the tune’s purpose. He uses the same arrangement only once more after returning to randomness, so as not to dilute its potency. The same is true of Flügel’s unique vision more generally, which burns brightest these when not competing with his own other releases. Standing alone in 2009, the excellent “Stricher EP” is proof positive of this.