SHK04: TIN MAN - S_M_PL_HOUSE
After his sublime remix for Hitsafe's‚ Let the Acid Out’ on Shaddock's first release, Tin Man makes a deadly return to Shaddock Records, delivering his most dancefloor oriented record to date.
Opening track 'T_DD_T_RR_Y' sees kicking beats with a genealogy harking back to finest Chicago house, yet done with contagious feather-light energy of UK funky and a naughty bassline gliding perfectly between cheeky rave chords and their moody older brother. 'S_MPLE_HOUSE' continues with this blindingly effective simplicity, dreamily muted chord stabs, rolling congas in ecstatic space over a warm round bass.
Opening track 'T_DD_T_RR_Y' sees kicking beats with a genealogy harking back to finest Chicago house, yet done with contagious feather-light energy of UK funky and a naughty bassline gliding perfectly between cheeky rave chords and their moody older brother. 'S_MPLE_HOUSE' continues with this blindingly effective simplicity, dreamily muted chord stabs, rolling congas in ecstatic space over a warm round bass.
On the flip on 'AUT_REPEAT', crystalline synth shards coalesce in complex forms and continue in icey determination as the beat sneaks up underneath, propelling into an absolutely blistering workout. 'DJSN_K' rounds up on a perky high, an ebullient synthline with crunch and a punchy beat so frontal it might make you blush. Rave bones akimbo - Tin Man steals the pure dance!
SHK03: AUXON - HON-KEN
Perfectly suited for huge dance floors and long summer after hours Hon-Ken sparks with spiralling, hypnotic, multi-layered synths moving between trance and space disco.
Inspired by Japanese wisdom and engineered with Teutonic precision, Hon-Ken will release your mind and put every dance floor into frenzy.
On the flip Lopazz and Zarook add a more dub-infused note to their remix treatment. Tokyo based producer Liquid Pegasus delivers a strong recording debut slowing things down to 100bpm resulting in a wonderfully deep disco cut.
SHK02: PILAS - BURROS
A gothic tale of pestilence opens “Burros”, a curious mid-tempo beast with a nervous disposition and the desire to unsettle. Fluttering voices, skittering drums and juddering pulses characterise the track’s shape-shifting rhythms, anchored only by a 3-note bass arpeggio and recurring submarine pings. Faraway percussion moves swiftly in double time, and the faintest spectre of wavering chords retains the track’s dreamlike state, keeping it aloft and restless in flight.
Kassem Mosse can do no wrong, and continues his hot streak here with a stunning slow-mo refit. As with all of Mosse’s best work there is no easy pay-off, just a simmering half time shuffle: he slows the bass and tempo but raises the temperature slowly and steadily, creating a steamy tropical fug with organic percussive sounds and snaky shimmers.
B-side cut “Without You” simultaneously hushes and rushes, with urgent whispers and knife’s edge strings. This floor-driven house number emerges from gusts of crowd noises and cascades of gleaming harps, charging forwards through layered loops, and erupting at its peak into neon cosmic synths.
“Monologue” moves within more recognisable house tropes, but its malleable bassline and chorus of breath sounds and snatched words ensure that it stands out as a prime example of sleek deep-tech-house.
SHK01 - HITSAFE - ACID DREAMS E.P.
Here
it is! Shaddock's 1st Release 'Acid Dreams E.P.' is by the enigmatic
duo Hitsafe, comprised of two individually accomplished producers from
Germany and USA.
A1 burner “Let The Acid Out” takes its cues from the past and
reconceives them for present with synth-driven Windy City acid. US-born
303-aficionado Tin Man adds his signature melodic flair to his remix,
raising tension and tempo with simultaneous acid synth lines and the
peaktime repeated chorus: “acieeeed.”
On the flipside, “Dreams of Love and Dreams” is heavily influenced by
classic New York garage and rides a looped melody of piping gospel and a
skippy syncopated beat, that grounds it firmly in the centre of the
dancefloor. For her recording debut young Spanish powerhouse Isis makes
her mark by deconstructing “Dreams of Love and Dreams” to a dub
framework of infectious bass and snaky percussion with her remix.
The shadowy duo Hitsafe have delivered a king hit with their debut,
appealing to devotees of authentic house music, and launching Shaddock
into the stratosphere.