Breach – Jack

Label: Dirtybird

Breach, aka Ben Westbeech, has been mighty busy lately. Along with a couple of collaborations, with Midland and Dark Sky, his Naked Naked imprint has been seeing a steady release schedule of big-room house tracks. With this prolific output has also come a change in the producer’s style, with a notable movement towards mainstream house tunes that also sound a little generic compared to the producer’s early output. Some of his newer tracks, such as the storming You Won’t Find Love Again, are such addictive bodyjackers that this ceases to matter, but on the other end of the spectrum his work today rarely sounds as innovative as Fatherless did back in 2010.

This exact dichotomy is present in Westbeech’s latest, a suitably sensuous pair of cuts for Claude Von Stroke’s crowdpleasing Dirtybird imprint. A-side Jack is pure gold, the looped vocal inciting the floor to dance is sure to turn heads, while the dirty low end progression and straight-edged 4/4 combine to form a simple but irresistible stomper that’s sure to get a lot of playtime in clubs. It’s basic but ruthlessly effective, combining unsophisticated house tropes with overtly sexual vocals that fit in perfectly with the UK’s current turn towards eroticised deep house sounds.

B-side Let’s Get Hot bears more than a passing resemblance to Westbeech’s recent Dark Sky collaboration The Click, from the descending bassline leading to the drop to the curiously unadorned beat pattern that leaves the overall sound more than a little hollow. Here the simplicity hasn’t paid off, the whispered vocals sound derivative and tuned, ricocheting toms do little to conceal the lack of substance to this simplistic roller. The package also comes with a Dub, which is a straight-up carbon copy of the original sans vocals. It all amounts to an oddly disaffected package from Breach, showing both the positive and negative results of adopting a more popular, mainstream sound; unless you score by making it pitch-perfect, you end up with nothing at all.

5.5/10

March Roundup

Here's White Noise's pick of the month's best tracks. Going from the biggest numbers through house, techno, and then the stranger corners of the dance spectrum, March was great and here are some highlights in our handy Youtube playlist.

Enjoy!

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Tracklist:

Tessela - Hackney Parrot [EP Review]

Headless Ghost - Basik Fire [EP Review]

Breach - Jack [EP Review]

DEVolution - Listen To The Badman

Dusky - Dummy [EP Review]

Dark Sky - Confunktion [EP Review]

Four Tet - For These Times [LP Review]

Mørbeck - Pleasure To Burn

Florian Kupfer - Feelin

Anthony Naples - Busy Signal

Martyn - Oceania [EP Review]

DjRum - Blue On Blue (Voodoo) [LP Review]

Romare - Your Love (You Give Me Fever) [EP Review]

DJ Rashad - Let It Go [EP Review]

Deadboy - Nova [EP Review]

Shlohmo - Later [EP Review]

Bicep & Ejeca - You (Ejeca's Piano Mix)

And the one we couldn't find on Youtube, Divvorce's excellent new EP on up-and-coming NY label Fifth Wall:

Breach & Dark Sky - The Click / The Fallout

Label: Naked Naked

Ben Westbeech follows up an accomplished collab with Midland on his Naked Naked label by joining forces with UK trio Dark Sky, known for their high grade low-end and impeccable production skills. It sounds like a match made in heaven, and the two tunes on offer sound fantastic, and would definitely kill on the dancefloor, but the release feels surprisingly safe and unremarkable compared to the highlights of either outfits’ work. The Click is the more brutal of the two, a brilliant bassline tunnelling under spare percussion, filtered synth work and a typically Dark Sky glut of atmospheric details. All the same, from the snipped vocal sample to the straight-laced beat patterns, the whole affair just sounds like a high quality remake of a relatively average house track.

The Click / The Fallout

B-side The Fallout is a lot more colourful, bright synth strokes recalling Dark Sky’s earlier work while the glossy hooks are all Breach. Still lacking a little in terms of innovation, a pitch-bent melody that enters the fray four minutes changes the game, adding a refreshing woozy twist to the track’s final stretch. These are great club tracks but you’d expect more from such brilliant producers. For the DJs this might be just the ticket, but it’s certainly not a particularly memorable excursion in either artists’ impressive canon.

6/10

Best Tracks of 2012: 50 – 26

Year End Coverage

* Best Albums of 2012

* Best EPs of 2012

* Best Labels of 2012

* Best Breakthrough Artists of 2012

* Best Tracks of 2012 - 101-76
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 75-51
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 50-26
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 25-1

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Here goes part 3 of our 4-part collection of the year's very best tracks. Enjoy! 

50 – Loops Of Your Heart – Cries

Stunning slow-burn synthwork from Axel Willner, the brain behind The Field. Ambient at its patient and emotive best.

49 – Illum Sphere – h808er

Unhinged acid trip from one of the big names to watch for 2013. Starts out as fresh analogue 303 jam before dissipating into a lush acoustic instrumental.

48 – Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka – No One feat. Abigail Wyles

The opener to the UK duo’s album They!Live was one of the most addictive, atmospheric cuts we heard all year. Superb moody synthwork and a nagging vocal lead into a tough House workout that we had on heavy rotation. Album Review.

47 – Breach – You Won’t Find Love Again

Ben Westbeech was back with a vengeance this year, releasing a great collab single with Midland and this, one of the most propulsive slices of House to grace club speakers over the summer. One of those cuts that’s sure to get any party moving.

46 – Special Request – Lolita (Warehouse Mix)

Rough and ready Techno workout that takes its time to get going, and that venomous synth burn before the drop is all the better for the wait.

45 – Storm Queen – Look Right Through (MK’s Don’t Talk To Me Dub)

Let’s Make Mistakes was great, but our favourite Storm Queen (aka Metro Area legend Morgan Geist) tune of the year was this MK remix, which revamped the classic to monstrous proportions. An example of MK at his very best: stylish vocal work and (two different) enormous bouncing basslines.

44 – Romare – Down The Line (It Takes A Number)

The man who capped off our Best EPs list did no better than the slow-mo Hip Hop crunch of this tune. A dangerous bassline underpins sharp finger clicks, classy vocal sampling and a phenomenal jazz-inflected drop. Cross-genre, cross-cultural, damn good music.

43 – Recondite – Tie In

Patient and meditative acid groove from a true original.

42 – Duke Dumont – The Giver

This is one of those tracks that makes you sit up and take notice from the first note. A guaranteed dancefloor weapon, and one of the catchiest dance tracks we heard all year. Just massive.

41 – Kahn & Neek – Backchat

Typical Dub-inspired weirdness from Kahn’s corner. A dangerous grime riddim featuring robo-Reggae vocals and sharp beats.

40 – Geeeman – Bang’t

Second entry on the list for Gerd, because he can do no wrong when it comes to House. Super-simple tune that pairs a nagging pitchbent bassline and punchy beats with an understated vocal. Dancefloor dynamite (and mixes with everything).

39 – Midland & Pariah – Untitled 2

Dirty analogue Techno roller that stole the show at loads of London clubs this summer.

38 – Capracara – Ronin

Everyone who’s trying to emulate the 90s House sound, give up now. Capracara perfected the sound with the flawless Ronin, where outrageously huge beats duel with slick synthwork and a pitch-perfect vocal line.

37 – Dusky – Flo Jam

It was hard to pick just one Dusky track to go on the list, but Flo Jam’s distinctive 3-note bassline had to take the prize. Goes to show that House can still blow everything else out of the water when it’s done right.

36 – Krystal Klear – From The Start

Utterly intoxicating bassy House number from the king of disco. After an unbelievable build-up, this one drops into a ferocious slice of choppy piano House.

35 – Lianne La Havas – Forget (Shlohmo Remix)

The second La Havas remix in our roundup is Shlohmo’s stellar vocal work on his remix of Forget. Deep atmospherics make this one totally unforgettable. Massive vibes. Free Download.

34 – Omar S feat. L’Renee – SEX (CGP Remix)

Omar S is pretty big, but I’ve never heard any of his tunes played out as much in the clubs as this one. Downright dirty vocals and chilled House vibes make this one suit almost any occasion.

33 – Jacques Greene – Prism

One of the scene’s most consistent producers, Canadian Greene went darker on his Ready EP. Its biggest tune featured a bouncing 4/4 and lush synthwork. EP Review.

32 – Voyeur – Blame It On The Youth (Kerri Chandler Remix)

Apparently House legend Chandler loved this one so much that he insisted on both releasing and remixing it. You can see why,  Chandler’s moody rework takes its time with a warm atmosphere and fresh guitar and piano samples.

31 – HNNY – For The Very First Time

Easily one of our most played EPs of the year, HNNY’s stellar debut solo outing on Local Talk was a great night out in a single song. Irresistible synthwork and vocals with big, tasty beats.

30 – Trevor Deep Jr – Keep On!

Another one of our most played tunes this year, Trevor Deep Jr’s impossibly deep Keep On! Crazy atmospheric House workout with classic-style vocals and impeccable production.

29 – John Talabot – So Will Be Now… feat. Pional

The highlight of Talabot’s great Fin album was this bouncy closing tune. The looped vocal is the icing on the cake of a bouncing bassline and moody finger clicks.

28 – ItaloJohnson – B1 Untitled

Dusty House jam from the anonymous European group. Simple and effective, this one proved unstoppable on the summer festival circuit.

27 – Trimbal – Confidence Boost (Harmonimix)

James Blake and Trim’s brilliantly weird collaboration finally saw release this year, and it was just as good as we remembered it. Trim’s raw vocals and Blake’s idiosyncratic production are a match made in heaven. Those deep chords and chipmunked vocals make this one of the year’s essential tunes.

26 – Leon Vynehall – Gold Language

Vynehall’s sophisticated lofi House jam was an unexpected winner for us at White Noise, with gliding piano chords and footwork-style percussion making for an intriguing package. EP Review.

Tune in tomorrow for the final list!

October Roundup 2012

Here are White Noise's top tunes of October, mostly in a handy Youtube playlist. Unfortunately a few of our top picks weren't available on the 'tube, so I've put up some alternative links at the bottom. This playlist gets darker as it goes on, so don't sleep on the devastating second half.

Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Daphni - Yes I Know

Maxxi Soundsystem feat. Name One - Regrets We Have No Use For

Andrés - Hart Plaza

Last Magpie - Hypno

U - Eah

Pangaea - Game

Elsewhere - Trippin'
Eats Everything - Trubble

Juju & Jordash - Track David Would Play

Vessel - Court of Lions

Jam City - ...Now We Relate
Dawn Day Night - Big Booty Girls
Swindle - Mischief

Here are some clips of our other favourite releases from this month:

Jack Dixon - E

 

Presk - Nobody Makes Me Do


Breach & Midland - 101 (/Somewhere)

 

Jets (Jimmy Edgar and Travis Stewart) - Lock Lock Key

Artifact - Turtle Flight (clip here)

Guest Mix: Dark and Dirty

Moth comes round with another guest mix for White Noise. Tracklist on this one is killer, featuring a lot of our favourite bass, techno and house bangers.

Tracklist

Akkord – The Drums

Tom Demac – Critical Distance Pt. 2

Midland & Pariah – Untitled 2

A Made Up Sound – Take The Plunge (Beat Mix)

Trikk – Jointly

Blawan – Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?

Benjamin Damage – Swarm

Head High – Rave (Dirt Mix)

Boddika & Joy O – Dun Dun

Breach – Fatherless VIP

Darling Farah – Bruised

Pangaea – Hex

Sully – The Loot

Bok Bok – Silo Pass

Ghost – The Club

Genius – Waiting

Visionist – Come In

Dusk + Blackdown + – High Road