Minimal / Tech House Recommendations July 2012

Review: Senor Woolford has joined Loco Dice, Bug and Troxler in the small but well respected band of producers to contribute to NRK's compilation series The Lab, which is thankfully rolling on despite Nik Harris' recent decision to close down operations at NRK HQ after 15 years in the game. This four track vinyl sampler gives you a well judged taste of the double CD which presents Woolford at his most wilfully eclectic. The A Side has two titans of US House in Chez Damier and Terrence Dixon, while the flip sees Skudge turn in a typically gripping remix of Iron Curtis and Edit Piaf's Achterbahn D'Amour next to "Berlin Sunrise (Die Dammerung)", Daniel Wang's stunning electronic disco turn for the Ghostly label.

Review: "Aus" marked one of the deeper moments from Nina Kraviz's self titled debut album, released earlier this year to general applause, and it makes a smart choice for single release as the restrained emotion of those rippling Rhodes touches and organs means the track is ripe for reinterpretation. Kudos to label and artist for the chosen remixers on this twelve inch; with The Rhythm Oddysey, DJ QU and Matthew (Radioslave) E all taking the King Aus featuring icy funker in different directions. You should know what to expect from a remix by Dean Meredith under The Rhythm Oddysey moniker but the Warehouse Tape edit is named for those that don't, with the spirit of Ron Hardy at play here on a stripped back, hissing groove that's embellished with typical acid squiggles and an excellent final twist into funk. Edwards turns in a typically rolling techy version graced with some subtle analogue abstractions while Strength Music type DJ QU provides the most mind-bending remix with a richly constructed production far removed from Kraviz's original.

Review: Fat Cat usher in the first of two Hauschka-gets-the-remix-treatment EPs that precede an autumn release of a full album's worth of remixes based around the German producer's acclaimed 2011 LP Salon des Amateurs. On the basis of the artists chosen here, Fat Cat are preparing to unleash a real gem of a remix project, with Ricardo Villalobos once again collaborating on a remix, as "A Cube" is transformed into a typically abstract minimalist composition that dissects the orchestral elements of Hauschka's production into mere shards that sit in the backdrop of a spritely little groove. Complementing this, Kompakt boss Michael Mayer comes through with an excellently paced remix of "Radar" which seemingly takes a glorious age to fully blossom but sounds so melodically enriching when it does.

Review: The rise of Jamie Jones over the past two years has been nothing short of meteoric. Now officially the world's number one DJ (according to readers of Resident Advisor, at least), Jones could record and release the sound of a car alarm and it would be hailed a "classic". Cynicism aside, the Crosstown Rebels regular has made some extremely high quality house over the years, as this collection of previously unreleased archive material so adroitly proves. Expect plenty of soft, touchy-feely material (including an excellent collaboration with Art Department) that offers plenty of thrills for fans of the Visionquest/Crosstown Rebels sound.

Review: EXPERIMENTAL/ELECTRONIC: M=Minimal come through with an excellent vinyl accompaniment to their recent CD of reworkings of Conrad Schnitzler's Zug from Ricardo Villalobos and his Fisherman's Friend, Max Loderbauer. At over 19 minutes, the Aktion remix just about fits on this twelve inch and sees Max and Ric adopt a club ready approach with a stripped back, heads down groove driving forward through a slightly unnerving, guttural re-appropriation of Schnitzler's alien synth textures. Adopting a more ominous and wholly experimental tone, the Sorgenkind mix sounds vaguely like a heavy breathing bull pondering the surrounding expanses of shifting dronal textures as you wait in vain for anything approaching a beat to surface. Download codes are included.