Review: Burlent Burler is Butch - the Mainz-based producer's career has gone from strength to strength ever since his fabulous hit "No Worries" nine years ago on Cecille. Fast forward to now, his new EP Hijacking comes courtesy of Watergate: the infamous Berlin superclub where he is one of the DJs in residence. Go deep into the exotic with the Arabic charm of "Bepsi", which then gets a wicked makeover by ascendant Brit wAFF - this bass-driven groove rolls tough! He then goes back to the disco - Middle Eastern style - on the absolutely electric "Yallah!!!" which is followed by a great dub version for your convenience.
Review: There is no doubt that Butch aka Bulent Gurle is one of the biggest names in European dance music- and this release confirms why he is so popular. In essence, "Countach" is a re-invention of 90s German trance. Its central riff contains the same kind of melancholic qualities that the releases on Eye Q, one of Sven Vath's previous labels during the 90s, boasted. Allied with a buzz-saw bass, Butch now gives those melodic characteristics a tough dance food focus. Cocoon has drafted in Butch's peer, Kolsch, to remix the track, and he deploys a mean, rolling rhythm and prowling bass to give "Countach" a more contemporary flavour.
Review: Seth Troxler and The Martinez Brothers are really on a roll at the moment with their Tuskegee imprint. This time they've got Frankfurter Butch onboard for some sure fire tech house for any situation. "Jack The System" is a nasty acid excursion; the 303 workout on this is totally off the scale! Don't worry there's a "Jack a Pella" which focuses on those wonderfully.. well, jacking vocals. On the flip we've got "The Message" which keeps on with it's love of the acid life, but this one's deeper, darker and more of a journey track; think "Acid Eiffel" or something along those lines. Finally there's a "Message-A-Pella", of course for those of you more interested in the tough guy monologue.
Review: German house hero Butch is back on the scene and doing what he does best: cleverly sampled disco house tracks reminiscent of his 2010 breakthrough hit "No Worries" on Cecille. "Dope" is filtered funky house at its finest, reminiscent of late noughties anthems by Brian Tappert and Eddie Amador, while "Praise The Lord" samples James Brown and Todd Terry at the same time on this cheeky, funked up hoedown that ticks all the right boxes. This will have just as many girls as boys on the dancefloor. It's imperative!
Review: For those who had assumed that Butch was a tool house producer and not much else, this release will come as surprise. Favouring a more experimental approach than usual, "LFO" is led by weird, freaky frequencies and a bleep bassline. "Delusion" sees him go down a deep, dubby route, the robust bass leading into a sweeping, dramatic climax. Butch keeps the focus on more reflective sounds with the weeping synths and tough claps of "Sphere", while he returns to the experimental path of "LFO" for the denouement. Both "Tone 2.0" and "Busy B" are reduced tracks, with the former based on subsonic blips and bleeps and the latter boasting a stuttering groove bolstered by a Hoover bass.
Review: The German producer delivers an impressive double pack for Loco Dice's label. "Pompano" is built on rolling, rickety drums that thrash and flail as Butch adds in tripped out FX and a cartoon vocal. On "Desert Storm", the sound is more loopy as heavy drums provide the basis for a series of vocal samples and repetitive riffs. Butch veers in a more techno direction on "Dimensions"; there, a mysterious filter moves in, interrupted only by a dramatic vocal-led break down. Butch reverts to his trademark sound on "Sonny Got It Going On ", where dense drums underpin layers of insistent filters.
Review: Butch continues to grow as an artist. Already a staple in the record collections of fellow techno DJs Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Ricardo Villalobos and Luciano, he continues to build on his fast growing reputation as a producer. "Reshef" is another impressive slice of deep, percussive house and techno that validates his lofty regard amongst his peers.
"Reshef" is a twelve minute killer of epic proportions. It manages to do the whole frenzied techno monster thing but still sounds deliriously funky in the process. It has a groovy beat and almost tribal percussion as Butch layers the sounds to devastating effect. Slowly building throughout the track, the tension bubbles away just beneath the surface in this dancefloor destroyer. Amir's remix comes next with a seductive and trance inducing quality that makes this too, perfect for the dancefloor. With eerie tribal chants added to the spellbindingly funky percussion there is an element of ethnicity that makes this remix all the more exotic and dangerous. A new version of "Muskatnuss" follows, its crazed vocals and sirens doing much to keep up the wild and untamed atmosphere throughout this release which finishes with a trio of new remixes of "Reshef." UK producer GOW delivers an intensely deep and hypnotic version before Markus Sur strips things down to the original's funky rhythm. Deep'a & Biri close the release with their raw, super deep remix whose deep rolling percussion collides nicely with the ethno elements that give the track real flavour and identity.
If deep, funky, tribal percussion is your thing then you need look no further than "Reshef." Armed with infectious rhythms and eerie atmospherics, this is one of that tracks that can drastically change the mood of a room in an instant.