Alden Tyrell - Somehouse / Wurkit

Label: Clone Jack For Daze

Holland has a lion’s share of historic labels to its name, including the formidable likes of Crème Organization, Bunker, and Viewlexx, but few have become quite the dancefloor institution that Clone has. A label, physical record store and distribution company, the dancefloor hydra, helmed by Serge, has for nearly twenty years issued tasteful, forward-thinking takes on classic Chicago and Detroit house and techno, alongside its frequent delvings into electro and italo territory. Of the stable’s many close associates, Alden Tyrell stands as one of the most traditionalist, his work always focused on the groove pure and simple, often with stellar results. Alongside a previous collaboration with Serge himself, Tyrell has scored a few recent home-runs with other co-operative efforts, notably with Mike Dunn on acid monster Touch The Sky and Gerd on this year’s roiling Luv Thang.

Somehouse / Wurkit

It’s clear that Tyrell is a modern jackin’ gent, and so his placement on Clone’s particularly special Clone Jack For Daze sub-label seems fitting, as his latest pair of rollers make for some of his most infectious material to date. The tracks are stripped and primed for the dancefloor, but there’s nothing generic about them. A-side Somehouse wastes no time introducing itself with an unremitting test tone melody, championing simplicity over complexity as the hard-nosed percussive workout does its thing. Toss in a set of maniacally looped vocals shouting ‘house’, and you’ve got genuine anthem material on your hands, with all the rugged purity of one of Dancemania’s finest. On the flipside, Wurkit continues with all the subtlety of a steamroller, a flickering synth calling out over the same tough 4/4 and a ‘work it’ vocal loop. There are better places to discuss the usefulness of the term ‘DJ Tool’, but if it can be seen in a positive light, these tracks are its embodiment: aimed squarely at the dancefloor, excelling in their simplicity, these tracks will be the best friends of many a discerning DJ over the coming months.

7/10

Space Dimension Controller - Correlation #1

Label: Clone Royal Oak

Since his appearance on the scene in 2009, Irish producer Jack Hamill, aka Space Dimension Controller, has attracted attention for both his music and his mythos. The SDC sound, a hardware-fed blend of funk, house and disco, has always been strong, with glittering hits such as The Love Quadrant and Transatlantic Landing Bay studding his early career. More recently, however, Hamill has become just as known for his dedication to the scifi narrative of his full-length releases, with extensive liner notes and even long dramatic monologues on his recent Welcome To Mikrosector-50. If anything, Hamill’s return to Clone is a paring down: his name has received the acronym treatment, the release is narrative-free (there’s barely a press release), and his sound is more stripped and precise than ever before. The Correlation EP, the first in a planned series, is a tasteful and colourful outing, yet unfortunately suffers from a loss of energy around its mid-section.

Opener First Glance is as strong an SDC track as you’ll ever hear, and a winning start to the release. The build-up is slow but promising, as Hamill allows jazzy synth notes to play lightly across a field of detailed percussive textures. It’s not a case of restraint though: when the snares roll and the synthline squeals out there’s a free-jazz energy that bursts through the song’s glossy ambience. After such an exhilarating introduction, listeners will be wanting more, yet the energy level of that first rush is never really revisited. Butterflies of Malaysia is a chilled-out number which ventures uncomfortably close to lounge territory, while even the more compelling drumwork of Familiar Terrain never manages to summon the breathless energy of the opener. It’s a polished track, right down to the dubbed-out piano keys that trace the drums of its second half, but it lacks the opener’s irresistible urgency.

Penultimate cut Chemoreceptor goes for a different style, and is more successful as a result. Lying on a bed of bristling, insectoid scratches, dark bass swipes and the lightest of synth touches carress the white space, unfolding achingly slowly into a sophisticated house burner, using its pent-up anticipation to leave a real impression. Finally the release closes with Petrichor, named for the smell of earth after rain has fallen, which is a short and pretty (albeit insubstantial) dabble in ambient atmospherics and water effects. There’s nothing mind-boggling about SDC’s latest but it’s a classy, at times excellent listen, and a welcome return to the cosmic funk of one of house’s stratospheric citizens.

7/10

Headless Ghost – Frontend

Label: Clone Royal Oak

Clone and its formidable slew of sub-labels have been on fire recently, and for 2013 scene stalwart and impressive chameleon Ripperton takes to the stage under his Headless Ghost guise for a winning release on the analog-leaning Royal Oak imprint. The name of this EP pegs it as a spiritual successor to the producer’s own Backend release on Sthmlaudio, and these three tunes pick up where Backend’s raw, bouncy jackers left off.

Basik Fire / SP3 / Yeah

Opener Basik Fire is the monster here, and is sure to get heavy club play; bright synth whirs and a firm kick lead into a tunnelling bass bounce and filtered vocal loops that conjures a ferocious energy that doesn’t let up over the 7-minute runtime, achieving a perfect balance of light and dark, of bounciness with those intoxicatingly raw sounds. SP3 is a little more unhinged, incisive strings and plenty of sonic details providing a more cerebral, eyes-down affair up until the stuttering kick builds to a feverish synth wail that ups the energy for the track’s final third.

Third cut Yeah is no less impressive, the titular vocal cut intruding cheekily into a bed of swirling synth accents and rattling stabs. A squiggly 303 line makes an unexpected appearance to round off the groove, just one of the many expert additions that keep these tunes fresh and interesting on repeated spins. This is more than house-by-the-numbers, Royal Oak have upped their game once more with a set of rolling house workouts that are sure to stand out in any set, whatever your style.

8/10

See this review in context at Inverted Audio