CLUBLAND
If you’d never heard of Shackleton before Ricardo Villalobos got a hold of ‘Blood on my Hands’ then that record cemented him into your memory for all time. To extol the virtues of Villalobos’ immaculate remixes in two parts is somewhat pointless; if you know the tune then more than likely it’s been hanging around in your head/record bag/lap top/top ten ever since.
However much I rate Shackleton’s production his dubstep output doesn’t tickle my ear holes as sweetly as his 4/4 buggery, so it is with a fair amount of excitement I welcome his new release ‘Death Is Not Final’. Tribal techno/house? Well, yes but that would simply be too easy a label and not even close to doing justice to this superlative track which weaves its way into your head like a voodoo curse. The kick drum sucks at your speakers, marking time between sparse percussion, tribal vocals competing with a spoken spell. Buy this on sight as Skull Disco’s limited runs will not withhold the rush on this impeccable release.
Quantec’s ‘Lunar Orbitor’ EP builds on the legacy of Maurizio and is rightfully released on Danish dub techno imprint Echocord. The label has produced some incredible material over the years but suffered at the hands of its own ethos as well. Quantec, known for his lush Detroit style techno lashes up a fat dubby number and gets his head down into this three track release. ‘Lunar Orbitor’ sounds like it’s been circling around old Chain Reaction releases, and has had a good dose of Vainqueur rub off on it. It doesn’t really progress at all, but then that’s the point of dubby techno; you let the bass line take you deeper into the repetitive chords as they delay and feed back upon themselves and you reach some nice sort of calm place. The ‘Lunar Orbitor’ version is on the flip and does everything it promises to, which is basically to get you to that nice sort of calm place quicker and with less fussy chords. It’s such a subtle groover you could have this track playing for hours and you wouldn’t get sick of it. However it does end and follows into ‘Crescent Moon’, which thankfully after falling flat on the title puts all the effort into the music. It’s another horizontal winner, though when you stack it up next to the Basic Channel or Chain Reaction material you feel something may be missing. Perhaps it’s the incredible valve compression a lot of those artists used or maybe all the best chords have already been used? Hard to say, but this brand of dubby techno in 2008 doesn’t sound any different than it did in 1998; though that’s not necessarily a complaint either.
A slightly different take on the same theme comes from Pablo Bolivar, the Spaniard known for his releases on the Regular label. This time on Dpress Industries, Bolivar executes a stunning dubby techno house crossover. ‘Into the Televerse’ slowly builds on a solid chord and bassline partnership, with a pushing melody creeping in, gradually taking hold of the song, pairing off against itself half way through and doubling down ‘til the end of the track. Hardly peak time material but definitely the type of track to welcome sunrise or just one for quiet introspection at an early hour. Andy Stott puts his hand up for the remix and keeps things on the deep dubwise tip, layering sombre pads upon each other, keeping the percussion stripped back to a kick drum and a high hat (which doesn’t drop ‘til the midway point) for maximum/minimal effect. Top release for those who like it deep.
And rounding out the month is a new one on Wagon Repair by Montrealan Scott Monteith AKA Deadbeat. ‘Eastward on to Mecca’ heaps on the drums and slowly inches its way into an understated groove before inexplicably adopting a offbeat bassline a la old trance or prog house. Whilst it’s a great track, you may want to stick to the dub mix on the flip for some straight forward business or head to the ‘Mecca Drum Jack’ which will have you reaching for those old New York and Chicago tribal house twelves in an instant.
Silverbeat’s Top 5
Shackleton – Death Is Not Final
Pablo Bolivar – Into The Televerse (Andy Stott Remix)
Moonbeam – Slow Heart
Martin Landsky – Man High
Patrick Zigon – Mental Draining (Alessandro Crimi Remix)
Classic
Paris – The Devil Made Me Do It
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