The document provides reviews of several EPs from various artists, including: - The Braun EP by Ashworth on Posterboy Records, which offers deep house and tech-house tracks praised for their sophistication and ability to work on the dancefloor. - Jägerverb's Baseliner EP on Safer At Night Records marks his return from hiatus with a record contrasting his usual techy house style, employing delicate melodies and nature-inspired synths. - Locked Groove's End/Scherzo EP continues his on-point productions, with Scherzo employing a beautifully mutating hi-hat line over an emerging atmospheric synth loop building tension. - Ok

1. LEONCLARKSONleonclarkson.promos@gmail.com
djmag.com 095
QUICKIES
TECH-HOUSEREVIEWS
Ashworth
Braun EP
Posterboy Records
8.0
Ashworth’sascentduring2015
istestamenttohisinventive
production.Thiswastypifiedonce
thesophisticated'Grain'LPdropped,
anessentialdancemusiccollector's
piece.ForthisEPonPosterboy
Records,titletrack‘Braun’offers
uprightandsoulfuldeephouse,
whilst‘Plinth’stirsandrollswitha
littlemoretech-housesensibility,
yetkeepsitscool.‘Lizard’iswhere,
youcouldsay,Ashworthletsloose.
Theangstandsearchingbassrhythm
firesoffoneverytwo-barsunder
anembryonicsynthandpercussion
ensemble.Don'tletthispassyouby.
Jägerverb
Baseliner
Safer At Night
7.5
Jägerverb's'BaselinerEP'onSaferAt
NightRecordsmarkshisreturnfrom
alengthyhiatus,andit'sarecord
ofdelicatemanoeuvres—astark
contrasttohisusualelectro-filled
techyhouse.Infact,thecontrastis
suchthatsynth-wrapped‘Flowyk’
isallbutvoidofanypercussion
andalmostemulsifiesintothe
ChemicalBrothers'‘StarGuitar’.
Theslower,broken-beating‘Amber’
usesabirdsong-likesynthcombo
thatwouldn’tseemoutofplaceina
Shaolinmonastery.‘Baseliner’ups
thepacewithabrooding,plucked
andprogressiveloopedsynththatwill
workwondersonthedancefloor.
Locked Groove
'End/Scherzo'
Locked Groove Records
8.0
Sincehisdebutin2012,Locked
Groove'son-pointproductionshave
matchedhisfrequencyofoutput.
‘End/Scherzo’isnodifferent,
andalthough‘End’isalittlemore
progressivetechnoforitsinclusion
here,‘Scherzo’justaboutshapes
uptomakethecut.Employinga
beautifullymutatinghi-hatlineto
controltheenergy,itallowsforan
emergingatmosphericsynth-loopto
buildtension,allthewhileplotting
someseriousbottom-endgoodness
downbelow.
Okain
Forward
Talman Records
7.5
Here'saquality,no-frillsdebut
releasewithcrosshairsaimedstraight
onthedancefloor,arrivingviaOkain’s
newly-formedTalmanRecords.The
‘ForwardEP’offersupthedeeply
hookyKerriChandler-styleorgan
lineon‘DeltaStreet’tothebounding
bassline-ledandpercussionroller,
‘Southampton'.Titletrack‘Forward'
nodsto808State's‘PacificState’by
wayoftheenchantingkeyed/padtop-
lineandworksatreatoverOkain’s
infectious,upfrontbottom-end
groove.SolidbeginningsforTalman.
Moodtrap
Make It Better EP
Lower East
8.0
AfterbeingdraftedintotheLower
EastfiveyearV/Aafewmonthsback,
theygrabthemselvesawholeEPin
'MakeItBetter'—and,better,itis.
Thegroovingandairy'MakeItBetter'
receivesare-workingfromGerd,who
offersrough-edgedwarehouse-ready
filteredstabsforhisthumpingdub
mix.CozzyD’sincludesadeeprolling
bassline,adding909percussionto
goodeffectforanotherexpertremix,
whilst‘EthosOfLove’,whichexudes
acertain'80s/‘FrenchKiss’quality,is
deep,techyandbumping.
Kuo Climax
Work
Solid Grooves Records
8.0
KuoClimaxandhisimpressive'Phase
EP'isyetfurtherevidenceofthe
excitingA&RgoingonbehindSGR.
It'sallabout‘Work’anditsinsatiable
basslinegroove.Asoundsteepedin
housemusic'spioneeringeraduring
the'80s,andaprogressionthat
audaciouslykeepsonrolling.Thisis
hands-in-the-airpeaktime—the
DJneedsatunetorepresentthe
previous15minutesofset-building,
otherwisethiswillhaveallbeenfor
nothing—fun.TheEPconcludes
nicelywith'Badboy'(includingOkain
remix),and'Jump'.
Danny Serrano
Paragraphy EP
Intec Digital
8.5
Followingonfromhis(fantastic)
albumreleaseduringthesummer,
‘Paragraphy’isanexcitablereturnto
formforDannySerrano.Thisisbig
roomtech-houseatitsbest,offering
intricatepercussionstructures,
trippy—notsing-a-long—vocals
andinventivearrangement.It’s
clap-happy...butit'sclassilydone.
Thezonalandbassresonating‘Seven
Notes’isawelcomecounterweight
ontheEP,butitlosespointsforthe
incessant,dry,squarewavestabs
throughout‘Everytime’,sendingan
inkyshiverdownthepage.Twooutof
threeisgoodenoughforus,though.
Various
10 Years Of Leftroom
Leftroom Records
9.0
Leftroomcelebratestenyears
strongwiththispart-forward
thinkingandpartre-jigged
retrospective.ThreefreshMatt
Tolfreycollaborationskick
thingsoff;hisandRoute94's
funk-edgedandswinging‘Get
Down’;theinsanelypeculiarand
bass-heaving‘CanYouControl
It’withHeartthrob;andonto
thealteredstateatmospherics
on‘Infizero’,withGuit.Theself-
revisedAudiojacktrack‘Robot’isa
reminderofjusthowmuchdance
music—fortheUKunderground,
atleast—hasbeenrefined.In
fact,thesamecanbesaidfor
Tolfrey/Simko'ssharper2015mix
of‘GoOnThen’,comparedtothe
laid-backoriginal.JayHaze,Laura
Jones,JasperJamesandSignal
Flowroundthissuperbcollection
up.Tenyearsisaremarkable
achievement,andthisisasgoodas
anyV/Aoutatthemoment.
01. ART DEPARTMENT ‘Crazy (Jamie Jones Remix)’ No.19
“Been closing most sets with this since we got it — absolutely in love with it.”
02. 12 STORIES ‘Night Obscure’ Hot Creations
“This track goes OFFFF, the synth-line kills it.”
03. MAX CHAPMAN ‘How We Work’ Snatch
“Max back on form with this, works every time we play it.”
04. “LEFTWING, KODY CERA ALBA ‘I Got One Way’ Hot Creations
“Our debut on the mighty Hot Creations, really proud of this record — made
with a good friend.”
05. ROSS EVANS ‘Superskanks (Cuatero Remix)’ Saved
“Proper roller from Cuatero, works a treat.”
06. VIDALOCA PIEM ‘Lullaby (Josh Butler Remix)’ Lost Records
“Solid remix from Josh, this one is a club banger, for sure.”
07. WALKER ROYCE ‘Seventeen’ Pets Recordings
“Love the glitchy vibe on this tuff track.”
08. LEFTWING KODY ‘What You Do To Me’ ViVA Music
“A new one from us that’s out on the ‘3 Point 0 EP’ on ViVA.”
09. ALEXIS RAPHAEL ‘Helter Skelter’ Hot Creations
“Old school rave brought bang up to date.”
10. GEDDES ELI ‘On The Street’ Truesoul
“Love what Richy’s done to this monster.”
LEFTWINGKODYLOSTRECORDS
Jori Hulkkonnen
Quick To Judge, Slow
To Execute (Balcazar
Sordo Remix)
My Favourite Robot
8.0
Syncopatingbassand
low-punchingpercussion
provideaseriousgroove
togetdowntoo.Eerie
atmosphericsanda
hauntingvocalofferabrief
andwell-timedrespite
beforeheadingbackfor
more.Aninfectioustune!
Vidaloca Piem
Lullaby
Lost Records
7.0
LostRecordscontinuewith
theirrelentlessrelease
schedulingwithanother
boldtech-houseEP.Josh
ButlerandMaxChapman
bothturninusefulremixes.
Paul C Paolo
Martini
Striptease EP
Gruuv
7.5
Thispaircontinueto
providethegoods,and
the'StripteaseEP'isfull
ofnon-stopbassrhythms
—andtrippingpercussion
istheirforte.ThisGruuv
outingisworthyourtime.
Dusky
Infinite Libido
17 Steps
8.5
TheUKduoreleaseon
their17Stepsimprint,
theawesome‘LydiaEP’,
butit’sthedriving,muted
cowbellpercussion—it’s
agoodthing,honest—of
‘InfiniteLibido’thatlight
thisoneup.
DJ552.tech house.indd 95 13/11/2015 11:07