DJ Mag Canada 013 - January 2014 | Page 64

ELECTRO REVIEWS DAVID MCCARTHY [email protected] QUICKIES I Killed Kenny Militant EP Four40 Records 8.0 The whole remit of this page is to feature music that brings together a range of different influences and styles and somehow manages to pull them into a sound that kind of reflects 'now' without trying too hard to be 'of' now. This weird-andwonderful amalgam of UK house, garagey grime and late-night techno shows that the Dartford duo are doing precisely that. 'Nobody' is a genre-crossing cracker that respects no borders and takes no prisoners. Shook Keys Of Light Hottwerk 8.0 Freeform Five Brandy Alexander Exploited 9.0 Berlin's Exploited label has a consistently high quality of output. Much of it isn't quite suited to this page, being of a slightly purist housier feel than that which floats this particular boat, but here Anu Pillai aka Freeform Five arrives on the label and serves up a wickedly bubbling electro riffy acid blend that is right on message. Pillai's track record speaks for itself and here his experience and talent shines through, with the instrumental being the real killer. Boom Merchant Tokyo Skyline Tribal Pulse 6.0 'Brooding' is overused when it comes to this kind of techy latenight groove, as is 'dark'. Dave Seaman's remix utilises both aspects of the original to bring a slightly more accessible touch to what is essentially a dour double-header. Not everything needs to be 'in yer face' but in order to stand out from the vast, vast numbers of releases that fall into this category you need to have, I don't know, a little 'je ne sais quoi'. DJ Licious Fields Of Freedom Can You Feel It Records 8.0 Yeah, this is a nice one for anyone looking for a simple delight. Another bit of funky, bass-slapping, discofied electroness this time from 064 djmag.com Belgium-based DJ Licious. It's straightforward but blurs enough lines to show originality and quirkiness, such as incorporating a sneaky build-up that leads into a flute-led interlude. Remixes come courtesy of Beauriche and Flapjackers, but neither have the charm or subtlety of the original version. Finitribe DeTestimony FFFt 8.0 25 years after its original release, Finitribe's 'DeTestimony' gets a limited-edition 12" reissue featuring some top-notch remixes. Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33's mix clangs away on the tubular bells over a suitably determined groove. The Optimo camp have been fairly low-key of late and it's nice to see the stamp attached to a slightly more deconstructed affair which again bases itself on the bell motif but with just enough added weirdness. Dutch producer and multiinstrumentalist Jasper Wijnands comes up with a neat contemporary take on a classic 'French Touch' approach. 'Keys Of Light' highlights his funky grounding as well as a knack of hitting an instinctive dancefloor groove. It also proves that Hottwerk is becoming a more fully-rounded label with each release. It’s worth checking out everything they release. QUICKIES Krayons Little Mike Black Deer Heroic Bromance Peak Oil Sweetest Thing EP Mordedura 6.0 The 11th release on Heroic features Dutch producer Krayons from Utrecht and it's a pleasant enough dibdab of muted autobahn muzak that would work best in a boring traffic jam. TV On The Radio Mercy (Enjoyed Remix) 4.0 Apparently Little Mike's 'Mordedura' is an attempt to "retranscribe the rage and anger that have been floating around me over the past year". The resulting track has transferred it all to me. Piemont Definition EP The Factoria 6.0 Soundcloud 6.0 Self described ‘electrohermit’ Enjoyed took parts he found on the net and made this remix that he put up on his Soundcloud. And it’s not bad at all. 'Definition' is a nice little late-night/early morning chill-out groover that manages just enough attitude to avoid the dreaded 'bar DJ' effect. Worth checking. Black Deer 8.0 This Willie Burns side-project maps out fascinating possibilities. Chiming, raw guitars and ice-sculpted synths dominate on the epic 'It's Like The Way It Used To Be', but there are also echoes of synth-pop, Aphex Twin and Durutti Column throughout. Spherical Co-ordinates Vector Projection Token 8.0 The unstoppable Token delivers more killer techno from Christian Wunsch and Oscar Mulero. From the deep groove and chiming bells of 'SCFLS-05' to the acid-soaked 'SCFLS-11' and the Submersible Machines Isobaths Lunar Disko grubby, Lost-style looped groove of 'SCFLS-12', it's obvious that these producers bring years of experience to the studio. Hexagon Blue Hour Transcendent 8.0 Boris Bunnik goes even deeper than usual for 'Blue Hour'. In places, the release is similar to his Versalife project, but the real highlights are the melodic ambience and fragile synth melodies of 'Physical Dimension' and 'Forecasts'. Vereker/Florian Kupfer Untitled Russian Torrent Versions 8.0 Is this label a side project of Morelli's L.I.E.S? No one can say Simon/off Molecules EP Phuture Shock Musik 7.0 Austrian producer Simon/off follows his 'Planetary Communication' EP on the Bristol-based label with this second offering of three techy breakbeaty garage-influenced tracks. Lead track 'Molecules' syncopates across several boundaries with ease and manages to achieve that most cherished accolade, that of being pretty much uncategorisible. 'Rhythm 38' is slightly more straightforward future garage, and then everything rounds off with the experimentally ambient UK funk 䁽