In many respects the tracks toe the line between techno and house, dipping back and forth between the two. What is solid throughout is the lapping 303 line that invites rather than intrudes. This is not a lamp over the head house affair, but a cerebral and deep take on the acid sound.
House house house. Acid acid acid.
It is the second Spring of all things jak and Chicago. DJ’s, artists and labels are all turning back to the 80’s and producing their own take on the mechanical sounds of House. Some have gone down the archaeological route, digging up lost fragments of Ron Hardy and finding whole sections of Jamie Principle and Virgo Four. Others have decided to step into the boots of these past masters and produce their own take on the addictive 808 and bass of house. An unlikely heavy hitter of last year was the Finnish label ProForm Series, sub-imprint to X0X Records. This Scandinavian lot served up the intense Virta – Spammers EP, four tracks of hard rocking house in the vein as Adonis or Mike Dunn; Traxx Records with colder Winters. ProForm, after a wee hiatus, are back; this time with Näköradiomies aka Matti Turunen (half of Morphology) with Chi Trax.
The clean and heavy bass of “Tales of Snowman” opens the 12”. The first thing that hits home is the sound is much more mellow than Virta, with the pace being tempered and methodical as the acid box is sheathed under beats. “Siperia Edit” sees the 303 of its predecessor become a more dominant force as squelches writhe under the firm hand of an 808. A powerful bassline drives as snare and hi-hit intercede. The flipside sees the acid lines morphed into a more modern aspect. “Frozen Jarvenpaa” takes the guise of an acid track but is steeped in 90’s techno. Subtle and clever the track echoes of when the 303 was used to produce resonating melodies and liquid soundscapes. “Juno Love” ushers out the 12” and the downtempo mood is carried until the end. The night has arrived and this is a track to see it out. Dense and slow this is a crisp piece of lightly tainted techno, moody and introverted.
The rawness of Spammers made it one of the standout house records of 2010. Chi Trax does not go down the same route. This 12” is a much more contemporary take on the modern house phenomena. In many respects the tracks toe the line between techno and house, dipping back and forth between the two. What is solid throughout is the lapping 303 line that invites rather than intrudes. This is not a lamp over the head house affair, but a cerebral and deep take on the acid sound.
Chi Trax is out now ProForm Series.
[audio:http://igloomag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/B1_Nakoradiomies_-_Frozen_Jarvenpaa.mp3|titles=”Frozen Jarvenpaa” clip]
[audio:http://igloomag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/A1_Nakoradiomies_-_Tales_Of_Snowman.mp3|titles=”Tales Of Snowman” clip]
