GR Ant’s Floor Fillers 23/11/2012

HOUSE

Deep Future - Fixations EP (Incl. Dirty Channels / Detroit Swindle Remixes) (Gruuv)

Let Me Go, a groove led workout with hooky synth line, looped vocal clips, hi-strings and shuffling snares. You Need It follows, a deep, driving slice of house music with atmospheric synth lines and punchy, shuffling drums.

Neil Quigley & Tone Float feat. Cari Golden - DWTD (inc The Timewriter & Da Lukas remixes) (Highway Records)

Neil Quigley and production partner Tone Float have enlisted Cari Golden. Her vocal drifts majestically over a warm bass groove with rolling percussion and techie stabs creating a solid slice of hypnotic house. The Timewriter remix takes a different approach with broken groove, rising sweeps and intense stabs. Da Lukas peak-time houser is my favourite - unmistakeable floor filler.

Ohm Hourani - Insane (inc. Tiger Stripes & Jimmy Be remixes) (Mile End Records)

The original version is a taut, atmospheric slow builder that creates a deep and spacious vibe. Sweden’s Tiger Stripes delivers a superb reworking with a churning bassline, subtle synth riff and rolling percussion.

TECHNO

Various Artists - The Rapscallions EP (inc. Ste Roberts, Kris Wadsworth, Jay Tripwire, MarcAshken & Youandewan), (Save You Records)

On the a-side we have Tram & Pier- a tough slice of rolling techno with tight drum programming and atmospheric risers, creating a deep, hypnotic burner. Then Week 8 is an emotive slice of spacious dubby techno reworked by Youandewan. On the flip side we have Kris Wadsworth’s remix of Feeders, which is a haunting track with a dark and edgy vibe. Jay Tripwire’s re-edit of his own Sad & Beautiful World is thinking man’s techno, a dubby dystopian slice of Detroit.

M.A.D.A. - T.K.O. (inc. Attemporal remix), (!Organism)

SH147 is a brooding, rolling slice of minimal with simple yet effective stabs. T.K.O. ventures into dubby techno territory with high-held strings and heavily delayed hits. Spanish production duo Attemporal push T.K.O to the limit, taking the darker route into tough and heavy techno. U90 closes the EP with a Detroit influence - with bold rhythms and subtle melodic elements.

ALBUM

Various Artists - Dots & Pearls II (Cocoon)

Genre: House, techno, downtempo

My biggest complaint of Cocoon compilations in the past has been the shortage of tracks you can play out in a club. I always expect a few good belters and somehow they’re always missing. However on this occasion Dots & Pearls II gets the balance just right, fusing genres and including some real standout club tracks such as Ilario Alicante & Todd Bodine’s Modern Apocalypse - perfect for an early evening set with a stripped down, spacey vibe.

Subb-an feat Jacob Phono’s versatile hypnotic houser ticks all the boxes with In the Night. Marco Effe’s Jellied Eels has a timeless quality, reminiscent of Harthouse in its heyday. Harvey Mackay’s aptly entitled First Strike from Mars is a ticking techno time-bomb that smashes through space with a ferocious energy. Martinez’ Sequence of Moments creeps up and gets right under your skin with a subtle groove of bubbling bleeps and oddities. The best track for me is Danito & Agent’s Raw Symphony. A mind-blowingly emotive techno track running over a house beat creating a hypnotic belter. It’s a pretty exceptional package which has me eating humble-pie.