ALBUMSREVIEWS
Sterac Secret Life Of Machines
(Remixed And Remastered) 100% Pure
10 Techno comes to life
DUTCH PRODUCER Steve Rachmad is one of those tireless defenders of the cause who never seems to quite get the credit he deserves. That he’s an artist you might not have heard of is an outrage, especially when you consider how much he’s influenced the path of techno music from his Amsterdam base since his DJing career began back in the mid-1980s, and his productions initiated their prolific trickle outwards in 1995.
Cutting tracks for everyone from Cocoon to Music Man, Soma, Wolfskuil and of course 100% Pure under a variety of monikers like Tons Of Tones, Parallel 9 and
Sterac, Steve’s take on the techno sound was, and is, heavily influenced by Detroit originators like Derrick May; yet it’s also permeated with a highly original, emotive feeling that cuts to the marrow, not least the heart, of the listener. His 1995 affirmed classic as Sterac sees a vital reappraisal and re-release this month via its original label, and it’s an apposite time to rediscover one of the unfairly neglected gems of electronic music. The title track is where it all begins — a sublime 4/4 electronic beauty of submersible bass tones, gliding Carl Craig synth bubbles and chattering percussion;
a letter in machine code scribed by a lovesick cyborg. ‘Astronotes’ shimmers with abstract, fluttering 313 tones, while ‘Axion’ is thundering tunnel techno of the first order, the kind of thing that would have had the whole of the floor at Lost erasing their minds in the dubbed-out, echoing percussion. ‘Mysterium’, meanwhile, reprises the plangent, poignant nostalgia of the title track to great effect, while you could legitimately argue that ‘Thera’ is up there with any Detroit classic. Packed with remixes ‘n’ dubs and refreshed for 2012, if you haven’t already got this album, you know what to do… Ramona Robinson
9.0
Hot Chip In Our Heads Domino Records Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside
After four albums, umpteen solo projects and a move to an independent label, the latest offering from Hot Chip proves that the boys still have a spring in their step. As always the tunes, warmth, sounds and moods from everyone’s favourite super- nerds effortlessly fluctuate. From the big, bold electro opening of ‘Motion Sickness’, to the acoustic romance of ‘Look At Where We Are’; the humorous, gabba-referencing single, ‘Night and Day’, to the ‘Lion Sleeps Tonight’-style vocal- play of ‘Let Me Be Him’. And there’s one for the superfans, too, as the old live house-y number, ‘Ends Of The Earth’, finally sees the light of day. But it’s not just the seemingly limitless imagination of the endearingly awkward Hot Chip boys that makes this one of their best albums to date. The fact is, Hot Chip are dripping in great songs. Zoe Wallis
084
9.0
Eric Prydz Eric Prydz presents Pryda Virgin Pryda and prejudice
Pryda has always been Prydz’s pseudonym for his bigger, more powerful club tracks. While it’s easy to lose perspective on how groundbreaking his sound was, simply due to how it’s been absorbed into club culture since, ‘Eric Prydz presents Pryda’ is an excellent reminder: an amazing three-disc anthology that combines a collection of B-sides and rarities with two stunning retrospective mixes. While the collection of surprises on the first disc feels like a genuine prelude to the proper artist album due later this year, the real grist is on the retrospective discs. Much more than a mega-mix of your favourite Pryda moments, they’re carefully crafted journeys, with an impressive amount of studio work transforming each into a single grand composition. An explosive listen that’s testament to Prydz’s status as one of the most intuitive artists ever, in terms of understanding what works in the club. Angus Paterson
Chromatics Kill For Love Italians Do It Better
Disco darkness and light
Super-producer Johnny Jewel was already achingly hip when his Oregon-born band The Chromatics were picked to appear on the soundtrack for uber cult film Drive. After all, the label he still runs with Mike Simonetti, Italians Do It Better, had minted a unique, desolate disco sound indebted to post-punk, Italo, electro and synth-pop and released a procession of classics, like their own first album proper, ‘Night Drive’. Anticipation now is rightfully at fever pitch for the follow- up, and it’s a similarly epic proposition. There’s a cover of Neil Young’s ‘Into The Black’ shrouded in their trademark elegiac melancholy, but also the gloriously faded ’80s punky electropop of the title track, the chugging, tear-stained discoid funk feeling of ‘Lady’, and the cinematic soundscapes of ‘Broken Mirrors’, a nod to heroes like Goblin and John Carpenter. The mood is sombre, beautiful, nostalgic; the dichotomy of love and hate, sex and
violence.Ben Murphy
www.djmag.com
10
9.5
Dub Pistols Worshipping The Dollar Sunday Best Full clip
UK Festival favourites the Dub Pistols have embraced drum & bass on their new album, a natural progression for their niced-up revolutionary rocksteady music for the people. This album is where the Dubs truly cement their place amongst the great British outlaw acid house bands, and main man Barry Ashworth has assembled some of the finest MC vocalists in the game here — Ms Dynamite’s bro Akala, Red Star Lion from Barbados, Dan Bowskill, Darrison, Sir Real, and UK hip-hop ledge Rodney P who excels himself again on the hilarious ‘Mucky Weekend’ and feelgood dubby cut ‘Rock Steady’. Firin’ d&b missive ‘Gunshot’, the dubwise ‘n’ horntastic ‘Bad Card’, an affirming, uplifting ‘Alive’, the conscious ‘West End Story’ and sleazy Special AKA-like e-zee dive bar diamond ‘Bang Bang’ stand out, but really this is all killer, no filler. If you ain’t heard the Pistols yet, you need to check their vibe. Kim O’Connor
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