RECOMMENDED: George Fizgerald - The Let Down EP [Hotflush Two]

Over the last couple of years Hotflush’s little sister imprint Hotflush Two has been responsible for some of that community’s deeper and more experimental cuts. Sigha’s first two EPs operated with a defiantly minimalist agenda, and Pangaea’s jazzy ‘Mosaix’ is among the most opaque things he’s yet committed to tape, all tightly syncopated upright bass and mournful Berlin shimmer. But then again, it’s also home to Joy Orbison's 'Hyph Mngo’, so it’s hardly as if it’s totally neglected populism in favour of stranger treats. George Fitzgerald’s debut EP finds itself somewhere between those two poles; the humid synths of ‘The Let Down’ easily match that track’s dancefloor heft, but flipside ‘Weakness’ proves to be something else entirely.

It’s probably worth getting it out of the way early: Joy Orbison comparisons are going to flow thick and fast from many quarters keen to write Fitzgerald off as some kind of copyist. And the similarity is undoubtedly there - you’d have to have lived under a rock for the last eighteen months or so to miss it – but anything deeper than a cursory listen should suffice to highlight their differences in approach. It’s largely down to structure; both tracks on this EP show a more obvious garage influence, and Fitzgerald certainly knows his way around a bassline. Both these two tracks and others doing the rounds currently like ‘Don’t You’, are driven by huge, sinewy pulses of sub that solemnly refuse to engage with any other element of the music. Instead they brood darkly in the background like unshakeable monoliths, while at the top end diffuse strands of melody curl around two-step percussion.

Fantastic though the title track certainly is, B-side ‘Weakness’ is where the real heat’s at. Here Fitzgerald shows off in understated monochrome, crafting a roller that manages to strike a delicate balance between euphoria and crippling sadness. It shifts back and forth like mercury that’s escaped from a shattered thermometer, with a central melody so thin and evasive that each time you attempt to get a grasp it slips away like secondhand smoke. It’s certainly the equal of anything Orbison’s yet put out, and I’d argue that its subtler approach makes The Let Down an even more accomplished debut EP than 'Hyph Mngo' was last year.

Words: Rory Gibb
Out: Now

Link:
www.myspace.com/georgefitzgeraldmusic

RECOMMENDED: Sigha - Shake EP [Hotflush Two]

The downside of being part of a label with such a strong community of big hitters (Scuba, Joy Orbison, Mount Kimbie, bits from Ramadanman and Pangaea) is that there’s always the risk of vanishing into the gaps between major releases. London producer Sigha is among Hotflush’s more mercurial talents, shifting on a whim between slo-mo house and techno, rigid two-step and minimalist dubstep(ish) transmissions, without ever fully locking to any of them. Perhaps for this reason his releases always seem to be slightly overlooked: his tracks are too broken and awkward for true techno, not weighty enough for dubstep per se and lacking the obviously soulful edge you’d expect of garage.

But then that’s kinda the beauty of his music – shorn of any obvious genre affiliations, Sigha productions are free to drift in whatever direction the whim takes them. If there’s a shared trait to everything he’s put out, it’s an ultra stripped-back, Berlin-schooled approach that reduces melody to swathes of gaseous static that weave around deceptively complex beats. Last year’s Rawww EP was an underrated gem, the title track’s obvious Basic Channel-isms offset by the ghostly London-centred sounds of ‘Hold Your Heart Up To The Light’, and his new Shake EP – his fourth for the Hotflush Two imprint – sees him further exploring the same hazily drawn lines. The range of ideas on here once again put paid to any notion of an easily categorisable Sigha ‘sound’, but also consolidates his previous work into three tracks that showcase the different sides of his music. More so than any of his other releases, they’re also quite strikingly pretty, the lack of obvious melodic development more than made up for by the sheer weight of detail packed into each.

There always seems to be something extra going on in each of these three tracks. Closing ambient piece ‘Light Swells (In A Distant Space)’ is lit up by tiny arcs of electricity that flicker almost out of earshot, like catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye. As the furthest departure he’s taken from dance music it’s a success, its structure made up of dense layers of cloud that press against one another to generate moments of dissonance and clarity. Lead track ‘Shake’ is far tougher and more muscular than anything he’s done before, moving away from the implied momentum of a track like ‘Bruised’ into a pounding slab of house, but ‘Shapes’ is the most interesting on here. Operating at around 136 bpm, it chucks the kitchen sink at a loosely techno-tinged beat, sending abstract percussive hits and clicks rattling around dark pulses of sub. It’s a proper eyes-down dancefloor beast, and despite the absence of anything resembling a hook manages to remain far more than simply a DJ tool.

Interesting developments as ever from the Sigha camp then. It’ll be intriguing to see where he heads next.

Words: Rory Gibb
Out: Now

Link:
www.myspace.com/sigha

PRE-ORDER: Sigha - Rawww EP [Hotflush Two]

On the evidence of his latest plate for Paul Rose’s Hotflush imprint, and recent collaborative effort with Spherix, Sigha is fast becoming London’s answer to dub-techno pioneers Basic Channel. Like Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, he seems to revel in creating wide-open spaces within his tracks that allow each individual element to breathe independently of the whole. The result is to draw emphasis to every minute change in rhythm or melody, creating a sense of hypnotic ease that ensures each track feels far longer than its actual runtime, yet never overstays its welcome.

The title track of his ‘Rawww EP’ is a case in point: with its graceful pivots and static-drenched motion, it could have been a component of Maurizio’s M-Series, a single monochrome melody line remaining constant as the rest of the track disassembles and recreates itself over ten long minutes. It couldn’t be more ‘Berlin’ if it tried – but that fact has no bearing whatsoever on its ethereal beauty, capturing in its all-encompassing synth wash and metronomic pulse a slow and considered journey down the autobahn.

On the flipside, ‘Hold Your Heart Up To The Light’ betrays Sigha’s London roots more explicitly, driven by the slightest memory of a garage beat and echoes of syncopation buried deep in the mix. It’s essentially a mood piece – something he does well; none of the tracks on ‘Rawww’ are overtly aimed for the dancefloor, instead choosing to stand alone as microcosms of London bass music’s potential for unlocking odd feelings of nostalgia and melancholy. ‘Untitled 2’ moves further back towards techno territory, awash in delay and coated in a fine film of vinyl crackle that clings whispily to the beat before being swept away in sudden gale force currents.

Sigha’s work on ‘Rawww’ is certainly not the sort of material aimed squarely at bass connoisseurs – in fact, there is nary a rumble of percussive sub-bass throughout. Instead, its presence is used to mark out a region for the track to operate within. The results, whilst minimal and firmly head-oriented, are well worthy of investigation and careful absorption.

Words: Rory Gibb
Out: Now



Link:
www.myspace.com/sigha

PRE-ORDER: Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo/Wet Look [Hotflush Two]

Some tracks simply have anthem written all over them from the first time you hear them. When London producer Joy Orbison's "adieu" chant rings out on 'Hyph Mngo' its one such happenstance.

Hows that for a mention of the vocals?

Read the full review here: http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=6574

Link:
www.myspace.com/joyorbison

PRE-ORDER: Untold - Just For You/Roska Remix [Hotflush Two]

The next one from Untold. Should be in shops today, features a particularly witty Roska remix on the flip.

Read the full review here: http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=6345

Link:
www.myspace.com/untolduk