Minimal / Tech House Recommendations May 2014

Review: Not content with his current status overseeing Visionquest with pals Shaun, Ryan and Lee, Mr Seth Troxler steps out with a new solo label endeavour in the shape of Play It Say It. Apparently taking it's title from stickers on vinyl promos sent out during the '80s and '90s in Detroit, Troxler is aiming to keep Play It Say It as a low key, basic outlet for cuts that work well on the dancefloor and the label launches with a one sided 12" from Deep Disher Sharam. And yes you have read the product page correctly; "Tripi" features keys from Manfred Mann's Earth Band, though how much of a contribution is not discernible amidst the fizzing, skipping main room techno production.

Review: Continuing to bring a refreshing dose of oddball behaviour to the minimal house game, Birdsmakingmachine are back with their collective series and they're as unhinged as ever. "Ahora Vengo" features all kinds of strange samples drifting around a sharp dry beat, while "Ash But Not Arthur" takes a deeper path into melancholic chords via a rattling set of percussion. "Oscar's Critical Jack" gets into a moody tryst with a rotund bassline and some delicate rhythms of a more micro nature, while "Bonfume" lets whispers of melody create a friendly if somewhat eerie atmosphere around a crisp rim shot for yet another highly usable and distinctive cut for the more subliminal dancefloor.

Review: Following on from his 2010 "Dickens Tracks" EP
for London's PAL SL, OCH drops the eagerly awaited 2nd edition to the
series. As a producer his sound stands out through fusing stripped-back,
jackin' drums with sharp, swinging hats always adding an injection of
analog warmth through sparse, synth arrangements. A1's "Cross Check"
stays true to the labels early roots by using the bare essentials of
house music to create a hypnotic, highly effective floor-mover. On the
flip, "Star Of Hope" is an interlude, set-starter or vinyl DJ tool. B2's
"The Magic Flute" has a relaxed, sunny Chicago feeling teasing with
lush samples, driving bass and rock-solid beats. Mastered at D&M.

Review: Hypertone have been releasing a healthy amount of records since they surfaced in 2012 and every release so far has come from a different artist. The label's lucky seventh release comes from Adjustment Bureau, which according to a hapless search on Discogs is the faceless producer's debut. It features a remix by Noel Jackson who was responsible for Hypertone's first record and he strips away the cluttering percussion, box crushing atmos and other bells and whistles from the title-track and creates something deeper, reverbier and finely tuned. On the B-side there's "Pianino" which doesn't deviate too much from "Epine Vinette", although Adjustment Bureau really nails the loop-and-groove relationship in this one.

Review: In the same week that Dominick Martin graces The Nothing Special with some fine Calibre produce, Craig Richards label demonstrate the diversity of their approach with a record from Mr Neville Watson. If you have invested any time with house music over the past few years, there should be little in the way of encouragement needed to spend some time with this Red Light Fever 12", which displays the depth of Watson's production palette across three certified jams. The title track is doused in hardware quirkiness, operating with a feel and tempo that will suit warm up sets, especially with the laser precision expansive synth lines. "The Raw Fruit" continues in the same techno focused direction Watson explored on last year's DBA Special Editions release, whilst the emotionally loaded "Heartstring" is a perfect example of the adage "saving the best til last"

Review: Nomadic London events crew Half Baked settled nicely into life as a record label last year, issuing 12"s from Birdsmakingmachine and Mike Shannon after launching with a split release featuring Le Loup , Yakine and Seuil. There's a sense of expectation surrounding the label then, and it's nice to see standards maintained on their first release of 2014, with Italian DJ and producer Enrico Mantini behind the buttons. There's a sense of pedigree that comes with Mantini, who has been producing since the early '90s and his class shines through on the three productions on Overflowing, with "Low End Walker" a considered highlight.

Review: French veteran Chris Carrier first released material on Adult Only way back in 2000, and has made regular appearances on the label ever since. Here, he delivers his 11th EP for the imprint, offering up a pair of impressive collaborations in his trademark hazy, intoxicated, tech-tinged deep house style. There's a toasty warmth and impressive swing to the bouncing Hector Moralez hook-up "Galactical Dance Mate", which makes great use of sampled clarinets, far-sighted chords and barely audible vocal samples. Djebali provides the obligatory remix, turning the original into a Rbsoul style tech-house roller. Arguably even better is Carrier and Djebali's "BattleStar", a formidably percussive sprint into heavily percussive late night tech-house territory.

Review: Given that UK producer Dauwd made his name on the Pictures Music label, it's no surprise to see him graduating to Cologne institution Kompakt, after all both labels have shown an emphasis on melody and emotion in their respective discographies. Dauwd's arrival on Kompakt with the Kindlinn 12" comes after an initial appearance last year, remixing COMA's "My Orbit" and the three tracks suggest we really should be demanding more music from the producer! Sumptuous, playful and romantic are a few words that immediately spring to mind as lead track "Lydia" unfurls; the little flourishes of synths as the track draws towards it's close are particularly memorable. The title track shows off a tougher side to Dauwd in terms of groove, though the plangent textures remain intact, whilst "Rain Raker" largely forsakes beats in favour of compositional drama.

Review: Following the increasing trend in Romanian minimal techno for slickly broken rhythms, scene veteran Petre Inspirescu serves up a deadly slice of sharp beats and weighty bass reverberations on this new EP for Amphibia. "La Doi Pasi" is a snappy little number, letting the crystalline breakbeat move at an athletic pace while the bass gleefully wobbles around at rhythmical odds with the rest of the track. Keeping things equally stripped down but more techy on the B side, "Basso Ostinato" lets more of that oddball sampling into the mix for a hypnotic work out that will appeal to all lovers of Inspirescu's existing back catalogue.

Review: Up-and-coming producer Zefzeed makes his first appearance on Hungarian imprint All Inn's "Black" offshoot, delivering two intensely atmospheric forays into shuffling, late night techno deepness. With its bubbling water samples, creepy cymbals, voodoo rhythms and smoky woodwind touches, "Ronson" comes on like the soundtrack to a feverish trip down the Congo in the company of Ricardo Villalobos and the Cinematic Orchestra. "Philly", meanwhile, is an altogether deeper affair, with woozy chords buried deep in the mix beneath shuffling, clandestine rhythms. While it lacks the curious eccentricity of the A-side, its' hypnotic grooves may have more early morning dancefloor potential.

Review: There is a whole host of action going on with the latest La Pena, spanning all kinds of dancefloor focused house music from the slender and sublime to the bright and bold. Christian Burkhardt and Einzelkind get deep into a pristine minimal house shuffle with some choice guitar licks, but watch out for the curveball vocal sample that baits religious deities in the most eloquent Queen's English. Sascha Dive meanwhile is in the mood to get funky with the sample teasing burner "Do It Anyway", before Kashawar switches the vibe up with a futuristic kind of Chicago house dressed up with slick synth tones and an urgent tempo. Volkan Akin rounds off the release in a stripped down fashion with the contemplative, oddball tones of "I Got Nothing".

Review: Mind Against returns to Life and Death, a label that has delivered records from WhoMadeWho, dOP, Thugfucker, DJ Tennis and My Favourite Robot, with a two-track 12" of dark synth-wave techno. "Several Times" is like something you'd discover in an EBM podcast by Marcel Dettmann - a track that's suitably big room - while "Avalon" also keeps its sounds big with a fire-breathing production that'd tickle the fancy of taste-makers like Silent Servant to dancefloor annihilators like Len Faki.

Review: Phoenix G reaches its 50th release in its fifteenth year of business and finds Colin McBean in irrepressible form on this Long Time Coming EP! Should you want some compelling evidence for why so many people regard Mr G as one of the most distinctive production voices amongst the UK house and techno cognoscenti, spend some time with the four tracks here. Lead track "Mandiba" is machine Funk at its most potent, whilst the functional drums of "Distortion (Rita's Soul)" have to contend with the soulful impact of the tear jerking vocal hook and that resonant, earthy synth line. "Zam Zam" is Martian techno at its most sinister, whilst the Mango Boys Red Eye mix of "Where I Feel It Most" is a simple yet very effective DJ tool.

Review: Three years on from his debut album Stone Breaker, Mark E returns with a second long player for Ghostly offshoot Spectral Sound that finds the house producer look to his homeland for inspiration. Product Of Industry takes it's name from Evetts upbringing in the UK industrial heartland of the West Midlands, and how the current global financial situation led to him losing his job, an occurrence which resulted in Mark E the producer "Here I am, a product of industry, both currently and historically" as the producer himself has stated. Musically, the nine tracks offer a considered development from Evetts debut album, and suggest he's eminently comfortable working within the confines of the all analogue hardware used to create Product Of Industry.

Review: With a reputation already established thanks to his for work as Priku for All Inn and other respected Romanian outlets, Bucharest-based producer Adrian Niculae has found new levels of inspiration since he elected to work under his given name. Fans of the Acoustic EP that Niculae chose to inaugurate his Motif label with will find much to enjoy on this second release as he continues to bring a sensitive approach to the micro house genre that's currently being pioneered throughout Romania. Lead track "Rain Falls" blends a smooth bassline with melodic synths and strangely affecting vocal samples with a notable suppleness, whilst "Easily" is positively rowdy in comparison. Hints of acid lie deep in the track, partially hidden by the crud infested bassline and multi layered percussion that give "Easily" a real sense of groove.

Review: Those out there getting increasingly charmed by the Romanian minimal house scene will fall under the spell woven on this debut Fizical Music release from Cally. Known for his output on the Fear Of Flying label, Cally represents quite the coup for Fizical and the quartet of productions from Dumitru Dragos Gabriel set a high standard for the label moving forward. A fine balance between melody and rhythm is apparent on each of the four productions here, with a satisfying sense of weight ensuring the Blue Water EP stands out. It's difficult to pick out one track, but there's a haunting quality to the melodies on "Galoop" that sticks in your memory.

Review: Back in action after a couple of years out of the releasing game, Audiojack drop this new single on Gruuv that harks back to their earlier years of releasing. Most notably, "Machine Code" moves with the same android electro pulse that inhabited their remix of Paul Woolford's "Erotic Discourse". "Indigo" meanwhile takes a slinkier route into punchy deep house with dubby undertones and a catchy bassline. The remixes take up the B side, with Paul C and Paolo Martini turning out a funky and percussive take on "Machine Code" and "Indigo" getting a tracky tech house treatment from Alexis Raphael.