Raxeira - Eric Cloutier (Wolfskuil Ltd)

Title: Raxeira

Artist: Eric Cloutier

Label: Wolfskuil Ltd

Cat Number: WLTD026

Genre: Techno

A1: Raxeira

A2: Palimpsest

A3: Raxeira (Donato Dozzy Remix)

Eric Cloutier has been fermenting nicely for a while now, and this release could be the one to bring him the attention he undoubtedly craves as a recording artist. However I have to admit that while I like it, it doesn’t stand out (listening to it at home has drawbacks). The reductive, gossamer-light melodies of both versions of the title track have more weight in their original version, while that embellished by Donato Dozzy skips along barley surfacing from under its aqueous epidermis. ‘Palimpsest’ is Millsian insect activity overlaid with sonar-like farts, which is nice. The production has great clarity and the attention to detail is constant. The atmosphere is everything, but I’d have liked more. I need to hear this on a big system though, that much is clear.

April Chart

April Chart:

 Raxeira - Eric Cloutier (Wolfskuil Ltd)

 Drive In EP – Digilog (Yoshi)

 Upon The Gates Of The Great Depth – DJ Spider (Plan B)

 World Of Illusion – Xosar (Pinkman)

Where My Roots Lie – John FM (FXHE)

 Stamps – Anima Mundi (Delooped)

 Yr Wyddfa – V/A (The Legend Of Gelert)

 Ever Forward – Marc King (FXHE)

 Shaping EP – Max D (Off Minor)

 Pure Groove Research – Geena (Antinote)

My Life's Work

I first came into contact with record shops back in my home town of Wallasey during the seventies. At this time, and into the early eighties Wallasey was like many other similar – sized towns in that it had as many record shops within its confines as Soho does now. That’s a sad state of affairs both ways. There are no recordshops left back home at the moment, (I don't consider The Gravy Train to be one) as far as I know, and Soho used to be so much better, but it’s slowly being asphyxiated by creeping gentrification.

Which is also symptomatic of the current rise in record shops that, by and large, seem to market vinyl as a lifestyle choice rather than anything else. These shops are not specialist outlets anymore, but much more general distributors of sound, specializing in records and, now a whole load of accessories and accouterments to make the listening experience more palatable, such as retro fifties and sixties paraphernalia, all designed to envelop and encapsulate. Soho only seems to have room for a few  shops currently selling electronica, Phonica and Sounds of the Universe come to mind. Black Market went the way of the dodo recently, it was a little bit more floor focused than the others so maybe that’s one of the reasons why. Other shops have opened in London since these two came into being, like Kristina and Love Vinyl, but that’s London. The biggest city in Western Europe supports a fraction of the shops it used to, so what does that mean for the rest of the UK?

Outside the big cities some shops remain, and some have opened within the last few years, but I find it hard to believe that they’re going to be around for very long. A couple have opened in the city where I work within the last six months, and one of them has a café attached. This is a good plan because if the records don’t sell hopefully the café can keep the home fires burning until they do. I’ve only been in a couple of times but had the same experience on each occasion. The café was rammed but on going down to see the records there was no one shopping where it mattered, Added to that, the chap, different each time, who was overseeing the vinyl didn’t acknowledge my presence at all. I know that we hate being asked if we want any help in shops, but a quick “Hi, let me know if there’s anything you want” is hardly going to set any alarm bells ringing.

 A lot of people used to hate visiting record shops because of the high and mighty attitude of the staff, but for some like myself, this was one of the main reasons for visiting them. I spent half of my late teenage Saturday afternoons encamped in Probe in Liverpool waiting for Pete Burns to rip the piss out of someone, it didn’t matter who. All were fair game. I remember my brother asking what a track playing was in the shop, and Norman Killon, a short arse who used to work there indignantly saying “It’s ‘White Man in Hammersmith Palais’. Don’t you recognize Joe Strummer’s voice?’ This was in front of the whole shop, all of whom laughed on cue.

It was all character-building stuff, but I’m not so sure if it’s the stuff of retail survival in this day and age. It would be wonderful if we could turn the clock back and have record shops the way they once were. Not out of a misguided sense of nostalgia, but because the way of consuming music really was better back then. Record shops themselves now need to be more open and receptive. I don’t think they can survive on their own terms now and that makes me sad. However, it’s not wrong to expect some half-decent customer service when you go within their portals.

Less Is More EP - Olander (Nous)

Title: Less Is More EP

Artist: O Xander

Label: Nous

Cat Number: US 007

Genre: Deep House

1: Lover’s Theme

2: Jupiter Jam

3: Integrity & Intensity

4: Dirac Sea

5: Dirac Sea (Karen Gwyer Remix)

Buying the latest release from Nous online can be akin to a last minute purchase off Ebay. Thankfully the process is gradually getting easier, and the new label art points to the release surfacing in greater numbers as well. That being said, you still have to be on your toes. In any case, this latest offering, this time from the typically low key O Xander drives the label’s ethos home on fine style. Minimalist, lo fi and fuzzy in all the right places, these five cuts do more for the cause of righteous production values over the course of their existence than most so-called deep house artists do in their careers. My personal fave is the spacey, handclap symphony of ‘Jupiter Jam’, but it’s all good.