defenses

The first track of the day comes at us from Sten, one of Peter Kersten's many aliases-- he is perhaps more well-known as Lawrence, one of the founders of Dial. Per usual, Kersten delivers a track of mid-tempo house on a deeper vibe. "Undercover," from Sten's newest EP, begins with a twinkly synth loop which is then hi-jacked by the track's low kicks, allowing it to sound more ethereal and out of synch. The the bass line is a three-note loop quite high in the mix, buoying back and forth. The melodic meat of "Undercover," though, comes when a fantastic, tropical synth line slowly makes itself known in the mix, building to pitch of slightly-delayed dubbiness. When soft, sustained synths begin to ride over the rest of the mix, it is impossible to not feel an ecstatic feeling of natural flow. Thus, while the Lawrence remix of the track is simply okay, the original is quite a number, reminiscent of older Ame and more evidence of a renaissance in deep house with minimal leanings.

Sten- Undercover



Next, the first Deep Movements journey into drum'n'bass. While I was once quite biased against the genre-- after all, "you can't spell 'drum'n'bass' without 'dumb-ass'"-- a recent promo of Marcus Intalex's FabricLive 35 was sent to me, and it made me reconsider my position. Intalex's excellent mix aside, many of the artists of the mix are currently active on the drum'n'bass scene, and many of them list Detroit techno, and UR productions in particular, as major influences on their sound. This influence is readily-apparent and breath-taking, quite honestly. A lot of these artists' tracks have a great deal of dancefloor power and melodic resonance, and make it seem as if drum'n'bass didn't die in the late 1990's, as some cynical nay-sayers often spout.

On the newest full-length from British native Nu:Tone, Back of Beyond, Detroit simply oozes from many tracks. "Take Me Back," which features fellow drum'n'bass producers Commix, begins with a standard electro-funk beat low in the mix and a massive, repeated synth note. Along with claps, super-processed panpipe-like percussive bells, and retro synth sounds, the track builds and builds with an effervescent, speedy synth line that eventually makes up the melodic meat of the track. By the time it drops before the explosion of the beat into the fore, the track has the listener in its clutches, its complexity and sublime synth-lines creating a lush atmosphere unheard of in much of the mechanistic, glitchy sounds more associated with drum'n'bass. The meat of the track continues along this line, utilizing all of the tools of Detroit techno and electro-funk in a more d'n'b vein. It some ways, "Take Me Back" recalls Orlando Voorn's more fast-and-hard moments, with beats that will please any fan of electronic dance music, rippling bass, and synths that are especially loved by followers of the Detroit electronic movement.

Though I still have much more to investigate and learn about d'n'b, Nu:Tone, Intalex and Calibre are certainly making it easy to want to do so, so check out their stuff!

Nu:Tone- Take Me Back feat. Commix