Pezzner’s “Almost Here” is… almost here

Freerange Records is definitely one of the most respected names in deep house. Not long ago celebrating their 100th release, now Jamie Odell and his crew are looking baldly into the future.

If someone has any doubt about the last sentence, they should peel their ears for the next release stamped with a dripping cloud and a swallow. In a weeks time the new single from Pezzner will see the daylight (Oct 13th on vinyl, Oct 27th digital). It’s called Almost Here and it’s been doing rounds on various podcasts around the globe.

On this release you’ll find 3 tracks and all of the are Dave Pezzner’s original creations (actually one in three different shapes). If you’re wondering why didn’t the label ask anyone to remix Almost Here, you really should listen to the music. I’m not even going to try to describe what it sounds like. Maybe I’ll just quote Shur-I-Kan, who said it’s a “brilliant piece of future looking production”. Exactly… future looking.

Pezzner – Almost Here – [Freerange Records]

1. Almost Here (Part 1)
2. Almost Here (Part 2)
3. Almost Here (Part 3)

Previews courtesy of Freerange Records.

For all those, for whom the name Pezzner doesn’t sound familiar, let me say that he’s a talented artist based in Seattle, where (aside from producing brilliant tracks for Freerange) he is creating music for computer games, TV shows and advertising. Together with Bob Hansen, he’s a member of Jacob London duo, which managed to release over a dozen of their own productions and remix even more music for people like: Johnny Fiasco, Justin Martin & Sammy D and Ben Mono.

Motorcitysoul’s album coming soon, single out now

Wednesday (Sep 24th) saw the release of Motorcitysoul‘s new single on Simple Records. It’s a cross-atlantic collaboration of the Hamburg based production duo with a talented LA vocalist, Ovasoul7, who’s gained the well deserved acclaim after appearing on Deetron‘s I Cling last year.

The track is called Change You and it’s a very rhythmic and energetic deep house production topped with Ovasoul7′s mellow vocals mixed well into the music thanks to a lot of reverbs and echoes. Shur-I-Kan’s remix is more concentrated around the middle section and although the instrumentation is more busy and complex than the original, the remix creates less tension and a more relaxed atmosphere. It seems more like a dub version as Tom decided to use only little portions of the vocal.

Motorcitysoul – Change You – [Simple Records]

 

1. Original

2. Shur-I-Kan Remix

Audio samples from Simple Records

 

Change You is the first single from MCS’s forthcoming album Technique, which is due to be released on Oct 13th. It will be a second studio album for Matthias and Christian, the first one entitled Did You Expect That? came out in 2004 on a German label INFRACom!. Apart from Change You, the album will feature two other productions released earlier as singles on another label run by Will Soul, Aus Music. Lucky for those, who have already bought Kazan and/or Space Kätzle, their versions on the album will differ from the original productions. Two other cuts from the album (Solar and Hatohay) are planned to be released in November this year with remixes from Move D and Manuel Tur & DPlay.

Motorcitysoul – Technique – [Simple Records]

1. The Start feat. Ernesto
2. Deliver Me feat. Ernesto
3. Space Kätzle
4. Solar (Album Version)
5. Change You feat. Ovasoul 7
6. Kazan (707 Edit)
7. The City
8. Hermelin
9. Hatohay
10. Movement & Motion feat. Marlene Johnson
11. XYZ 

To listen to the album please visit Simple Records.

Hökarängen Space Program EP by Cloud

If the first part of the title looks to you like a name from the IKEA brochure, you’re on the right track. But don’t worry, I’m not going to write about furniture… 

Cloud is the nickname of Alexander Berg, a talented producer coming from Gothenberg in Sweden. From the beginning of his career (at least according to Dicogs) he is releasing his work on a british label called Exceptional. Around February they’ve release a 2-tracked EP called Hökarängen Space Program, which has been brought to my attention by Crowdpleaser, who’s put together a nice mix featuring one of the tracks (Sakta) from this EP.

So what’s on the release? The above mentioned Sakta, which is fantastic minimal techy track, which is a combination of some punchy staccato synth played over some nicely laid pads. The productions sounds raw but not dirty and definitely makes you head shake. The Grid is a lot softer around the edges with a touch of a vocal sample plucked lead and some great sounding Asian instrument in the break. Both tracks are highly addictive so get your wallet ready. Enough non-sense now, listen to the previews.

Cloud - Hökarängen Space Program EP – [Exceptional Records]

 

1. Sakta

2. The Grid

 

Samples provided by Beatport

The Twist is coming

I am very much looking forward to Monday (Sep 29th) as it’s the scheduled release date for Shur-I-Kan’s new EP on Urbantorque Recordings. It’s called The Twist and you can find 3 tracks on it. Other than the magnificent title track, there are two versions of a tune called Gripper (Original Mix and Reprise).

As Tom said on his podcast in September,  The Twist (track not the EP) had been finished a couple of months back, but could not be released earlier. Well, I’m glad it’s finally coming out, as it’s simply beautiful. You’ll find a lot of shaky percussion, little stabs, glissandos and a vocal sample. This combination makes the tune seem very alive and just makes you dance.

Gripper (Original Mix) is a different story. The beats are more on time (besides this thing that sounds like footsteps of  someone on high heels) and the track is building up with all the instruments playing almost the same thing with occasional synth stabs and little EQed vocal samples. I love what Shur-I-Kan did with the strings. They’re bold yet do not stand out and don’t sound too epic. Just sort of nicely bled in… Great job!

Shur-I-Kan’s Reprise version of Gripper is a bit surprising if one is expecting an intro kind of thing with no beats in the beginning, etc. It’s basically a new full version of the track just exploring some different sections of the mix. The lower-mid part focuses around on some nice arpeggios and in the higher part, the vocal sample is repeated more often. 

Be sure to check out Urbantorque’s site for more info about this release and to listen to the tracks (over here or over there)…

Shur-I-Kan – Twist EP – [Urbantorque Recordings]

1. Gripper (Original Mix)

2. The Twist

3. Gripper (Shur-I-Kan’s Reprise)

Audio samples provided by Urbantorque

Milton Jackson launches Dark Energy Recordings

If you’re (like me) a big fan of Milton Jackson‘s music, you’ll be thrilled to learn that the Glasgow based producer started his own label.

The new imprint was set up for “releasing some serious bizness dark energetic stuff” as the artist writes on his  blog. I wonder if this is just for his own productions or does he plan on releasing other people’s music also.

The first release came out yesterday and it’s an EP called the same as the label: Dark Energy. It features 3 tracks: Never Be Wrong, Never Be Right and a beats edit of the latter. Judging from the reactions coming from people like Laurent Garnier, Satoshi Tomiie or Jay Tripwire, the debut release is a success. Never Be Wrong seems to be the favorite of many and I can’t blame them. The dubby chords are very very cathy. Never Be Right is a more laid-back kind of thing, but still offers a lot of energy. The Beats Edit seems like a great DJ tool featuring some interesting drums and vox samples. Listen for yourself.