Better late than never, right? I hope so. 2009 was a tipping point in electronic music. After being maligned for the better part of 5 years, house music has risen somewhat surprisingly with help from minimal techno’s early adopters. In a bizarre quid pro quo, producers most often associated with house music started to go a bit minimal. The two camps have met in the middle and recorded some of the best deep and tech house tracks of the last decade.
On with the countdown.
Chopstick & Till Von Sien – Bachkippe (Baalsaal)Buy it now
here or
here.
Anchoring this year’s Kitchen Heat Top Ten is a track from the Chopstick & Till Von Sein’s single-sided, and ironically titled, Ten EP. Chopstick (aka Chi-Thien Nguyen) and Till Von Sein are minimal techno guys on a minimal techno label (Baalsaal) who have applied the minimal techno approach to what are typically house sounds. “Bachkippe” revolves around a two-note guitar loop and a one-note bassline with the changes being made mostly by the occasional organ stab and the ticks and tings of the percussion. The breakdown comes in at just the right moment with what sounds like a wind instrument (a flute?) recorded in such a way that one can hear the musician’s breath blowing through it. It’s a subtle detail that really drives home the organic sound of the instruments, effects and arrangement. “Bachkippe” is the kind of track that, while sounding deceptively sparse, is so groovy that you can’t help but nod your head, tap your toe, or shake your ass.
Dragosh – Aloo Ma Auzi (Bearweasel’s Linear Drum Edit) (Viva)Buy it now
here or
here.
Londoners Dean Muhsin & Louisa Page write and produce wonderfully dubby tech house under the name Bearweasel. In this case they’ve taken a middle-of-the-road tribal tech house track and maximized its potential with a bit of re-arrangement, a groovy bassline and some well placed horns. Just like Bachkippe, most of the ear-candy is in the layered percussion. While the hypnotic driving bassline propels the track along, congas, rimshots, a bunch of different snare drums and mouth-clicks keep things interesting in the mix.
Ian Pooley feat. Tim Fuller – What I Got (Derrick Carter Remix) (Pooledmusic)Buy it now
here or
here.
“What I Got” is deep. Pooley blends Tim Fuller’s falsetto over a funky synth bassline, lush pads, bleepy gated lead, and string-inflected rolls for the kind of deep house one usually associates with Ron Trent, Miguel Migs, and Masters at Work. It’s good, but not great. The real reason to pick up this 12” is the Derrick Carter remix. Carter is one of the second wave of great underground house producers from Chicago who made his name in the 1990s producing amazing remixes for European artists. On this remix he dispenses with all but the vocal, underpinning it with a funky, shuffling drum track. What’s interesting about the track is the lack of sounds: it is literally a beat, a 303 squiggle through a low-pass filter and someone panting low in the mix. That’s it! And yet both the remix and the dub seem to have so much to hear. Remixes like this show just what can be done with a less-is-more approach to arranging. Minimal techno could learn a thing or two from Derrick Carter.
Andrea Festa feat. Mike Dunn – The Sound Of Lugano (Hardfloor Remix) (AF Records)Buy it now
here or
here.
I’d never heard of Andrea Festa prior to my search for Terrence Parker material back in September. It would appear that Mr. Festa wrote a bunch of mediocre house tracks and then contacted as many house and techno legends from Chicago, Detroit, and Germany as he could think of to remix said tracks. The list really is a who’s-who of electronic music since the 80s: Mike Dunn, Terrence Parker, Hardfloor, Woody McBride, Terrence Dixon, and Max Durante. Those who were receptive did their work admirably and Mr. Festa set about releasing the results. “The Sound Of Lugano” is the second 12” to be released from
the compilation CD. In truth, Hardfloor do all the heavy lifting, substituting their 303 magic for Festa’s house clichés. And it is especially good Hardfloor 303, too. Quite possibly the best thing they’ve done since their remix of Blue Monday, in fact. With any luck, this spells a return to the fray for Dusseldorf’s 303 masters.
Superslut – Bulerias (Great Stuff)Buy it now
here or
here.
I’ve written about Great Stuff’s Munich Discotech compilation series before, albeit a completely different track. I had originally bought the record for the Pooley/Tonka track on the A-side. It wasn’t until I flipped it over one night that I discovered the techno genius of “Bulerias”. With one foot planted in the future with a stomping techno undercarriage and the other planted firmly in the past with a chopped up flamenco guitar, “Bulerias” would sound contemporary with any techno track written in the last 30 years. It’s the flamenco claps and guitar that really set it off. That’s a triumph in my eyes, as most examples of fusion between ethnic and electronic usually end up sounding like that Cumbria track from a couple of years ago: elevator music with a backbeat. Superslut’s catalogue is limited to a couple of remixes and this one track. Hopefully "Bulerias" is a sign of things to come.
Sonny Fodera – Resurrection (Guesthouse)Buy it now
here or
here.
Adelaide, Australia’s funky house DJ and producer Sonny Fodera has really come on in the last year. With a slew of remixes and releases under his belt, he is an up-and-comer to watch in 2010. The best of the bunch, in my view, is his Sonny Side Up EP on American label Guesthouse. Resurrection’s old-school vibe seamlessly blends house, hip-hop, and funk in a deliciously refreshing confection that kicks the emotional crap out of any of the bitter electro crap released this year. It’s so funky, you just can’t help but groove to it.
Spencer Parker – Untitled Head (liebe*detail)Buy it now
here or
here.
Englishman Spencer Parker makes the kind of minimal house that is starting to come into vogue in places like Germany. “Untitled Head” is little more than a thundering drum track, gliding bassline, and chopped up female vocal. Really, though, the magic is all percussion; the vocal is just “uh-uh” and “duh-duh” sounds syncopated to work as extra drum hits. Like the Derrick Carter remix, it’s amazing that there seems to be so much to hear and yet the track is made of so little. More proof positive that 2009 was about “less-is-more”.
DJ Dealer feat. Typhanie Monique – Is You Is (Look At You)Buy it now
here or
here.
Chicago DJ Greg Diehl has been making house for well over a decade. After releasing a couple of tracks on Mindfood and Subliminal, Greg kicked off his own label, Look At You and hasn’t looked back. Is You Is has a real classic Chicago house feel with a three-note bassline, Hammond organ and smokey vocal. A simple mid range band-pass on the vocal gives the track a bluesy, 1950s vibe, while the Hammond provides a bit of thickness to the mix. Again, a simple arrangement makes for an incredibly effective song worthy of the top five.
Michael Jackson - Stanger in Moscow (Jerome Isma-Ae Remix) (white label)
Buy it now
here or
here.
Late in 2009, progressive house juggernaut Jerome Isma-Ae put out a single-sided white-label featuring two remixes; Way Out West’s Only Love and Michael Jackson’s Stranger in Moscow. I’d never heard the original Stranger in Moscow, but apparently it was released as a single from the HIStory compilation/album. In his tribute to the fallen star, Jerome takes the best and most emotive parts of the vocal and lays it over a monster of a progressive house track. It’s a real hands-in-the air affair, the kind of song that was once so popular at clubs and raves across the globe but has lately fallen into disfavour. It’s so close to being my favourite that part of me thinks it should be a tie for record of the year.
La Roux – In For The Kill (Lifelike Remix) (Kitsuné)Buy it now
here or
here.
La Roux’s gotten lots of press for her retro 80s Flock-Of-Seagulls hair and analogue sound. I’m a big fan of analogue, but most of her stuff sounds harsh and leaves me cold. Lifelike gets it right, tho. His remix is the perfect balance between classic analogue synths and modern dance music arrangements. His remix makes La Roux sound soulful instead of harsh and the chorus is so emotive it makes you close you eyes, throw your head back and grin like an idiot. In my view, it’s the best thing that came out last year and I'm looking forward to hearing more from both artists.
