DJs: Most Charted - Minimal / Tech - April 2015

Review: In a rare deviation from his usual haunt Third Ear, London producer Wbeeza gets snapped up by Moscow's Arma label to serve three distinctive tracks that prove he has a meandering artistic vision that doesn't easily fit into any particular trend. "Creek" shuffles and shimmers with a Detroit sensibility in its brittle drum machine beats and primal bleeps, while "Psychosomatic" drops the melodics and instead focuses on a roughly made set of percussion with a techy demeanour but a housey groove. "Just Trust Me" calls to mind the wayward tones of Wbeeza's Void LP, jamming out some fine slithers of funk around a tough but sprightly bounce that teases as much as it delivers.

Review: Any Diego Krause fans out there wondering when the Berlin producer and co-owner of Beste Modus was going to hook up with the Apollonia crew can rest easy, it's Right About Now! So goes the title of this three track 12" and the lead cut which finds the K man on simple and wonderfully groovy form over its 7 minute duration. A perfect DJ tool for the house music selectors out there, and there is more of the same on the B side though "Manitu" offers a more stripped back and techy side to the Krause palette. And what to say about "Dreams" other than it lives up to its title and then some!

Review: Barac Nicolae aka Barac hails from Bucharest in Romania and makes utterly effective minimal tech-house for the dancefloor. His latest EP comes courtesy of Pressure Traxx and we can safely say that these are certified head nodders, the lot of them! "Superlate Check In" is stomping, headstrong and full of hypnotic charisma on the A-side, but "Vermiana" is more stepping, broken in its structure and boasting an eerie collection of sounds. Last but not least, "Minem Monem" contains a well-placed break in its beat and makes for the EP's best and most original moment. Tip!

Review: Ivan Smagghe's Les Disques De La Mort label has thrown up plenty of excellent music for the jobbing selectors in the 12 months since it launched, with all manner of classy talent contributing either original material or remixes. This latest platter introduces a new project from Paranoid London vocalist Mutado Pintado called Sworn Virgins and the two original tracks are augmented by some excellent remixes. Opening cut "Michelle (Dub)" fizzes brilliantly with unpredictable synthetic energy and is the sort of track you unleash deep into the night to send a crowd down the wormhole, whilst "Lazy Boy" is the best Hieroglyphic Being remix Liasions Dangereuses you've never heard. The accompanying remix from Fabrizio Mammarella reigns in some of the madness for a more focused club cut, whilst the superb Acid Arab do their thing to "Michelle", completely rewiring the track's DNA. A superb 12"!

Review: It promises to be yet another interesting year for Dial Records with an upcoming compilation and the tantalising prospect of a debut album from White Material man DJ Richard on the horizon. Before that, it's Herr Flugel that kicks proceedings off with a new three track 12" that sounds and feels every bit as vibrant as this stellar 2014 LP Happiness Is Happening. Sliced Africa opens with "Black Towers" a racketing slab of epic deepness that appears suited to the early morning moments, whilst the title track has our Roman veering off into more tropical territory. Some superb drum programming on this one. To close "Spiritual Enhancer" adopts a more contemplative poise, easing down the tempo and providing the warm up DJs with a B Side gem to cherish.

Review: The collaborative project from Ry X and Frank Wiedemann has already a splash in its original form, and now this set of remixes brought to you jointly by Monkeytown and Counter has its sights on the floor. Rodhad has been taking the techno scene by storm recently, and he brings a delicate touch to "Signs" that comes on like a pagan mantra as much as a contemporary dance track. Kalabrese meanwhile drops a delicate and shimmering slice of laconic, jazzy acid mixed in that unusual manner which he has always brought to his own productions, and then Radioslave and Thomas Gandley activate their Last Communication for an equally melancholic piano-led revision.

Review: Having been responsible for the last release on The Nothing Special, Craig Richards returns to his more familiar role as label curator and offers a platform for the unheralded Vrsion to truly shine with Vibration. In original form "Vibration" demonstrates the unknown production quantity to be most adept at crafting bassline lead house music that has a certain classic feel to it. Who better to tease out a new angle from the track than The Nothing Special regular Marcus 'Trevino' Kaye? In his hands, "Vibration" is recast as a haunting warehouse techno cut of the highest order.

Review: Championed by Richie Hawtin & Ricardo Villalobos (featured on his Cocoon mix CD 'Taka Taka') the A-Side is armed with a highly infectious melody, beefed up with big, bouncy funky bassline. The B-side has trippy hypnotic sounds that echo in & out of the fluid melodies.

Review: Using the Turkish psychedelic project Insanlar as a jump off point, Honest Jon's have enlisted Ricardo Villalobos to turn out one of his grandiose remix projects that gels so naturally with more exotic sound sources. The original of "Kime Ne" is already an enchanting, Moog-infused groover rich with traditional vocals, and then Mr Villalobos locks the ingredients in for a typically cosmic ride into stripped and hypnotic house territory, letting the lutes intertwine with dusty reams of percussion using that alchemists touch that could only come the man himself. The remix spreads itself over two sides of wax, leaving one side of the double pack free for a fetching etching as well.

Review: Romanian label Metereze may not be as prolific as some of its peers but you can't argue with the quality of music they've issued since first surfacing roughly two years ago. A fourth release introduces a new face in Melodie who's Echo Rhythm EP veers away from Metereze's previous house focus into more techno flavoured territory and it's a good look. As you might expect from the title, "Acid Sunday" is rife with lysergic tweakery, and it's augmented by an overall deep feel which seeps into the next cut "Rhythmico" which gives off the sensation of steam rising superbly. B side hogger "Justa" is a melodic techno number in a similar vein to Gui Boratto.

Review: Following a various artists release that featured the likes of Loopdeville and Innominate, OdD are back in the saddle for the fourth release on their label as they spread their wings within the busy world of minimal house music. On "Drum Technology" the concept sounds complete, from the ethereal pad tones to the impeccably crafted beat, packing enough movement to let the insistent jam roll on blissfully for as long as it pleases. "Dutty Drum Skin" meanwhile revels in a more sinister headspace, keeping up the finely chiselled beats but letting a more ominous brand of drone linger in the background of the mix. "Squiggle & Flam" lives up to its name and gets all wriggly around its slickly shuffling beat, while the looped up synth refrains maintain the twitchy feeling perfectly.

Review: Always a tantalising prospect for daring diversions from the well-trodden path of house music, Robag Wruhme does it his own way. On this new EP for his spiritual home of Musik Krause, the prevailing mood is a dark one. "Brumpy Kapell" works off a prominent beat while rich drones pulsate underneath. All the while a kitchen-sink's worth of scrapes, rattles and other found sounds pepper the track with that quintessential strangeness you'd expect from the man and the label. On the flip, "Wolluwe" is a more minimal affair, plying the kind of stripped down repetition that Villalobos made his name on, albeit with some epic horn stabs at the appropriate juncture.

Review: Canada's Colin De La Plante aka The Mole has been an important part of electronic dance music since the early noughties. The man has appeared on countless influential during the electro and minimal house periods including Mathew Jonson's Wagon Repair, Germany's Kompakt stable and more recently even on the Ostgut Ton imprint out of Berlin. More recently, however, he's been popping up frequently on Slices Of Life, a contained hub for like-minded club music nutters. "Inhuman" is a stepping house-techno hybrid with supremely odd melodies floating in the background and one hell of a percussion swing. On the B-side, "Another One Of Those Nights" is deeper and more intricate much like the rest of The Mole's output, and "Hot Tea Dog Man" showcases what the dude is best at - minimal melodies, complex beat patters and that right level of insanity. Class.

Review: Active as a record releasing producer for a decade, James 'Burnski' Burnham has credits for a wide variety of labels in his discography, gracing everyone from Boe to Hot Creations. Constant Sound is a new label from the man, set up with Jon Woodall, Burnski's production partner as Constant. Music from Cab Drivers, Kris Wadsworth, A Scott, and Richard Rowell is promised over the coming months but it's a solo record from Burnski that kicks matters off with Your Love. A collaboration with vocalist Beckford, "Your Love" is one of those insistent, driving house cuts with dashes of acid to it and it's complemented by remixes from Prime Numbers man Trus'me and Mosaic boss Steve O'Sullivan who take the cut in markedly different directions. A solid start for Constant Sound!

Review: Those who've been paying attention to JD Twitch's sets over the last 12 months will undoubtedly have heard "Un.sub", the title track from this excellent EP from former Moda Black combo Mia Dora. A wild combination of relentless cowbells, bass-heavy bottom-end and warped electronics, it sounds like techno from another dimension. The rest of the EP is similarly impressive, from the bumpin' late night house flex of "Raw Kiss", to the surging techno of "Et Le Mein". The EP also features a woozy, off-kilter collaboration with Glasgwegian veteran MASH ("Feathers"), which laces a kooky spoken female vocal over sparse beats, foreboding bass and atmospheric electronics.

Review: With a great emphasis placed on presentation and artistic statement, Swiss label Les Points has already established itself as a serious operator within the bustling minimal house and techno scene. This split release from Barbir and Nicola Kazmir is yet further proof of the ambitious intentions the label has in delivering the most creatively inspired music possible, and there is certainly plenty of music to get your teeth into here. There's twitchy house constructions aplenty to enjoy from both artists, as well as some intriguing remixes of STL loops at the end of each side in a nod to the inspirational power of the German producer, whose own leftfield leanings fit into the lineage of this release.