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"Organic" is among the most overused adjectives applied to electronic music, but Cobblestone Jazz’s seminal 2006 tracks “Dumptruck” and “India In Me” are as apt a target for that word as probably any other dancefloor record from the noughties. 2007’s stunning LP, “23 Seconds”, duly added extra dimensions of propulsive, jittery abstraction to the improvisational brew, further cementing the Canadian group – and the Wagon Repair label – as amongst our finest purveyors of dancefloor-friendly experimentalism.

This new E.P., ahead of a forthcoming new album, instead pursues a more introspective line. ‘A’ side “Chance Dub” definitely preponderates upon the latter, built as it is around a looping plucked riff, throbbing kick and phasing static ala any number of dub techno records, before overlaying a typically acoustic-sounding drum beat, bumping sub bass and gently lilting pads. Things progress in a rather uncharacteristically linear and repetitive fashion, leaving us with something that, whilst not unsatisfying, lacks the track development or the hook needed for our extended emotional investment.

‘B’ side “Chance” is better, spawning a locomotive relationship between the layered percussion and rolling bassline, a sparingly-deployed harmonized vocal hook and some full-blooded Rhodes piano virtuosity swimming in well-judged hall reverb. Where previous Cobblestone releases playfully alluded to or simply made emblematic the “jazz” component of their moniker, this is an out-and-out freeform, improvisational trip, while retaining a genuinely propulsive 4/4 force.

While these tracks undoubtedly continue to shine Wagon Repair's beacon for experimental-yet-functional dance music, they will still be judged against the abovementioned high points; and on that score, fail to deliver the floor-slaying, epic grandeur of “Dump Truck” or the unhinged, febrile, tech-edged darkness characterising much of “23 Seconds”. Having said that, there can surely be nothing more dispiriting as an artist to be continually judged against an older creative iteration, so perhaps that last comparison should be struck out, and this latest offering enjoyed for what it is: high quality organic dance music.

Tracklist:

A - Chance Dub 
B - Chance

MySpace | Wagon Repair

On first listen one track stands out from this EP. Pangaea's 'Why' is the most obvious follow on from previous monsters Router and Memories. I say obvious. It's nothing like obvious. This is some out-there, sped up funky track with so much atmosphere it sounds like Alan Rickman created it by splicing together sections of the VHS from the board game Atmosphere. Only that I don't like Alan Rickman, but I absolutely - to a worrying degree in fact, love this.

'Sunset Yellow' is the one though that will really do over a dancefloor. It builds until a plateau is reached with the most frantic, uncertain yet epic synths which continue to wind through the track.

The EP goes somewhere exciting though. Somewhere I’ve heard very little of recently. There is some dubstep on there, actual dubstep. I reckon 'Because Of You' and 'Dead Living' could actually, maybe even definitely be termed as the stuff. It might even get aired at some kind of silent disco for students, although obviously it won't. Oh nuts I said obvious again. I really don't mean to. This release is amazing. These two tracks aren't in fact 'obvious' or 'dubstep', they're hyper-dark spliced garage/ funk.

I think I was right to mention dubstep though. It shouldn't be an awful term. Dubstep was the most exciting genre out there, and still is in many respects. Pangaea's just made tracks that showcase how good it can be. The space and bounce of the drums, the fear mongering sub-bass. That constant feeling that nobody has ever relly made anything you could mistake this for. If anything it just makes me wish there was a FWD>> some time soon so I could go and submerge myself in it.

It's a release on Hessle, and for those who know that's enough to warrant your time. If you haven't heard their recent last ever show on subFM then go check it. Yessle!

Tracklist:

A   -  Why
B1 - Sunset Yellow
B2 - 5-HTP
 
C   - Neurons
D1 - Dead Living
D2 - Because of You

MySpace | Hessle Audio

Peter Van Hoesen had a pretty amazing 2009, but on the evidence of ‘Entropic Minus Six’, 2010 is going to be his annus mirabilis. Not only is there a Sendai project to look forward to, but also his next album ‘Entropic City’, of which the four tracks on offer here provide a tantalising glimpse.

‘Terminal’ bangs right from the get-go, and never lets up. Taking cues from the sci-fi aesthetic Redshape touched on in his ‘Dance Paradox’ LP, Van Hoesen ups the ante, delivering a genuine stomper that sounds like aliens conversing with each other in Berghain. ‘Strip It, Boost It’ is also trippy as sin, and shows its creator raising his production game. There is almost (but not quite) too much going on as the track revels in a clinical mash of frequencies. On the flip, ‘Quartz #1’ is the sonic equivalent of a car hitting a brick wall at full speed: twisted metal crumple zoning into nothing. The 12” closes with ‘Defense Against the Self’, a slightly less frenetic workout that nonetheless encapsulates Van Hoesen’s reductionist instincts, a wallop of disencumbered four-to-the-floor techno. If you’re still dusting off the cobwebs from last year, this should be just the tonic to bring you up to speed.

12" set for Release on February 8th on Time To Express (Distributed by Clone Distribution).

Tracklist:

a1 Terminal
a2 Strip It, Boost It
 
b1 Quart #1
b2 Defense Against The Self 

MySpace | Entropic City | Time To Express |

As the label copy states, it has been 10 years since Scott Monteith quietly launched his Deadbeat music project, and since that time his contribution to the dub techno genre has been impressive and consistent in equal measure, bringing his variations on the theme to labels as diverse as Wagon Repair and ~scape.

With this compilation he hasn’t attempted – wisely – to provide a comprehensive review of 17 years of Berlin’s legacy. Although a number of Basic Channel/Chain Reaction affiliated tracks appear, such as the genre high watermarks of Basic Channel's "Quadrant Dub," Maurizio's inexplicably driving "M6" and the impossibly deep bassline of Rhythm and Sound's beautiful "Mango Walk", the emphasis is very much on documenting the recent renaissance - or what could even be the second “golden period” of - dub techno.  As such, most of the selections are taken from the last two years.

Indeed, the biggest strength of "Radio Rothko" lies in the fact that, for a genre that can so often feel mired in nostalgia, Deadbeat hasn’t shied from contemporary innovations on the classic forms. After an opening third that focuses on the more ambient hues of the genre (where DeepChord, predictably, appear) Monteith uses the middle section of the selection to extract more upfront techno sounds (such as Deadbeat’s own “Port of Rix” and Marco Fürstenberg’s “Site 312”) out of the smoke-filled caverns, placing them seamlessly alongside the critically-beloved subterranean dubstep of 2562’s “Redux” and the digital abstractions of Monolake’s “Static”. These departures from the “template” are not only refreshing, I’d argue they’re essential for this compilation to work as a coherent and listenable whole.

The final third of the compilation returns us to more familiar territory, but with arguably the strongest cuts of all; and, given the fact I was unable to pick a weak track in the entire lot, that is hopefully saying something. Intrusion’s sublime “Tswana Dub”, Substance & Vainqueur’s bottomless “Reverberation “ and Mikkel Metal’s “Stephan” all ably prove how good the genre can be - and how relevant in 2010's Ostgut/Hardwax-dominated dancefloor techno landscape - when it’s proponents remember to enshrine rhythmic propulsion as well as ambience, power as well as width, hi-end percussion as well as static: to move feet as much as minds.

Deadbeat - "Radio Rothko" is released on 1st March 2010.

MySpace

Mike Shannon and his Cynosure label have been around for a while now, and although they’ve yet to register a full-blown hit, they consistently deliver difficult but deeply rewarding avant-techno fare. Shannon worked with vocalist Fadilla Demirtas on the excellent 'Sweets', a haunting, esoteric workout, that confounded and pleased in equal measure, and she returns on ‘Under the Radar’, a title that could well encapsulate the Canadian’s long presence in electronic music.

Shannon’s original cut adopts a more techy beat than previous outings, and he once again puts Demirtas to good use, coming across as a house diva for the Arab world. Villalobos too, provides a neat fit with Cynosure, and his remix is a welcome, if underwhelming addition. Harking back to the not-quite-walking, not-quite jogging pace of Alcachofa, he shows there’s still life to his micro-house aesthetic. The highlight though, is Deadbeat’s slowburner (with which Shannon began his FACT mix), a sultry beast that couples a steppas growl with twinkley chimes for over four minutes before relapsing into a crunchy, ritualistic release. Rozzo plums Motorcity Drum Ensemble territory for his take, all conveyor belt chords, cymbals, and a hint of handclaps.

The great revelation of the EP however, is not the beats, all competent as you please, but the way in which each artist makes Demirtas sound so different. Part Muezzin, part diva, with just a hint of Dancehall chanteuse, Shannon has found a more than suitable accomplice for his musical skulduggery. Under the radar? Probably not for long.

Cynosure / Mike Shannon MySpace

After ‘Fast Freeze’, MyMy could do no wrong in my eyes. The song (and it is a song, not a track, or a tool, or whatever else you choose to call it) was written as a song should be: it had a beginning, a middle and an end. But more than that, it exhibited an attention to melody, to sonic craftsmanship, that more producers would do well to emulate. If subsequent MyMy releases failed to a certain extent, it was only in comparison with the singular grace and noblesse of ‘Fast Freeze’. For their latest release on Will Saul’s Aus Music, MyMy have once again stuck to what they do best – woozey synths, breezy vocals, and that trademark attention to melody - but once again struggled to reach the dizzying heights they have previously set themselves.

Opener ‘Price Tag’ kicks things off with a slap-bass riff that gets yoked to mouth-wide-open vocals from Emika. Spaghetti-western whistling heralds the arrival of more vocals that scream “playful”, but are actually only playful in the way a puppy dropped on his head is playful. ‘Lights Go Down’ exhibits a more dance floor-oriented direction with tribal-not-tribal drums stomping away whilst ascending and descending synths attempt to add an eeriness that quite frankly isn’t there. The real highlight though is the Appleblim and Komonazmuk remix that teleports MyMy into a 90s London garage club, and leaves them sounding all the better for it. Refashioned as a post-garage ode to Mousse T’s ‘I’m Horny’, the vocal snippets work far better in these disorienting 2-step environs, literally dissolving before a Wagnerian doomfest of a breakdown. The digital only Sideshow remix works in the way public transport “works”: better than a horse and cart, but no Mercedes Benz.

The public transport analogy is a good one actually. Much like the thoughts of the bus driver, constantly travelling the same route, there is little here to surprise. Thanks to sterling work from Appleblim and Komonazmuk, this is not quite seen-it-all-before ennui, but it is certainly no ‘Fast Freeze’.

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MyMy Myspace

After two 12"s on the consistently brilliant Hotflush label earlier in 2009, Sigha returns with perhaps his most impressive release yet. Sigha's earlier releases established him, alongside producers such as Pangaea, T++ and Scuba, as a key purveyor of the techy side of the genre previously known as Dubstep. Although this release continues in the same vein as 'On The Strip' and 'Bruised', it becomes clear that Sigha has well and truly immersed himself in what his earlier productions pointed towards: mesmeric dub techno, but with an injection of garage's funk and swing.

Opener 'Rawww' ripples with infectious, sporadic energy stapled thinly together with a filtered, percussive synth, which runs throughout. The real joy here is the track's unpredictability: in ten minutes the groove changes almost at will, though always so subtle that it is impossible to tell what is coming next. The drums shift and click, layering over each other, dropping out and dipping back in, shifting from minimal and spacey to a bliss of funk with just a few extra drum hits in Omar S fashion.

The first track on the flip, entitled 'Hold My Heart Up To The Light', has a more skippy feel to it, which for the first two and a half minutes leads to a sense of claustrophobia, before being broken by some synth builds, then again being engulfed by the shivers of drum clicks. The occasional synth blocks stop just short of breaking the delicacy of the percussion here, and the result is a track which sounds at breaking point for its entirety, without its minimality ever becoming overwhelmed. 

The final track is the closest this 12" gets to linearity, and is the most obvious on the record to be heard on a dancefloor. This, however, does little to damage the feeling of dread Sigha does so well to establish on the previous two tracks. The drop comes halfway through, doubling the energy without losing any pre-drop subtlety and from here the track continues to a natural, unforced end. 

A touch more techy than his previous output, 'Rawww' is minimal, groove-laden, ominous and highly recommended.

Released on 12" and MP3 23/11/2009

Sigha Myspace

Anonymous techno personas, aside from being examples of a larger current trend in techno nostalgia, are not without precedent, and Redshape, a fellow disciple of the incognito school of the genre, has clearly geeked up on his musical antecedents. His latest EP ‘Dance Paradox’ is exactly that, part dance, part paradox; a scientific exploration into the nether regions of what techno is, that could quite easily soundtrack the darker moments of an L. Ron Hubbard biopic.

Opening track ‘Seduce Me’ crafts a beat from the gentle thud of a dove’s wing, albeit a dove on nandrilone. From this eerily organic opening, Redshape wafts in and out with psytrancey flashes that merge into the opening moments of ‘Garage GT’,  where organ stabs create an atmosphere of panicked heartbeats in lieu of an almost-there 4/4 beat. In ‘Bound (Part 1 & 2)’, Redshape wears his influences on his sleeve, but Blade Runner knifings and insistent synths allow him to create his own future-noir soundscape. In ‘Man Out of Time’, a breakbeat shuffle acts as a warped homage to Anthony Shakir, an act of deference that is coupled with darkcore swooshes, more Indonesian sweatshop terror than boxfresh Force Ones. Throughout the EP, there is a sense of Redshape acknowledging contemporary trends, but filtering them through the infected prism of his abstract musings. Thus ‘Globe’ flirts with a congohouse wobble, before unleashing a nostril-full of ketamine-laced hi hat horror.  Likewise ‘Dead Space (Edit)’ throbs with the menacing minimalism of Donnato Dozzy at his most trance-like, but also finds space for a twenty year mash up of dance music history - be it jungle, breakbeat, house or techno - within its fuzzy parameters.

Yet for all of Dance Paradox’s knowing insouciance, its double-faced acknowledgements of musical cut and paste, it remains a Paradox, too austere for home listening and too self-reverential for slaying the dance floor. What it does, it does exceedingly well, but by doing it so well, denies itself much of the emotional impact that such cross-generational music could and should have.

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Redshape MySpace

The Sandwell District collective have been at the forefront of revitalising "proper" techno over the last 4 years or so, drawing on a burgeoning antipathy towards the modern minimal sound - celebrity clothing lines and all - as well as the re-assertion of Berlin as the arbiter of the scene's direction. Largely anonymous releases from a hard core of largely anonymous artists (who co-run the operation) such as Function, Regis and Silent Servant have all promulgated a satisfying re-synthesis of techno's disparate strands into a classic yet contemporary whole: the clangorous, industrial ghost of Regis' Downwards imprint, the cavernous atmospherics of Basic Channel, to the relentless propulsion of classic 90s Tresor.

Function's "Disaffected" first appeared around July 2008 as one of two cuts built around a darkly modulated synth delay over relatively pared down rhythms, but Ben Klock's rework introduces an entirely new bedrock of a syncopated, tuned percussion loop, using fragments of the original's central timbre as rhythmic punctuation. While the groove is nowhere near as weighty as some of Klock's solo material such as "Sub Zero" and "Check for Pulse", the effect is nonetheless wonderfully hypnotic and, as expected from a member of the Ostgut set, Klock periodically envelops his production in swathes of reverberant texture for further sonic and spatial interest.

From one Berghain staple to another, Berlin's lawyer/DJ/producer Norman Nodge offers his more tribalist interpretation of the same track, this time focussed on an exceptionally powerful kick drum, energetic & skitter-shot analogue hihats and, once again, sprinklings of the original's bedrock synth timbre. Things are kept extremely minimal from there on; with the barest of high end arpeggios and some subtle ambient FX enlivening proceedings. Guaranteed to give the finest club systems a thorough mechanical check-up, this is as brazen an antidote to the anodyne plinky-plonk of so much recent "minimal" as you could possibly wish for.

Rounding off the release is another outing for Ch-Signal Laboratories' superbly panoramic edit of Function's "Variance" - after it's initial appearance alongside Function's own "Reduced Edit" back in July 2009 - whose long tailed 808 kick, resonant ping pong synth lines and looping alarm arpeggio remain the same, and just as effective. Despite the repeat appearance, one is unlikely to feel short changed by this latest 12". Sandwell District vinyl has probably already reached the status of hugely desirable collectable, born partially out of their nostalgically purist approach to identity and commercialism, but more importantly their unwaveringly purist approach to sublimely primal, yet sophisticated and atmospheric techno. This really is as good as the genre gets in 2009.

Sandwell District Webpage

Function MySpace

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Over the years Naples, Italy has become a hot spot for incredible dancefloor techno and house; as we saw with the re-formation of the cities freshest production duo (Massi DL and Dario Di Pace) which brought  the well-received release Horatio EP to raum...musik back in June 2009. Now, as the title of their follow up confirms, they're back and this time on no less than Mike Shannon's Cynosure imprint.

First track "Durango" recalls a sweaty NY house party, courtesy of a rock-solid & extremely bass-heavy jacking groove. A sprinkling of Teutonic-style chord stabs and some twisted vocal cut ups are duly added into the mixture, resulting in a satisfying cross pollination of classic 4/4 timbres. The cauldron is stirred and stirred until things reach a peak with a mighty snare roll build that results in an extremely sweaty, mid track drop. It's frankly nice to see more producers reclaiming the snare roll from many years of trance ubiquity, and it works well, especially as a feature that can mark a set's journey into tougher territory.

The flip side sees the next cut, "Horacio is back again", opt for a more bumping and rolling groove, built around a feelgood bassline, positive chord stuctures and a nice melodic vocal hook which is extended for a superb build up and understated drop. Again there is a minimum of fuss and pretension here; it's all about locking the listener into a sophisticated, hedonistic house groove.

Finally, a digital bonus takes things down a deeper and more dub-tinged path, featuring very clean and precise production that still manages to pay respect to the likes of Burial and again, those clear NYC influences. It's likely a perfect tool to bridge the gap in a deep, long set of house and dub wise rhythm.

In summary, this is a quality release that manages to pull on various sounds and influences without losing it's core focus: superb, no-nonsense, free spirited house music.

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Horacio MySpace

Cynosure Recordings