Capracara - King Of The Witches

DFA's bread and butter might be party-ready dance-rock, but these days it's their club 12-inch desserts that are likely to become the menu standouts. So if, for example, you found The Juan Maclean's new full-length a bit undercooked, rest assured you can safely turn your appetite towards Capracara's "King of the Witches," a stunning, sizzling hybrid of first wave house-techno, Warp-era IDM plonk and underground disco. Capracara handily pulls off a grand Frankenstein stitch, resulting in a genre-bending mutant that sounds less like a single conceit and more like a mini DJ set.

Spatial - Infra002 EP

Arriving in the least ubiquitous fashion possible and delivered with a little mystery thrown in for good measure is the latest 10-inch slice of garage-flecked, Detroit techno-suckling dubstep from the facially ambiguous producer, Spatial. Christening his productions with numerical monikers such as "90121" or "90113" may seem like another way to alienate anyone who isn't searching specifically for his work but, by not naming them after lost loves or some other nonsense your left with one thing to judge: the music.

Rustie - Bad Science EP

"Bad Science" might be the erratic, unpredictably glitchy dance floor stalker on here, quaking faces when its arpeggiated backbone comes reeling in from the left side of nowhere but "Tar" rings out like "Tempered"—Rustie's Southern hip-hop jam found on the flip to his Joker collabo—all deep 808 kicks interspersed with heavily phased and cleverly EQed percussion. Going heavy on the kick drum, he patterns his jagged bass riff around the end of each bar throwing in the odd "coin in" and "1UP" Nintendo sound effects before stretching out the scales with a taut synthesizer. "Shadow Enter" takes the computer game idea and runs with it, making the dripping sound effects of classic hacker film The Net's soundtrack bubble over his primitive bass work and human beatbox percussion.

The other tracks included here are versions of Rustie's "Zig Zag" release. A "reprise" sees Rustie take the seemingly endless winding synth spine of the track and underpinning it with huge booming kick drums. That unimaginative rework, however, is redeemed via Heinrich Mueller's "Gravitaional Equilibrium"take. One of Rustie's heavily Kraftwerk-influenced idols, Mueller adds a smattering of 303 and shimmers out a few other melodies in an effort reminiscent of Neil Landstrumm's latest output.

Andre Lodemann – You Never Know EP

 "You Never Know" has more in common with Radio Slave's "Bell Clap Dance" than any fluffy deep house you might hear Charles Webster (remixer of Lodemann's "Searchin'") offering up. And, indeed, if it weren't for the powerful piano chords late in the game, we might have had a dead ringer for "Bell Clap Dance"'s endless build/slightly watery clap template. As it stands, I wouldn't play them back-to-back unless you wanted to make the crowd want to skin you alive (or kiss you all over) for teasing them so horribly.
According to the press sheet, Lodemann says that "Where Are You Now?" mixes well with Ricardo Villalobos' "Uli, Mein Ponyhof" mix of Carl Craig & Moritz von Oswald from late last year. It's unclear at the beginning how Lodemann ever connected the two, but once the simple bass and drum groove is interrupted by seemingly incongruous swarms of bees hidden inside his synths, all is revealed. I'm still not sure if this thing hangs together exactly, but Lodemann's force of will here is much like DJ Koze. You may not believe what is happening when you first hear it, but you also might find yourself too busy picking your jaw up off the floor to care.

Tony Lionni & Radio Slave - Berghain 03 Part I

Lionni's "Found a Place" rubs two loops up against one another for three minutes—one of disembodied vocals, the other a catchy piano. He fades out the piano loop halfway through, brings in another and then loops that for another two minutes while the vocals and a simple house beat pound away unawares. Needless to say, it's brilliant. Radio Slave's "Neverending..." is similarly striking, but focuses its sights on—per usual—the hypnotic power of one loop stretched out into infinity. At nearly 12 minutes, it's almost criminal that this man can hold your attention with a tiny descending bassline and the sound of a steampipe being hit with a velvet hammer. But that's exactly what he does. Two masters of minimalism in one place? Count me in.

Moody - Anotha Black Sunday

Tracklist:

A1 Mamma's Hand
A2 ...During Soundcheck
A3 Anotha Black Sunday
B1 Desire
B2 Rectify

Donnacha Costello - The Only Way to Win Is Not to Play the Game

Costello is no pop producer, of course. The hooks here are minor-key and contemplative: "Waltz for Chet" pines with the best of them, while "Always a Why" leaves its plaintive synthesizer melody behind in its final minute for plucking synthesized guitars. "Closing Circles" even recalls the marimba minimalism of Steve Reich. The 20th century giant looms large over the proceedings here—much of the work on The Only Way to Win Is

Untold - Sweat / Dante

A-side "Sweat" sees buoyant, elasticized stabs of bass, pegged down by a tight 2-step shuffle, ripple jubilantly amidst a sprawl of vaporous Rolando-esque atmospherics. Gone are the jittery, semi-schizoid mannerisms of previous works, replaced by an altogether breezier set of dynamics that signal a shift towards sunnier climes. Notably, the painful introversion characteristic of so much recent UKG-flavoured dubstep is conspicuous in its absence. It comes as a welcome change.

"Dante" takes things further into Detroit-inspired territory, sounding not unlike Delano Smith given a UK underground makeover. Built around a brittle kick/rimshot play-off, warm subs and molten chords bubble incandescently in the background, seemingly unfazed by the clattering percussion and happy to pause here and there for breath. Dreamy female vocals only add to the carefree ambience. Much like the A-side, it's a quietly confident piece, imbued with a healthy sense of perspective and in no great hurry to impress anyone. As such, it's just marvellous.

Anton Zap - Outside EP

Moscow-based Jus-Ed protégé Anton Zap eases into a stint for the lovable Uzuri nice and slow, opening cinematically with suspense and foreboding. Gradually a lean down-tempo beat builds and some playful Detroit touches arrive, but "Spain" shows elegant restraint, and is all the more spooky and comely for it. "Alice Miracle" changes direction, sampling a discrete piano flutter, some vigorous strings and a downward-sloping bass line from Alice Coltrane's indeed miraculous discography.

The flip plays it straighter. "Mon 16.46" is insistent, futuristic house of excellent quality, with an addictive worming bass line, a haze of trembling pads, and minimal piano accents. The bright-eyed "Can't Wait for Snow" rounds out the set, showcasing Zap's flair for infectious whimsy. Sweet scales run up and down over a shiny electro base for something cheerful and grooving at the same time.

Kevin Gorman - Elements Part 1

Released as the first in a series of three concept EPs, Kevin Gorman's Elements Part 1 is practically a call to arms. Comprised of three original tracks alongside all their constituent parts (arranged comprehensively into fourteen tools), it's a bewildering collection of sounds, some interwoven, others bare and isolated. As a reviewer, I'm tempted to narrow my focus simply to three discrete tracks on display, each representing a different shade of deep, club-minded techno somewhere in the vicinity of Audion and Function, the most rewarding of which is the hypnotic, undulating "Cyclic," which seems custom-made for those still going on a Sunday afternoon.

Losoul - Slightly / Gridlock

"Ah, today seems different. It feels like we're going to have a quiet, uneventful and peaceful day." A vocal sample repeats these words a few times and then LoSoul's trademark drums kick in. These are familiar and reassuring drums, reminding you that Germany's Peter Kremier has been knocking out his unique brand of skeletal house for a remarkable thirteen years. The off-kilter percussion on "Slightly" is a direct descendent of classics such as "Soul Down" and "Raw Beauty." Despite the initial promise of an uneventful and peaceful day, there's a lot happening on this record: squeaky springs bounce like the busted shocks on some old pickup truck, a few whipping metallic sounds quiver in the background, and garbled vocal samples drift across the top. Each sound is carefully defined and given its moment to shine, fleshing out a playful song that gradually moves from initial cartoon slapstick into some serious robo-funk.

"Gridlock" is anything but gridlocked. The track races at a decent clip, propelled by a simple one-note keyboard stab and a wonderfully extended sub-bass. The dense percussion clatters along, peppered with a few scuffed-up vocal clips of laughter and the old standby pronouncement of "bass." One of Losoul's greatest powers is his ability to create minimal tracks that are neither gloomy nor academic, which is more difficult than it sounds. By putting a bit of spin on the tail of a chord or dropping in a brassy squiggle every few measures, his tracks stand out in a genre that's often joyless. Losoul's tracks usually grin from ear to ear, and "Gridlock" is no exception.

Robert Hood - Shonky In The Hood

The original—released back in 2002 as part of Hood's immense Point Blank LP—is an absolute stunner, and reason enough to pick up this record. A breathless piece of sleek, hydraulic techno, it conjures up utopian images of a mechanised, post-industrial future rid of today's grubby historical small print. Coming out at a relatively dry time for the genre, it reeked of class, and still does.

But what of Shonky's version? Quite frankly, it's a harmless, Ibiza-friendly update; nothing more, nothing less. The aforementioned samples—a glossy vocal and a swooping aircraft, both mildly inane—keep enough with the original to steer clear of trouble, whilst the housified percussion, fit with obligatory congos, lends the track a pleasantly bouncy feel. Drama is provided by a couple of tidy, well-placed drops, and the whole thing sticks together in a satisfyingly restrained fashion. All in all, it's a solid rework that (quite rightly) makes no attempt to supersede its master. For that Shonky deserves credit. As they say: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Dominik Eulberg - Sensorika

With a joint EP with frequent partner Gabriel Ananda in February and now this latest Traum EP, Sensorika, thankfully Eulberg's returning to his prolific ways. A-side "Aurora" is another of his crafty summons of dawn, a bit of slow-growth house that opens simply enough with dubby bass and pinpoint rhythms before revealing hidden pockets of melody. Eulberg's always made a virtue of patience, often building incrementally for six or seven minutes before unveiling its true center, and "Aurora" is no exception. As its fan-whirr synths and sturdy beat expand, he clears the air suddenly with a beautiful, Cathedral-top synth line and a melody that reminds me, briefly, of the sound UFOs emit in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, left alone in a brief ascent.

The b-side, "Sansula (oder der letzte Grund)" is a bit more utilitarian unfortunately. Atop a porch-front bell pattern and steady 4/4, Eulberg stalls after the first flickers of light. It's a reversal of method for the producer: its focal point emerges early, bound in the tight-wound castanets. For a producer so fingertip savvy in his construction of narrative, the track feels knuckled out, brute-fisted, for its delicacy on the surface, though the throb increases and the volume grows. Still, "Sensorika"'s worth seeking out for "Aurora" alone; few producers are so capable of sudden revelations, of brief glimmers of story and tale and detours concealed in seven thudding minutes of exposition.

Various Artists - Delsin 2.0 Remix EP 1 & 2

There are few labels that manage to maintain high standards for a few years, but in Dutch label Delsin's case, quality has been its byword since 1996. Although inspired by Detroit techno and electro as well as Chicago house, the imprint's strength lies in its roster's ability to reinvent these benchmark sounds. That roster is the other reason: Delsin has never been shy about welcoming new artists to the fold—and this remix project is a case in point. While veteran Dutch producer Steve Rachmad delivers a version of Quince's "For My Mr" that recalls the airy chord melodies of his Sterac project—underpinned by an electro bass and a rolling rhythm—Delsin has recruited new-generation producers Shed, Redshape and Quince for the other interpretations.

Quince's take on Taho's "Energy Field" is a dense dub techno track with the doubled up beats adding to the sense of claustrophobia, while Shed's take on the same track is a linear dubstep/techno shuffler, but Redshape steals the glory. Remixing Newworldaquarium isn't an easy task at the best of times, but the masked man defies expectations: opening to the sound of someone doing a spot of DIY in the background, the happy jazzy chords that follow suggest that Redshape's in a less menacing mood than usual—but then he lets loose one of his droning, grinding basslines and once again plays to the label's strength of mixing the classic and new.

Dario Zenker - Would Be Nice EP

The best tracks on Vakant are the ones that are overstuffed, yet still retain an ability to tell a story. Nearly everything on Vakant is overstuffed—that's never the trouble. Each artist seems to save their densest compositions for the imprint, filling the sonic field to the brim in an effort to overwhelm. But when Özer, Fidan, Kaden, et al. find a way to fit in a melody among the madness? Bliss.
That's the word I keep coming back to on the B-side, "While Rain Gets Air," for Dario Zenker's latest effort for the imprint. It's got the usual tribal minimal stomp, but adds in expectant orchestral samples both droning and quick-hitting. Those same strings are present in flipside monster "Would Be Nice," but they're overlaid with shimmering tremors and what sound like an honest-to-God triangle hit. Both tracks—and "Blue Champa" for that matter—work their magic with stunning little melodies, but they also have a strange groove as well. The rigid bump of most Vakant releases is leavened here with basslines that quiver and shake quickly, adding some pump to the steady, pummeling regularity of the kick drum. Minimal. With a hint of funk.