Records of the Week - March 22nd 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010 at 01:22PM 
J.T.C - Basturma Highway (Minimal Rome)
Tadd Mullinix makes records that have that raw, primal feeling - something rare in today’s dance music. This 250-limited edition release is essential, with beautiful analogue production. It’s not as explosive or as noisy as much of his other material, but instead concentrates on a more, sinewy, escapist feel that echoes the best in deep, Chicago house. Essential, as those record shops like to say.
The Exaltics - 1000 Lights in the Sky (Bunker)
Bunker have trod water for a little while recently, but they’re back on form with this 2 part 12” release from Robert Witschakowski, who also records under the alias of Crotaphytus. One part deep, sinister electro, and the other rough acid, it’s pretty much what you would expect from them, yet all the tracks are solid, and there’s enough of the lo-fi edginess that is a requirement of all the best Bunker releases. At times there is a tendency to go into moody sub-Drexciyan boys electro, but when done properly, it’s hard to get away from the fact that this sort of material touches places others can’t. “In the end you’ve got nothing” is prime Hague-style electro with a touch of class.
Actress - Paint, Straw and Bubbles (Honest Jon’s)
Darren Cunningham’s musical vision has always been somewhat more sophisticated than much of the material he releases on his own Werk label, taking onboard the more esoteric elements of house and electro, and this is no different, being a bold, difficult and downright weird mishmash of styles. The Zomby mix has an immediate impact, but for me doesn’t quite hold the appeal of the original. “Maze” is a John Carpenter-inflected soundtrack synth closer that is reminiscent of Smackos.
Shake - Thought Processes (Frictional)
Shake belongs to a increasingly reduced circle of producers who demand your attention with any new release. This is the first record on Frictional for 7 years, and comes on the back of the gargantuan and much-needed retrospective on Rush Hour. As to be expected, it’s a dense and almost impossible record to really grasp at first, with all sorts of rhythmic diversions taking you to different plaes but like all Shake records, it’s just encoded at a different level to virtually every other Techno track made, which is what makes his music so essential. “Frenchie” on the other hand swaggers with an assured funk that will appeal to all Detroit Techno fans.
Roland Sebastian Faber - Gropiusstadt EP (Aube)
Faber used to make trance and garage for a living and continues to produce for commercial artists. The Aube label indulges him in his boyhood love, ostentatious cosmic synth music. All his Aube releases have been crafted with the care of a producer who has proficient compositional qualities and this is no different. The ghost of Jean-Michel Jarre is omnipresent here, but as we all know, you can’t knock a great melody, and all 3 on here are beautiful.
F - Energy Distortion (7even Recordings)
I’m not a huge fan of dubstep - much of it has washed over me without really provoking any sort of response, and whilst this retains much more of a techno dynamic to it, it doesn’t seem to wallow in its own bass frequencies like a lot of the genre does. It reminds me of Sterac in many ways, but with a more robust dub aesthetic.
Toby Frith
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