CLUBLAND
Chatting to a friend the other day about tennis shoes, Dadaist art and finally music, he was telling me how he found the latest Poker Flat comp just a little too dry for his tastes. To be honest I haven’t heard it yet so that’s about the only mention it’s going to get in this month’s column. But I could understand what he was on about; despite the fact that we’d just taken in a rather abstract and minimal art exhibition that seemed like it could have been the visual equivalent to sparse techno and arid, housey meanderings, that ultra stripped back sound isn’t for everyone.
There has been a lot of focus on minimal techno over the last year, with the London club scene dominated by it, and that hype reverberating around the world. Too much of anything can prove to be a bad source of sustenance, so in the interests of representing a balanced musical diet we’re going to be looking at the more melodic end of club fare this month.
Jamie Odell has been recording as Jimpster for over a decade now, initially making abstract down-tempo and drum’n’bass but in more recent years adding deep house and tech house to his repertoire. His first release for 2008 is ‘Dangly Panther’ on his own Freerange records label (check the video at the end of the post), a deliciously deep slice of New York house that channels the chord-led simplicity of that old Strictly Rhythm vibe (with a breath of up to date production values). Odell is aware that his sound – although essentially house music, is very techno friendly, so Joris Voorn is enlisted to remix the track. His contribution actually stays more on the house side that one might expect, a clipped, more restrained chord structure but with added melodies and goddammit if there aren’t a few horns parping away in there somewhere too. It’s a tight remix nonetheless, but it’s all about the original; Odell’s own Audiomontage remix slapped on the end sounds like an afterthought, a perfunctory offering of tech house next to the supine A-side.
Aaron Carl’s gorgeous ‘Crucified’ on hot pink vinyl is a classic Detroit houser from 1996 that reminds me of other Strictly Rhythm moments, namely Southstreet Player’s ‘Who Keeps Changing Your Mind’. At first I thought this was a new track for Carl with some good old school production on it, but a quick bit of research turned up the truth, it’s his first ever release repressed for 2008 with some added goodies. He looks to the techno camp for the remixes and couldn’t do any better than the superb efforts turned out by Quantec and Deepchord main man, Rod Modell. Both supply fathoms deep dubby techno-scapes that threaten to eclipse the emotion of the original.
Booka Shade’s recent Fabric mix didn’t quite stoke my fires like their production has in the past so I was keen to check out their new Planetary/City Tales single on Get Physical. Like the bulk of their releases ‘Planetary’ boasts a super clean sound, each part immaculately tweaked, but at the same time sounds a bit over-produced to me. There’s a hell of a lot going on, disparate synths firing off in all directions augmenting a to-ing and fro-ing bass-line, so when the brief bout of Tuvin throat singing chimes in I kind of tuned out. The B-side is the standout track, ‘City Tales’ a rumbling, kinetic tumble of tech house with a classic Booka Shade menace to it.
Villalobos has been on a hot streak lately (though mediocre fare from this formidable fiend is hard to find). His Sei Es Drum album on new label of the same name at the end of last year was inspired genius, whilst the new single ‘Enfants’ is based on a rounding chant that, well, it just goes on and on. Simple, yes, but in a faultlessly complex kind of way that Villalobos does so well. Perhaps to raise sales or maybe just to provide options, the Chant side is an acapella, whilst the Tambours side is sensibly the drum track. On the Ass to Mouth EP he’s just released with Jay Haze it’s a similar story; the raw beatbox set against a jackin techno track is provided with an acapella as an option too. Maybe Villalobos is trying to herald the next wave of techno, treating tracks like dancehall riddims for everyone to mess with and add their own fire to?
Silverbeat’s Top 5
Aaron Carl – Crucified (Rod Modell Like A River Mix)
Various – Styrax Leaves 4th Bouquet EP
The Kills – Midnight Boom
Nubian Mindz – Afrika Man
Simon Flower – Phosphenes
Classic
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
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