Franco Cangelli: Create Your Own Space EP
Mowar

Gent, Belgium-based DJ and producer Franco Cangelli gets a serious Detroit-and-Chicago techno-house groove on in his latest EP for Mowar, the label he established as a showcase for the deeper side of techno (Cangelli's also one of the co-founders of Aesthetik Records). The 12-inch release pairs two originals with additional versions by Estroe (Esther Roozendaal) and Solab (Glasgow-based production duo Graham Wilson and Ross McMillan). On the opener “Locked On,” owly hoots pepper a stripped-down funk-house pulse before a marauding bass line drifts into view, gradually intensifying in tandem with the ever-deepening groove. Estroe's remix of same ups the intensity ante even more, with the groove given a surging thrust while gleeful cyborgs chatter overtop. After turning beatific with the addition of a slowly unfurling string melody, the track introduces an almost sleigh bells-like swing that keeps the rhythm in high-velocity mode for the duration. On the B side, stabbing chords and handclaps asymmetrically punctuate the slinkily jacking pulse of “Create Your Own Space,” a percolating and restless exercise in techno future-funk, after which Solab pushes the tune even deeper by injecting it with a relentlessly throbbing bottom end and showering it with bright hi-hat swing. High-quality all around.

March 2009