Seminal. Legendary. Genius. These are words which journalists always lament for their over- and inappropriate use … and then proceed to use them anyway.
I am not going to use any of these words.
I am just going to post this link.
Enjoy.
DJ Koze recently released a track called ‘Burn with me’. It’s another banger from an old Benji B show, rumbling in like the 1840 from Hereford. It’s underpinned by some low dissonance, cutting industrial sounds skirting across the top and some elastic percussion adding the icing layer.
It’s one of those tracks which doesn’t necessarily go anywhere; but then there are those sounds which don’t need to. It’s incessant and driven enough not to matter. Not to worry itself. Not to worry you.
The little flicks and pauses, the stops and goes, are what define it.
Gloriously depressive.
‘Carbon Copy’ by Lowtec. I love the fact that Lowtec has engineered a sound that seems familiar but remains totally distinctive. It’s got elements of analog, of simple, thumb-tapping hi-hats; but it’s also got beautifully deep beats and rumbling basslines. This particular track has a bizarre synth line thrown in too, which is sicklier than a broken keyboard in Chicago and still somehow works.
If you like the vague genre of ‘house’, and the vague genre of ‘techno’, you kinda have to love this.
I have just discovered that Bristol producer Artifact, who did a wicked mix for Sonic Router in 2011, has recently released a double A titled ‘The Way It Do’/’We Trapped’. Better late than never, huh.
On a cut released by Berlin/London label somethinksounds, the former track is the real monster. Its main force is its irresistible swing, a wooden and echoing off-beat pulse indicative of Artifact’s city of residence. The percussive elasticity is then enforced by low, dissonant grumblings and squelches which land gladly away from parody, while nastily-cut loops of build up, which sound like a commercial house DJ butchering their big drop, actually work as an effective atmospheric touch.
As the musical paradox which so many producers seek, therefore, this track is both clever and simple. It has enough to entertain the brain but a commensurate amount to encourage the feet. And that is something worth purchasing.
Last week I posted a track by Providence producer The Range. Today I post two tracks by Providence producer The Range.
First is old(er) tune ‘Metal Swing’. The gruff hi-hats are a mite’s body off-beat, perfectly placed within its whole syncopated structure. The vocal loop, probably discernible to the more affluent ear, is an urgent call to the other arrangements to match its prominence. The track, therefore, becomes louder and more agitated, leaving the vocal to predominate ‘til its exhausted but thrilling end.
Second is new tune ‘PS3’, which features on his forthcoming EP Seneca, out 23 April. ‘PS3’ is a tight patchwork of loops, utilising that footwork-mode of clipping a female vocal so tightly that it becomes a percussive drill both familiar and strangely beautiful. Overlaid are a couple of wonderful high-end melodies - strummed guitar, picked guitar, synth - and a typically off-kilter beat. Incredible stuff.
I promise I won’t make the resurrection of the Carton just about The Range. At the moment, it’s just quite hard not to.
Yes. It’s been a long while. It is certainly not lack of want, more lack of energy. But, with Spring announcing itself with buckets of slush and temperatures which don’t just tease zero but strip off and dance provocatively in front of it, I feel it is time to inject some warmth into the forever welcoming blogosphere.
There have, in the absence of words on this site, been a large number of great tracks; it has, I feel, been a more fertile year than the last. There’s been a tangible move away from the last vagaries of the genre formerly - and at times witheringly - known as “post-dubstep”, which has allowed more explorative tendencies to flourish (rather than that oft, self-satisfied squelch). There has been a slight move away from trap, which is again welcome. And the great house music revival, as so eloquently (and sardonically) covered by Vice magazine here, is perhaps now inversely indicating how utterly wack some of this stuff is. Nevertheless, there have been some nice house releases - about which we hope to write about (at some point).
However, my main (re)discovery is Benji B. I had kind of tired of Benji B’s selection, perceiving his focus to be (rightly or wrongly, forced or chosen) moving towards covering the absent Gilles space on Radio 1. This meant more soul, more hip-hop, more American introspective shit. I always thought Benji was best when his shows were harder, faster, more exciting. You drunk wine to Gilles; you drunk Red Stripe to Benji. Anyway, the other day I gave Benji another go. And his show was fantastic. Brilliant. So many absolute tunes. And, among these, was this remix of Ciara (of course) by a producer called The Range.
This reworking of ‘Promise’ is simply fantastic. Soulful, diligent, delicately-constructed. You can even dance to it. It’s the kind of track to which you want to have a climactic, time-defining moment; you can’t necessarily force it but, if you feel one is about to happen, throw on this track. In that mould, it’s as anthemic as ‘What I’ve Lost’ by Benoit & Sergio. And that’s impressive shit.
Stay tuned folks.
