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Richard Sen
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Review: It would be fair to say that Richard Sen's definition of funk, as outlined in the title track of the veteran producer's latest EP, is pleasingly wonky, wayward and deliciously electronic. Mining the same pool of influences as his work as part of Padded Cell, it sees him layer panicked but hypnotic synth sounds and wild, 'Plastic Dreams' style organ lines over a rubbery punk-funk bassline, throbbing electronic arpeggio lines and pleasingly loose-limbed machine drums. Sen explores his '80s electro roots on the bleeping, vocoder-sporting flipside opener 'Social Science', before reaching for beefy sub-bass, creepy melodies and echoing rave riffs on thrillingly dystopian breakbeat number 'Smoke & Mirrors'.
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Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House
Review: The line-up of remixers on this mixed-up outing from Public Release is undeniably impressive, so it's little surprise to find that the reworks themselves are largely inspired too. Kango Kult's EP-opening 'Swamp Dub' of Richard Sen's 'Abstract Dance' is a genuinely trippy, mind-altering and glassy-eyed fusion of weirdo acid house, tropical percussion and thrusting sub-bass, while former Rub & Tug man Eric Duncan's revision of Fran-Key's 'Summer Into Winter' recalls the Balearic-minded nu-disco/deep house fusions he once created as part of Still Going. Also impressive are Jex Opolis' slick, retro-futurist deep house take on Tim Sweeney's 4th & Broadway and Matrixxman and Vin Sol's Larry Heard-influenced rework of 'Slice to the Top' by Tendts.
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Review: Viscera Transmissions' first 'Galactic Service Broadcasting' comp was released back in May, as a fundraiser for charities supporting the UK's National Health Service; now here comes Volume 2, with profits this time going to the homeless charity Shelter. With 16 tracks from as many artists to choose from, there's a fair degree of stylistic variety on offer, from the acid electro throb of Duncan Gray's 'Punish' to JMII's floaty, proggy 'Intika', but the emphasis generally is on that region of the contemporary disco spectrum where Italo, EBM and experimental electronica collide, with occasional forays too - as on Owain K's 'Quantum Leap' - into deep house territory. Interesting stuff all round.
Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House
Review: There's a serious amount of musical heat to be found on the latest edition of Public Release's occasional multi-artist EP series. It's the San Francisco-based imprint's first exercise of this sort since 2016 and contains a sextet of must-check tunes. Amongst the many highlights are a creepy, sub-heavy, bleep-influenced number from Richard Sen (the rather good 'Abstract Dance'), a typically dreamy and positive trip into immersive deep house territory from Earth Boys ('EBoys 2020'), Fran-Key's throbbing, Italo-influenced late night hypnotism ('Summer Into Winter'), and the enveloping, opaque electronics and dusty, all-action grooves of Metropolitan Soul Museum's 'Stoneman'. An impressive snapshot of where the label's at, which is a place we'd like to be.
Played by: Juno Recommends Disco
Review: [Emotional] Especial stalwart and all-round underground progenitor Richard Sen makes a welcome return launching new label Darkness Is Your Candle with some of his inimitable muscular wave-tinted machine wares for seedy dancefloors. "No Sameness" is a stellar lead track, all evil one-note bass, freaky synth wriggles and the odd touch of splashy mixing desk FX. "Darkness Is Your Candle" is a touch more anthemic with its big melodic leads, but no less seductive. "Into The Abyss" completes the package with another brooding workout that slips in the cracks between vintage techno and minimal wave - classic tropes delivered impeccably.
Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House
Review: Former Padded Cell and Bronx Dogs man Richard Sen has made some great records in his time, and "Songs of Pressure" is up there with the best of them. Joining the dots between murky dub disco, horror soundtracks and EBM, it layers spooky, delay-laden synthesizer motifs and wonky vocal samples atop a heavy dub rhythm and punchy machine drums. Pals Andrew Weatherall and Timothy J Fairplay deliver a bongo-laden, dubbed-out revision (part wayward exotica, part humid Balearic dub), while Acca strips the track down to its' nare bones for a ket-addled dub.
Review: Friends for many years, Richard Sen and Scott Fraser come together with a dose of mutual admiration and back slapping by remixing each other on this 2 track EP. However, what makes this collaboration different is there are no original versions appearing, just these remixes. By completing an unfinished track of each the other, the pair have taken the respective unarranged music and gone back to their East London studios to, in essence, finish the other's songs in the form a "remix". Known for a myriad of deep electronic dubs in the last few years, Scott provides plenty of surprises with his remix of Richard's Night Navigator. A driving 10+ minutes 'piano-house' opus, the late 80s Italian / Balearic vibrations run straight through his interpretation of that classic Mediterranean sound. Not for long though, as firmly dragging things straight back to the dark and wet streets of Hackney, Richard takes Scott's Ask For Control and creates a tough, percussive, deep dub remix that would propel any basement dance floor through the early hours.
Mixed Blood Cuts 009EXCLUSIVE
Review: One of the undoubted joys of Richard Sen and Cazbee's Mixed Blood Cuts re-edits series is the unusual and varied nature of the material on offer. This ninth instalment offers six more leftfield dancefloor gems cut-up and rearranged for maximium pleasure. There's a pair of Mascara-flaunting Italo-meets-New Wave jams (excellent opener "Second Hand Love" and the sweeter, groovier, Gaz Nevada-ish "If You Were"), some suitably heavy disco (the horn-toting, low slung delight that is "Dance Time"), an exotic trip into Middle Eastern disco territory (the swirling strings, Lebanese instrumentation and chugging rhythms of "Storm Chasers") and a triumphant rearrangement of Modern English's moody post-punk classic "Life in the Gladhouse". Oh, and a brilliantly bizarre fusion of twisted electronics and brass band funk ("B-Boys on Acid").
Mixed Blood Cuts 008EXCLUSIVE
Review: After breathing new life into his Padded Cell project, Richard Sen is ready to bring his sneaky rework label, Mixed Blood Cuts, out of hibernation. This collaborative collection of cut-ups, put together with old pal Cazbee, is typical of the label's eccentric approach to the humble re-edit. Here, you'll see no quantized versions of obvious hits, but rather a delightfully messy sprawl of stoner funk-rock (the delightfully quirky "Powerslide"), Afro-voodoo (the brilliantly percussive "Yu No"), low-slung Moroder revivalism (a particularly crusty version of "The Chase",) and post-punk era proto-acid (the fantastically druggy "Too Much Nuthin"). For those of a leftfield disco persuasion, it should be an essential purchase.
Wild Things: Vol 4EXCLUSIVE
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Deadly Avenger - "King Tito's Gloves" (Derrick Carter's Totally Digital Disco Remake) - (8:32) 128 BPM
