Petar Dundov

Petar Dundov - Distant Shores

Sometimes the coolest techno is not the techno that bangs, but the techno that takes a single idea and rolls with it. Literally. Here, Croatian maestro Petar Dundov takes a lite-dub techno aesthetic, marries a beautifully ebbing Eastern European melody and stretching it out across deep pools of toms, skittering, echoing bass drums, and a hypnotic bassline. The approach here, musically speaking, is simple. Yet, the dynamics applied here are really what make this such an amazing track. You can almost hear the track undulate, curve, and dip at various times across its main riff. The idea of dynamics is heavily married to techno and nowhere is it more evident than here, on this lush, aural tapestry of a cut that Dundov has crafted. The melody itself even drifts along without pattern, sounding equal parts Mediterranean and Eastern European at the same time; deftly crafted to swing from cinematically somber one moment to deep and emotive the next. Here, Dundov has crafted yet another journey along a calm, moonlit shoreline: peaceful and quite bleak, yet pulverizing in its magnetic and hypnotic sway. The title tells it all: a place you can see and almost feel, that at the same time, exists just out of reach. Beautiful.

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Petar Dundov - Oasis

Where Distant Shores teased listeners with its brilliant swathes of atmosphere and melody, 'Oasis' rolls the melody out almost immediately, and it's noticeably warmer (and even adds in a little bit of Middle Eastern flair) standing in stark contrast with 'Distant Shores'. However, the focus is still on atmosphere, and here Dundov crafts with equal precision and detail a throbbing, breathing world that the darting little melody dances around in. The percussion is decidedly lighter this time around, but the bassline and atmosphere sure aren't. Nearly half-way in, the bass really starts to churn, humming along with a slightly ominous bent as the main melody starts to push deeper and deeper into the track, giving it a fuller, more angelic sound. Farther on, a much clearer synth doubles the second on riff duties, beefing up the hi-end without sacrificing the pulsing low-end. Again, here is a track with no peak, no pay-off, no climax. It is the journey, again, that matters: a beautifully made, texturally-deep slice of techno that shouldn't disappoint Dundov's fans.

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Petar Dundov - Rain

At this point in the post, it should be quite clear the kind of techno Petar Dundov crafts: melodic dub techno with a deft eye for atmosphere and dynamics that forgoes climax for mood and a journey the listener won't soon forget. And guess what? More of the same here. The melody and pads are graceful, lush, and perfectly produced. There really isn't much more to say. Yet another success for Dundov, an emotive cut of dub techno that sounds in line with 'Distant Shores' almost. The melody is much more intricate and even features a beautiful harmony too.

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If you'd like more on Dundov, he's released an album on Music Man Records in 2008, 'Escapements', that features the above two cuts plus six others. 'Distant Shores' has just been released on Music Man and is available for download on beatport.com. All these cuts, minus '...Shores', are all available on iTunes as well. If you need some wind-down or relaxing music, you can't fare much better! Hats off to Petar Dundov and hope to hear more from him soon. Enjoy, friends.
-NL

A Taste of Progressive

Now here's a subject I don't often find myself talking about: progressive house. Sure, techno and minimal and tech house can be nuanced, deep, atmospheric, all kinds of adjectives. But when it comes to progressive house, what's the one word you're looking for? Big. Epic. Massive. Y'know, the hugest tracks with the hugest hooks. But even here there's differences to be found. Is the hook a slice of summer-time feel-good joy or a commanding missile of a tune that demands you dance? Every tune is different (unless it's some crap from Afrojack) but seriously, here are a few tracks to bite into for a taste of late 2000's progressive house. I also won't mention Pryda here, because honestly, Pryda is on a whole 'nother level. This is the tier below that. But make no mistake, these tunes are not any less epic. Just not as much so!



Paul Thomas & Jerome Isma-Ae - Tomorrow

Some tracks go for melodic hook madness, but Paul Thomas & Jerome Isma-Ae's most recent track for house monolith Toolroom features a more melodically subdued hook that's more euphoric for the epic, unabashedly anthemic synth stabs applied. That spine-tingling vocal works great too; this is a true hands-in-the-air anthem that will get more than a few spins this winter. It's still true to Paul Thomas's rumbling, almost techno-esque bassline and Isma-Ae's sense of how to craft the simplest hook but somehow making it seem like the second coming of God. Truly a massive track.

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Michael Woods - Dynamik

For this UK producer's debut EP on mau5trap (you read that right, Deadmau5's label) Woods goes all out with a title track that's an absolute monster. In the vein of Paul Thomas and Funkagenda, Woods's percussion is muscular and the bassline is not in the least bit lean. A minute in the breakdown begins, almost cinematic in its precision, fervor, and atmosphere, washing everything out and slowing coaxing in the multilayered hook that is just....breath-taking. You begin to get a sense that the best progressive tracks do not rely just on hooks, but have a keen sense of progression and mood that let things build like techno, only more quickly and with a more immediate pay-off. Equally important is crafting the breakdown so that the climax arrives at precisely the right moment. When it's done right, like here, you get goosebumps it sounds so dang good. Hats off to Woods, hope to see more of him in the future.

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Adam K - Wake Up feat. Naan

Adam K has a very distinctive style that relies heavily on triplets, moody pads, and a very simplistic application of kicks and hi-hats. But for all the crap people give him about his tracks all sounding the same, they all sound dang good, what's there to dislike. Progressive house either leans heavily on vocals or it doesn't at all. Here the vocal, provided by vocalist Naan, works beautifully over Adam K's lush, wholly progressive house landscape. This is nearly the stuff of trance; not a moment wasted, every second building the tone and mood of the track, giving it the power it needs to deliver that massive drop, and once again Adam K delivers. Massive tune.

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That's all from me. Enjoy, friends.
-NL

Live Long And Prosper

Almost incomparable.



Rarely will you find me championing a tune other than the newest Pryda or Seb Leger release, but months after playing this track over and over again, I'm finding it won't leave my feet or my brain anytime soon. Also, this has nothing to do with Spock at all. Justin Martin and Ardalan's masterpiece of ghetto-tech-house bops along with a warped growl, a deep bassline, and...operatic swells? This sounds like something that belongs right at home on dirtybird: very funky, groovy, with a pounding bassline more reminiscent of hip-hop than house. Either way, those operatic vocals swell, and you know something's about to happen. Then...the drop. The bottom collapses and the most satisfyingly groovy/ghetto bassline drops, and you go nuts. Trust me, if you don't elicit some form of groan while listening to this, you're probably dead inside. A peak-time track if ever there was one, full of novelty but equally full of groove and fun and fresh-ass sounds. And what a drop. Holy crap. You think you've heard them all, and then you hear something better. If this isn't one of the top 5 tunes of the year over at Resident Advisor, I will be extremely disappointed. I recommend multiple listens at max volume, a lot of people, and a LOT MORE BASS.



Justin Martin & Ardalan - Mr. Spock [dirtybird]

Enjoy. That's it for the day.
-NL

Trois

Clean your plate for dessert.



Tres Demented (Laurent Garnier & Carl Craig) - Demented (Or Just Crazy)

This is about as tribal as you'll ever hear Carl Craig go, but I'll be damned if this isn't a dirty, muscular drum workout that literally shakes with a demented, ferocious energy all its own. Frequent bursts of male bellows, yelps, screeches, and gasps punctuate the track and only build the tension that the percussion churns out. This is a full-blown tribal house-fest, and when everything swirls into a crazed, chaotic maelstrom, only to have the kick drop around 3:55...this track explodes from the inside out. A pulsating, looping drone opens up and the track just...well, it just chugs right along. Few tracks ever create this much energy, let alone sustain it. A great peak-time track if used right. Hell, this could probably cause architectural damage...

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Reference - Best Night In Detroit

The B-side to this decidedly "Detroit" release from natives Reference takes a Detroit spin on dub techno that leaves you with a warm feeling all over, even after the track has stopped spinning. One half of the duo, producer Luke Hess's influence is almost immediately noticeable: lush, dub-inflected pads quiver with a depth and peaceful ebb and flow of that good ol' Detroit sound. More rhythmic than the A-side, 'Best Night...' goes for depth and warmth and succeeds definitively, with classic Detroit chords eventually bathing themselves inside this spacious, creamy bath-tub of dub. An introspective turn on a classic sound that's perfect as a techno lullaby as it is a sexy, sensuous Detroit-influenced slab of dub techno. Majestic, powerful...comforting.

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Reshuffle - The Uppershelf

Reshuffle (Guy Gerber & Niv Hadas) appear on Gerber's own 'Supplemental Facts' imprint with yet another slice of dark, ominous techno. After 'Hedonism' (my favorite track of theirs and included on my most recent mix) 'Uppershelf' takes eery metallic pads and reverbs the hell out of them as a warped, rib-crushing bassline creeps out of the ether. A dissonant looped bell tone creates even more tension until what enters? An even MORE creepy synth line that tails off into the distance before cycling back time and time again. This is the very edge of techno before we get into horror territory...but such a well-produced slice of techno that still somehow can get people to dance is a testament to Gerber's fondness for occupying his empty spaces with dissonant ambience, dark, warped basslines, and vaguely eerie synth leads. And he's done it again. This ain't no 'Hedonism', but it can still stand on its own in any set and works great as a near-peak tune. A literal machine of evil.

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Enjoy, friends.
-NL

Three's A Crowd

Absolutely.



Portable - Life Magically Is

It's always hard to get my hands on a Perlon release. For starters, it's a vinyl-only label. Well, that's mostly it. But here we have a vocal-based techno cut that builds a track around the vocal line. A drugged-out vacuous pad whooshes and spirals around the sinister voice as it goes on and on, slowly, powerfully, deeply. The vocal line was clearly not an afterthought, as everything from the hypnotic, near-dissonant bell synth, muscular bassline, and twisted metallic toms works underneath the voice, as if it's controlling all movement and change within the track. It's a journey, to say the least. A masterwork of mood and method from one of Perlon's elite.

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H.O.S.H. - Cash The Chord

The most recent single from the Diynamic camp is a buoyant, bubbly little tech house cut that features a tense, spastic percussion section underpinning a typically groovy rhythm and a somehow not-annoying piano riff. Laid-back and almost jazzy, it fits the mood and groove to a tee. There's even a lite-string section thrown in for good measure. Plenty of bounce, plenty of groove, easy to mix in and out of, not much more you could ask for from H.O.S.H.

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DJ Falcon & Thomas Bangalter do Call On Me in a big way

This sort of speaks for itself. "Call On Me" morphed into a shimmering, nine-minute summer hands-in-the-air epic that goes for elation over pounding bass. Absolutely in love with this. If you weren't tired of this song before, this won't change any minds. But it might bop some heads.

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Call it an evening. Enjoy, friends.
-NL

Hat Trick

Three more.



Gel Abril - Miranda

It's a shame Get Physical has fallen off so hard recently. This nearly two-year old track comes from a period of superb GP output, and it's easy of course to get behind such a tune as this. The Israeli producer rolls out a raucous, glittering cut of tech house veined somewhat in the MIddle East. The shimmering, clicky pads highlight the descending, stabbing main synth riff, a simple, slithering beast that creeps up on you and is gone before you get point it out. A tersely tight bassline rounds out the package on this easily-mixed, well-produced builder.

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Black Strobe - I'm A Man (Audion's Donation Mix)

As the techno-versed third of Matthew Dear's personas, Audion turns in a slow-burner of a remix here for French duo Black Strobe. A somber organ riff lights the wick that catches warm, gaping pads and a cavernous bassline, while shrill, metallic echoes click in and out of the track. The vocal line (this is a remix after all!) works well here, but, to me, it really is not that noticeable. The organ and the bassline absolutely swallow everything in their path, as the trance-esque chord stabs build to a crazed, volatile crescendo before being beaten to a pulp by the bassline and the hissing, insistent hi-hats. This is some kind of masterpiece, I'm just not sure how. Whatever the case may be, it commands attention and threatens punishment for all who fail to comply. You have been warned.

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Patrick Chardronnet - Ledge

Frequent Connoisseur, Poker Flat, and Raum...musik collaborator Patrick Chardronnet turns in a dark, melancholy slice of deep minimal with the aptly-titled "Ledge". An ominous echoing pad kicks off the track, buoyed by the ever-present clicking hi-hat, a slab of a heavy bassline rolled out soon after. Out of the ether soon comes a delicate, paper-thin pad that threatens to break under any sort of pressure. Against the pop and crackle of vinyl, a ghostly, subdued synth riff ripples into view, layered over the bassline for a solid, instantly-pleasing groove. Soon the eery synth echoes come back in, the air thick with remorse and sticky with the sweat of a satisfying groove. There's something...odd about this track. The atmosphere is dense, but it's completely danceable, playing a rocky middle-ground that it teeters over from time to time, like some kind of...ledge. Yeah. Enough said. A satisfying minimal monster from a consistent producer.

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More soon.
-NL

Morning Coffee

Breakfast in bed. A few bites for your comfort.



Gui Boratto - Atol

Gui Boratto stands as a master of warm, lush techno landscapes that never sacrifice atmosphere for emotion, making many of his productions cathartic as they are danceable. "Atol" smears a glistening, airy synth riff underneath Boratto's usual live-sounding percussion. The main synth riff hums with life and vibrance, and bringing to mind waking up on a beautiful summer morning, the sun in your face, your soul full of happiness and joy. Boratto's percussion is layered and very full-sounding, giving his delicate melody the perfect bed on which to lay as it whisks the listener across the sky through the almost-trancey breakdown. Everything here complements everything else superbly. A jubilant cut of techno that plays that middle ground of emotion and groove perfectly. Breath-taking.

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Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Eskapade

On one of their few turns on Diynamic Music, German duo Kollektiv Turmstrasse have turned in a restrained yet ebullient slice of techno that moves from subdued and focused to a controlled raucousness that slowly trickles in emotion until the curtain is torn down and the light bathes the track in light. At first glance a somber, slow-burning track, this cut slowly builds a groove that chugs along with a single note synth ringing in the background. Next, a harmonic pad slides in underneath it, and finally one more harmonic element rings atop it; a calm, beautiful peak that speaks to the quiet emotion the track carries. The melody later rings out on its own, until another layer of synth is added. While definitely taking a noticeable sad turn, the track is still lush with emotion, power, and groove. Wonderful as a builder, glorious as a peak.

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Pryda - Privilege ID

Yeah, yeah, there's no official title, sure. But that's not what's important here. Prydz is so ahead of the competition that his unreleased IDs get more views and spins that most other producers' released tracks. Speaks to the quality and power of his tracks. Here, Prydz goes with a spastic, pulsating synth build that churns with raw power behind the almighty kick. The vocal line shoots this track into the stratosphere, an epic build that accompanies an equally euphoric breakdown. But then, that's the glory of a Pryda track: epic build, epic melody, epic breakdown, rinse and repeat. Need I say more? Imagine this live...

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Enjoy, folks.
-NL

Morning Quickie

With morning comes light. Here are a few tracks I've been on to lately:



Stimming & Einmusik - Madleine

The A-side to this formidable EP is "Madleine", a groovy deep tech monster that features Stimming's prototypical unwaveringly stoic bassline, rippling percussion, and Einmusik's equally lilting chord stabs and trinkling harmonic synths. The duo gets everything right here: the right tempo that keeps this train moving without letting it spiral off the tracks, a rhythm section that bounces in true Diynamic fashion, and a precisely-timed breakdown that soothes the ears but doesn't go completely unnoticed. A wonderful builder and a perfect complement to the destructive B-side.

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Stimming & Einmusik - Magdalena

Where the A-side went for depth and a solid, creamy groove, the B-side goes for big-room in a number of ways. The rhythm crashes out of the gate with a thick, driving kick and a rumbling pad over which aqueous synth stabs are applied. The percussion is really where this track goes off; Stimming's handy-work brings a layer of hi-hats over the crisp, barreling low-end. Paired with the monstrous main synth stab melody, there's a real sense of urgency here, and around 3 and a half minutes when the hi-hats give out and come back in, you can almost feel the waves of bass crashing back into you. This is a slab of big room techno that in and one itself is the peak, a beautifully constructed piece of percussion-driven mayhem that breathes down your neck and doesn't back down for the entirety of the eight minutes it spends on the deck. An amazing cut if I ever heard one.

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Gabriel Ananda - Hyperballet

Gabriel Ananda produces a sort of techno that reminds one of a Cadenza record: crisp, organic techno, only Ananda laces his with a bit more structure and catchy little melodic hooks that give his music a bubbly, groovy aura to them that permeates through you. At least, that's what I hear on "Hyperballet". Kicking off with a shrill, high-pitched little riff, bubbles of pads burst around Ananda's crisp bassline and woodland-sounding rhythm section. But all this rolls under the atmospheric main riff, a beautiful, simple little thing that gets into your head and squeezes your heart ever so slightly. A shimmering, vivacious little riff if ever there was one, it is the track's centerpiece, and my only caveat is that it's around for too short a time. This is amazingly produced organic techno fare, and I highly recommend a listen. It nearly brings me to tears.

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More in a few. Enjoy, friends.
-NL