#knowledge ep

Kromestar & Jay 5ive - Words

Minimal beats, yer.

Club de Visionaire in Berlin  - populated by grim expats like me dancing badly, supping Bayerisch Bier - is an island of minimal surrounded by more modern electronica. Every time I went down to the river there was an extremely thin tall girl playing records, with a cigarette as perfectly affixed as her concentration on the decks. And, every time, she ruined the floor. Building up the timbres, intensifying the moves, phasing those little clicks and pops.

As a result I really like minimal when it's done well. And Jack Dixon, in this 'You Old' cut from his Knowledge EP release which I've picked up from Lorca's recent (and continually awesome) Dummy mix, nails a minimal style. It's not techno in the Visionaire sense; indeed, it's not really 'techno' as you'd think at all. It's a real cool juxtaposition of styles and dynamics - housey crescendo phasers, tinny hi hats and snares, a beautifully simple hi-f key sample, and intermittent vox.