Preview of Midland - Trace EP

Midland's close work with Aus music continues with a 12" of Chicago-esque house, which is sounding pretty tasty. Due to be released Feb 25th.

George Fitzgerald - Child (Aus Music, Out Now)

George Fitzgerald - Child (Aus Music, Out Now)

We've been fans of George Fitzgerald's output so far, and have had nothing but good things to say about his output, but his latest EP for Aus Music sees him stepping up his game and nailing some vintage-sounding house, whilst still sounding fresh and contemporary. Heavily Chicago-influenced, Fitzgerald uses a mixture of 808 and 909 percussion, a wonderfully vintage-sounding bass synthesiser, and vocals that sit somewhere between neo-soul vocal solos and chopped up UKG to build a quality four-track EP. Whilst it's a fully-rounded EP, with genius to be found across the board, Child and Lights Out on the A-side are possessed of immediately engaging riffs and big breakdowns that scream peak-time house music, whilst Hindsight and Unilateral on the flip both lend themselves more to early evening or build-up tunes. Child manages to make the best of one nagging two bar-riff, slowly filtering a warm bass synth at first, before augmenting it with verging-on-cliched house piano sound and a more ethereal hi-end synth. Similarly Lights Out is all about the dropping in and out of drum sounds - taut claves, steely open-hats and weirdly swung claps shift focus, whilst Fitzgerald warps around a chopped up vocal demanding we "turn the lights out". Whilst Fitzgerald's first releases were laden with androgynous, warpy vocals that made for melancholic tracks, this EP sees him embracing the more retro notion of the male Diva, with vocals that owe more to house singers like Steve Edwards or Donald O.
In contrast, the B-side retains more influences from the Joy O sound that made his name, keeping the metallic chicago percussion, but using more ethereal synths, and sending the percussion into all the wrong places. Both are solid in their own right, and the bizarrely innapropriate rave stab that keeps crowbarring it's way into Unilateral is a surreal delight, but these two are very much slow-builders that require a little work to find the best in them. Nothing groundbreaking, but a really solid EP that will get a good workout for sure.

Cottam - Deep Deep Down (Aus Music)

Cottam - Deep Deep Down (Aus Music, 07 November)

Having eagerly followed Cottam's rise to prominence, we welcome his new 12" with open arms - his four 12"s on his own imprint were superlative peices of work, but with very limited pressings and no digital release, superstardom was never going to come easily. Though he's snuck out various remixes and soundcloud giveaways, this is Cottam's only release not on his own imprint since the 12" for Use of Weapons, and with the critically acclaimed Aus Music backing him up, it aught to garner him the recognition deserved. Moving away from his signature slow-groove house, Cottam's begun to channel a more acidic, technoid sound, without losing the funk and soul that make him stand out. With metallic percussion and an acidic synth line, Deep Deep Down channels hints of Jus-Ed and Levon Vincent, peppering the robotic with fluid afrobeat percussion and a wailing saxophone. Like Cottam's previous works, it's a well-crafted long-runner that manages to work a limited pallette of sounds without growing repetitive. Whilst filling an appropriately weird niche with it's reconstructed rhythms and tape screeches, the Vakula remix leaves me somewhat cold in comparison - it's a fun addition nonetheless.
The B-side, Twang returns to Cottam's signature pitched down groove, with funk-inflected guitars and wailing vocal snippets peppering a languid bassline. Contrasted with Cottam's self-titled releases however, both tracks on this 12" are leaning more towards recognisable house and techno rhythms with a definite focus. However, Cottam manages to avoid the stylistic neutering that broadening appeal often equates to (Daft Punk, Wiley, Skream, this means you) and it genuinely feels like Cottam has improved by moving from languid sketches of confused beauty, to fully-realised masterpeices. Quality work from one of the most interesting house producers at the moment.

George Fitzgerald - Silhouette EP

George Fitzgerald - Silhouette EP (Aus Music)

George Fitzgerald follows up his fantastic work for Hot Flush with a 3-track EP for the equally awesome Aus Music, who've gone from being a solid house/ techno label, to putting out some of the best cross-genre records in less than two years; Carl Craig remixing Ramadanman & Appleblim, Ramadanman and Midland's collab, Joy F'n Orbison.

Fitzgerald's pushed a lot of the right people's buttons with his mix of R'n'B, house and dubstep, and I was about to criticise this one for being overly-predictable, decent enough garage. Until I released my promo copy's been mislabelled. The B-side Reset (which I had as the flagship track) is a rolling, off-time garagey/r'n'b number that takes its time working over a single vocal line and offbeat piano stabs. It's pretty decent, but doesn't even come close the crossover potential of The Let Down, and frankly, the vocal's fucking irritating. Equally, the remix of Silhouette, by John Roberts, is this loping, weirdly played purple wow/ hip-hop number that doesn't know if it's trying to be smart electronica or a quality banger and had me ready to pan the release as a missed opportunity.

Then we get to Silhouette.

Holy Shit. Big analogue synth line warping through delays, epic smashes of white noise and irresistibly funky percussive riffs; big tune. Building up over time, it eventually bursts into a lush, drawn out slice of techno, with a looped and chopped vocal acting to drag the tune to new heights. Then, with the briefest of drop-outs, a monster sub-bass line kicks in and it all gets messy, turning it into one of the best tunes I've heard for months. This one's going to be big; I did find myself wondering why such a magnificent piece of work was consigned to the B-side. Buy it.

Midland - Through Motion / Shelter

Midland - Through Motion / Shelter (16 May, Aus Music)

Midland's work with Ramadanman (Your Words Matter / More Than You Know) was probably one of my favourite records of last year, combining the best aspects of UK bass music with a classic house feel. Now, Midland returns to Aus Music for a solo outing, again leaning heavily towards classic Chi-town and New York sounds; it's DJ tool stuff for sure, making use of long, extended passages with vocals pitch-bending in and out and synths slowly warping through the mix. Shelter utilises loose, rattly percussion atop a solid 4/4 beat, mixing woodblocks and detuned snares with a low-filtered bassline wobbling away. With it's chopped and screwed vocals, borrowed wholesale from R'n'B / Garage, it's very reminiscent of Joy O's output, though whether the hype will explode as much is debatable. Through Motion leans much more towards a classic house sound though, with a slow-loping piano riff offset by a skittery kick-pattern and big, rolling piano chord breakdowns. The Tevo Howard remix (digital only) further cements Through Motion as undeniably techno, maximising the acidic feel of the bassline and tweaking the keys towards the classic Chez Damier sound.
Top record. iMidland - Through Motion - Forthcoming Aus [Clip] by Midland Midland - Shelter - Forthcoming Aus [Clip] by Midland

Ramadanman & Abbleblim - Void 23

Ramadanman & Abbleblim - Void 23 (Aus Music, 22nd Nov)

So, it finally lands. Two of UK electronic's big hitters together again after a bona fide smash, with the legendary / untouchable / not as good as he used to be / still magnificent Carl Craig taking on remix duties. It seems like an automatic recipe for success, especially considering the winning streak Ramadanman's been on for the past two years (excepting the lone mule cluttering up the Ramadanman EP).

Despite the fact that both tracks clock in at a meditative 9 minutes, neither the original or the re-edit feels meandering or empty - Ramadanman's rich melodies and taut rhythms combine beautifully with Appleblim's textured darkness and offbeat syncopations. Each strain of bass music is given space to breathe and evolve, and the back-and-forth between makes for a deep and expansive cut. With drowned synths, far-off vocals and funky syncopations, Void 23 worms its way through styles, driven by the pair’s innate sense of songwriting.

But is it any good? Well, its syncopation may prove a little too weird for many techno DJs, and at 126bpm, it’s not exactly fodder for the dubstep crew, but hell, a bit of practice and it’ll go either way. This “neither one nor the other” pervades the track though - certain passages are beautiful head music, whilst one drop-in is just peak-time techno, leaving you further confused about how to deploy it.

Given all the components, Carl Craig restructures the various fragments into (unsurprisingly) a peak time Detroit number, and whilst he has his faults, Craig’s ability to craft a slick narrative is undeniable. The re-edit draws all the glorious synths to fore, pins down the best of the bass, and crafts far more solid dancefloor tune, with big filter sweeps and sweet-sounding hi-hats. He even manages to make space for those weird French spoken word moments that have been cluttering up Ramandanman’s tunes of late.

Ramadanman and Appleblim’s dubstep is a little too spastic, Carl Craig’s techno a little too predictable, but this is an absolutely solid tune, and guaranteed success.

Ramadanman myspace.
Appleblim myspace

New Radio - 2274

X-posted from Radiomagnetic.com

Listen online, stream and download the Little Rock podcast on Radio Magnetic from the people behind Little Rock Records and ShallowRave.blogspot.com.

Residents only this week with tunes from Chez Damier, Basic Channel, Dario Zenker, and that new King Midas Sound remix. Tasty.

New from Black Lantern, Unoiki and Echospace, it’s business as usual for Little Rock with dub, techno and ambient.

Tracklisting

1. Round One ft. Andy Caine – I’m Your Brother – Main Street Records
2. Round One ft. Andy Caine – Quadrant Dub II – Main Street Records
3. Dario Zenker – Apollo 910 – Vakant
4. Ramadanman & Midland – Your Words Matter – Aus
5. Basic Channel – Q-loop – Basic Channel
6. Chez Damier – Soul Minimal (original mix) - Mojuba
7. Gas – Track 2 – Raster Noton
8. CV313 – King Midas Sound Remix – Echospace
9. Dr Nojoke – clonefixnature - Unoiki
10. Kink Slap Simian – Beautiful Android – Black Lantern
11. Monolake – Pipeline- Imbalance
12. Jonas Kopp – Michigan Lake – Ostgut
13. Todd Edwards – I might Be (Joy Orbison remix) – Scion A/V

Stream that badboy
Download that motherbizzle

New Radio - Brassica Live

Brassica kindly handed over his live set from I Feel Space for us to put on the radio. Totally Italo-ed to the tits synthy madness - includes long lush solos! Radiomagnetic page.
Stream that badboy here
Download that motherbizzle here

Team Little Rock rope in occaisonal collaborator and electro-pop genius Brassica to provide a live set for the show. Applause.

Brassica is one of the hottest names in the neu-disco scene, having put out records on Dissident, and now releasing on Ali Renault’s Human Shield label as one half of Gold Blood. His electro-inflected art-pop’s gained massive praise across blog and print media, and he’s set to go massive this year. He recently recorded a solo live set at the excellent This Is Space night in Bristol, and has contributed it to Little Rock Records. The full set will soon be available via shallowrave.com too.

www.littlerockrecords.com
www.shallowrave.com
www.myspace.com/brassica
www.myspace.com/goldbloodband

Tracklist

1. Brassica - Live @ I Feel Space – Unreleased
2. Orphan101 – Tribtek pt.2 – Saigon Records
3. Joe – Claptrap – Hessle
4. Al Tourettes & Appleblim – Lipsmacker (Deadboy Remix) – Aus Music