A Game Of Two Halves - Point Blank (Phono)

NRMND001 - Ka One & St-Sene (Normandy Records)

Title: NRMND001

Artist: Ka One & St-Sene

Label: Normandy Records

Cat Number: NRMND001

Genre: House

1: I Want

2: Motion

3: Take Me Back

4: The Way

Ka One & St-Sene recently rose to underground prominence by putting out a slew of releases, mostly on their own Flyance label, which synthesised groove, beats and a touch of trance, hitting upon a warm throb in the process. Of the four tracks here, it’s ‘Motion’, and to a slightly lesser extent ‘I Want’ hearken back to that formula. The use of vocal samples is clever throughout the release and, along with the tough percussion, serves to give the release a very warehouse feel. On the one hand functional, on the other slightly sophisticated, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, but it’s delivered with a dance floor gravitas which demands a response.

September 2017 Mix

An hour last night spent in hermetically sealed surroundings. I have to play at a relatively low volume, so I am never sure if it's worked until I listen back. Here's a track list.

Split Infinity – Holovr (Likemind)

Breaking Down – Erik van den Broeck (De:tuned)

Sensory Process –ERP (Semantica)

Hydrax – Reptant (Tomahawk)

Dub Safari – Cold (Thule)

Moments In Limbo – Aroma Pitch (Present From A Small Distant World)

Lost In Time – Voyant Inc (Aspect Records)

Kungstardgarden – The Persuader (SVEK)

Fear of Death – Andre Leira (Carpets & Snares)

Eniac – Octave One (430 West)

Hyptrotonic – Frazer Campbell & Steve O’Sullivan (Mosaic)

Flux Function – Reedale Rise (Hizou Music)

Experience Experiments – Derek Carr (Where We met)

The Way – Ka One & St. Sene (Normandy Records)

Move – Detrimental (CPU)

A17 – SW/SVN (Sued)

KAOS (B) - Stephan G & The Persuader (SVEK)

Shass - Stephan Greider (SVEK)

The Lonesome Dub - Jesper Dahlback (SVEK)

Helena Hauff

DJ Bone

I-F

Monolith - Bitstream

Lone - Tolga Fidan (Vakant)

Title: Lone

Artist: Tolga Fidan

Label: Vakant

Cat Number:

Genre: Techno

A1: Lone

A2: Sib

B1: Hord (Convextion Remix)

B2: Hord

Rather like dub techno, minimal has a similar cross to bear. Seen by many as a very enclosed, nerdy scene which has somehow conned the listener into believing it is more than the sum of its parts, it by and large preaches to the converted. However, on his first release for Vakant for quite some time, Tolga Fidan sings from a slightly different song sheet, and, on the strength of this release, knows how to strike a chord with the dance floor. Both ‘Lone’ and ‘Sib’ are funk filled pile drivers  with their own fair share of wonky, off-kilter noises filling the gaps. ‘Hord’ is a bit jerky in comparison, but its remix, courtesy of Convextion, is a thing of stellar electro beauty. You wouldn’t expect anything else though, would you?

Dub Safari - Cold (Thule)

Title: Dub Safari

Artist: Cold

Label: Thule

Cat Number: THL023

Genre: Techno

1: Natures Call

2: Fractal Memory

3: Dub Safari

4: Early Reflections

5: Moonlight

Cold’s mammoth hiatus doesn't seem to have been in vain, as this is the second release we’ve now had from him this year. Whether this marks the beginning of Prince-like levels of creativity we’ll have to wait and see, but somehow I doubt it. Let’s just be thankful for what we have in the here and now, which is an EP that builds nicely on ‘Exiles’ from a few months back, and consolidates both Cold’s, and Thule’s position as arbiters of discerning dub techno that isn’t dull. All the tracks on this release are versatile, inasmuch as they ably straddle the dance floor and headspace without visibly paying lip service to either, and shimmer due to a layered production style which, while not conspicuously innovative, reeks of mastery. ‘Natures Call’ is the only track to go off in a slightly different direction here, but Cold’s cosmic control makes it feel like the opening chapter of an electronic Icelandic saga, the likes of which should be sound tracking a superior, hypothetical Viking – inspired ‘Game of Thrones’. We can but dream.