The three men of Cobblestone Jazz have always been great producers, but I haven't necessarily always been as enthralled with their sound as other minimal minds out there. Their big hit of last year, "India in Me," had much going for it, admittedly, but lacked a certain drama that I like in my techno. Understanding that their tracks are great to mix with, I always kept them in mind as a group who did some great work but who weren't exactly my cup of tea-- "Dump Truck," for example, is a lush little collection of organ synths and blips that could have been released in mid-90s Detroit, but the lack of punchy beats in that track always bothered me enough that I found it hard to play that often.
Well, my mind has been changed by their new track on the Cocoon Compilation G, entitled "W". The beat is round and full from the get-go, the bass-line is a nice 1-2-3-1 loop, and the melodic line is hypnotic as any could be. After hi-hats and the idiosyncratic heavily-filtered and delayed vocal bits come in, the track takes off: congas subtly slide into the mix, and the melodic line is augmented by a soft-synth counterpart, leading to a break of spine-riding synth drownout. When the beat comes back in, it isn't a surprise, but a wonderful supplement to the overwhelming synths. Along with little background bits that sound oddly like a jew's-harp, the track resolves with none of the elements evident at its beginning. It is, in many ways, a perfect six minutes of dreamy, dancefloor-ready techno. On Sven Vath's Cocoon Recordings.
Cobblestone Jazz- W (Original Mix)
Tomorrow's post will dish out a track from the excellent Brendon Moeller EP, Space Jazz, along with a special revisiting of Cajmere's "Percolator."
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