Great Acid 2011

Most of my favourite records of the year weren’t available from Juno Download, but here’s a list of some favourites that were.

dyLAB – M.U.S.E EP (Devilbeat Records)

Release date: 13/11/11
Get it from: Devilbeat

The latest from DyLAB is an overt homage to Richie Hawtin’s legendary acid workouts of the Nineties, with its track titles co-opted from Hawtin’s Dimension Intrusion album (one of his least acidy works from the period, funnily enough), and the sounds themselves indebted to the Plastikman debut, Sheet One – specifically the first side of Sheet One, where the ambient textures of Dimension Intrusion slowly gathered the clinical acid that was to become the Plastikman trademark. Judging by what’s here, that’s the side of Hawtin DyLAB loves best. As ever the beauty of the production lies in the warmth of the sounds and the care with which they’re deployed, the usual precision-tooled 808 sound providing a metronomic foundation to the single analogue 303 lines that runs throughout all three tracks. Moondrive and Dimensional Replicant are both compelling, though a tad overlong, but rounding out the EP, Slac is a little gem, with an insistent acid line that develops at a less leisurely rate than elsewhere and really benefits from it.

K.Larm & J.Raninen – 303 and Friends EP (Vi Tva Records)

Cat no: 10031141
Release date: 30/09/11
Get it from: Beatport

Some judicious prodding put me in touch with this masterful EP from Finland’s K.Larm and J. Raninen. Tough enough for Technoheads but with definite Tech-House appeal – even dare I say it, ‘progressive’ – all four tracks are packed with acid goodness, from the straight 303 workout of Noodle (128 BPM), through to Morphology’s re-rub of Recurrent Amnesia (133 BPM), which is much slower and more reflective than the BPM suggests and darkens the source track with atmospheric, textured piano. Meanwhile the original Recurrent Amnesia (126 BPM) sounds like vintage Leftfield – or David Holmes when he was good – a lengthy slice of epic acid that bubbles along on a bed of dreamy, echoing pads; while Luftpost 2010 (128 BPM) is a harder, riffier affair with DJ-friendly stabs announcing each new development. Fantastic stuff.

Fat Bastian – WTF + MF (Black Leather Records)

Cat no: BLR 101
Release date: 08/12/11
Get it from: Beatport

Fat Bastian, Lordy, he’s created a monster: an irresistible mix of 303, riffy electro and big-room House hinged around a central ‘what the fuck, motherfucker’ chant that’ll be in your head from here till Tuesday week. I’m probably not familiar enough with the work of Zoe Ball’s other half to make this call, but I can imagine the Original mix (128 BPM) popping up in the Fatboy Slim sets that I’ve heard, or maybe providing a slamming end to a James Zabiela gig. The pick of ten reworkings are to be found at the higher end of the BPM scale, and come via a warehouse-ready Miss Duckin techno remix (132 BPM) and a Raytrace re-rub (131 BPM) that starts off with deceptively polite bleeps then toughens up with mucky acid around the halfway mark. Great stuff.

Chris Liberator, Sterling Moss, Rackitt, D.A.V.E the Drummer, Ant – SUF 100.1 (Stay Up Forever)

Cat no: SUF 100.1
Release date: 02/12/11
Get it from: 909 London

Croydon Girl – Chris Liberator & Sterling Moss with Rackitt
BPM: 145
Heralding a year of celebrations from SUF (and for more details of that check out the new SUF 100 site) comes this EP, the first of four in the 100 series. Croydon Girl is supreme filth, with a Sterling Moss-speciality kick interrupted only by the odd outbreak of spitting hi-hats, a very hefty 303 line right from the off, and the main melodic acid line from 1.19. All in all, as nasty as you’d expect. The vocal is Rackitt expressing her love of Croydon as well ruminating upon her love of ‘fat 303s, fat rigs, fast drugs, fuck you,’ all of which are fine and upstanding pursuits.

The Drums – D.A.V.E the Drummer & Ant **
BPM: 145
Backing it up is The Drums, which is not so crowd-pleasing, but probably the better track in my humble Orion, and wraps up what has been a superb, transitional year for D.A.V.E the Drummer. After a section of layered drums comes all manner of freaky acidness, before more drums. And then more drums!  A drum solo in the break, no less! Imagine an Edinburgh Tattoo trip to the Rio carnival by way of Goa and you’ve got an idea what’s going on in here, and that it all holds together is a tribute to the acid-funking genius of the two talents involved. Great track, awesome EP, roll on the next one.