Search results: Construction

Review: Benales returns to Construct Re-Form with five new electrifying dancefloor tracks in the vein of techno. Beginning from an orthodox Birmingham-school position but then gradually moving outward into ever-slighter expressions of nonconformity, it would be difficult to predict the stylistic move from echoic loomer-alarmer 'Cuphead' to the scratchy-stabby hard cutoffs of 'Grip', but hey, we're all for such movements.

Review: Leapfrogging conventional rock sounds and hop-scotching conformity, these unassuming young gentlemen yell "Up your pigeon-hole!" to an industry obsessed with format and repeated musical templates. In the humble surroundings of a quaint English seaside village, the members of Odd Shaped Head reside in chaotic harmony: Paul (bass/vocals), Ricky (guitar/vocals), Rob (drums) and Andrew (guitar); from childhood chums to grown up geeky misfits. The quirky quartet release their new single "Egomatic Annie". Their eclectic brand of energetic, rhythmic, funk-punk, jerky bass popping, powerful scatterbrained drumming and stabbing guitars bursting into vibrant melodies draws more fans along to venues already packed with a collage of characters. This is not to be missed.

Review: Construct Re-Form chief Zadig knows how to make rib-rattling techno. Here on his own label he offers a second Lost Tape EP packed with rusted synths and future techno dystopia. 'Tape 4' has broken drum loops and sustained chords locking you in rhythm and 'Tape 2 022' then has urgent drums cantering like a Derby-wining horse and unsettling synth loops. 'Tape 5' slows down to a lumpy, undulating house dub and 'Tape 6' gets back to frazzled synths, dusty lo-fi murk, and pulsing sonar synths over a rickety beat. Zadig shows his class and versatility here.

Review: Kashatskikh makes it to release number 15 here and decides to do so with a selection of four kicking tech house remixes. Ali Demir is first and flips 'Long Distance' into a nice leggy cut with snappy snares and balmy arps softened the beats. 'What You Want' (Son Kota remix) has lush harmonics layered up over deeply buried kicks and bass that bump along nicely and 'Granular Lights' (Doradice remix) switches up the energy levels with a more driving but no less supple and seductive sound. Last of all is the super serene and dubbed out tech roller 'It's So Real' (Pynewood remix).

Review: Producer, DJ, and revered collector Marc Davis returns to his Chi-Talo series with a much-anticipated second volume. The Chi-Talo series deals in split EPs; each entry draws on an ultra-rare Chicago house gem and an Italian disco record respectively (one for the A and one for the B), re-working both into an enduring dialectal retelling of each city's contemporaneous come-ups in the 1980s and 90s. This time around, we're met with a reconstruction of 'Bass Construction', first heard on the Italo disco album Crazy Colours by New Sound Quartet (1979). Then comes a wonky, handclapping rendition of The Saucer Planes' 'Straight To The Point', the original of which can hardly be found on the net at all, even now. Both are huge but humble versions, marking out the guidelines for yet more editors to come.

Review: Fourier Transform launches a new White Label series here with the aim of tapping into that magical sensation of heading into a record store and digging for treasure that only exists in the racks. The first in the series is a various artists affair with label co-owners inkipak and The Vast Profound, as well as ReKaB and Rai Scott. The tunes are not credited to the artists so you will have to work that out for yourselves. There is dreamy deep house lushness and more tase tech on the a-side, then squelchy electro-funk and escapist ambient house on the B-side with 'When Funkcutter Met Candiflp' a real highlight.

Review: A-hoy hoy to Ahote here, a brand new label entering into the busy tech house scene with a strong inaugural offering from four varied and vital artists. We're eased in with a breezy, raw house cut from
Jonas Gottlieb in the form of 'Mind Construction' while NLY1P layer sup some dusty drums and catchy old jazz vocal samples on 'Ma Friendz'. It's twisted late night tech stripped back to bare bones from Samy B on 'Bass Bomb' and Code A closes down with a fat dub house effort, 'Emotional Wasteland' (Epos mix) that will warm you up or wind you down.