OLI MARLOW,
info@sonicrouter.com
FUNKY/GARAGEREVIEWS QUICKIES
Filter Dread
Underground Egyptian Avenue 7.5
Graze
Graze New Kanada
8.5
Anyone who’s followed my writing should know that I think XI is one of the best ones, so it will come as little surprise that I’m heralding Graze — his new collaborative project with New Kanada label boss, Adam Marshall. XI’s always had that ruffness and swing down pat, and across these six tracks he applies it a bit more subtly, over a much broader range of moods/ tracks. ‘The Sust’ and ‘Dexires’ stick out as highlights.
House of Black Lanterns
Truth & Loss Houndstooth 7.0
Whilst King Cannibal’s new dystopia-informed project, House of Black Lanterns, might sound like the title of a lost Ang Lee movie, its bleak DJ Krust-aping introduction on ‘Truth & Loss’ sets the tone for the wider project quite poignantly. It’s all bleak: brittle pads and aerated, epic- sounding top lines over a tempest of footwork-focused percussion. But the variation in remixes and original productions hints that there are plenty of variations still to come.
Invincible Scum
Scumrush Power Vacuum 8.0 I’m told that the repeated reference to ‘scum’ on the fourth Power Vacuum release is a play on the players’ names, but the word proves itself to be quite an accurate descriptor when you listen to this triplet of ‘analog power jams’. Like something Neil Landstrumm might smash out, it’s got a real raw and unrelenting power to it that just drives you into the dirty corner of the club, and forces you to stay there, just staring.
Jaw Jam
The Truth Tuff Wax 6.5
New Jersey native, Jaw Jam, makes you think that he’s pushing that incredibly current type of clean and clever house-leaning music on the opening track of his new 12” for Tuff Wax. He fully backs that idea up on ‘Late Nite’ that follows it, but when he gets more playful and ping pongs his delay at the end of ‘The End’, you realise that he’s actually got a pretty awkwardly unique take on the formula.
Lake Haze
Late Night Trip UTTU 6.0
You don’t need to actually care or know anything about producers to enjoy their music. In fact, if I looked into UTTU’s latest signing, Lake Haze further I’d probably find something to disapprove of, but his bolshy sense of stabby melody sounds like classic Zomby on ‘Late Night Trip’. Even though it’s pretty much exactly the same four-note riff on the flip, ‘Need For Speed’, it’s all a bit of a romp that serves a pretty familiar purpose.
Mr Beatnick
Savannah Don’t Be Afraid 7.0
I think it’s nice when you watch someone find themselves from afar, not in a voyeuristic weird flurry of perverse drunken self exploration, but more in a recognising when someone’s having fun with the music they’re making type of way. Beatnick’s latest four-track 12” exemplifies that, all analogue simplicity and playful melodies. EP closer ‘Blue Dream’ and ‘Symbiosis’ are the picks, both being an example of his slow stuttery, knowledgeable house stylings.
Pinch & Roska
Shoulda Rolla Tectonic 7.0
Sometimes artistic collaborations come out exactly how you might imagine them, which is what makes Tectonic boss, Pinch, and Rinse artist, Roska, something of a perfect combination. ‘Shoulda Rolla’ is one of those minimalistic cuts that does a LOT with very little. Pinch’s prevailing sense of dread is there in the choked bass and sweeping atmos, and Roska’s clean and nagging percussion wills the whole thing onward effortlessly.
Randomer
RNDMR001 White label 8.0 If you’ve been up on Randomer for any length of time, or if you’ve caught the guy’s DJ sets, you should be aware that he likes to play with a bunch of rave shit. And that’s exactly what his new white label deals in, four menacingly heavy and furrowingly re-playable cuts that channel his hardcore obsessions. ‘Search It Out’ is probably the straightest cut, but even that plays out like a sordid display of blown-out basslines and fantastic driving percussion.
xxxy
A Progression Ten Thousand Yen 7.5
I beg you; call your track ‘A Progression’ and then do something on it that sounds exactly the same as anything else you’ve ever done. You just can’t... that’s why there’s something genuinely exciting about xxxy’s return to Ten Thousand Yen with the aforementioned tune. Consider the refrain on ‘Ordinary Things’, his last release on the label, for just a second and then you’ll see why the title is so apt and how wild his new music is.
www.djmag.ca
‘Underground’ is a pure and gloriously direct slice of spatially minded 135bpm business from blossoming newcomer Filter Dread, but the real peach is on the flip, ‘Troubled’ where his percussive interplay mimics classic Wiley without sounding like a budget version.
Pedestrian
Hoyle Road Born Electric 6.0
Pedestrian’s always come with some well- informed shit and his latest excursion for James Zabiela’s Born Electric label is no exception. A flowery, restrained and cleverly rolled production that’s backed with a remix from FaltyDL that kinda outshines the original.
Rustie
Triadzz Numbers 7.0
This two-sided surprise single from the Glaswegian mainstay Rustie sounds more and more like he’s feeding himself off a mainlined glycerine drip. Both tracks are more confounding than his album work, but just as gloriously pompous.
Spatial
WNCL014 West Norwood Cassette Library 6.0
Pre-empted by a desire to make music that just exists for the club, Spatial’s contribution to Bob WNCL’s label catalogue pretty much does exactly that across four tracks, with the Londoner showing a real presence of mind in his kick drums.
RANDOMER HEMLOCK
01. D’MARC CANTU ‘Try Me’ MOS Holland “Melancholic detuned square waves reminiscent of grime, with the heaviest
808 bass and techno rhythms on top. This shit is real.”
02. J. TIJN ‘Hamerhoodf’ Pennyroyal “Mental squelchy techno coming on Untold’s new label Pennyroyal.”
03. MARCO SHUTTLE ‘The Vox Attitude (Pangaea Remix)’ Eerie “Vocal edits reminiscent of Pange’s earlier work meet smashing drums and a
cheeky synth that sounds like someone squeakily cleaning their windshield.”
04. CLOUDS ‘Local Bubble’ Turbo “Serious drive in this track. I don’t usually like tunes with 4/4 claps but
Clouds make it work.”
05. ANTHONY NAPLES ‘The Beacon (Instrumental Dub)’ Opal Tapes “Bufo introduced me to Opal Tapes. I love all of it, but this takes the biscuit.
Starts with a kick drum and ends with noise.”
06. WHEEZ-IE ‘I Miss Houston Summers’ Free Download “Can’t believe he gave this away for free. I’ve been rinsing this for months on
end, it’s ridiculous.”
07. BAM BAM ‘Give It To Me’ Westbrook “Sleazy acid from back in the day.”
08. ANDY C ‘Mind Rise’ Ram “It’s like a cross between acid techno, hardcore and jungle. I’m giving away
all my secret weapons, this is terrible!”
09. MPIA3 ‘Ely’ Avian “If you don’t know about this where have you been? Probably hiding some-
where, because that’s what most people would do if they heard it.”
10. RANDOMER ‘Search It Out’ RNDMR “I’ll be signing autographs on my commute between my house and the Har-
ringay Sainsburys. If I look hungry, offer to buy me some sausages.”
065
MONEYSHOT!
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