Guy Gerber – Hate / Love review

Guy Gerber’s Berlin based Supplement Facts imprint has laid down a firm claim to be the label of 2010 with some impressive output so far this year. Since Gerber’s hugely successful Invisible Romance LP from the end of last year, the label has seen Ryan Crosson and Guti’s gleaming, groove-laden You Got Me EP, Jona’s Rise EP and Till Von Sein’s summer anthem, “Sundowna” all rapturously received by the record buying public. Now, the label boss himself returns with his new EP, Hate/Love, featuring three tracks of equal beauty and brooding menace.

The title track is a deep and mysterious jaunt into exotic atmospheres, experienced through a sense of nervous watchfulness. Tropical percussion joins laid back melodies as menacing synth stabs add yet more tenseness to the track. The laid back yet menacing vocals are provided by P. Diddy’s new Dirty Money Crew member, Dawn Richard. His graceful vocals add a relaxing sentiment that wonderfully plays off the track’s edgy, uneasy undertones. “Lost In You Like A Chinese Cookie” continues the theme, rolling along amid tribal beats and skipping, melodic synths. Still wrapped in the depth of wildness, the Israeli lifts things a little higher than the preceding number. That said, he plunges back into the depths and far beyond with the EP’s standout track, “Stockholm Syndrome”. Classic 909s mix with growling basslines and an equally snarling vocal to create this dancefloor bomb. Perfect for the small, sweat-filled, dark box rooms, this one will suck you right under before spitting you back out the other side of the speakers. Gerber teams up with Supplement Facts artistic director, Varoslav for the digital only “106 Dalmation” remix of “Hate/Love,” twisting the original to a much darker angle. Abrasive synths and stabbing basslines curate a frenzied and more energised version for the more club minded DJ.

Review: Tom Jones