The best new singles this week
The 45s that get 10/10
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
Byron The Aquarius – EP1 (Clone Jack For Daze)
For the most part, Byron The Aquarius has made his name on bumping, soul-drenched house music which speaks to his home base in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s always operated according to his own logic rather than being beholden to the city’s scene (around labels like NDATL and FWM), as comfortable rocking up to Axis for the jazz-licked Ambrosia LP as he is leaving a breadcrumb trails from Wild Oats to Sound Signature, Eglo to Apron. All that referencing is simply to illustrate the calibre of labels keen to carry Byron Blaylock’s work, which speaks to the grade of music he puts out. But this drop on Clone Jack For Daze feels different.
With help from Brandon Banks, ’BLACK’ instantly spells out a more machinist vibe, where disorientating delay feedback and edgy bass slop head towards a tougher mood for the club. It’s a tracky, tool-like workout you could easily expect to hear in a set from Carlos Souffront. ‘JOHN HANCOCKK’ is more soulful in its melodic swirl, but even that is pushed to the back so the jacked up drums can dominate in pursuit of technoid impact. This is a record celebrating the rasp of the drum machine, not least on sparse beat track ‘KIMORA (Dub)’, which is a tool through and through.
There is a more pronounced melodic element on ‘Mr. JX-8P’, thanks to the titular synth’s vast swathe of mellow pad work, but even so the emphasis is tipped towards blown-out techno rather than snappy soul. After another deadly beat track in ‘ANCESTORS’, the record smooths out a touch with ‘Roll Up For Your Boy (Dub)’ as some elegant Rhodes chords slip out over the bubble of an acidic b-line and some of that sizzling drum machine jack. Clearly Blaylock got the memo about the Clone sub-label’s modus operandi and indulged his techno fantasies on this record, and like everything else he touches, the results are pure class.
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DJ Nature – Versions Part One: Disco Edits (Hot Biscuit)
All rise for the mighty Milo Johnson, a producer with that magic touch who can join the dots between all the major eras of Black dance music and make them his own. He belongs to a select coterie of artists who inhale the bedrock of disco and funk and breathe out dance music that keeps the electronic elements secondary to the deep-rooted soul. Even when he was throwing down tough-as-hell NYC-styled house music as Nature Boy in the early 90s, everything came with a ‘necessary ruffness’ which carried the torch from his days as a Wild Bunch soundboy in Bristol. In the more recent era of his DJ Nature work, the vibe has maintained in a sample-rooted approach that keeps the grooves loose and tough in the same heartbeat, aligned with artists like Maurice Fulton, Moodymann and Theo Parrish as what can only be described in house music terms as ‘a real one’
When it comes to disco edits, there’s not often much offered up that deserves a second listen, let alone a dedicated review, but Johnson is one of those operators who you just don’t sleep on, whatever he’s putting his name to. If there are tracks he deems worthy of a treatment and his name on the label, they’re bound to be a cut above the average bootleg. Sure enough, this release on emergent UK label Hot Biscuit doesn’t disappoint, and if you truly savour everything true and funky in Black dance music, this record will give you three pitch perfect slabs to turn the heat up for dedicated heads and casual dancers alike.
Swerving attempts to ID these clearly deep cuts, we can only take them at facer value as Johnson has presented them to us. ‘Feel Dub’ opens the record up on a simmering, teasing mood that’s all drums, bass and muted guitar lick – a disco funk cut looped up and reduced down in a manner which instantly calls to mind Theo Parrish’s approach on the Ugly Edits series. In comparison, ‘Disco Power’ drops the tempo and opens the sound up – a full fat, structured song with plenty of fire however slow it creeps.
‘Midnite Freak’ might well be the best on offer – a slippery, bubbling cut of disco funk where the clavi and the bass melt into the same mellifluous groove. It’s psychedelic without any of the waft, just replacing ponderous progression with the deadliest of get-downs. ‘Want Your Loving’ is a smoother, smouldering track for the sentimental hours, but don’t think it’s a wallflower. The bassline, the electronic toms, the aching vocal – everything’s pitched perfectly. ‘Chi-Town Theme’ switches the energy up for the final side, winding up into a taut funk and riding some choice loopy moments that will go down perfectly in those sets which tease between the old and the new.
As previously mentioned, there aren’t many edit records which warrant a thorough appraisal, but if you’re already hip to DJ Nature’s game then you probably already know this is something special – an emblem of what an edit can be with the right head running the razor and tape.
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Red D – Re Fantasized And Realized (We Play House)
Bart Van Neste aka. Red D is in with a certain deep house crowd: one of quality, a far cry from the ever-gushing mass of functional and underproduced dross out there. Even while this might be a less perceivable corner of house music today, in among the more rushed kinds, we’re still likelier than ever to seek it out ourselves. So, steady wins the race: despite many EPs released over the decades, 2022 saw to D’s debut album Fantasize & Realize, which is described by We Play House, affectionately, as having “(done) the rounds for a while now”. We like this: organic, word-of-mouth circulation is another sign of a healthy music career, and out of that organism now comes this remix EP, ‘Re-Fantasized & Realized’.
On the opener we’ve got a lucky masterclass in atmospherics from core-deep fantasist Charles Webster. His remix of ‘Dust King’ is cluttered, but rawly sexy, straddling the original track’s poppy vocals while also seeming to cover them in six-foot-deep bass soil. A similar mood is donated by Far Out Radio Systems, whose rendition of ‘Fantasize’ makes it sound like the inner workings of a magic grandfather clock. An auric guiro sound evokes thoughts of a wizard locked away in an arcanaeum, fine-tuning their sonic spellcastery. We doubt the association is a coincidence, given Far Out’s skills. Most memorable, though, is San Soda’s version of Luv & Dub, which goes so far as to combine mouthy acid sixteenths; industrial clanks sounding to have been borrowed from a Current 93 number; and a red-faced, crudely spliced-up saxophone.
It’s almost as if this remix EP were an exercise in exploring just how weird each artist could get with each soundscape, allowing the endemic slickness of the usual deep house formula only to dangle by a thread, rather than just fortifying it as usual. Some part of us would prefer it if all artists shared the same sense of curiosity, but equally, perhaps it’s best kept as the rare preserve of a lucky few.
JIJ
It’s testament to the enduring allure of techno that someone can be enthralled by the music at its very inception, help pioneer it in the early 90s and still be finding fresh inspiration more than 30 years later. Stefan Robbers has more than earned his stripes, from the seminal work on the Eevo Lute Muzique label to his part in Djax legends Acid Junkies and so much more besides. His Terrace project has often been the driving force of his solo output – look no further than the essential 916 Buena Avenue 12” from 1990 to understand how on-point he’s been since the get-go.
Of course there have been peaks and troughs of activity through that time, but a recent link-up with Delsin has been yielding consistently fresh and inspired techno from Robbers’ Eevo Lute studio – a studio which you can get frequent gear fetish insight into via his Instagram page. Given the seemingly endless supply of synths at his disposal, it’s little wonder someone with Robbers’ experience is turning out a steady rate of brilliant electronic music, but most importantly it’s not just a case of repeating established tricks.
On this fifth EP for Delsin there’s psychedelically-charged spirals of broken drums and modulating synths on ‘Floating Perks’, cinematic kosmische on ‘Flick One’ and full spectrum electronica on ‘Model A’. The latter in particular heads away from obvious reference points, instead revelling in the power of a finely sculpted synth voice and the dramatic embellishments which rise and fall around it. It’s telling the drums are so understated on this track, such is the power of the synthesis.
The text accompanying the Perks EP references Tangerine Dream and Cluster, and true enough ‘Model A’ feels more like that kind of expansive listening music than straight-up dancefloor fodder, but it’s not throwback either. Across three inventive, varied pieces Robbers demonstrates how much there still is to be said with drum machines and synthesisers.
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7FO – Healing Sword (EM Records)
A consistently tricky artist to pin down, 7FO has excelled in leaving a trail of intrigue behind him in pursuit of his own sonic amusement. From debuts on Rvng Intl and Bokeh Versions to frequent output on EM Records and Métron, his music has been loosely defined by a refusal to adhere to obvious structures or familiar sounds, instead creating beautifully rendered miniatures to explore or be perplexed by. It’s not the kind of challenging experimental music which comes with a side-serving of abrasion or confrontation, but rather an imagining of what alien forms music could possibly take with a bit more imagination and unshackling of prior cultural conditioning.
In that context, this new single for EM Records is quite a diversion into something at least marginally closer to a tangible song. The label proudly tote a quote from Jackson ‘Tapes’ Bailey talking ‘Healing Sword’ up as “Surf synth acid dancehall rock!!”, which isn’t a totally off-point description. But equally, in the piquant synth sequences playing such playful melodies, there’s also something reminiscent of Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank’s bright and wonky collaborations from the early 80s. Apparently the track was made as a tribute to the vinyl single and infamous rock n’ roll producer Joe Meek, and indeed there’s a certain madcap energy mixed in with the pop sensibilities of the track, all wrapped with a certain idiosyncratic charm which 7FO can’t help but edge into his music.
‘Snake [Live]’ is a more lop-sided, dubbed out affair cast in noisy overtones. It makes for a neat foil to the impish fun of the A side, although it’s certainly not po-faced itself. In the cascade of melodic phrases you can sense some of the fluid movement which seems to always accompany 7FO’s music, but it’s given a real-world patina by the processing which, along with the A-side, makes for one of the most grounded releases in his mysterious catalogue to date.
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Head Front Panel – At The Spinning Wheel (Unterwegs)
John Heckle seems to have fully committed himself to the Head Front Panel project, leaving behind the acidic, Chicago-informed brilliance of his earlier work to explore a more focused strain of slamming techno. Fortunately, what Heckle carries with him into this arena is the intrinsic flair which has always made his music so stand-out, and as such Head Front Panel is the kind of hard techno material you can actually get interested in. It’s been a few years now since he last released anything on his own Head Front Panel label, but after a couple of seismic drops on Repetitive Rhythm Research he’s popped up on Decka and The Lady Machine’s Unterwegs Records.
You should have some idea of what to expect, but that doesn’t dilute the impact of a track like ‘Loom’, which packs a genuine funk into the beat around the stuttering kicks and shuffled hats, masking the drums in a shaking run of rhythmic noise and creating the magic by cutting a disembodied vocal snatch as though it was running on a parallel deck. That kind of hip-hop informed flex always injects some guts into a techno track.
‘Momentum’ and ‘Running Man’ meanwhile suit up for battle with industrial strength loops that nod to Surgeon and the kind of nightmarish machine braying you might have heard on a Downwards release. That leaves it to ‘Disc’ – the sharpest tool in the shed – to deliver a punchy sermon which is absolutely geared towards high-intensity DJ sets. Even in these trackier moments, it’s the inherent vibe which sets Heckle’s brand of techno apart. If you’ve got a thirst for the hard stuff, Head Front Panel can do you no wrong.
OW
Graph – Mad World (Krachladen Dub)
If you’re going to tackle a cover version of something as sonically and compositionally dense as Tears For Fears, you’d best take a wide approach. Perhaps that’s why Gary Jules’ plaintive version of ‘Mad World’ became such a surprise hit, but on the face of it there’s no danger of Graph’s rendition of the 1982 synth-pop classic taking the Christmas number one spot.
Graph are a group from Düsseldorf made up of Jens Beyer and Stefan Jürke who were briefly active in the late 00s and have popped up occasionally since. Krachladen Dub is now a regular home of sorts for the project, and this new single marks the first time they’ve worked with vocals since starting out 17 years ago. They approach ‘Mad World’ as a nightmarish shoegaze anti-anthem, edging just a little melodic splendour into the wall of sound production. It’s not exactly friendly, but it’s a boldly inventive slant on such a well-known song. Meanwhile ‘Instabil’ heads into a much more measured minimal electro-dub draped in icy pad drops. The vocal incantations have a certain industrial gothic to them, which Bob Humid straps to a creeping death disco structure on his ‘4am Stabiliser’ remix, providing just a little more structure for those DJs who prefer it that way.
Curve – Blackerthreetracker (Music On Vinyl)
Curve were and still are a more appealing choice for shoegaze fans who like their sonic washes with a bit of edge. Like a clever fusion of Nine Inch Nails and Slowdive, their music has soundtracked the various cult classic films over the years, such as Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin, and nowadays serves as a clever choice for any contemporary DJ hoping to show off a bit of ‘gazey flair while also keeping things gritty and danceable.
For this feat, Curve’s originally 1994-released ‘Blackerthreetracker’, now reissued via Music On Vinyl, is the great choice to reach for. A shining example of the coveted shoegaze EP, which many bands at the time indulged (and Curve were masters at it), the evidently three-track EP now comes as part of a second wave of reissues, the first of which saw to both ‘Frozen’ and ‘Cherry’ also getting lookbacks. This EP is varied and dense, with the opening ‘Missing Link’ laying down double-time EBM lobs and gated snare whacks straight off the bat, launching immediately into Curve’s grungier side. Follow-up ‘On The Wheel’ is more comparable to ambient rock-techno, the sort of thing we might hear in an early-noughties forensic crime drama montage. ‘Triumph’, the closer, is the best of the bunch, indulging the the band’s Cocteau Twins inspirations for a full-cadenced, balance-upsetting ballad. The lyrics, we must note, are elusive, but bring out the best in the listener, touching on themes of mental imprisoning and self-efficacy.
JIJ
If you really want the music to do the talking and truly revel in artistic anonymity, calling yourself 0 is a reliably boss move. There’s no chance of a search engine throwing up anything that might give the game away, or indeed helping a curious digger find your stuff. You either catch a record like this when it crosses your path, or else it disappears into the ether. The music on this mystery joint maintains the shadowy spirit of the presentation, dealing on the A side in squashed, disco-ish house loops passed through an excess of signal processing until it becomes something ghostly.
Dare you buy two copies to stick the two parts of the puzzle together? 28 minutes is a long time to ride a loop, but the double-sided track conjures one of those narcotic atmospheres which wholly allows for such indulgences. Subtle shifts take place around that central loop, and there are moments in the later stages where the sound gets dubbed even further out, but really this is one of those records tailor made for psychological abandon, when the party will be rolling on ad infinitum and half an hour lost to this spectral seance is more than worth the risk.
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This week’s reviewers: Oli Warwick, Jude Iago James.