Shanti Celeste - Being

Label: Future Times

The town of Bristol on the UK’s south-west coast has always had an influence on the electronic scene that belies its size. Following its reggae roots and the birth of trip hop, recent years have seen the establishment of some of the UK’s most essential imprints in Bristol such as Livity Sound and Idle Hands, founded on the fertile tectonic boundary of soundsystem culture and 4/4 dance. A result of this unique intersection of ideas is the central concern with bass found in a lot of the city’s dance music. Bristol’s producers seek to exploit the low frequencies so that they provide more than just added muscle.

It’s not just the old guard who keeps Bristol’s music scene so vibrant. A slew of new labels such as Hotline and BRSTL have been keeping the city’s output fresh and the quality control very high, and local producer Shanti Celeste has had a big part to play in this. While grounded in Bristol’s house sound, her productions have always set their sights beyond, taking in a range of influences and styles from beyond the coastal city.

It is somewhat fitting then that what is probably Celeste’s best record to date has come out on a US imprint, Max D’s reliable stable for new age house experimentations, Future Times. Having contributed one of the highlights on last year’s Vibes 3 compilation, now Celeste brings out her first solo record for the label, Being.

The title track could be a religious rave anthem, its sharp church organ stabs and punchy rhythm all wrapped in an elastic bassline that keeps up a constant pressure and highlights the glittering synthwork. The quality of these melodies comes to the fore on the Ambient Mix as they shimmer through thick reverb, standing strong even without a rhythmic backbone. B-side Good Spirits taps into Celeste’s growing interest in electro, all staccato claps and subtle clicks, where a dramatic intro gives way to a taut snap and searing scifi melodies.

Celeste’s output becomes more assured and impressive with each successive release, as she alights on a personal sound born of, but not limited to, the rich musical history of her surroundings.

8/10

Bianca Chandon Presents &Co - Best Of Friends

Label: Bianca Chandon

Listen to EP clips here

While it could be said that all great art has a story behind it, this is not always the case in the electronic music world. The best novels and poems can be the fruit of sudden epiphanies, incredible life experiences or years of labouring in obscurity. Rather unromantically, the best dance tracks are often the product of someone sitting hunched over a PC in their bedroom at 5am. But how much does a great narrative really add to our enjoyment of a piece?

It’s true that sometimes our finest records come from an unusual place. One might mention that this EP combines the talents of skater/ society boy Alex Olson, Sarcastic Disco’s Paul T and film composer Alberto Bof. Maybe add that it’s all released under the banner of Olson’s fashion label side-project Bianca Chandon. Or you could just say it’s the work of three friends who’ve spent a lot of time chilling out together on Venice beach. Either way, when the sound is this good, it’s easy to leave the story behind and focus on the music.

Two ten-minute epics occupy either side of the wax, mining a slo-mo disco sound with a tough acid streak. Best Of Friends lays down a tough kick and then contrasts a gurgling 303 with crystalline piano keys, perfectly balancing elegance and menace. B-side Wine Cooler is the real party-starter though, where a long jazzy build drops into an irresistible disco stomp. The two tracks are accessorised with a few filter sweeps and mix-friendly in/outros, but the pure funk coursing through these tunes is more than enough reason to get on board. There’s even a bonus acid workout included, but it doesn’t add much to the original package.

Nu-disco with actual substance, acid that doesn’t leave behind the funk, it’s a surprising and well-executed release that leaves us hoping that this unlikely trio will get together more often.

8/10

Khotin - Baikal Acid

Label: 1080p

Few local scenes have caused a stir in recent years like the house sound coming out of Canada’s west coast. There’s a gentle, daydreaming quality to the hardware jams that have coalesced around labels like Mood Hut and 1080p that proves irresistible, with producers eking out the softer fringes of acid, jazz and new age.

Vancouver transplant Dylan Khotin is a strong example, announcing himself with releases on 1080p and Normals Welcome emotionally situated between dewy melancholy and misty-eyed optimism. While local affiliates such as Pender Street Steppers, Project Pablo or Florist keep a touch of humanity front and centre in their productions, using voices and acoustic instrumentation, there is something decidedly mechanical about Khotin’s productions, like the songs of love and loss that machines would write to one another.

 In Recycle (5AM Reflection Mix) everything is descending: hollow drum hits and glistening synthwork, a burbling acid bassline and a distant whirring like a spacecraft failing to take off. It’s wistful material, the synths flowing into a pool of shimmering reverb, emphasised on the beatless Drift Mix beside the lapping of waves on the shore.

The B-side holds material more primed for the dancefloor, with highlight Human Voice beaming out new age synthwork over clattering cymbals and the distant sound of celestial chipmunks. Meanwhile the final title cut is more introspective, a busy rhythm writhing under an uncertain synth motif, before a yearning melody emerges for the track’s second half. It’s a convincing statement for both Khotin and 1080p for the new year, wintery music for contemplating grey skies and hushed dancefloors.

7.5/10

Guest Mix: Moth - Dawn Sketches

The third in our guest mix series turns to sun-soaked house, but focuses on 6am sunrise constellations rather than sweaty bangers. Enjoy the jazzy vibes and the tracklist exclusively on White Noise. More to come.

Tracklist:

Leon Vynehall – Midnight On Rainbow Road

Jack J – Something (On My Mind)

Local Artist – Feelings

Jodan GCZ – Crybaby J

New Musik – Warp (ILO Edit)

Merwyn Sanders – Mimi Likes 2 Dance

Project Pablo – Movin’ Out

Lord Of The Isles – Ultraviolet

Daniel Jacques – End Of My World

Pepe Bradock – Deep Burnt

Florist – Final Bounce

Kerri Chandler & Jerome Sydenham – Powder (Deep@Legends Mix)

Laguna Ladies – Egyptian Bag (Moomin Remix)

Damiano Von Erckert – Work For Love ft Tito Wun

Damiano Von Erckert - Also Known As Good

Label: ava.

Damiano Von Erckert has built his ava. imprint into a goldmine for soulful grooves, concentrating on the funkiest breeds of house and hip hop. Much of this success is down to Damiano’s own excellent productions, where he shows an excellent retro sensibility – sunny melodies and catchy vocal turns – without ever resorting to pastiche or recycling.

His first album, Love Based Music, was a tour de force of colourful house and winning sketches, and while there are many great moments to be found on this follow-up, it lacks the consistency and energy of Damiano’s debut.

We Flow feat. Amalia

Part of this seems down to some odd mixing choices. Love Love Love is an unsatisfying opener, Miles Bonny’s voice strangely treated and distant, while the promise of a funky organ line is never really developed. Hustle With The Big Boys’ riff sounds crushed and flat, while the relatively experimental Infinity’s shuffling drum patterns sound disconnected from May’s vocal line, the track fading out abruptly, its mournful melody not even allowed to complete the bar.

That said, one can’t expect an album to be perfect from top to bottom (though Damiano’s last LP came close), and when he gets into a groove midway through the LP, he’s on as fine a form as ever. We Flow lays clean jazzy keys under a gorgeous vocal turn from Amalia, a simple construction which gives off a perfect dancefloor glow. The run of great tunes continues with Jai Alai’s airy disco collage and the propulsive BUBBLES, which builds operatically to a great funky twist. These cuts show off not only Von Erckert’s melodic chops but also his skill at structure, crafting a great deal more drama than your average disco-editor.

Work For Love

A run of shorter tracks lead the album to a satisfying conclusion, with highlights in the woozy lust of hip hop sketch New Ehrenfeld Swing and the funky bass licks of There’s No Wrong. Yet it’s only when you get to closer Work For Love, which reunites Von Erckert with long-time collaborator Tito Wun, where you realise what’s missing from much of Also Known As Good – the feels. Sure, there’s club joy and sultry funk aplenty, but few tracks emote as effortlessly as this closer, with its bittersweet keys and rumbling live-style drums.

Aside from a slightly uneven opening salvo, there’s little that’s actively wrong with AKA Good. But that last track reminds how powerful Von Erckert’s music can be, for your mind as well as your body, and it might just send you scurrying back to some of his wonderful back catalogue.

7/10

Guest Mix: Moth - Mist Sketches

New guest mix for y'all from our main man Moth. This one is mostly ambient and dreamy house, the same mood we explored in our Deep House Introspective. We've also got the tracklist exclusively here on White Noise. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

2 8 1 4 - 恢复

Moomin - Valentine

Arnaldo - With You By The Lake

J Albert - Come Across

D. Tiffany - Tranq Moon

Lnrdcroy - I Met You On BC Ferries

Tuff Sherm - Burglar Loops

DJ Koze - XTC

John Roberts - August

Nick Holder - Feelin' Sad

DJ Richard - Vampire Dub

Vril - Torus XXXII

Oneohtrix Point Never - Chrome Country

Dan White & Khotin - Split

Label: Normals Welcome

Although Candian club night-cum-label Normals Welcome has been releasing music since 2005, it’s only in the last couple of years that it’s turned to dance EPs, and so far they’re doing it with style. The imprint’s latest is a split EP between two producers geographically distant but sonically intimate, Normals Welcome resident Khotin and rising Australian producer Dan White.

The two producers are indeed excellent bedmates, dealing in forms of subdued, machine-fed house soaked in melancholy. Both issued debut mission statements in the past year, Khotin for Normals Welcome and White on an ace EP for fellow Canadians Forbidden Planet, and here they both sound as evocative as ever.

Dan White’s tracks are more melody-driven, with a fluid feel to his music as if the synths are rising through water. Grey Bishop’s spare rhythm clicks along at a fine pace, but it's the aqueous synths and melancholy wash that prove most striking. No No No is grounded in a series of echoing chimes, flecked with the restrained acid lines that find their way into most of his music.

Khotin’s tunes are more rooted and club-focused but don’t skimp on the melody, starting with the superb Sorry Sequence. Here searing acid and a revolving synth motif is welded to a tough kick, taking off into striking harmony in its second half. AT07 is a subtler beast, as an uncertain synth note pushes reluctantly forward under bubbling 303 meditations. Both artists adeptly conjure a sound both propulsive and moving, ushering Normals Welcome assuredly towards a bright future.

8/10

Florist - Phenomena

Label: All Caps

Glaswegian outpost All Caps are the latest to draw on the current obsession with Vancouver’s house scene on the debut single from graphic artist and DJ Flørist. After a two-year gestation on Soundcloud these tunes have been begging to be committed to wax, and now they sound just as good as they did on first listen.

Flørist’s style is not as warm and upbeat as many of his contemporaries, but this difference works to his advantage on Phenomena. He comes straight out of the gate with Final Bounce, a hybrid of aquatic dub-techno chords and stripped, intricate drum patterns. The hook is a soulful choir that rises over the track’s second half, never quite breaking the surface, eerie and seductive as a half-remembered dream. Marine Drive is just as indebted to overcast skies but more colourful, with new age flourishes and lapping chords over a subdued breakbeat.

Both cuts come with a more restrained alternate version (we’re getting pretty damned restrained by this point). Neo Image flips Final Bounce into a serene glide, adding a gentle break and a warm synth wash, while Flørist gives his own Internal Dub for Marine Drive, drowning the drums in tape hiss and letting those jangling chords float free. Flørist’s debut is supremely accomplished with its misty aesthetic, a serotonin-depleted glow angled for the best after-parties.

8.5/10