ALBUMSREVIEWS
James Teej
Eight Bit Ocean Last Night On Earth
9.0 Posh trance
MAKING his name as one third of Toronto trio (and label) My Favorite Robot, James Teej took refuge un- der the wing of long-time hero Sasha in 2012, and it’s easy to see what the Last Night On Earth boss saw in him as a potential protégé. Reminiscent of ‘Involver’ throughout, Teej’s skill balancing mood and melody shone through on 2010’s debut LP ‘Evening Harvest’ on Rekids. The first evidence of the partnership emerged this time last year with ‘As You Fall’ on LNOE. A deep, bubbling slice of acidic techno, with touches of Booka Shade’s ‘In White Rooms’, it unlocked Teej’s inner pop sensibility even further — his cyborgian chords fully at the fore.‘Eight Bit Ocean’, also for Sasha’s label, picks
up exactly where they left off, opener ‘A Civil Duty’ setting a brooding tone with a deep funk bassline, ‘Right At Home’ taking on a housier bump underneath lunar synths, with Teej’s soulful echoes throughout. Later, ‘Liking Your Disorder’ does a keen impression of DJ T circa 2007. Built on a steady trajectory, the album gradually unfurls, each track opening another petal of its dusty flowerhead. It’s as if Teej grows in confidence, taking more risks, carefully piecing together the overall puzzle as he goes. ‘Leaving the Island’ unleashes a euphoric (but heavy) staccato at 125bpm before ‘Re- union’ delivers a slice of progressive — in the original, Sasha/Digweed sense — for the new generation. This
time around 128bpm and devoid of a Perfecto break, it’s a spiralling, pupil-dilating whirlwind of intense harmony: unashamedly euphoric. Posh trance, if you will. Grand, soaring but restrained. If that doesn’t fizz at your frontal lobe like popping candy, ‘Disclosure’ certainly will, a heartfelt electronic ballad, this time with Richard Hennessey on vocals, that somehow avoids cheesiness. By now, Teej has really taken flight — his gorgeously emotive ‘Eight Bit’ journey turned melodic odyssey. Adam Saville
8.0 Franck Roger
Extensions of Yesterday Circus Company Roger more!
Circus Company boss Franck Roger is a man who knows what he wants. Whether it’s dirty funk (‘Spread Love’), insanely catchy house (‘After All’) or deep New Jersey grooves (‘Can We?’), he eyes the prize and hits the spot every time. Never any question who’s at the trigger. From the clunky industrial Detroit machinery of ‘Calixto’, laden with funk and intensely hypnotic, to the shakin’ NY house of ‘Gossado’; the low-ended 4/4 sub-pop of ‘Sands of Time’ to the wig-out disco-boogie of ‘Back With Your Love’ — and the lush metallic Aril Brikha chords of ‘Friday’, which drops into a groovy wiggle — Roger dips his toe into a variety of styles on ‘Exten- sions of Yesterday’. One thing is for sure, though. The funky touch at work underneath is unmistakably his. Adam Saville
David August
Times Diynamic Timeless
Prodigious producer David August — he’s scarcely into his twenties — has been a part of Solomun’s Diynamic crew since he was a teenager. Studying to be a ‘tonmeister’ in Berlin, translated as ‘master of sound’, he’s not just your average DJ who’s picked up a copy of Ableton and thrown a few loops together, as evidenced rather starkly by ‘Times’, a dizzyingly melodic collection of glistening electronica. But that’s not to say it’s all form over function. This is dance music first and foremost. Tracks like ‘For Eternity’ may be beautifully made, but they’re founded in 4/4 time. ‘Anthem’ has vast space to breathe, with Balearic guitars and gentle tribal percussion. ‘Until We Shine’, with vocals from Yuy, meanders off-key, and is vaguely unsettling. Always a good thing. Meanwhile, ‘Blossom’ shows his mastery of the piano. ‘Times’ is, in short, every bit as good as it should be. Ben Arnold
8.0 Daniel Steinberg
Treptow Arms + Legs Chubby funk
Swapping functionality for funk, Daniel Steinberg’s ‘Treptow’ veers away from the sinewy, angular tech house of debut album ‘Shut Up’ (Front Room Recordings). The Berlin-based producer reveals his juicer, flabbier side here. We don’t mean he’s piled on the pounds and pulled his jumper up for all to see, more that each track is a slice of butt- shaking boogie, spilling with enough disco and funk samples to fill a pub quiz mastered by Greg Wilson. ‘Let Me Down’ sets out his stall, while ‘Can’t Find My Baby’, with its joyous Philadelphia vocals, is a pumping Euro Star soul train, while ‘Joy & Happiness’ is disco-house on a French tip. Ripe, succulent and juicy, house heads will find more than enough gristle to sink their teeth into here. Adam Saville
8.0 Nicole Moudaber
Believe Drumcode Sticks to the code
Nicole Moudaber is the latest in a long line of so-called ‘queens of the underground’ thanks to fomenting important relationships with big room techno labels like Carl Cox’s Intec and Martin Eyerer’s Kling Klong. It is Adam Beyer’s Drumcode, though, that gets the scoop on her debut full-length. And that makes sense, given the aesthetic overall: ‘Believe’ is a nine-track journey through buffed metal techno that pairs uninterrupted rhythms with a grainy dub undercurrent, just as boss man Beyer likes it. Whilst everything here is certainly designed for the floor, there is enough deviation along the way to keep things from growing all too exhaust- ing. Opener ‘Lumière Tamisée’ has muted and muffled melodies that echo vintage Planet E, ‘Come and Lay’ is an infectious bit of squirming funk and ‘Fly With You’ is a tasteful peak-time roller, making for a solid if not sensational debut. Kristan J Caryl
www.djmag.ca 071
7.0
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