Records: Andres, Bleep43, Plant43, Drexciya

Andres – New For U

Detroit’s Dj Dez is one of those perennial underachievers. Fans of his superb dj and productions skills may think I’m talking through my arse but even with a healthy enough bunch of much loved releases, mainly on Mahogani/KDJ, he has remained a somewhat cultish figure in the Detroit house scene, a real “heads” kinda guy.  Since the slight increase in focus on Detroit house guys by the wider public in the last 5 years or so  his main releases have been 2 – excellent – albums that while highly revered have not been the most dj friendly material, thus seeing his music being lesser well known than some of his peers. Recently Floating Points has had him play at Eglo showcases which has helped his profile a bit but, for example, chances are you brought him to Dublin it could easily bomb even though he kills it on the decks.

Ok, so I’m preaching to the converted a bit here as he’s regularly been given props on this here blog but with his new 12″ I think there is a pretty good chance he may have a bone fide hit on his hands. The title track on this debut 12 of new D label La Vida is one of those brilliantly simplistic house cuts; it does very little, but every part of it is vital, from it’s rolling disco beat that kicks straight in, to the tiny vocal sample and awesome strings sample that’s begging for summertime to hit. It instantly sounds really familiar even if you or not familiar with the sample – I can’t tell if I am, it’s not my forte, so you see the effect I’m getting at. It’s at once a fun  dj tool while been pretty anthemic and there’s a brilliant rolling bass-line that you nearly miss first time round. Drama Around The Corner and Jazz Dance are subtler joints but are soaked in as much funk as you’ll have come to expect from Dez at this stage. Drama.. is a sleek low slung groover while the tempo picks up again on the B cut, which sees him back  in disco/house territory. Buy it and play the shit out of it.

ERP, Plant43, Orphan, Jo Johnson – Bleep43 EP001

Regular visitors to Clone’s online store may or may not have noticed this 12″ in the upcoming section for what seems live forever; this release has been languishing there since sometime in late 2010. The London based Bleep43 crew have been laying low on all fronts for a time now, with their parties becoming sporadic and the ending of their great podcast series earlier this year. At long last though they are back in action with this debut various artist 12 of electro-tinged goodness.

On a personal level I probably would have been more excited 18 months ago to get some new ERP on my turntable and while there is certainly nothing wrong with El Camino I’m really itching for Hansen to get back to his Convextion monikor. You know exactly what to expect from a dancefloor ERP track at this stage and even though his releases are always sporadic they feel a little less essential for me now. Chances are I’m still in a minority with this opinion and it’ll still work damn well as a replacement for some older cuts I’ve played too much.

The rest of the Ep is handed over to 3 producers who make up part of the Bleep43 collective. ERP may be the big selling point but it would be silly to ignore the rest. Plant43 follows Hansen on the A side, which is fitting, having served up a brilliant remix of ERP on Semantica in 2010. The two occupy the same area of electro though Plant43 takes things in a different direction on Teflon Jacket with a near booty electro drum pattern contrasting the gloomy strings and grinding synths, serving up a track I wasn’t quite expecting after the initial ambience.

The B-side sees a pair of debut appearances on vinyl for Orphan and Jo Johnson respectively. Orphan’s View from Delfgauw is my pick of the 4 tracks. Things are taken down a notch compared with the A side, moving in a more introspective direction. Things in View from Delfgauw don’t seem to quite fit, it’s all just slightly out of place which is where it’s charm lies. It’s arpeggio’d riff doesn’t start quite as you’d expect while the beat and gentle but stirring keys also do the same as they arrive. It’s a surprisingly unique and exciting composition, given it’s her first song to be put out. Johnson’s Coarse Material closes off proceedings on a down tempo electro tip,  a dark and thus fitting end to an EP that for the most part eschews instant gratification opting instead to give the listener a more varied and contrasting release, with each cut serving it’s own purpose, while all being tied together by a sombre tone. A lil extra kudos for the Ep to feature 2 female producers, especially in a musical area not well known for it (sausage electro anyone? Not here.)

Plant43 – Driven by Magnetics

AC Records is a German electro label that has showcased amongst others Morphology, dB-24 and Ireland’s DeFeKt over the last 3 years or so. Emile Facey, aka Plant43, has a rare EP of his own lined up as their next release. Facey’s electro is as finely tuned as one could imagine, the very definition of crisp and shimmering electronics. As noted in the above review himself and ERP share similarities but Plant43’s music tends to be more tightly wound. This leads to the tracks striking a nice balance as head music or, especially on closer Organic Synthesis, music for a patient  dance floor as things slowly take form with a smooth ghetto-tech style beat accompanying it. Resynth is the most hook laden of the 4 tracks, it’s  synth line not dissimilar to what he included on the ERP remix, delivering the record it’s biggest and most appealing number.

Ghost Light on the b-side nearly tips it for me over these. Starting typically spaced out it’s contrasting, growling bass gives it an extra, unexpected boost, my only niggling doubt with it is that it could go have gone further before the coda. Finishing at the beginning, Driven By Magnetics serves up a 4th take on his electro stylings, where I think increasing it’s original pace would give more urgency to a song that combines 90s deep techno influences with man machine aesthetics he re-imagines into his own design. Semantica will also be delivering another Ep for Facey this year, and combined with the exposure garnered from the Bleep43 ep and this confident and excellent release, it should see bigger and brighter things for the unassuming Londoner.

Drexciya – Unknown Journey 2

For the second installment in Clone’s Drexciya retrospective I’m not gonna give a blow by blow account, but just give a few words over to the 2nd previously unreleased track they’ve unearthed for the series.  After the initial Wow new Drexciya!!! surprise I got from seeing they were putting new material on the releases I still found myself going back to Unknown Journey 1 off Vol.1 but this time I’m not so sure. Drexciya’s critics have found some of their material a bit too scattershot and random at times and if you aren’t a fan of that you may not be bowled over by this composition. You sure won’t mistake it for anyone else but it does have a cast-off feel to it, and it’s easy enough to see why it never made it to wax before. I like how things clash and bang (not bounce) off each other in some of Stinson’s rawer moments and it’s weird, atonal hook is awkwardly layered over messy drum roles and signature Drexciya bass, like we’ve seen plenty of times before. But outside of the confines of a full release it was specifically made for it doesn’t feel essential. It’s cause isn’t helped that the amazing Positron Island comes rushing in afterwards either, a quick reminder how brilliant the brutal side of Drexciya was.

It’s good to see the Clone gang getting some previously CD only material from The Quest (Neon Falls and the brief Dead Man’s Reef) on here. The nerd in me did pull a bit of a face when I saw the amazing Davey Jones Locker make it on to the volume, having only been available before on the True People Compilation from the mid 90s. At this stage having any gripe against this stunning music being available to folk who missed it the first time around – and don’t have tonnes of surplus cash to be buying everything off discogs – is totally missing the point. Though I can’t wait to see the collectors go into a tizzy if S.I.D. material appears later…