For a debut Dazzling Tongue is an impressive and well executed undertaking on an imprint that has something intriguing about it.
Sweden. A country known for a few things. Volvos. IKEA. Electronic music? Less so. Machine funk isn’t one of the Scandinavian country’s most famous exports, yet the small nation does punch above its weight with platforms like Borft and Northern Electronics. A less known outfit is käfTen.
This small imprint is as DIY as they come. Limited pressings and a penchant for homemade artwork, the label has explored a spread of styles in its five year existence. A spread of styles, but few releases. The latest, from the unheard of Neunaugen, features three tracks of no nonsense house. The guttural groan of the TB303 permeates the triumvirate on offer, clean claps muddied by distortion. The title piece, “Dazzing Tongue,” hits with a decent amount of punch. Drums are biting, coils of acid snaking around notes to choke any notion of brighter breaks. The flip carries on where the A Side left off, “Four Letter Word” marching to a mechanical beat as soured bars snip and snarl. The closer is arguably the most developed of the three. Born of the same bloodline, “Friccion” is just that bit more off kilter. Rhythms are more ragged and ruffled, basslines more blurred and all is stewed in sinister static which brings something that bit more deviant to the turntable.
I wouldn’t say that Dazzling Tongue will set speakers ablaze with its original and daringly unique style, it’s a 12” of grimy 303 scorched house. Neither would I claim that Neunaugen is doing anything that different to other purveyors of this greasy style. Nevertheless, this debut is just that: a first offering. For a debut Dazzling Tongue is an impressive and well executed undertaking on an imprint that has something intriguing about it.
Dazzling Tongue is available on käfTen.
