SlapFunk Netherlands Vinyl & CDs

Review: In a short space of time prodigious Dutch producer Pascal Benjamin has built up a catalogue of ear-snagging minimal house confections for labels like Welt, Norse Projekt, Algorhythmic and Botanic Minds. Now he's hitting the big time with this 12" on the mighty SlapFunk, and he's packing just the kind of chunky, swinging but ultimately lean jams they love. "Out Of Line" keeps things focused on the drums, with just some sub bass and microscopic threads of sonic matter in between. "To GoodTo Be Who?" is equally stripped down, but decidedly more wriggly in its make up, and then "Finest Hour" kicks off the B-side with some fatter beats and a more prominent bass line. "Lagrange Point" finishes the EP off with some subliminal bleeps and tones pinging in between the wafer thin percussive pulses.

Review: The Raw Joints series is one of the best things about the ever-excellent SlapFunk Records, and now the Dutch label is back with a fresh bout of sounds from some of the most inventive artists operating in the minimal house sphere. Ferro's "Electric Sunshine" leads the charge with a militant groove and a rubbery bassline to die for. William Caycedo has a rugged, sample slicing thrust at work on "Mi Casa", while Malin Genie takes things far out on the wonderfully freaky "Superposition". The record wraps up with Ingi Visions, whose "RJG" wriggles into a skippy 2-step groove that will have bodies shaking uncontrollably when it gets deployed in the dance.

Review: The always on-point SlapFunk continues its sixth round of Raw Joints with another four razor sharp jams from a gifted contingent of contemporary producers. Lopaski actually delivers something with the delicacy of Jan Jelinek's finest early micro house productions, but strapped to a more pronounced rhythmic undercarriage. Pascal Benjamin gets into a quintessential minimal house groove that sounds right at home on SlapFunk, while JAMM brings a tougher set of beats to the table. SE62 rounds things off with the loose and limber shuffle of "Fear", which doffs a cap to garage while keeping things dark and deadly.

Review:  Slap Funk collective member Samuel Deep debuts on his own imprint with an EP bristling with crisp, punchy grooves. The Native Tribe EP opens with "Rwzdeep", a track whose kick drums come straight out of the Head High school of dance, while "Red" bristles with clanking drums and junglist overtones soldered to a techno template. The B-Side sees two more excursions into the territory from whence Mr Deep draws his name, with "Tribe" again adopting the sub bass drones and lacerating snares associated with classic D&B, whereas "3521" ploughs deep in an unforgiving acid techno wormhole. Comes housed in a nice cardboard sleeve with free sticker for you to plaster on your 1210 cover!

Review: SlapFunk continue to showcase a distinctive brand of bumping, swinging house music with nods to the minimal way of doing things but a much fatter, richer sound palette at work. Levi Verspeek gets the vibe, having previously popped up on Body Parts, Apollonia and Lazare Hoche to name but a few, and the quality remains high on this new grip of party heaters. "Tam Tam" is a dexterous, catchy groover, while "Octo" gets into a twitchier headspace for the seriously locked-in freakout crew. "We Smell Sausage" takes things in a strange but techy direction before "Hmmm" turns out the most reduced offering on the record, all finely chiseled drums built with the DJ in mind.