Manuel De Lorenzi : Spaceland EP
Immigrant Digital

If Spaceland is a representative exemplar of his style, Italian producer Manuel De Lorenzi's relaxed house (or perhaps click-house) vibe aligns perfectly with the Immigrant label sensibility. In this case, his two originals get a considerable boost by the remix contributions of Z@p and Subb-An.

“Spaceland” opens with a relaxed house pulse that slowly swells with subtle starlit atmosphere and the subsequent kick of boomerang synth effects and vocal murmurs—a decent tune but, oddly, the one that impresses the least of the EP's four. His other, more ear-catching original, “More ‘n' More,” drives harder and is all the better for it. De Lorenzi milks the tension for all its worth with slow builds, drop-outs, and astral textures before unleashing the pumping groove for the ride home. Compared to the “Spaceland” original, Uruguayan producer Z@p's remix is a much more aggressive tech-house stormer that, frankly, leaves De Lorenzi's in the dust. Z@p stokes the tune with a robust swing and handclaps, and shreds the original's vocals into monosyllabic accents that inject the track with a welcome funk feel. A rapid-fire field of asteroid swirls and percussive pings keeps the interest level high throughout. The blissed-out house treatment by Subb-An (aka Ashique)” likewise improves upon the original, in this case by maximizing its groove impact and by bringing a sweetly swinging bass line to the forefront of its enticing synth stabs and breathy vocal textures.

April 2008