Life hasn’t allowed time for much reflection on the month of music that was, so this roundup is brief. All’s well though as December’s holiday slowdown kept new releases to a trickle and every plate that crossed my path get’s some love below.
Ben Boe / B From E - PRS012 [PRS]
Techno / Tech House
Bit of a niche one here. It’s a lathe-cut 10” exclusive to the Safe Distribution site featuring PRS boss, C.K., remixing tracks from Ben Boe and Be From E. Lotsa name drops there so a little background is probably in order. Safe Distribution is a DIY distro out of Aarhus, Denmark that retails and wholesales a handful of Danish labels, most notably PRS, home to the bulk of C.K.’s solo records. A member of 2 Bit Crew, Regelbau and other projects, C.K. has been on a tear, releasing hardware-driven, melodic machine funk that hits somewhere between Dj Rolando’s “Jaguar” and Giegling. It’s a zone of driving but meditative stab-n-swing house / techno.
The formula stays the same here with C.K. remixing For Those That Knoe label-boss, Ben Boe, and Copenhagen’s Frej Levin aka B From E. “Neighbourhood Quasar” is a big bottomed, charging techno looper that I used to launch rolling tech house into beefy space techno in my 2022 recap mix.
“Lick My Bass” works off the same recipe but opts for a swung, dubby approach that brings to mind 2000’s era tech house a la Fiji Records.
Safe keeps their prices crazy cheap (retail: €8) but shipping from Denmark is no joke. What made me splash out for this one (besides the tunes) is that I’ve never heard a modern lathe cut record and was curious about the quality. There are some affordable lathe systems out there but I needed to experience the end product before I could possibly consider going in on one. Good news: the cut is loud and crisp. I would need to A/B it against a digital version to be certain, but all’s clear to my ear. The lathe cut was a limited release, but the “Neighbourhood Quasar” remix will be available on C.K.’s forthcoming Lock 10” on PRS and the “Lick My Bass” remix is available digitally from B From E’s Bandcamp.
Enzo Leep - Alien LIghts [Into the Wizard’s Sleeve]
Electro / Tech House
The long-running mnml/haus diaspora continues as former devotees try their hand at new sounds. For some reason electro seems to be one of the most popular destinations. Maybe it’s the mileage a DJ can get out of a well-crafted electro beat as opposed to the limited and predictable outcomes of 4x4 house rhythms. No matter, Enzo turns in three electro efforts and a loony, swinging tech house cut to round out this solid four-tracker.
The A-side holds two sparse, sprawling and simple electro tools that both sample well-known American throwbacks. “Supersonic” is basically a stripped down edit of J.J. Fad’s electro tune of the same name. “Do It” does the same to Ultramagnetic MC’s much-sampled “Poppa Large”, only with an added layer of original production.
“Do It”:
On the flip, Enzo contributes two original productions. “Go” is a broken-beat / electro cruiser with a resonant, Detroit-ish synth lead and goofy, over-the-top, extended drum breakdowns that bring some extra spice and levity to his slick electro-mnml formula.
“Go”:
“Alien Nights, Blue Lights” name and it’s neon-melodic swing has me wondering if it’s a conscious tribute / take on the An Alien formula I rambled on about in last month’s roundup.
“Alien Nights, Blue Lights”:
Into the Wizards doesn’t have much web presence, but this one is available via most retailers. Check their latest dot13 12” for sim energies.
Unknown Artist - LODE 002 [LODE]
Electro / Tech House
Unbeknownst to me until 20 minutes ago, this one is also from Enzo Leep. While looking for audio for the Wizards Sleeve 12”, I saw this record on his Soundcloud. In retrospect it’s entirely unsurprising as the formula is exactly the same – lengthy, deep and simple electro / breakbeat edits of well-known tunes. “TT” is an edit of Tina Turner’s '“What’s Love Got to Do With It?”. It samples her vocals leading up to the chorus but unfortunately there’s no full release into “Whats Love…”. But it still hits.
“Black Messiah” drops the high-profile sampling in favor of two voices looping around to make a melancholic, breakbeat emo-banger. A woman: “Here in the desert it’s the same thing over and over again”, and a man: “I suppose I need something to believe in, something worth living, worth dying for…”. It’s simplicity, like the other Enzo edits here, could make it seems like another dip into his bag of cheap tricks, but the potential for these to soundtrack ethereal late-night momes is unquestionable and reminds that it doesn’t take much besides some production know-how and good instincts to make impactful dance music.
The LODE series is a limited, vinyl-only affair, so snap em up while they last.