Review: Baal follows a series of EPs for Musica Autonomica with this release for Ritter Butzke Studio, the label arm of the club. As the release's name suggests, this is an elegant, luxurious take on the well-worn minimal/tech-house sound. The tempo is slower and the groove unravels gradually, while on the title track, an evocative trance melody line weaves its way between the bass-heavy backing. "Madala" follows a similar path and sees Baal strike a balance between powerful bass tones and melancholic melody lines. On the extended version of "Cashmere", a club-friendly but still understated rhythm underpins tear-jerking melodies. It's been a few years since Baal's last record, but clearly there has been no loss of expertise in the meantime.
Review: Westerwald, Germany's Tim Engelhardt is back after some great releases on Cityfox and Poker Flat. This time it's own Berlin institution Ritter Butzke Studio with the excellent Nord EP. The title track is a deep and atmospheric journey track whose hypnotic layers and hazy atmosphere will create a real sense of travelling without moving on the dancefloor. Mario Aureo gets onboard for the remix and does a splendid job indeed; injecting the track with more groove (of the rolling, minimal house kind) funk and energy on a track that's perfect to transition into the peak time slot.
Mario Aureo & Manuel Moreno - "Collapse" - (6:58) 118 BPM
Mario Aureo & Manuel Moreno - "Collapse" (Markus Homm remix) - (7:14) 124 BPM
Review: Hannover's Mario Aureo has appeared previously on Bondage, Soulfooled and Moodmusic and rolls tight with fellow local Daniel Solar. On the Final Gloaming EP for Berlin institution Ritter Butzke, he throws down some mesmerising deep house grooves such on "Final Call" or "Gloaming" which bring to mind classic Freerange or Buzzin' Fly from the late noughties. He teams up with comrade Manuel Moreno on "Collapse" for more of the same, but it is the remix by man of the moment Markus Homm which gives the track a smooth and slinky yet adrenalised progressive house makeover for the peak time.
