Some 12"s from the last couple of months...
Herbert - Part Two (Phono Series 500)
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'Ooh Herbert! We're gonna have a hot night tonight' squeals the woman
in the intro. And she's right. Mr Wishmountain dons his deep house hat,
kicking off with 'Deeper', a superb slice of mellow yet pumping US
house. 'Non-stop' is harder edged, with a shuffling, minimal groove, and
'Shuffler' jazzes it up with Deep Dish-style loops. House/techno hybrid
which has quality stamped all over it.
Herbert - Part Three (Phono Series 500)
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Getting even better, 'Butthead' samples, yes - Beavis and Butthead,
with a tough, phunky percussive assualt and deep synths. 'People Who
Make The Music' is the most commercial cut, a hypnotic, almost trancey
feel with soft organs and synth washes floating above an irresistible,
floor-filling groove. And 'Thinking Of You' closes this superb EP with
more NY-style tough house flavour. So deep it's got two lights on its
hard hat.
4AM - Underwater Blues (Muzique Tropique)
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From Scotland's excellent Muzique Tropique comes this excellent
mellow house EP. Three tracks of top-notch subterranean grooves, jazzy
organ loops and sweet strings. This 'chill-out house' sound seems to be
getting more and more popular as an alternative to the blandness of
handbag and the aural assualt of techno, and this is a fine example.
Soul Motive - Nightshift (Nuphonic)
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This promising label delivers another jazz-fuelled gem, four tracks
of shuffling, funky house which is perfect for the post-club chill. Dave
Wallace and Aquasky, all better known as jungle producers for Moving
Shadow, try their hand at the deep house game, with the improvised moog
solo of 'Into The Night' as an immediate stand-out.
Jeff Mills - Java (Purpose Maker 001)
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The world's favorite DJ picks up where Axis 11 left off with four
tracks of relentless, looping funk on his new label. 'Java' stands out,
sounding like a remixed 'Casa' from Purpose Maker. Banging yet smooth,
mechanic yet organic, Mr Mills' sound is distinctive and essential for
all fans of quality techno.
Sound Enforcer - Icon EP (Blunted)
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Dave Angel in his harder guise, with a doublepack of floor-fodder to
satiate his admirers. No great surprises in the arrangement - build the
drums up, break down into a synth loop, bring the drums in, tweak, break
again and finish off. But the loops are immaculate, funk-filled and
floor-filling - 'Circle' is a hypnotic housey masterpiece while 'Cross'
is a hard-hitting barrage of sound. If you like Angel's more dance-based
tracks this is essential.
Frank De Wulf - Drums In A Grip (Harthouse)
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An interesting record. Frank's original is a pounding, metallic
breakbeat affair which shuffles along, banging and clunking and... not
much else really. Wax Doctor takes the same breakbeat he always uses
and... not much else really. Above the looped break he adds some strings
and a sampled LFO synth, all pleasant enough but pretty tame compared to
a lot of other drum & bass around.
Photek - The Rain/Still Life (Razor's Edge)
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Rupert Parkes lends his magic touch to Goldie and Dego's 'Still Life'
on the new Metalheadz offshoot, coming up trumps with his customary
blend of sharp breakbeat weaponry and atmospheres. He also reworks
MET008's 'The Rain' to superb effect, proving once again who writes the
jungle book.
Subject 13 - Spirit Breakdown (Basement)
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A Fabio favorite back in November, this classy, jazzy track gets
released at last. Rolling, live-sounding beats and wicked Rhodes stabs
make this a killer tune, a classic example of the jazzy sound Fabio's
pushing. 'Can't Wait Tonight' on the flip is more traditional pad-
fuelled artcore, but high quality nonetheless.
Subject 13 - unknown (Creative Source promo)
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These boys seem to be everywhere at the moment, with at least two
other releases around. The 4th release keeps the smooth, dreamy quality
of the others, the A-side using a mesmerising soft guitar riff and
floating, epic strings, before introducing some wicked Rhodes stabs. The
flip is more piano-based but just as good.
unknown (Bang-in Tunes 11 promo)
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After the brilliance of Urban Visions Volume 1 I was expecting
something of a similiar calibre from Bang-in's next release.
Unfortunately this is a bag of wank - one side features a huge, horrible
out of tune sax loop over shite beats, and the other side has metallic
loops over shite beats. Avoid.
Albums this weekend...
see ya
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tom churchill e-mail: tom@chrchfam.demon.co.uk
'each new hour holds new chances for new beginnings'
dj/musician/clubber/reviewer......scene but not herd
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