Review: Something Happening Somewhere, the label of Dutch DJ Nuno Dos Santos, welcomes a new artist to its roster. As the title track on this EP demonstrates, Joannes makes a particularly distinctive take on house music. The drums are rough and ready and acid licks gurgle and spiral their way over her spiky rhythms. In contrast, "Vrijdag" is cleaner sounding and deeper, with shiny synths un-ravelling over a growling bass. The label has commissioned two fine remixes; Melatonin Man turns "Got Needs" into a stripped back rhythm track, led by a sinewy bass, while in contrast, Nadia Stru-iwigh's take on "Vrijdag" is a bleak electro workout.
Review: British electro legend Kurt Baggaley returns to Nuno Dos Santos' imprint with his second release featuring more mesmerising electronic forms. Starting out with the the freefall modular ambience of "Remembering Infinity" and then straight into the tunnelling and hypnotic journey that is Mattheis' remix - awash in strobe-lit arpeggios, layers of ethereal pads and a slow-burning groove all round. There's something that you'd find more familiar of Baggaley on the darkly evocative dystopianism of "Under Its Watchful Eye" showcasing the reputable artist's spellbinding studio mastery, until the bold futurism of "Detect" signals a return to the sound of his renowned Scape One alias. After this, Dutchman Awanto 2 (Dekmantel) is a welcome addition to the release and serves up a dusty and sunny deep house rendition of the track, for something a bit different.
Prosa (Far Out Radio Systems remix) - (8:11) 123 BPM
Storm Inside (Fader From Borneo remix) - (5:10) 128 BPM
Dust In Your Eyes (Mark Du Mosch remix) - (7:59) 118 BPM
Prosa (Polynation remix) - (6:56) 121 BPM
Review: After Nuno dos Santos' striking Trigonometry of Love EP, Something Happening Somewhere presents a killer four track remix pack that lets others give their perspective on the tracks. Far Out Radio Systems turn in a gentle and evocative deep house rendition of "Prosa", as do fellow Dutchmen Polynation - who give the track a more soulful vibe reminiscent of early Innervisions or Diynamic. Fader From Borneo give "Storm Inside" a taste of the acid life on this pre-peak time stomper. Finally the Tabernacle and Pinkman affiliated Mark Du Mosch is a surprising addition, we must say! He gets bittersweet and emotive as ever in lush and (dare we say it!) kinda prog-house fashion with his remix of "Dust In Your Eyes".
Review: Something Happening Somewhere label and events by Nuno Dos Santos out of Utrecht Netherlands now presents Amsterdam rising star Presk. "2bxprzd" is a dark and brooding journey track optimised for some proper dancefloor drama. The bouncy and uplifting "Starets" is a positive change of attitude but with equal pizazz on the dancefloor until finally the remix by label head honcho Dos Santos delivers something more dreamy and evocative.
Review: Nuno Dos Santos' label now presents another wonderful release by Quince following up equally stellar efforts by Love Over Entropy and the legendary Kurt Baggaley. On the Rif EP, the title track starts off proceedings in fine style on this soothing deep house journey on the techy side. He then throws us a curveball with the grinding EBM attitude of "Propheet" which features dirty analogue arpeggios and rusty minimal drum patterns. "CoAttus" goes for some Robert Hood style hypnotism of the minimalist kind, until "Stop" returns to the deep house side of things.
Review: The second compilation on Nuno Dos Santos' label spans a wide range of styles but never sounds forced. Representing the contemporary approach to techno are Malbetrieb and SB, whose stepping rhythms and clicking percussive tracks are shot through with layered trance chords and sensuous woodwind. Locked Groove and Quince are more direct with their contributions, with the latter's "Europa" standing out thanks to its tough tribal drums. However, the best moments here are the deepest ones. Stefan Vincent's "How It Could've Been" is a slinky, ice-cold minimal affair and Kid Culture's "Arp313" is, as its title suggests, a sublime Detroit techno style track.
Fader From Borneo - "Sound Fondue" - (4:31) 129 BPM
Kurt Baggaley - "Detect" - (4:37) 122 BPM
Love Over Entropy - "Off The Grid" (Versalife remix) - (6:48) 120 BPM
Quince - "Stop" - (3:26) 124 BPM
Review: Nuno Dos Santos enjoys referring to the tracks he releases on Something Happening Somewhere as "stories". Thus, NOWHERE01 - the first volume in a new compilation series - is billed as being full of "shards of tales long forgotten". In reality, it's a fine set of previously unreleased tracks and remixes, though Dos Santos's description is much more poetic. While the quality threshold remains impressively high throughout, highlights include Fatama Yamaha's dreamy and lucid, deep house-meets-Balearic synth-pop tweak of Kiani and His Legion's "Electric", the sleazy and percussive techno-jack of Tracey's "Stratosfear", the jazzy deep house dreaminess of Love Over Entropy's "H1" and the deep space electro brilliance of Versalife's interpretation of the same artist's "Off The Grid".
