EP Review: Master Plan - SIOPIS

Ravey, defiant and pissed off - the latest release through Crosstown Rebels offshoot Rebellion starts cleanly, a straight-forward four-four based rhythm but it gently descends into something much angrier over the duration of three original tracks. Jannis Siopis, then as Silversurfer, was the first artist to ever see a release on Crosstown Rebels so it's appropriate that under his new name he returns to the house where it started.

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Master Plan - SIOPIS

These days Siopis' sound has taken a darker, funkier sound. A-side Masterplan, is built out of a solid electronic groove combined with atmospheric synths and a series of mechical sounding effects. With a pace that's slow and contemplative it eases the listener into the EP.

Buy Underground is violent and aggressive - distorted drum rolls, synth stabs and a hypnotic melody carve out a big room modern rave record that still packs some range, with a big drop partway through.

The release closes with House of Mouse, a collaboration with Mz Sunday Luv & Bootslap that feels like hip house via trip house. Expect plenty of low-end wobble, some dark male / female vocal interplay and heavy drums in a slow groover.

​Master Plan is out tomorrow through Rebellion.

EP Review: The Calm - Danny Daze

It's been going big guns out in the Miami WMC (or so says the Guardian) and it seems like Maceo Plex and his Ellum label are on an unstoppable roll. It was less than a month ago that I was praising his collaboration with Danny Daze (as Jupiter Jazz) and Ellum are back, this time with Danny doing a solo turn to drop some heavy tech on us.

The Calm feels a little bit like what I envisage a stroke to feel like - disconcertingly incomprehensible vocals, weird sound effects and a menacing atmosphere. It also shares a stroke's momentary sense that that you are staring into the abyss, as the track devolves into a moment of near silence midway through. It calls to mind Soulwax's absolutely ripper / mental remix of Justice's Phantom Pt. II, both in the way it will make crowds all over think the DJ's just quit and because it's also a bloody monster.

Dexter's remix is similarly amped, a whirling cacophony of bass and thick, chunky synths that turns the track into a serious dancefloor weapon but lacks a little of the original's slightly terrifying and unhinged sensibility.

Daze rounds out the EP with a second original track, I See You, which comes from a similar place as the original track but with a heavier focus on top-end and a little more subtlety.

For me none of these quite live up to the genius of the Booty Jazz EP but it's hard to deny their obligatory status within clubs this summer is pretty much guaranteed.

The Calm EP is out now through Ellum Audio, you can preview the EP via Soundcloud below:

Album Review: Bla Bla Bla - Martin Brodin

Swedish DJ and producer Martin Broden has been around. Having been inspired by classic house cuts such as Lil Louis' French Kiss via Depeche Mode, Yello and Kraftwerk both Broden's career trajectory and musical tastes appear to be somewhat eclectic. He played deep house as a DJ for years and previously ran the deep house label Deeplay. 2010 saw Broden change direction, focusing much more on disco and launching the label MB Disco. Bla Bla Bla feels like the culmination of a transition that began several years ago.

The focus here is on making modern disco that goes beyond simple re-edits and short loops to focus on fuller instrumental works. Borrowing from others is clearly allowed though, as Oh Yeah proudly announces with it's INXS sampling riff that kicks the album into a higher gear. It's a sassy, cheeky track that manages to do a lot with those light fingers, but it doesn't exactly deliver on Brodin's promise: it sounds exactly like one of those clever disco re-edits.

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​Bla Bla Bla - Martin Brodin

If there are doubts though Strings Attack does a lot to dispel them. Starting with the kind of percussion sequence Morgan Geist would be proud of - handclaps, bongos, drum kicks - Broden creates an exotic groove around a set of romantic strings and brass. It's a developed and authentically extravagant sound, but it's the gradual descent into electronic chaos in the track's final quarter that lifts the track beyond mere mimicry, though there's a hint of Yellow Magic Orchestra throughout.

A cover of Bryan Ferry's Don't Stop The Dance is just as enjoyable if a little less innovative, oiled guitar riffs jamming out liquid melodies against Broden's thick electronic bass loop and strings. Trapeze Disco gets a little seductive and sun drenched as a warm bass line and synths play against a loose, organic-feeling clattering drums and it's simple, effective and yet still very well done.

There are undeniable moments here where Bla Bla Bla feels like it may be a little short on ideas and at nearly 70-minutes long it could happily lose 3 songs and been a better album. It's not got the same gloriously short and consistent feel of Geist's Metro Area album, for existence, and it would be unfair to even compare them if it wasn't for such a clear similarity in inspiration, direct or not. Still, Bla Bla Bla is an assured album with some standout moments and it's easy to imagine this sounding fantastic this summer.

Bla Bla Bla is released through MB Disco on 29 March, available to pre-order on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link].

EP Review: Only Built 4 Neon Nites - Lockah

Lockah's Only Built 4 Neon Nites represents Donky Pitch's eighth release to date and their first so far in 2013 and it just might be their biggest yet. It's certainly the release most squarely aimed at the mainstream.

Lockah has already released material through Mad Decent sub-label Jeffrees and Mishka, and he's provided remixes for releases of both Fool's Gold and Skrillex's OWSLA.

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Only Built 4 Neon Nites - Lockah

Only Built 4 Neon Nites is a tribute late night ambling through urban illuminated skylines. It is made for listening through in sequence, representing that journey, but each track stands on its own. The EP takes in a variety of sounds but the disco-kitchen-sink approach of Rustie forms the template - elements of EDM-influenced dubstep, crunchy techno, electro and hip-hop all feature, combined with heavy 80s pop references. 

Following a brief car-engine-start, 80s radio electro pop intro ...Neon Nites gets into things proper with Young Neon Countach, the name telling you all you need to know. Expect plenty of electro synths, big hip-hop drum kicks and amped up, distorted melodies. It sets the tone for the rest of the EP, with each track delivering different styles but using the same basic approach.

Guards Red Carrera (spot a theme?) starts with a Buggles-esque campy melodies that melt into liquid DnB rhythms and EDM synths. Let The Cool Air Breeze is more laid back in its entrance - the lull before the evening's climax perhaps. Big melodies backed with slower drum patterns that make way for a break constructed from a series of liquid related sample, building towards a celebratory finale.

The EP closes with Platinum Blondes, another more contemplative track. Distorted bass lines provide the bed for a soft-focus eighties melody and hip-hop samples. It feels like the EP's closing credits, cinematically culminating in another engine being fired up in the rain, before pulling off.

Only Built 4 Neon Nites is a sugar rush of an EP: instant and gratifying, and a fleetingly brief introduction to Lockah's sound.

Only Built 4 Neon Nites is out now on Donky Pitch, available to buy on Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].

Album Review: Hard Rubbish - Lower Plenty

Australian bands like Cut Copy and Tame Impala have a habit of throwing me into a slightly over excited wobbly mess but I think you'd struggle to peg Lower Plenty as Australian despite their Melbourne origins. Their sound, as highlighted back in January, is a bluesy urban-influenced take on country with hints of garage punk, a sound more American in origin than anything.

A range of influences are packed in to Hard Rubbish's short set though. It may be just 9 songs and only 24-minutes long but there is still much to hear, from the punky male-female Moldy Peaches-esque duets to grimey dischordent melodies.

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​Hard Rubbish - Lower Plenty

Lower Plenty are at their best when their music sounds its most improvised or melancholic. It shows, in a good way, that much of this album was recorded in a single take.

The cluttered and ill-timed lyrics of opener Work In The Morning or the lilting How Low Can A Punk Get are both perfect examples of Lower Plenty's freewheeling style, words seemingly spilling out of the singer's guts whilst the band play through the haze of a few too many days on the downers. Strange Beast and final track Close Enough both feel considerably more serious, the latter capturing vocalist Sarah Heyward's disconcerting attempt at self-assurance and post-rationalisation.

With such short length it is hard to class Hard Rubbish as more than a mini-album,  and priced as a full album it feels stingy. Yet there is no denying the band's honesty and attitude. This is very much the welcome appetiser, and a proof of concept.

​Hard Rubbish is released through Fire Records on 1 April, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].