Articles
2009 Top 10s and 20s
King Midas Sound
Starke

Albums
36
Aardvarck
Matias Aguayo
Anaphoria
Anduin
Arbol + Fibla
Aufgang
Beneva vs. Clark Nova
Black to Comm
Bvdub
Cornstar
Dinky
Enola
Fieldhead
FOURM / Shinkei / Turra
Billy Gomberg
The Green Kingdom
Chihei Hatakeyama
Ian Hawgood
Marek Hemmann
Khate
King Midas Sound
Marcel Knopf
Robot Koch
Lambent
Shinobu Nemoto
Olekranon
Laurent Perrier
Piano Magic
Porzellan
Pylône
Ryonkt
Shadyzane
Slow
Small Color
Solomun
The Sound of Lucrecia
Stray Ghost
The Use of Ashes
Sylvie Walder

Compilations / Mixes
Sebo K
Will Saul
Tama Sumo
VOLTT Amsterdam Vol. 1

EPs
Blindhæð
Roberto Bosco
Franco Cangelli
Dieb
dub KULT
Abe Duque/Blake Baxter
Gemmy
Christopher Hobbs
Duncan Ó Ceallaigh
Christopher Roberts
The Sight Below
Two Fourteen
Van Der Papen
Andy Vaz
Vetrix
Eddie Zarook

DVD
Optofonica

dub KULT: I Know You Want Me
Living Records

An ear-catching trio of “booty step” tunes from Zimbabwe-born, London-bred DJ and producer dub KULT, aka Neilon Pitamber and the man behind Living Records (by his own description, “booty step” is a blend of Chicago booty house, London dubstep, and Berlin techno). The opening title cut explores masculine-feminine interpersonal dynamics by confronting male arrogance (“I know you want me”) with female dismissiveness (“I feel so sorry for you”) while a bleepy rhythm track and raw bass line keep score. Here and elsewhere, Pitamber's use of dizzying vocal counterpoint proves arresting and gives the EP added oomph. Even more direct in its dance-floor focus, “Booty Snatch” works a buoyant jack, bubbly bass pulse, and swirls of vocal samples (and even a dash of electronic experimentalism in its textural treatments) into an enticingly funky head-spinner. With “In Tune (2009 Version),” Pitamber revisits a track originally issued on a white label 12-inch in 1998 under the title “In Tube Bob.” Again, multiple voice elements repeatedly criss-cross; in this case “Mmm, I could really cook with one note,” “Get ready,” and “in tune” relentlessly hammer their way into one's cranium while gullotine snares chop heads in the background. It's amazing and heady stuff from start to finish, and the listener's attention never strays for long during the EP's twenty minutes.

December 2009