Monday, February 28, 2022
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Friday, February 25, 2022
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
The Sound Of Brenta Part 2 - V/A (Perty Records)
Title: The Sound Of Brenta Pt. 2
Artist: V/A
Label: Perty Records
Cat Number: PERTY003
Genre: Techno
1: Everyone Gets There – Sagats
2: Zeedredemption – Lucretio
3: Nothuman – Lucretio
4: I’ll Be Back – Steve Murphy
5: I Capelli Lunghi Dietro – Steve Murphy
6: Improvised02 – Marieu
7: Improvised01A – Marieu
8: Old Future – DJ Octopus
9: New Past – DJ Octopus
10: Connection – Sagats
I’ve listed the tracks incorrectly and couldn’t be arsed reordering them. I say this because the final track, ‘Connection’ by Sagats opens proceedings on this hiatus defying collection. And I say this, because ‘The Sound Of Brenta Pt. 1’ came out in 2013. Before Brexit, when the world was in a better place. ‘Connection’ is a great curtain riser though; all friction, grind and radioactive acid density. Apparently that’s Brenta’s calling card: “Dancefloor killers meeting abstract improvisations, fast and slow beats recorded straight from the machines. This is a specific sound coming from the area in between Venice and Padua (Italy), born from the passion for forgotten gears and the belief that limits are helpful for the creative process of music-making forcing every user to get the best out of what he got.” That was from a press release which gives some useful information for a change. Sagats is the only name here I’m unfamiliar with here, having come across everyone else on my voyage through the analogue vinyl backstreets. So this is real dirt under your fingernails house, you can feel the dust coursing through the grooves and across the top of the mix. There’s a wonderful lack of refinement that feels completely authentic and occasionally evolves sublimely to coalesce in such a way as to make you double take. Steve Murphy’s ‘I’ll Be Back’ is such a track. A pumelling beast along which travel a filigree of serendipitous woozy synth bass. ‘I Capelli Lunghi Dietro’ is even better. It’s a Fisher Price voyage into naive hauntology. Marieu come across as the most abstract of all on here, with both of his ‘Improvised’ efforts defying rigid beat conventions. ‘Zeedredemption’ by Lucretio goes down a similar route, while DJ Octopus applies a subtle reverb to make his tracks vibrate where others can’t. It’s a more than interesting collection which examines the dancefloor from a very specific aural angle. Caught somewhere between the post-industrial sonic outskirts and the mid-nineties Chicago tracky hinterland, there is no doubt that that the pre-digital machines are in charge and making all the right noises.
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Monday, February 21, 2022
Alternate Facts 002 - V/A (Alternate Facts)
Title: Alternate Facts 002
Artist: Various Artists
Label: Alternate Facts
Cat Number: AF002
Genre: Groovy Rollers
1: Puma Print – Thoma Bulwer
2: Incidental – Dexter Kane
3: Gutter Jazz – Dexter Kane
4: Scruffy Notes – Thoma Bulwer & Voightmann
A double header split 50/50 between Thoma Bulwer and Dexter Kane with a Voightmann – shaped cherry on the top; the second release on Alternate Facts is a very satisfying one. Dexter Kane’s contributions are solid, bass-heavy skippy and energetic in only the way good house/speed garage crossovers can be and, although they are composed of similar elements, still manage to maintain a reasonable degree of distinction. Lovely feel and warm production wins the day and the vitality of each track ensures one is thoroughly endeared however. ‘Puma Print’ blends a sparse kick which inhabits various frequencies with minimal acid, and ‘Scruffy Notes’ is a cylindrical rave drive through the metaphorical early hours.
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Saturday, February 19, 2022
Friday, February 18, 2022
Thursday, February 17, 2022
The Upward Spiral EP - Corporeal Face (Acroplane Recordings)
Title: The Upward Spiral EP
Artist: Corporeal Face
Label: Acroplane Recordings
Cat Number: ACP047
Genre: Hardcore
1: To Make It
2: Get To Stepping
3: Shake Your Brain
4: What A Trip
Is hardcore this years’ breaks? And where does one finish and the other begin? Have they ever really disappeared? These, and other rhetorical questions won’t be answered any time soon, if ever. In spite of this, it can definitely be claimed that this release from Corporeal Face is as good as anything, if not better, I’ve heard of a similar stripe evah. When listening to this species of sonic fare, I want rhythm, disorientation, a feeling of inner-city emptiness, big bass and sundry rave noises. Everything is present and correct here in spades. I also contemplate the existence of drum and bass while listening to such output and, in doing so, there’s the perennial chicken and egg question to answer. There’s also a heavy comedic element running through this music. ‘Shake Your Brain’ is a collage of silliness and wonkiness underpinned by a foundation of brutal beats. ‘To Make It’ is the type of soaring, inspiring sound that should be the national anthem. Not that miserable dirge we’re saddled with. Music like this is the sound of an active imagination unconstrained by convention. Keep up the good work.
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
