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It's funny how artists can almost pass you by. It's really only coincidence and pure bloody good fortune sometimes that brings you upon a good find. Jaxson hasn't been around that long, but it's only a couple of months since his Hypercolour EP - Shit Happenz, and although one of the tracks from that, Smokemachine, originally did get a bit of an airing when it first floated around, it was nothing that stuck in the mind and the name hasn't been garnering that much interest.
Oliver Huntemann's Confused label has given him their 75th release though and that generally means that there's something bubbling away under the surface ready to be let loose. This may not be the best timing; Huntemann's own Play 02 CD from the Rex Club Paris is taking up plenty of muso head space, and a relatively unknown artists 2 little sider with the Star Wars name could easily slip through the proverbial net.
Track 1 almost does upon first listening. Darth Veda, aside from the gimmicky laser stabs is as menacing, dark and mysterious as it's namesake. The relentless monotonic chord sequence drones and threatens, crescendos and fades in a migraine-inducing litany of basic beats. Suddenly, midway, a melodic moment, but it's short-lived, before the intro is repeated, and then again you're questioning when the song went. An ambitious experiment that only half works, and takes some repeats to really reveal itself.
Track 2, however is a different story. A mischievous and cowboy hatted Hans Solo to the former side's Dark Lord, La Rough reaches into your brain and snatches out whatever preconception you were about to place on the producer, and rips it up before stomping it thoroughly into the sand. After track 1, La Rough is like being slapped around the face with a wet slice of disco-tech. It's crisp and playful, with a lively beat that hasn't really been heard before from Jaxson, and yet it's possible that this style might just be his forte. Where previous productions have been verging on the forgettable, La Rough is sit-up distinctive and could well be what brings him into the foreground. There's still the avant-garde exploratory sections; some nice space-ic chords do hover around the middle section giving some atmospheric touches, but in general, this is upbeat and dance floor pleasing, just what Jaxson needs to get himself noticed this time around.
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