REVIEWSKillerS
Stone Cold Killer — track of the month When you absolutely, positively, must decimate the dancefloor, this is the tune you need…
Bambounou ‘Night/Brawl’ ClekClekBoom
soundcloud.com/bambounou
FIVE years ago French-based ClekClekBoom started life as an under-the-radar download site, set up by Jonathan Chaoul, aka Ministre X, and Adrien Creuse, aka The Boo, serving up baile funk by long-serving Rio resident DJ Sandrinho, B-more bootlegs from the UK’s rowdy Tomb Crew and an assortment of other nascent bass flavours. In 2011, though, they ducked out of sight to remerge as a record label and have swiftly coalesced into the Parisian equivalent of Night Slugs, a gang of youthful producers and DJs who skirt the boundaries of multiple club sounds with a savvy modern fluidity, surfing the waves of revivalism that break every few months but re-contextualising their essence to create a thoroughly future- thinking aesthetic.
Launching with a collaborative effort from French Fries & Bambounou, the two-step bounce and obscene pan- gender swagger of ‘Hugz’ circulated the internet for months before it dropped, but the releases have come thick and fast since, with EPs from Coni and Ministre X, both mutating the high production sheen of contemporary r&b, and The Town, aka Karve and Kazey, who draw inspiration from ‘90s house and its echoes in UK funky. Up next is Bambounou, whose stripped-down minimalist approach hasn’t stopped him from producing a procession of dancefloor bangers. First came the military roll of ‘Nappy Head’, then icy hip-winding riddim ‘Alpha’ and the woozy, doped-up New Jersey chords of ‘Fake Jake’, all of them on Youngunz, ClekClekBoom’s brother-from-another-mother label.
On top of this he’s part of Sound Pellegrino’s extended family — ClekClekBoom’s older foster brother if you want to continue the family tree — recording solo and alongside another more mature presence in the shape of Joakim. His first full release for ClekClekBoom presents two pumped-up body movers on a 128bpm tip. It’s hard to pick a side, but ‘Night’ is probably the most accessible thanks to its opening gambit of rave chords and short, sharp moody vocal samples. Booming sub-bass, EQed to vibrate every inch of your body, makes good on this promise and all that’s required is some shuffling percussion to take the shaking from cellular to dancefloor proportions.
Flirting with grime and US club sounds, ‘Brawl’ is more aggressive as its moniker proclaims, a stuttering beast of chopped-up vocals and rapid fire drums that goes hard, lush chords at a minute thirty providing enough time to draw your breath before the pneumatic jerking of the track comes around again. Given the similarity of this to Addison Groove, it’s a natural fit that Berlin technarchists Modeselektor have now snapped up Bambounou for their 50 Weapons label, with an EP and album following his recent contribution to ‘Modeselektion Vol.2’, with the best in show ‘Pixel’. Throw in the fact that he’s a part-time model and you have one smooth operator.
VitAl lABelROOM WITH A VIEW
rimwav.com
Who’s behind the label? The label is the brainchild and vision of Dairmount, aka Phil Dairmont, long-running veteran of the European DJ scene. This Belgian music activist founded the label in 2009. Originally based in Hamburg, the label is today based in Berlin.
Sounds like? “The label’s ethic is aiming towards timeless ‘emotional content’ club music with a futuristic flair, while breaking the pattern of ‘functional- ity’ that club music too often slips into these days,” explains Phil. “It presents a subtle mixture of house and techno with a twist of freshness and Detroit influences.”
Who’s on it? “The core artists are Art Of Tones, Marlow, Nowakowski and Dairmount, but the label cata- logue includes amazing work by Lodemann, MCDE, Basic Soul Unit, Joel Alter, Andreas Saag, Phonogenic and more.”
Who’s playing it? “Techno mammoths such as Carl Craig, Laurent Garnier, Richie Hawtin and DJ Hell, deep house heavyweights such as Jimpster, Catz ‘n Dogz and Axel Boman, tech house masters such as Steve Bug, MANDY and Joris Voorn, leftfield wizards such as Gilles Peterson, Peter Kruder and Jazzanova, and DJ legends such as Danny Krivit and François K.”
How’s it evolving? “After three intense years of releases, the label is focusing on artist development around Art Of Tones, Marlow, Nowakowski and Dairmount. Label nights and continuous touring are on the go. Next stops will be South Africa and Brazil and an awaited showcase at ADE.”
What’s next? “After the widely acclaimed return of Marlow in June, you can expect a heavy series of releases including Matt Flores, Nowakowski, Art Of Tones and Dairmount, all lined up till the end of 2012.”
050
www.djmag.com
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