“3 Days and 3 Nights” EP

Great Stuff Recordings

Spanish house heroes Amo & Navas ride that fine line between big room prowess and cool underground credibility, with their sexy fusion of tribal, tech and house having seen them release on Yoshitoshi, 303lovers, Hotfingers and Black Hole Recordings, remix the likes of Trentemøller and David Guetta and collaborate with D-Nox & Beckers. Back with a brand new EP of original material for Germany’s Great Stuff, they are kicking off their 2012 with a bang.

3 Days & 3 Nights is a succinct yet satisfying rolling tribal tech house cut, with subtle layers of organic percussion splattered atop a gnarly analog bass groove, and preacherman vocals bringing another element of humanity to their shoulder-popping style. It’s one for lovers of chunky house or sexy techno alike.

Squirt meanwhile provides a flipside whose snappy disco-flavoured percussive groove gives no suggestion of what’s to come. Out of nowhere erupts a huge, rasping b-line lead, filling the stereo field with its width and buzzing energy, laying the foundation for a real techno romper stomper. Watch out for that nasty, razor-sharp breakdown; it’s intense.

It’s left to Ron Costa to inject Squirt with a healthy dose of galloping percussion, pitch-shifting cymbal rides and a focus on teasing that nasty bassline in gradually until it’s boiled up to fever pitch. An even filthier journey than the original, making for a great package overall.

Also Check:

www.amonavas.com

Zounds of Arca

Great Stuff Recordings

It’s time for something with a bit of a different flavour from Great Stuff boss Tomcraft. As if co-running several of the world’s most prolific and successful house and techno imprints wasn’t enough, he’s also providing some of their hottest releases on an impressively regular basis.

Zounds Of Arca is a cool little groover, fixed around a sassy disco-fied breakbeat that harks back to the golden age of nu skool breaks – a sound threatening to make a renaissance at the moment. A futuristic, seductive arpeggiated bassline does the damage in the low end department, with rasping synths drafted in for texture and atmosphere. Banging big room house this is not, with our guide instead taking us in a darkly-tinged, highly-atmospheric, half-step direction.

If a 4/4 banger is exactly what you’re after, however, help as at hand in the form of Phunk Investigation’s wonderfully undulating re-rub. Taking that arpeggio bassline as their rhythmic jumping-off point, they build an energetic electro-tech vibe around it, and choose to make the most out of the original’s scintillating elements. It’s not a reinvention of the wheel, but instead sees the potential of the original through a different prism, with huge builds and hipshaking aplenty along the way.

Tomcraft’s Website:

www.tomcraft.de

Double Trouble

Great Stuff Recordings

Zenbi first came to prominence on Saeed Younan’s eponymous Younan Music label last year, remixing the imprint owner’s Kumbalha alongside Sabb. Now he’s back with a tasty solo effort on Germany’s Great Stuff, with both of his aforementioned colleagues providing remixes.

Double Trouble is a sleek little groove, and an exercise in simplicity. Tribal vocals and a descending, saucy bassline work their way around crisp, perfectly spaced percussion and techy rhythms to create a succinct, deft concoction. If it’s not slick and smooth you’re after though, four remixes from four very talented producers provide a suitably wide palette.

Saeed Younan reaches for his box of tribal goodies to compliment the vocal, building on his bouncing, galloping groove with infectious wooden percussion and layers of light techy metalics upping the energy to bring the track to fever pitch. Sexy, seductive and ridiculously plump. Italian star Stefano Noferini reveals his techno edge with his pumping, rolling rework that marries incessant bass to a shoulder-popping rhythm, while UK’s finest Filthy Rich brings his tribal tech A-game with a beautifully chunky, brooding version. Zenbi’s partner-in-crime rounds off the package with a throbbing, cymbal ride heavy excursion that combines serious bass weight with a decided lightness of touch elsewhere.

Also check:

www.soundcloud.com/zenbi

www.soundcloud.com/stefano-noferini

www.saeedyounan.com

www.koneymarc.com

www.sideburnmusic.com

Can You Dance EP

Great Stuff Recordings

January is a time for sobriety, chilling and cutting down on the partying – right? Wrong. When there are sassy new grooves like this to contend with, why bother with behaving? Jay Lumen’s certainly got different ideas.

The Hungarian whizz kid steps back up to the plate with his new EP, bringing the world another two slices of dancefloor prowess. Can You Dance is a typically sprightly affair, galloping along at a pacey tempo with pitch-shifting cymbal rides, Krupa-esque snare fills and a classic vocal sample taken down a few notches to a druggy timbre. The sample in question comes from Blaze feat. Palmer Brown’s classic My Beat, and sounds as fresh and compelling today as it did almost 15 years ago. All this energetic texture is sat atop a wiggling, low-slung b-line, with a subtle jazzy flavour permeating the mix. Resistance is futile.

Flip over for The Drummer and you’ll be treated to another ride through Lumen’s impressive arsenal of syncopated percussion and incessant bass pressure. Wigged-out vocal snippets and mind-bending FX weave in and out of his galloping groove, with a subtle yet tense breakdown that takes your eye off the ball and sets the drop up for a seriously potent impact.

Magyar magic once again on both fronts!

Also check:

www.soundcloud.com/jay-lumen-official

www.myspace.com/jaylumen

Mexican EP

Craft Music

Tomcraft’s ever-impressive Craft Music returns to kick the January blues into touch with a very tasty, spicy 4-track collection from himself and three rising artists: the Mexican EP.

The label owner’s Taco heads up the herd with its fierce electro house stylings. Packing a hell of a punch, it fuses rude synth grunts, super-sharp percussion and all manner of bleeps with bundles of big room appeal. Soaring builds hammered by heavy drums lift the track up into the ether before the futuristic tech-funk groove slams back into life. A perfect set-builder.

Solid Snake follow up their recent impressive work with another solid banger: the undulating techno chug of DFWH. Arpeggiated bass, taut bongos and fizzing shakers form a beast of a groove, with layers of extra percussion and FX welded together in potent fashion and a rasping sidewinder of a lead line boring its way through the heart of the track. Tough tackle.

It’s a deeper approach that SQL take on Inside Myself, opting for wonky, drugged-up techno with a menacing glint in its eye. It’s an exercise in subtlety, throbbing bass carefully woven into the root of the track, pitched and glitched vocals twisting around and eerily tribal percussion and textures heightening the tension.

David Durst rounds off the EP in dark style with the rumbling Side One. While ostentisbly techno, there’s something about its mood that recalls old skool progressive house, all brooding and slow-building with an emphasis on spooky atmospheres. There’s nothing overstated; instead the focus here is on heads-down hypnotism. Get involved and zone out.

Also check:

www.tomcraft.de

www.solidsnakemusic.com

www.sqlmusic.com

Italoberican Grooves

Great Stuff Recordings

Seeing the name DJ Chus on a release is one of those reassuring marks of quality where you know that whatever lies inside is going to be something truly irresistible. And, it should go without saying, you know it’s going to be a heavily tribal affair. The master teams up with Supernova on this new release to give his Iberican trademark sound a little of that Italian tech flavour.

Italoberican Grooves gives you little room for manoeuvre. It’s a case of DANCE, or else. This audio imperative is concocted by way of throbbing bass, punchy kick and taut clap, and most importantly layers and lashings of rolling tribal percussion that combine to create a swirling torrent of rhythm and tonal atmospherics. Topped off with a hypnotic vocal chant, it harks back to the golden age of tribal – before things went all deep and minimal. An instrumental is supplied for those who want to keep it percussive, and a vocal tool-a-pella for those wishing for some extra weapons to add spice to their sets.

The Lapsus Dub is on a similar tip, yet with the techno factor turned up a few notches. Bigger hi-hats, rumbling fills and bugged-out vocal FX add more layers of intensity, the track pounding along like a steamroller. Its energy is relentless, and should see this release get strong support in the techier community.

Check:

www.djchus.com

Saturday + Remix

Craft Music

Looking for a big room banger with some old skool flavour? You’ve come to the right place then. Next up on Tomcraft’s eponymous Craft Music label is dark yet playful track that’s rammed full of energy from Swiss talents Elvis Benait (once of Toolroom Trax) and Strobe. Saturday builds incessantly with sharp rave stabs and deft little arpeggios hammering away over hard-hitting Dutch house style beats, making no concessions for its markedly direct approach. The builds are big; the kicks and claps are heavy; and the riffs bore straight into your head. There’s a bit of a mid-’90s hardbag / Hi-NRG feel to the proceedings, all wrapped up inside razor-sharp modern production. Chunky.

On the flip, Sweden’s Solid Snake (don’t try saying that after a few Schnappses) work their magic, reaching into the draw marked ‘303 acid’ to bring another element of retro chic to their bouncy tech remix. Gated stab chords arrive in the breakdown, adding yet another element of relentless groove into the mix. Watch out for that bendy bassline too. It’s a remix that stays true to the character of the original, but shakes it up into something more rolling and groove-focused.

Also check:

www.myspace.com/elvisbenait

www.solidsnakemusic.com

Munich Disco Tech  Vol.14:  ”The Final Chapter”  - Gold Edition

Great Stuff Recordings

All good things must come to an end. If they don’t, they eventually fizzle out unimpressively. And so just like the smartest bands who know it’s best to call it a day when they’ve hit their peak. Great Stuff Recordings’ stupidly successful Munich Disco Tech EP series comes to its last release: the 13-exclusive tracks of Volume 14: The Final Chapter.

No less than 22 artists combine on this grand finale to provide an EP of highly effective house and techno styles, making for the perfect send-off for the series. The highlights of the previous thirteen releases have been numerous, with a huge array of talents from Ian Pooley to Ramon Tapia to Umek to James Talk to Tiger Stripes to Bass Kleph to DJ Chus featuring along the way. Here’s what this ultimate episode has in store:

Christian Cambas – We Found A World (Original)

A game of two halves – big swirling, atmospheric, almost electro-esque breakdowns intersperse a fiendishly bouncy, stripped back techno groove that’s shaken and stirred to perfection and punctuated by sharp rave stab blasts.

Christian Cambas – We Found a World (Stefano Noferini Remix)

The Italian master brings his tried and test formula to the remix, stripping elements out to create a bouncier still reworking that’s all killer, no filler. One to get the bodies jacking and the dancefloor sweating.

David Amo and Julio Navas – The Waterparties (Fresco Mix)

Those talented Spaniards deliver once again with their undulating, elasticated wiggler, laden with sassy charm and minute little samples that are cleverly woven together to create a syncopated jackathon that screams “open-air summer festival”.

Filthy Rich & Juan Kidd – Break This Down

Combine shuffling old skool percussion and sustained, tense lines, rap samples and new skool flavour and what do you get? A cheeky little roller from two soaring UK house music talents. Falling somewhere between the deeper end of tech house and the bigger room sound, it’s a track that should amply satisfy fans in both camps.

Federico Scavo, Danny Freakazoid & Strobe – Feroda

Rasping electro attitude meets techy groove on this three-way collaboration, overflowing with a rampant bassline, white nose pulses and a generally heavy attitude. A big electronic monster to lay waste to large arenas at peak times.

Marco Lys – Kaleido

The star of Chris Lake’s Rising Music provides a typically chunky track for the compilation, layering twisted ethnic instruments and vocal chants over one of his trademark big old basslines and hip-shaking percussive patterns. Incessant.

Ant Brooks – Reflekt

Big room mid-‘90s house is the order of the day here, with Brooks’ joyous, fist-pimping ode to the classic European sound of older. Uplifting string cascades, heartfelt piano chords and of course some gruff diva vocals to top it all off. Irresistible and authentic.

Mihalis Safras & Kiko – Tsiko

Crisp, chunky beats are at the heart of Safras and Kiko’s new excursion, punctuated by sprightly off-beat bassline and echoed chord stabs. It’s a track that doesn’t let up, and that keeps the energy rolling continuously. No stop-start, up and down journeying; just solid momentum.

Max Bett – Pizza

This gorgeous little number gets its colour from a cool, summery, quivering LFOed synth line, equally funky and techy in its texture and bringing a deeper moment to the compilation. It’s no snooze-fest though; sublime chime chords, sweet counter melodies and warm bass combine in sumptuous fashion throughout.

Danny Serrano with Gonzalez & Gonzalo – Sake

Want some no-nonsense techno? You’ve found it. This rolling tribal-infused groover is a heads down rhythm track, concerned with nothing else but satisfying primal urges. A very useful set builder to keep the energy flowing.

Townston & Delgado – Day & Night

A deeper cut, driven by a superbly classy bassline, and fleshed out with dusty disco percussion and gently muted chords and pad swathes. It’s deep house for sure, but with the requisite energy to make it work on an early dancefloor and not just laidback lounges.

Mario Ochoa – Chronos

Yet more dancefloor gold in this shoulder-popping track, whose tight and tidy rhythms are broken up by synth ‘n’ tribal vocal breakdowns to brilliantly juxtaposing effect. If this doesn’t elicit a huge reaction every time it’s dropped, we’ll eat our proverbial hats.

Alexis Cabrera & Matteo Spedicati – Make Me Feel

Jazzy, off-kilter organ chords create a groovy yet slightly twisted atmosphere on this peppy little roller, recalling organ classics of the past filtered through the prism of light, seductive tribal-tinged tech house percussion.

Please check the individual artists’ pages for more information.

Homeless EP

Great Stuff Recordings

No remixes, no big name guests – just three quality tracks from two great producers.

Greek talent Tone Depth is now over a decade in the game, with notable releases on John Digweed’s legendary Bedrock Records and Dave Seaman’s acclaimed Audio Therapy, while up-and-comer Anthony Attalla has been doing impressive work on a slew of high-pedigree labels like Trapez, Tronic, Definitive, MBF, Break New Soil and his own imprint, Incorrect Music.

Elton Bisquick begins life like a particularly hip-shaking techno clock, ticking away teasingly before a colourful stab blast introduces thudding kick and low slung, pared-back bass. The spacious, delicate groove is patched together carefully, drawing us towards another wonderfully atmospheric breakdown, with horn blasts twisted into submission and made to do battle with those sexy off-beat stabs. A captivating blend of sounds, all drawn together by some irresistible rhythms.

Homeless Hymn the takes over with a barrage of slow-burning, hypnotic techno that Josh Wink would be proud of, all muted, trippy bass tones and looped atmospheres boiling away amidst gently jacking beats. There’s a real sense of space here and stripped-back ingenuity, with heady builds dropping back into the murky depths of a rolling groove. It harks back to turn of the millennium; brooding prog-meets-techno concocted in delicious fashion. Subtle, yet devastating.

The package is rounded off with the more quirky and subdued Butt Naked Wanda, a cool roller built around swirling chord pads, a bubbling bassline and a captivating crackhead/pimp-esque vocal from an unknown American source. Jazzy cymbal rides and reversed chord stabs and more texture and flavour, and the overall result is something truly different for Great Stuff and very cool indeed.

This is something markedly different for the label, and an EP which should attract a flock of new attention from far and wide. Techno executed brilliantly across three mesmerising tracks.

Check:

www.anthonyattalla.com

www.tonedepthonline.com

Tomcraft

Tell Mummy

Great Stuff Recordings

Short and sweet is a rule that many dance music producers would do well to adhere to. Sure, there are occasions when a longer, more drawn-out, slow-building vibe is called for, but all too often it’s a case of too many bars and too few ideas. Great Stuff founder Tomcraft returns to his home label with 5 minutes and 20 seconds of razor-sharp electro tech on Tell Mummy, showing the beauty of succinctness.

His original is a pounding beast, introduced with soft vinyl crackles and eerie textures and FX before a killer Moroder style arpeggiated bassline thumps into focus. Nagging tech-trance flavoured synth lines build the tension over taut, undulating over and weaving in between each other before a classic rave vocal cuts through the build-up and the full manic energy of the track is unleashed in all its glory. It’s stadium-sized stuff to really kick a set into overdrive with.

England’s Richard Dinsdale is firing on full form once again, and proves he’s worth his salt with a sumptuously rolling techy refix. Mashed-up vocal edits and rasping electro and tech synth blasts, bleeps and zips help to create a gently mind-bending atmosphere atop a bouncy, hipshaking groove that’s hard to resist. So why bother trying? Stick it on and discover that sweet spot between big room energy and underground cool.

Also check:

www.tomcraft.de

www.richarddinsdale.com