Single life

Finally, here’s some single reviews…

DETROIT GRAND PUBAHS: ‘Skydive From Venus’ [Delete Funk]
‘Skydive’ marks a change of style from the Pubahs’ best-known release, the booty-shaking ghetto pop of ‘Sandwiches’. It sounds like Paris The Black Fu has been flicking through his old Model 500 records and is re-appraising those long lost, early 90s Carl Craig because ‘Skydive’ is a deep, spacey composition, led by beautiful, meandering synths and symphonic strings rather than dance floor considerations. Such demands are taken care of by Deetron, who delivers a dramatic dance floor techno remix.

MANDROID: ‘Future Funk’ [Dominance Electricity]
Mandroid could have come up with a more original name, but look beyond the hackneyed electro title and you’ll be rewarded with an idiosyncratic release. Borrowing from Italo Disco’s in-built sense of melancholia and the squelchy electro breaks of Silicon Scally, the resonating main track, ‘Jupiter’ transports the listener to the darkest part of the universe, while the ominous synths and infectious electro-disco on ‘Population Overdrive’ and ‘Beyond Space, Beyond Life’ is a powerful, unusual combination.

CLARK: ‘Ted’ [Warp]
‘Ted’ provides a snapshot of where Warp’s great white hope is at: there’s not much to attract those who are beholden to the rigours of the 4/4 beat as ‘Cremation Drones’, ‘Mia Farrow’ and ‘Springtime Epiphany’ are sparse, droney affairs, emboldened by the occasional cowbell or hazy chord sequence. ‘Bruise Animations’ and the title track sees Clark raise the tempo somewhat with heavy hip-hop beats guiding the discordant noise until Bibio takes over to deliver a melodic, folky version of the title track.

DOUGLAS GREED: ‘Girlfriend In A Coma’ [Freude Am Tanzen]
Despite the reference to one of The Smith’s biggest hits, there’s little to please indie fans here: instead Greed, who has impressed lately with releases on Combination, opts for clicky, stripped back arrangements, interspersed with bouts of feedback on ‘Trixi’ and ‘Ille Und Soeren’. It’s not all tripped out minimalism though, and the sweet, textured ambience of ‘Oktober 17’ suggests that Greed could make the crossover to ‘serious’ album artist status soon.

ALEX NERI & LUCA BACCHETTI: ‘La Fotografia’ [Tenax]
Didn’t Alex Neri make dodgy house music back in the 90s? He’s certainly changed tact for ‘La Fotografia’. Neri has been following techno’s recently rediscovered symbiotic relationship with trance, but instead of dropping pompous nonsense, ‘La Fotografia’ is a marvellously spaced out, reflective chord sequence, which, combined with fluid bass notes, reaches a hypnotic finale after ten minutes worth of teasing and building.