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Go BackMusic Box February Selection by whatpeopleplay.com

Posted: 12/2/10 17:57

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Music Box February Selection by whatpeopleplay.comUnless someone takes the time to professionally DJ, finding the time to wade through the endless amounts of tracks released on a daily basis is impossible, let alone trying to find a decent one worthy of the title hit.

Luckily, premier distributor Whatpeopleplay has teamed up with I Voice to provide a little guidebook for overwhelmed fans of quality underground dance tracks.

There are plenty of places to get bombarded by the kinds of hype that talentless mainstream hacks buy in bulk, but there are surprisingly few that cut through the underground's own haze of conspicuous hype to determine whether that new EP on Kompakt or Perlon is worthy of investigation. It is not the price of tracks these days that is in question but one, rather, of time so with this feature we hope to save readers' time and effort while increasing their overall satisfaction with such a fast-moving musical genre.

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Matthias Meyer 1. Matthias Meyer Tout Va Bien (Shinedoe Remix) on Liebe*Detail Spezial
This track is culled from the newly commissioned remixes of Matthias Meyer's 2008 split with Stimming and features this remix from well-known Dutch DJ Shinedoe. The new version bears little in common with the original other than the sly blending of house and techno. Shinedoe re-works the source material into a sound that falls halfway between the Liebe*Detail and Planet Gong camp and injects a little poison into the original's airy structure.

Rating: 7/10
Sycophant Slags 2. Adultnapper + Mr. C present Sycophant Slags - Keep Off on Poker Flat
The infamous pair team up again, and this time they brought along another infamous duo - the Wighnomy Brothers who offer this "Detroittobrieflyshort-ulle" remix. It's text book minimal but with the Bro's flashy touches it becomes a demented late night classic wrapping Mr. C's vocals around catchy edits, horns, pianos, and FX.

Rating: 6/10
Kirk DeGiorgio 3. Kirk DeGiorgio - Swarm on A.R.T.
DeGiorgio is back and he's brought his resurrected Applied Rhythmic Technologies label with him. The title track from his recent release - the kickoff for A.R.T.'s new "Dance Division" series is the kind of pumpin' analog techno expected from the master's hand. "Swarm" is both intense and beautiful and should capture the imagination of the dance floor this spring.

Rating: 8/10
Argy 4. Argy - Sometimes I'm Blind (Original) on These Days
"Sometimes I'm Blind" is one side of a new These Days split release along with Alexander Ross, both launching a new series of pairings entitled Universal Consciousness. The noted producer draws this one out with some nice minor key dramatics to the track's long build-up. He, sadly, relies a little too much on the South- American-meets-Continental flare that dominated dance floor play in 2009. In 2010, it sounds a little past the expiration date.

Rating: 5/10
Tensnake 5. Tensnake - Coma Cat on Permanent Vacation
Hamburg's Tensnake has captured hearts and minds with this memorable nu disco track. Gorgeous melodies allow this track to standout and get noticed but it is the effortless glide of the Italo groove with just a pinch of the current deep house craze in those subtle synth pads that makes this one a winner. This track is sure to be huge in 2010.

Rating: 9/10
Pawel 6. Pawel - Kramnik (Original) on Dial
Pawel and Dial, the two are synonymous and his - "Kramnik" - continues to blur the line between dance music and home listening via his Dial imprint. The melodies stay close to the classic Kompakt sound but the way the track slinks around a catchy after-after party groove gives it gyratic momentum. In that way it is perfect, not too sleepy, not too bouncy, and totally celebratory.

Rating: 8/10
Andre Lodemann 7. Andre Lodemann - Still Dreaming on Freerange
Lodemann is the poster child for a new, unholy, union between trance and house. Sure, the argument could be made that he's simply following in the footsteps of guys like Carl Craig or Aril Brikha, but the way Lodemann works his magic is polemic. With "Still Dreaming" either folks are going to love him by anointing him as the next in line to the hippie minimal throne or stone him to death in the streets for bringing Paul Van Dyk's melodies to their techno party. Of course he could also just be a whole lotta hype.

Rating: 5/10
AGF & Delay 8. AGF & Delay - Connection (Heartthrob Remix) on Watergate
Minus artist Heartthrob remixes AGF & Delay's hit "Connection" playing up the kind of freestyle and Eighties elements that make this kind of underground techno popular in America. There is really not much about this track and yet it is so irresistibly sugary that the compulsion to dance is overwhelming.

Rating: 6/10
Gui Boratto 9. Gui Boratto - Azzurra (It's Not the Same Version) on Kompakt
Once again Gui Boratto works his magic, despite being one of the most ubiquitous producers in electronic music at the moment. Here he takes one of the biggest tracks off last year's hit album Take My Breath Away and makes it into something just as friendly but also entirely different. Wise to keep the hooks of the original intact, Boratto simply applies a solid bass line and chunky minimal beat to allow for prime dance floor placement during the night.

Rating: 7/10
Bomb the Bass 10. Bomb the Bass feat Kelley Polar - X Ray Eyes (John Tejada Remix) on!K7
One of the most memorable track from the Gui Boratto produced gem that is the new Bomb the Bass album is this melancholy vocal cut featuring Kelley Polar. Here John Tejada uses the old school Eighties electro influences that have marked his finest remixes over the years to great effect. Adroitly, he works his own unique flare for retro around the glammy, New Romantic touches of the original for something it alternates between hands-in-the-air indulgence and straight faced seriousness.

Rating: 8/10

 Words by Sean-Michael Yoder

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