This month's guest reviewer is Scott Lazaruk, a DJ from Toronto, Canada, currently a member of the Stickmen Record pool. If you'd like to check out Tom Robbs' and Scott Lazaruk's mixsets online, go to http://www.techno.ca/dj/ and look for the Tom & Scott "Side 2 Side" mixes.
DJ Liquid Presents the Blue Spotted Frog / Journees Music
A fair variety of mixes on this release from Liquid Records. For lovers
of trance are Damon Downs' mix, an acid breaks track, and Peacock's two
trance mixes. The two standout mixes are Will Webb's moody 'Spaceship
Bound for Miami' Electro mix, and Stephane Vera's 'Teknostep's XM
Tekhouse' mix. The latter is my pick, which starts strong with a driving
techhouse feel and closes out with chopped up beats and a faint melodic
hook.
ZipCode / Dancin' b/w The Stomp / Sneak Tip Records
I hadn't heard of Zipcode before seeing this release, but it's certainly
gotten my attention. 'Dancin' is a jumpin', jackin', bumpin', house
stormer. Bouncy bassline, stripped down disco stabs, and plenty of cut
up basslines to play with. The first mix on the 'Stomp' side is a
fairly straightforward hard house track with no surprises. But the
second mix is a nice house groover with a couple scratching solos dropped
in that work well. Overall a nice release.
Fast Eddie / Over & Under / IHR
Both Underground Construction and International House Records seem to be
following a pattern in their recent releases: 2 absolute nutter
hard/acid/booty Chi-house tracks opposite 2 funky filtered disco house
tracks. No exception here, with 'Bang It Bang It' and 'Don't Fake It'
filling in the nutter contingent, and 'Eddie's Gang' and 'I Feel It' in
(saner) funkier territory. The first result of this combination is that
I'm loving the sound of these funky Chicago tracks -- filtered vocals,
great basslines, disco mayhem. The second, more worrisome result is that
these hard Chicago booty tracks are starting to worm their way into my
once-pure techno sets. Help.
Chris Jackson / Industrial Espionage / Resource Records
A solid piece of work on California's Resource Records. There are three
solid, driving, techhouse tracks -- but the standout for me is 'Mental
Block', a bouncy deep techhouse number with great layered funky synth
lines. I'll be watching for more releases from Mr. Jackson ..
DJ Decent / Where You At G / Stickmen
A real surprise from Hollis P. Munroe (DJ Decent) -- if you were
expecting more deep house in the vein of 'I'm Lonely', Rob Paine's mix
will be the one you're looking to check out. The DJ Decent mix is an
extremely catchy acid breaks number bouncy enough to make the most
diehard techno fanatic take a listen. Rapper Solitaire is featured on
the Day's vocal mix, a solid hip hop mix. There is also an intrumental
of the hip hop mix, which if you pitch up to 45 is the basis of the
breaks mix.
Moodyman / Sunday Morning / Planet E
Predictably fantastic work from Kenny Dixon Jr. 'Sunday Morning' is a
deep, dreamy, jazzy, meander with sax solos and lilting vocals drifting
in and out of the mix. 'Track Four' takes a quiet little funk loop and
turns it inside out, chopping up the bassline, and doubling up the
beats. Add washing snares and a walking synth bassline and you have
another masterpiece.
Paperclip People / 4 My Peeps / Planet E
Carl Craig delivers more deep techno brilliance on his latest release.
'Shot', the full length mix, builds slowly over the entire track,
gradually layering in more elements and building intensity. Brilliant
stuff. The first mix on the 'Stabbed' side is a more stripped down
version of 'Shot', not really building much off the bassline. The second
mix is a bassless cacophony of synth stabs, an interesting audio
assault. Wonderful work overall.
Hollis P. Munroe / I'm Lonely (Vincenzo K., Wamdue remixes) / Stickman
Records
Having thoroughly enjoyed the original (flogged to death or not), I was
eager to hear these remixes. The Wamdue mixes are both deep tech house
numbers, using the vocal sparsely. The Vincenzo K remix on the A-side is
a full on garage mix most will have heard, while the B-side mix has a
beautiful keyboard hook and faint vocals.
Tony Rodriguez and Sanford Ashley / Tracks from the Lab / Brother's
Vibe
A good 10" from the deep peeps at Brother's Vibe. "Le Calle Cinco" is a
jazzy deep houser with a looped piano hook and a blazing organ lead.
"Pulse" is a simple bassline track that would do well heavily mixed, but
doesn't stand out by itself.
10 / Santone / SOM Underground
2 solid looped funk tracks, one jumpy and one more filtered and groovy,
on this 10". Both are simple but effective.
PJ / Soul Grabber Pt. 3 -- The Remixes / Aquarius
4 reinterpretations of the original from Roger S. and Jason Jinxx. The
S-man's mixes are heavily cut up house loops (one vocal, one dub).
Jinxx's first mix uses the original bassline and cut up vocals, while
his second is a stripped down tech house mix. All four mixes are good,
but none really top the original.
BMC / Disco Juice EP / Nite Life Collective
This fourth release on the Nite Life Collective (Chicago) has me eagerly
awaitng their next release -- the past four have been sweet! This EP
features four solid deep house & techhouse tracks suitable for kicking
it out to or chilling back. Keep it coming ...
Brian Harding / Inner Instincts / Nite Life Collective
Brian Harding's new album is a further reinforcement in the already very
strong NLC camp. Deep house tracks with strong techno influences -- this
will sit comfortably in your crate alongside Larry Heard's recent
releases. One track deviates from the techhouse style -- "Chill Mode".
Written and produced by Stephane Vera (Teknostep), it's a spacey,
downtempo, techno melody with a skippy beat. Solid work all around.
Abstract Beating System / Beat Pushers / International House
Recordings
A combination of styles from Chicago's Mazi, under the guise of Abstract
Beating System. The A-side opens with "Wicked Game", a superb Chicago
house track with a subbassline and strong soul vocals. A2 is "ABS", a
techno track with a Chi-house beat that will absolutely floor you.
Utterly original, utterly slammin! The B-side is two mixes of "Funk it
Real", hard Bad-Boy-Bill style tracks that aren't really my slice. I've
seen two other releases by Mazi on Underground Construction which
followed the same format -- 2 house tracks opposite 2 hard tracks. He'll
be one to watch ....
John Audette / Conscious Salad / Signal Records
John Audette's release is the first I had heard of Signal Records (of
Hamilton, Ontario) but I will make sure it isn't the last. All four
tracks are well produced, deep techno/house tracks with pulsing synths
and wicked snare lines. B1 is my favourite of the release -- a deep
track somewhat reminiscent of a Maurizio release.
Simon Hartley / WildPlanet / 430 West
Superb techhouse numbers from Detroit! "Synthetic" is a bouncy track
with a hard bassline and a lot of complex (and extremely funky) work
going into the highs -- deep techno to make your ass shake. "Moving On"
combines a techhouse bassline with synths faintly suggesting disco
house.
Octave One / The Collective / 430 West
Deep techno, techhouse, and a drum n' bass number can all be found on
this superb doublepack. It's all good - well impressed!
Copyright © Scott Lazaruk 1998. Printed with permission.
