Review: More reductionist and hypnotic melancholia from the master himself. Fresh off his long awaited fabric mix, Baby Ford presents us with two new tracks on his Trelik imprint. "Mystery falls" is true deepness of the most paranoid and sinister kind, equally suited to after hours parties or while sitting at home in the corner of your room afterwards. "Spooked" is best described as 'boompty' minimal if anything. A stripped tool that runs for just under nine minutes and pushes bare bone, repetitive elements to their limit on this simple but brilliantly clever exercise by one of the true legends of the artform.
Review: Baby Ford and Zip continue a fruitful partnership with some uber cool, super deep minimal techno on Pal SL records. "Clean Hands" sees a hushed and soulful vocal wafting over atmospheric synth scratches, ultra low end bass and deft high end clicks and shuffles. "For How Long" is even more reduced, letting the space between the sparse sounds say as much as the sounds themselves. Truly unique sounds from this talented pair.
Review: Baby Ford and Zip need little introduction and debut on Trelik as "BFZ" featuring co-conspiritor Thomas Melchior. The trio originally appeared on the 1999 "Perlondon" 12" for Perlon with Ford and Zip re-uniting for the "Glidin' Along The Riverbed" release then 2010's "Clean Hands" on PAL SL. Thomas Melchior recently appearing on [a:rpia:r] and his own Aspect Music kicks off the 12" with a floor friendly up-beat 9 minute "Melchior Productions LTD" edit remix of "Uff". An "Uffapella" closes the A-side featuring abstract sound design and textured vocals. Side-B's "So They Say" creates a feeling of space and unhurried rhythmatics whilst the title track "Uff" combines deep instrumentals, chord and haunting vox with subtle bass and modulating kick. Recorded in London and Berlin. Mastered at D & M.
Nitzer Ebb/Richie Hawtin/Intermission - "Orange Minus 1/Orange Minus 2/Orange Minus 2/Let Your Body Lean/Orange Minus 1/What The Hell Was That?" - (5:47) 139 BPM
Heiko Laux/Baby Ford & Eon/Sawas Ysatis/Stewart S Walker - "Five/Dead Eye/Club Soda/It's Process Not Substance" - (4:28) 138 BPM
Review: Sender Records are veritable veterans of the house and techno game, having slipped out their first releases way back in 1999. Here, label boss Benno Blome indulges in a bit of nostalgia, picking out some of his label highlights of old. Much of the material comes from the early 2000s, at a time where deep house, techno and minimalism were still a growing force in electronic music. Highlights come thick and fast, from the swinging, tech-tinged groovery of Baby Ford's "Messenger" (as remixed by Matt Star) and the bubbling tech-house oddness of Andre Crom's "Reiner Wahnsinn", to the mutant deep house electrofunk of Frank Martiniq's "Side Blow".
Review: It's a commonly held belief that, bar a few exceptions, early UK house wasn't very good. Here, Richard Sen sets out to prove otherwise, digging through the archives to unearth a string of dusty gems. Eschewing the usual hits ("Carino", "Voodoo Ray" etc), Sen proves conclusively that British producers were every bit as talented as their Chicago and New York counterparts "back in the day". Interestingly, many of the cuts here are deeper and more musically well-rounded than their US equivalents - hell, Baby Ford's "Crashing" could easily pass for Dream 2 Science or Mr Fingers - while the more aggressive acid cuts (see the contributions from Man With No Name and Return Of The Living Acid) are every bit as raw as you'd expect.
