New JOTS and Nacho Lovers?!!?

Last week, new Jokers of the Scene and Nacho Lovers singles dropped on Fool's Gold. Let's check 'em out!!!

"Revolting Joks" is classic JOTS: wonky, sickeningly abrasive, full of bass, and unabashedly menacing. The track kicks off with a spastic snare and ever-so-deep kick, before bringing a wavering synth to the forefront along with the angry, gyrating snare. The menace never lets off, and things continue to spiral out of control, before the main synth line kicks in: a jarring, wobbling whine of a synth that snarls with a sickeningly powerful agony. It, too, grows, before everything rises and....white noise washes everything away to reveal the kick and the more focused, more aware synth line that snarls with a ferocious tenacity reminiscent of something Crookers or Bob Rifo might drop, only slower and more coherent. At this point, cheesy old movie piano steals the main riff and razor-sharp alarm stabs send this track into sensory and sonic overload, before it kicks into full-on rave dance mode. Amazing. Another beautifully unstable cut from Fool's Gold's Canadian standbys.

Revolting Joks by Jokers of the Scene

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On the flip-side, relative new-comer Boy 8-Bit weaves an equally creepy, yet arguably more powerful version of the JOTS original. Immediately he employs an even deeper kick, cutting up the main synth line with a more structured vision. Bringing in machine-gun snares and a goofy flute riff, Boy 8-Bit's version is still pure chaos. Ramshackle drums thud against the wavering flute line while the snare rattles away with an energy and drive the original only demonstrated near the end. The main synth riff slices and dices itself to a haunting shell of its former self, all the while propelled by the ever-present kick and snare combination. In the end, Boy 8-Bit removes the growth and menace of the original in favor of a more static, more dancefloor-ready approach that makes madness out of the drums, not out of the synths. My preferred version.



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The Nacho Lovers new single, "Deeper", comes with a slew of remixes, but let us check out the original first. Light, indie dance drums start off things, with some otherworldly plinks, plonks, and blips filling out the empty space. A hollow voice echoes "Deep deep deep deep..." while a majestic synth outlines the melody the track will warp around. Another round of pads bounce playfully off the main melody as the track bounces along in a wonderful marriage of deep house and nu disco. Further on, a short bridge of 8-bit bleeps and light guitars highlights the lax, playful aura the whole track exudes. Merry, deep, and just straight-up happy, "Deeper" is exactly what it says and more. A late-night crowd-pleaser for sure.

Nacho Lovers "Deeper" from Adam Beck on Vimeo.

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The first remix is that of fellow Canadian CFCF, who waters down the entire track into a lush, soaking-wet deep disco cut. A deep, echoing kick highlights his mix, with hints of the main melody rising and falling through the mist, warped completely with reverb and an glittering oscillation that douses the track underwater before bringing it up to breathe. Once in a while, the piano breaks through the clouds and shimmers for a moment before fading off into the clouds once again. Finally, CFCF brings in a rubbery synth line that solidifies the track a bit more while letting the 8-bit line bounce and groove around. Near the end, the piano comes in full force and the track becomes a glittering, sunbathed deep disco jam, complete with a rock solid groove and those wonderfully watered-down drums. A solid remix indeed, and perhaps best suited for early-morning wind-down sets.



http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Nacho_Lovers/track/Deeper_CFCF_Remix

(DOWNLOAD IT FREE (and legally) FROM RCRDLBL!!)
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Mike Mind of Turbo Recordings come on next with a more minimal, more self-aware cut that strips away the ambience in favor a warped, wonky synth line that rides the slow, patient rhythm with a calmness and focus the other tracks lack. Stark, haunting, and a bit more acid house influenced, despite the slow tempo and lack of sound, when compared with the other cuts. A decent remix, but by far not the best.

Deeper (Mike Mind Remix) [clip] by Nacho Lovers

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The final mix is Azari & III's spacey disco rework that injects a little Dam-Funk into the track, making it groove and bounce with renewed vitality. When the other remixes took the deep, slow route, Azari & III opt for a quicker, funkier, spacier cut that, while equally deep, makes the track a bit dancier and more abstract. Probably my second favorite version of the original, behind CFCF's wonderful mix. Lots of effects, lots of funk, lots of groove. Love it.

Deeper (Azari & III Remix) [clip] by Nacho Lovers

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Rock on, friends.
-NL

I Lost Myself In the Ether...

Let's kick things back into rhythmic overdrive with Reboot's new "Rambon EP" on Cadenza.

The A-side, "Rambon", features a slick, churning kick with a perfectly flittering synth line that has been hung out to dry amongst the clinking of glasses and plates and light orchestral music, as if this cut was recorded in the kitchen of the Bellagio. Reboot has a penchant for marrying the robotic with the organic, and this track is definite credence to that fact. The rhythm feels natural and lucid, nothing is forced upon the listener in any way. Add in watered-down hi-hats and the tried-and-true 'gravel clap' and you have yourself another tech house gem from Reboot. But the magic does not end here. About halfway in, Reboot, a.k.a. Frank Heinrich, unleashes a snaking steel drum line that drunkenly staggers through the track, fading and rising at the drop of a hat. It's an odd tactic, but the ethereal quality it brings with it counterpoises the dense drum production beautifully, the end result turning out to be a glossy, rhythmic tech house cut that strays from the minimalistic to the ambient, organic techno that Cadenza is known for. Beautiful background music or dance music, either way you spin it.



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On the flip, Cadenza head-honcho Luciano turns up to remix Reboot's "Uruana". Having not heard the original, I cannot speak to what Luciano alters here, so I will simply describe what the track sounds like under Luciano's guidance. If you have ever heard any of Luciano's top-quality productions (Orange Mistake, Arcenciel, Father, etc.) this track will be nothing new: a dense, minimal soundscape with lush, fragile ambience, woven into the the sparse drum production and water-droplet synths Luciano so loves to use. The melody is fractured, having no real beginning or end, simply ebbing and flowing with the other elements of the track. In any other instance this is a big mistake, but as we are talking about Luciano and Cadenza here, it is quite acceptable. This is minimal, organic techno at it's ambient best: the sound has no real start or end, and when new elements swirl into the mix, you hardly notice them. The sound grows and changes as a whole, as a single element, not as separate sounds. Wonderful mood music, head music, background music. An early morning lounge cut if ever there was one.



-NL

Monsoon Season

As many of my readers know, I love techno. Not the derivative stuff. No, the full-on, gloriously unabashed techno that comes from great labels like Ostgut Tontrager.

German producer Len Faki has released on Figure, Podium, and Ostgut Ton, among others, even being selected to mix the third entry in the prodigious Berghain series of mix CDs, even if his outing was subpar. From what I have heard of Faki, the man loves to indulge listeners in elaborate techno odysseys; lush, intricate journeys of rhythm and simple melodies that spiral and loop in any number of ways through the course of a track.

On "Rainbow Delta / Mekong Delta", the fourth release on Ostgut Ton back in 2007, Faki is at his best, serving up two equally entrancing slices of techno for your hungry ears.

RAINBOW DELTA: Here Faki's penchant for depth and ambience shine in a number of different ways. While nothing is overly special about his drum production, it is the method by which Faki creates a bed of sound that awes and entrances the listener. The kick, toms, and hi-hats are all here, but Faki's production bathes the whole affair in a gauzy, pointedly sharp ambience that sounds almost oxymoronic on first listen: why would you counterpoise the sharp, structured rhythms of techno against the warm, spacey synths that Faki seems to favor so? The more you listen, though, the two compliment each other wonderfully. The simplistic melodic element weaves itself perfectly amongst the glossy, ambient pads, and the dense rhythm section patters along to the point where you hardly notice it as the synth glides, flutters, and winds its way around the central percussive structure. While it is not the easiest thing to dance to, Faki demonstrates a deft hand for production by molding a track that interweaves tribal, techno, and ambient influences into a soothing, rhythmic escapade that you won't soon forget.

4/5



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MEKONG DELTA: Now THIS is where Faki shines: something of equal depth and technical prowess like the last track, but something that shakes and sputters and gets you to dance. Mekong Delta immediately grabs your attention with a thick tribal kick that rattles your very core. While Faki has his feet firmly rooted in techno territory, the synth riff that pervades the entire track exercises a liberal use of echo and delay, drifting in and out of consciousness and focus, sometimes at the forefront, other times, hovering with an air of near-obscolencense in the background. The vicious toms and wickedly powerful ride are employed to perfect effect here, contrasting the slow-burning, drunkenly melancholy synth line with tight, blunt sound production that brings you back into the fold of the track before the toms and kick thunder back into rhythm. A deep thunderclap of a cut that reflects patience, technique, and a beautifully contrasting sound mechanic that makes these eight minutes some of the best Ostgut Ton has ever released. Definitely worth a listen or five.

5/5



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A remix EP followed this stellar released, featuring Adam Beyer and Jerome Sydenham on remix duties. Let's CHECK 'EM OUT!




Adam Beyer first turns up to remix the beautifully crafted "Mekong Delta". Beyer, the Swedish mastermind behind Drumcode, flips "Mekong" on its head with his remix. While Faki saw the majesty and depth in "Mekong", Beyer highlights the sound effects that Faki employed for contrast. Faki saw beauty. Beyer opts for hysteria. His madness is one of mechanized monstrosity, jettisoning the depth in favor of a mechanical approach that turns "Mekong" into a clicky, teched-out monster of a cut. The ride is used ad nauseum, while Beyer replaces Faki's deep drums with a beastly Detroit kick that pulsates with the warped-straight-to-hell synth line that quivers and rides the rhythm with a ferocious tenacity. Beyer's remix moves at a hundred miles a minute, crafting a dancefloor-driven work that, while not as poignant as the original, indeed showcases Beyer's love of all things Detroit and the sickeningly wonky and maniacal side of techno that he has been known to create.

(couldn't find ANY videos...sorry! Will edit when and if I find any.)

On the flip, Jerome Sydenham of Apotek (of which he is a founder) and Drumcode turns up to futz with "Rainbow Delta". His remix plays to the opposite tune of Beyer: by establishing a rhythmic structure the original lacked, Sydenham gives the ambience top-billing, letting it caress his percussion from all sides and all angles. The percussion here is much more traditional techno: ad nauseum applied hi-hats, a not-too-deep kick, and no ride to be found anywhere! The groove here is part percussion part ambience, with Sydenham dropping it all together halfway through to let his reworked melodic element ride the hi-hats for a spell. Slowly but surely, the other elements return to the fold, before all the elements swirl together in an elated, harmonic cacophony of sound, finally letting the simple hi-hat/kick motif lead the ambient pads out the backdoor as the hissing and swirling sigh away into the ether.



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Two wonderful cuts of deep techno with two great remixes to boot! What is there NOT to love? Let the rain fall down...yeah, I'll stop right there. Enjoy folks.
-NL

B is for Ben Klock

B is for Ben Klock.

When one thinks of techno, a few things come to mind. Probably "dunce-a-dunce-a-dunce-a-dunce-a" And that's all well and good, but, with Ben Klock, this kind of is the case. Ben Klock, of Berghain and BPitch Control fame, as well as recent releases for Ostgut Tontrager, specializes in a techno similar to that of Marcel Dettmann: skeletal, cathartic, and visceral to no end. Gritty low-ends, ominous synths, and propulsive, chugging drums highlight most Klock tracks, especially those off his stellar debut album, One, on Ostgut Ton.



"Underneath" pins an eeriely deep horn sample underneath (ahhh?? :D ) rippling, simplistic drums, a horror-esque pad screaming and yawning over the mid and low-end. A viscous thump of a heartbeat barrels in and further drives the track, easing itself onto the accelerator, followed by shuffling, spastic brushes and what sounds like a computer disk drive hiccuping every millisecond. A minimal groove with an eerie, otherworldly quality to it, as most highlighted by the peculiar synth riff that pops up every once in a while on the cut. Classic Ben Klock.




"Check for Pulse" is more straightforward techno for Klock. Hi hats and that menacing kick start off the proceedings, with a dirty, shuttering ping-pong of a synth layering itself underneath, almost pulsating sporadically with the beat. The track whines and groans as if its buckling under the weight of its own sound, threatening to splinter and shatter into a million fragments at any one time, building tension and never letting the listener go. Just like a good Hitchcock movie, though, the tension NEVER slackens, and the groove manifests itself into a snarling, sputtering, clicking monster of a minimal track.





I of course saved the best for last. "Coney Island" starts off with a ghostly, echoing bell synth that glides and floats in suspended animation for a spell, the waves of the shore brushing lightly against it. Disembodied voices whisper and groan under it all, before the main synth riff enters, an urgent, sinister riff that disappears as quickly as it appears. The majestic organ-like bell synth ebbs and flows with the synth line, and subsequently a skeletal, wiry guitar line creeps in, and the kick drops. This is what techno should sound like. Swift, powerful flourishes of sound rise and fall, growing larger still with no end in sight, before the hi-hats and snare enter, and the rhythm full on snags you refusing to let go no matter how scared and nervous you are! Driving, unbridled, and simply hypnotic, this is not only of Ben Klock's best, but it's all one of my favorite techno cuts of all-time.

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Klock is an expert at the maximal side of minimal; doing a lot with not much at all, focusing on dynamics over sheer volume. And it works to wondrous effect. You can check out more of "One" on YouTube, Beatport, or just buy the album from iTunes, Amazon, or Beatport. You won't be disappointed. Next up, the letter....C.

-NL