Sorry I haven’t posted in 21 days (eek), but I’ve been up to my eyeballs in preparing for Transformus and helping build four Tom Danley-designed LABhorn subs for my friend, and sound-dude, Brad T (we also had some big help from Alex and Greg!). Brad had also previously built two others, for a total of six (as you can see in the pic…although that’s not ours…pics incoming from the guys who had cameras at Transformus). I think we spent in the range of 200-250 total combined man-hours building these things, from cutting boards to final assembly. Anyway, more on all that in another post once pics arrive.
For now, I’m going to drop some tracks I’ve been liking, and why you might like them. Some are newish, some oldish, all great.
In no particular order:
Down The Rabbit Hole (2000 and One 90’s Edit) by DJ Madskillz [Rejected]
From a production standpoint, this is a pretty simple track, although far from ‘minimal’ but nonetheless jamming. 2000 and One rinses it over with his familiar style of chugging, retro tech-house with a tinge of anthem-tude. I like the pace, the build, and the thumping kick of this one, it just all comes together without overdoing fancy production techniques, yet still successfully keeping that loop in full effect. It’s on my latest mix.
Just Jack by Kreon [Cecille Numbers]
You got the groove (as the track so eloquently states). I don’t know the source, but it just fucking works. Simple, minimal tribal rhythms, a deep, fat bass, and some nice groove and sample dynamics make this one that daytime house that can make it into just about any mix. The flip is good as well, but this one is the track. Also on the new mix.
Cue Ed by Deuce [Ostgut Ton]
Dark, loopy, industrial, analog cranker by Shed + Dettmann. I could listen for hours just for the insanity of it all. ++ to the whole EP, actually. Techno’s back, baby (as if it ever left, lol!)
Downturn by Penta [AuraQuake]
Dark Psy-trance. Yes, I’m listening to it. It’s a fucking good track. Superb, clean production. And the breakdown with the econo-pundits yapping about on TV in panned-out stereo wackiness just makes it even more fun. I’m not a psy aficionado by any means, and don’t even listen to it that often (and most I hate when I do) so it’s gotta say something, right? Penta’s Give Me Five album is well-done all around though, so give it a listen.
Lipstick by Christian Burkhardt [Raum...Musik]
You want dirty, filthy tracks? Well, this one hijacks the nasty crown from the latest cheesy-porn sampled electro schlock. Burkhardt’s been doing some great minimal/tech-house tracks for awhile now, with my first exposure from his Contemporary Box EP, but this one is truly tops. The sample used may be from its very own cheese porn, but the minimal groove just puts the focus on the subtly-sexy vocal, without relying on stupid moans, “fuck my pussy” samples and huge squarewaves to get its effect across. Drop this in a dark club where and when you can, and watch the panties drop.