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

Summer Sessions: House

To close out the summer, we have two bumper house playlists, full of instant classics and soulful melodies. The house session comes in two flavours: the peak playlist deals in shiny, fist-pumping bangers, while the deep playlist is dustier, more analog, packed with after-hours sounds from some of the scene's top producers. The deep playlist is a more typical White Noise list, but we aim to please, and there are countless scorchers on each list to keep the sun shining out of your speakers well into the colder months.

Make sure to check out all of our summer playlist series, and to follow White Noise on Facebook and Twitter!

Summer Sessions:

Classic House

Hip Hop
Chill

Bass
Funk and Soul

Peak House Playlist

Tracklist:

Krystal Klear - From The Start

First Choice - Love Thang (Genius of Time Re-edit)

DJ T. - City Life (Maceo Plex Remix)

Scuba - Everywhere

Sophie - Nothing More To Say (Dub)

C.R.S.T - Monster Munch

FCL - Let's Go

Capracara - Ronin

Bicep - Vison of Love

Classixx - Into the Valley (Julio Bashmore Remix)

NY Stomp - The NY House Trak

Paul Woolford - Untitled

Medlar - Can't Stop

Floorplan - Never Grow Old

Kyodai - Breaking

Lone - Airglow Fires

Simian Mobile Disco & Bicep - Sacrifice

Todd Terje - Strandbar (Disko Version)

Teengirl Fantasy - Cheaters (John Talabot's Classic Vocal Refix)

Crazy P - Heartbreaker

Deep House Playlist

Tracklist:

Floating Points - Love Me Like This (Nonsense Dub)

HNNY - For The Very First Time (Dirtytwo's Midas Touch Remix)

Nicholas - Things Of The Past (NY Club Mix)

Anthony Naples - Mad Disrespect

The Phantom - Vogue Dub

Chesus - Special

Damiano von Erckert & Funkycan - Symphonie of a Brother

Wbeeza - Billy Green Is Ded

KMFH - Down!

Session Victim - Good Intentions

October - String Theory

Andres - Jack City

Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cuts #6

Last Magpie - (Who Knows) Where Love Goes

Nitetime - Teddy's Jam

Trevor Deep Jr - Keep On!

Omar S - The Shit Baby

Wil Maddams - Stand In For Love

Mosca - The Way We Were

Space Dimension Controller - The Love Quadrant

Tito Wun - The Way U Do It

Theo Parrish - Solitary Flight