David Durango At Juno Download

Review: David Durango has been producing on Poker Flat since 2008. An established artist on the label, he heads up their next digital release with the hypnotic and driving two tracker, "Celia."

Entirely dedicated to his music, Durango worked solely as a producer for much of his career, making records for Label and Net Label. However, recent years have seen him step out into the light as a DJ too. Some stella live sets have now garnered him a reputation as one of Switzerland?s premiere DJ/producers. Living up to that reputation, he has been riding a wave of success recently with releases on Poker Flat and UK based imprint, NRK. Striking whilst the iron is hot, Durango lands the excellent ?Celia? to keep the fires burning.

The opening track, "Give Me Up" moves seductively around a hypnotic backbone built from micro synth dabbling and jacking percussion. Loaded with a wonky funkiness, moments of trickling, reduced madness combine press up against the track?s permanent pushing vibe. A real dancefloor weapon, this tune keeps an intensity that is capable of stirring any room into a frenzy. Its evil twin, ?Celia? keeps up the hypnotic feel, taking the listener on a twisting journey courtesy of its arpeggiated synth core wrapped around darts of vintage synths. It sounds like a storm building with energy as its swirls around the track, sweeping everything along with it.

Durango's wealth of experience and dedication to his productions is here for all to see on "Celia." He expertly wraps sounds around each other whilst bending and twisting other components of his arrangement to create these epic tracks for the dancefloor. Here, he manages it once more, continuing his rich vein of form for the mighty Poker Flat.

Review: Although he has released on other respected labels like NRK and Meerestief, Durango's natural home is Poker Flat. This is apparent on Mosaic, where he succeeds in amalgamating brittle, understated beats with dreamy chords and pulsing basslines. While the title track unfolds to the sound of a tranced out chord sequence and tight claps, it's really "Foreva" that captures what the label is about, featuring breathy vocal samples, dreamy melodies and the kind of snaking basslines that prevail in Steve Bug's DJ sets. By contrast, the organic drums of "Domp" almost sound out of place, but the repetitive vocal sample intoning the track's title ensure that it's never too far from the Poker Flat style.

Review: Spain's Galaktika imprint can usually be relied upon to deliver cutting edge deep and tech house with a suitably cosmic feel, and this three-tracker from David Durango is no exception. There's a definite intergalactic vibe to the spiraling uptempo riffs, extended breakdowns and shuffling rhythms of "Secret Drone", while the deep, melodic bump of "Tundra" comes on like the unlikely soundtrack to a late night astronomy session down Greenwich Observatory. A gently undulating EP concludes with Paulo Olarte's take on "Secret Drone", a woozy, deeper interpretation that should tickle the tastebuds of anyone who likes their deep house heady and intoxicating.