Clubland June

They may not happen with the greatest frequency but one thing is assured upon tracking down a new Robag Wruhme release; you will be entertained. The veteran producer has a knack of injecting his tracks with a certain buoyancy and mirth that few others manage to conjure with each successive release. Abusus Adde, his latest on Vakant finds Mr. Schablitzki in top, maniacal form with three cuts that not only prove to be weighty peak time contenders but also remind you that this music is meant to be fun.

Hodgkin Mopp straddles the line between glitch and deep seated melody in such a way that it almost sounds like two separate tracks have been spliced together. The percussion is occasionally punctuated by a didgeridoo stab sounding very much like Bodol Elsel's Discount Baby classic on Playhouse from 1999, though Wruhme fleshes out the sparse beginnings with much intricate trickery. The dreamy, melodic elements that are introduced sound a world away from the mechanical snap and bounce of the drums, turning a track that is minimal at its core into a vastly different beast by its conclusion.

Ruptur Oing fits most neatly within Vakant's offbeat minimalist style; the dry percussion littered with found sounds like cans rattling, gears (perhaps a fishing line or bicycle) being wound and water pouring. With the absence of any real melody or direction, Ruptur Oing doesn't have much presence as a stand alone track but within the context of a mix I can see it creating a great sense of space and movement.

Fufo2 is Wruhme at his playful, mentalist best, splicing, dicing and re-editing his own track into fractured bits and piecing it all back together again. At times it recalls Windowlicker with all of its sound squashing and bit crushing, but where Aphex Twin laid on thick slabs of pads and funk, Wruhme focuses on building his track into a deranged breakbeat monster best locked away in the basement. Any party in danger of taking itself too seriously should have Fufo2 cued up ready to drop and lay waste to the chin stroking massive.

Some two years after the original release of Acid Bells, Efdemin's subtle, refined piece of minimalism, Martyn gets his hands on it and takes it to a whole new level. This had apparently been in the works for some time but was held off until Martyn's full length was out. While you can hear the unmistakably bold drums employed by the Dutchman in his Bittersweet Mix, there's not a lick of the sweet pads and soothing textures that proliferated Great Lengths. Instead Martyn heightens the percussion, adding densely packed tribal elements on top of the metallic bells from the original and fires up a barely contained bass line that is like a monster come down from the hills to frighten the poor village folk. Uneasy strings are drawn out and just seem to hang in the air, adding tension to the track, playing off the brash sound of the bells.

His Dark Mix on the flip is a beat-less, piano led affair that keeps remnants of the muffled bells in the background, with atmospheric washes of rain and particles of voices plumping up the track. Indicative of the title it's hardly a warm or friendly mix, but the melodies for all their forlornness are arranged beautifully.

What I'm really digging about this hot little blur marbled 10” is that whilst it's another bullseye for Martyn, it's completely unlike his other material. Creating a remix that manages to sit just outside dubstep, techno or breaks, yet encapsulates all three is going to get this track a lot of well deserved play and evidenced by seeing him drop this recently it completely slays dance floors.

Robag Wruhme – Adusus Adde – Gabor Schablitzki straps on a feed bag of nitrous and makes his latest on Vakant a light hearted yet twisted affair

****

Efdemin – Acid Bells (Martyn Remixes) – The Dutchman remains on top form and switches up styles after the crushingly brilliant Great Lengths album

*****

Silverbeat's top five
Holger Zilske – Holz
Beat Pharmacy – Wikkid Times Remixes

Brackles – Broken Harp (Geiomix)

Mathew Jonson – Walking Hands

Starkey – Miracles (Jamie |Vex'd Remix)


Silverbeat's Classic Listening
The Cramps – Bad Music For Bad People