Reviews: 153

Single of the Week

Sebb Junior
Move It EP
Madhouse Records

Paris’s Sebb Junior debut on the Kerri Chandler’s label sees the artist reignite all the ingredients that made House in the early 90’s so timeless (in retrospect). The self-assured title track feels addictive with breezy, summertime jazzy keys looped over bouncing drums and chopped up vocals that work their way into your mind. The excellent, Don’t Stop then proceeds to hit you with classic piano that sounds every bit as great as it always did combining warmth, emotion and dancefloor punch. Let You Go provides the sting in the tail via its sassy drums and yearning vocals rounding off another great release from the imprint.

Release: June 1 (Traxsource Exclusive) / June 14 2015.
https://www.facebook.com/sebbjunior
http://www.madhouserecordsinc.com

https://soundcloud.com/madhouse-records/sets/kctdl1148-sebb-junior-move-it-ep

Ellen Allien
High EP
BPitch Control

Making eleven minutes sound exciting, creative and in the end enjoyable is no easy task but this first release of the year from Ellen Allien does all of that and so effortlessly too. Driven by its addictive bassline High builds in layers of suitably tense movements with tough percussion punctuating the rhythms while dark synthesizers dance away in the background. The focal point creeps in towards mid-point with a You Make Me Feel So High vocal line that I guess will have everyone nodding in approval. Lou, comes next combining Acid and Techno across hard-edged beats with undoubtedly breathless results.

https://www.bpitchcontrol.de
http://www.ellenallien.de
https://www.facebook.com/EllenAllien

https://soundcloud.com/ellen-allien/ellen-allien-high

Posthuman
I Love Acid
I LOVE ACID 005

Number five in the series could just be the hottest to date with the vinyl only release arriving again in limited edition. I.E be quick. Beat Down is blistering ACID at its finest with gritty drums and 303 lines working themselves into a frenzy amid harsh vocals. Next and first rate, Inside You fuses more of Roland’s classic box together with deeper pads and funkier bass, leaving We Are The City to jam across the beats with perhaps inevitably Jack Jack Jack vocals tell you just what to do.

http://www.posthumanmusic.com
Numbered 303 copies http://www.juno.co.uk/products/posthuman-ila005/561505-01/

Bruce Brubaker
The Glass Piano
Infiné Music

I can’t confess to knowing a great deal about Brubaker but I aim to rectify that very quickly. What captured my eye was that these are Phillip Glass compositions (who he has worked with, and has also released previous interpretations through Arabesque Recordings) and likewise has again recorded fresh versions of existing tracks for this release. Acting as a conduit for the full scope of the composer’s imagination achieves stunning results, which apart from actually listening for yourself is almost hard to put into words correctly. I love the way the music tells its own story, conjuring up situations in your mind to accompany the narrative, and the freedom of possibilities that the combination of notes portray. Coming from decades of reviewing Dance Music it’s interesting to compare the result of repeating layers and textures evolving here, which in the end say so much more than the tired numbers of functional music being reproduced in that arena. So please enjoy the exquisite series of notes expanding across the stereo of ideas via Bruce Brubaker’s fingertips (plus of course the Plaid remix of Metamorphosis 5 which not surprisingly sounds very much like 2015.)

Buy: https://bleep.com/release/59559-bruce-brubaker-glass-piano-bonus-track-edition
Learn more: http://brucebrubaker.com
http://www.thevinylfactory.com/vinyl-factory-news/premiere-listen-to-a-track-from-bruce-brubakers-glass-piano-a-new-album-reimagining-phillip-glass/