April 2010 Records Round Up

I’m not going to lie… Q1 2010 has been a ridiculous time for records... I have probably spent more money in the last few months on fancy black plastic discs than I’ve had in years. But you know, every week those Dope Jams / Downtown 304 / FE etc. emails come flying into my inbox and the temptation is just too great! Here’s a run-down of what I’ve been feeling the most in the first quarter.


Entro Senestre – La Caccia
I threw together a review for RA for this one a little while back. Since then I haven’t been able to stop playing all the sides. Just pure old-school electro like they hardly make anymore! Will from WT Records has been playing samples on his radio show from the upcoming WT004 by a New Orleans producer and those are also sounding very nice... This young label is still keeping their hit rate extremely high!




FCL – Vocals for Everyone
Speaking of hit rates, I think no one in the business right now is releasing as much consistent quality as the guys from WePlayHouse over in Ghent City, BE. This 12’’ is just ridiculously solid with NO wasted wax on any of the sides! Rare is the house record nowadays that doesn’t have at least one (or two) throwaway ‘deep’ excursions that are more apt for putting infants to bed than dancing. This is definitely NOT one of those records.




Move D / Fred P / Steve Oh – Earth Tones
Unfortunately this record on Fred P’s Earthtones suffers a bit from the phenomenon mentioned above. You get the beautiful, creative ‘Om’ but it comes packaged with two deep house tracks mired in molasses by Move D and Steve Oh. While these aren’t ‘bad’ tracks per se they are both somewhat forgettable and in the current environment with so much quality about, it’s hard to think you’ll spend much time spinning these.




Trus’ Me – In the Red
Another sad disappointment for me was the new(ish) Trus’ Me album. Seriously, I felt this production was just painfully cheesy most of the time. ‘In The Red’ with Piranhahead in particular was pretty painful… A lackluster uninspired jam with foreboding lyrics about the dangers of 8 mile… blah… There were a few salvageable moments on the LP such as “?” and “Sweet Mother” but for the most part this was a huge disappointment after the brilliance that was ‘Working Nights’. Unfortunately Prime Numbers in general hasn’t been doing much for me with the label seemingly stuck in a dull pattern- the last MCDE / Mr. Scruff / Andres 12’’ was decent but nothing too creative or unexpected happening. I’m hoping the British label will get it together in 2H 2010 and hit us with something truly unexpected.

New Disco Edits... Discotheque Wreckers & Secrets 001
On the disco-side of business, two great records that I’ve been spinning consistently are Discotheque Wreckers and Secrets 001. The first is a set of edits by UK crew Psychemagik that feature all of the right elements to heat up the dance floor: dramatic strings, electric guitars, bongos and trumpets. No slow-mo wannabe ‘Cosmic’ posturing here- just pure, intense, stomping disco. The latter release is by Brooklyn-based, Detroit-transplant, Matt Abott and consists of two moodier, slightly Balearic cuts that are great for setting the right mood at any laid-back springtime party. My only complaint is the B-side on this suffers from the slow-mo sickness that seems to be rampant within the disco scene at the moment. That said, pitching the track up to +6 gets the groove going at a more appropriate party-time tempo.

Massive Attack - Heligoland
On the album front I’ve been slowly growing fonder of the new Massive Attack album ‘Heligoland’. Like a lot of the work from this collective, it takes multiple plays to really start feeling comfortable with their brooding, intricate structures. While I don’t feel this is quite on the level as ‘Mezzanine’ or even ‘Protection’, it certainly has some very beautiful compositions such as “Pray for Rain” and “Paradise Circus”. I have tickets to their NYC show in a couple of weeks and am expecting big things from this legendary band. Look for a mini-report and opinions on that here…



Addison Groove – Footcrab
Finally, I am not sure if I am completely insane for enjoying Addison Groove’s “Footcrab”? Apparently this repetitive track which heavily borrows from Chicago juke style music has been making the rounds in the UK and Europe blowing up techno and 2-step / dub-step dance-floors. Does anyone even know wtf a footcrab is?! In any case, I expect this one to gain momentum throughout the warmer months… we’ll see how quickly everyone gets sick of it! For now though, enjoy doing the footcrab, footcrab , footcrab, footcrab, footcrab, footcrab, footcrab, footcrab,.