After sowing the seeds of his style in Manchester by way musical influence from Detroit, now London-based techno producer Lockyear made his debut last January on One Track Brain’s OTB Records with “Store Street” / “Katabatic Wind.” A year and two weeks later he returns to the label with his Wave Knowledge EP, a striking three-track effort boasting sinewy melodies and rhythms, deep bass and stripped-down grooves.
The release is worth your attention alone for the blissful “Taming the Elephant,” a 6am track that inspired us to dig out every record we own by The Beloved.
We tracked down the one-named phenom and asked him to share five current tracks he currently can’t live without. Here they are in no particular order.
SW. – “Untitled C2”
Pretty hard to choose a “best” track in this blistering, ethereal album from Stefan Wust. There’s so much to enjoy here from the A1’s sublimely gentle breaks and straight-to-the-heart chords to the late night, low-slung house groove of the C1.
The C2 has that special something though. A deeply organic and layered progression that unveils layer upon layer as the music builds its textured intricate groove. About halfway through things start to fall away revealing a serene oasis of lush pads and playful cymbals. I like how you have to look quite hard to notice things being added or taken away with pieces of the puzzle constantly flickering in and out of existence like reflected sunlight glimmering off the scales of a school of fish performing their underwater dance.
Jump Source – Empathy Mix
The B1 “All My Love Is Free” is getting a lot of attention at the moment but the A1 on the Guide to Action EP is where it’s at. I played this cut at the AM Trips party I threw with Flexam a few weeks back and those emotional yet restrained chords set against the soaring breaks and undulating bassline took charge of the dance floor.
Call Super – “New Life Repercussions”
Joe Seaton is one of those artists that has crafted his own little sonic universe to explore with every piece of music he puts out. At his best he produces the type of stuff that, on a good system or pair of headphones, makes you want to close your eyes and flow into the little tunnels and imaginary landscapes buried within textures and rhythmic elements. I can’t think of many other producers able to paint such a vivid sonic image. This is the lovely B-side of his sixth 12″ on Houndstooth and it represents him at his most playful and imaginative.
214 – “Miami Nights”
A lot of the dance music that inspires me is from the late ‘90s and the turn of the new millennium. There was some really spacey, vibey music being made that sounded like it was beamed straight down from a nearby galaxy. Thankfully that type of mind melting electro is undergoing a massive resurgence from the likes of E.R.P, Area Forty One and Plant 43.
The B-side “Minds Alike (A Tribute)” is a stunner, the type of electro that doesn’t hold back on emotion and just lets you glide off into hyperspace. Miami Nights sets the course for the EP though with a super deep and trippy slice of dance floor action. Think bleeps and bloops, cascading alien melodies, and dark Reese basslines jumping out of nowhere to cut out instantly into a reverb haze.
Pearson Sound – “XLB”
I’ve followed David Kennedy’s output closely for many years. It’s great to see an artist constantly reinvent their sound. Whether it’s the bass driven, euphoric drum machine exercises from his early Hessle Audio output or the complex hardware sounds of his self-titled album, David has continued to find unexplored sonic territory in which to express himself.
This record, released on his own self-titled imprint, represents a new direction yet again. A record more firmly aimed at the dance floor than anything we’ve heard from him previously. XLB explores some pretty crazy sonic territory, a hyperdimensional take on the kind of sounds artists like Jam City and L-Vis 1990 were experimenting with a few years back. It builds for the first three minutes like some outer space candy floss grime instrumental bubbling away with no beat apart from a 4/4 clap and then completely dismantles itself before going berserk. I played this one at the 1988 night at Kompass Club with the OTB crew back in December. It’s a lot of fun.