na: electronic mk. 875

Just a couple of notables today.

Luca Bacchetti – Like a Sadhu EP

New on the venerable Wagon Repair label, Luca Bacchetti is rapidly turning into the imprint’s most reliable star. This Italian doesn’t do much that’s innovative – “Like a Sadhu” and “Trust” sound like two sides of the same coin because Bacchetti basically uses the exact same bassline on both – he just simply has a better feel for when to drop elements out and back in than most. There are tons of mini-breakdowns throughout each…and a cheeky sample from Goldie’s “Inner City Life” on “Trust” at about the two-and-a-half minute mark.

Lopazz – 2 Fast 4 U

I wasn’t blown away by Lopazz’s Kook Kook full-length this year, but there were some stunning singles on it. This is one of them. “2 Fast 4 U” sounds like a future hipster house party staple, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying its pop charms. The bass sounds like it was taken straight out of a DFA production, the crystalline melody sounds like it was stolen from Booka Shade’s riff bank, and the vocals are one-of-a-kind. I’m also digging the G & The CDs remix, even though it has nothing to do with the original.

H.O.S.H. – White Elephant

One of my top 30 or so 12-inches of the year without a doubt. I already reviewed this one for Resident Advisor. And I said…

Holger Behn’s first Kindisch foray doesn’t sound all that strange on first listen. It’s got the normal phalanx of Diynamic horns, the subtle build-up, the breakdown, the triumphant climax. But one must only remember the title to give him credit: Behn’s working with the splashing trumpet of a braying elephant here — and he somehow gets it to sing. Sure, the bassline is a little too busy for its own good, but when you’re stuck trying to find enough vegetarian food to keep that guy happy in the studio, these things’ll happen.

Oxia – 24 Heures

Olivier Raymond has done a bit of recording for Kompakt’s Extra sublabel (his track “Not Sure” from this year is awesome), and that’s undoubtedly because of the earlier work he had done on albums like this. I believe this was his second full-length and was released in 2004. In it, you can hear a little bit of Vitalic in what he’s doing on stuff like “Flashback” or “Reflexion,” but there’s a lot of variety on display. I imagine that the title has something to do with creating dance music with enough diversity to last through the many moods that you might go through over the course of a 24-hour period.