Articles
Anile, dBridge, and Mako
Liam Singer's Arc Iris

Albums
Allison & Owen
Billy Bang
Barbacana
Tim Bass
Ben Lukas Boysen
Chasing Kurt
Deep Magic
Drumcell
Lawrence English
Esmerine
Ex Confusion
Fazio
Gideon Wolf
A Guide For Reason
Andreas Henneberg
Ikebana
Illuha
Jumpel
The Last Hurrah!!
Lazercrotch
John Lemke
Nektarios Manaras
Maps
Sean McCann
Melorman
James Murray
Sarah Neufeld
David Papapostolou
Personal Life
Ross, Oberland & Claus
Seaworthy & Deupree
Liam Singer
Wadada Leo Smith
Tonefloat: Ikon
Wenngren & Nästesjö
Sebastian Zangar

Compilations / Mixes
dBridge
EPM Selected Vol. 1
Friction
Kode9
The Outer Church
Michelle Owen

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Andyskopes
Anile
Rudi Arapahoe
Rachael Boyd
Break / Detail
CKSNL
Ed:it / Mikal
Marcus Fischer
Full Intention
Gain Stage
Lullatone
Pillowdiver
Gail Priest
Skittles
Andy Vaz

Full Intention: Icon / Madness EP
Rebirth Records

Active since 1990 as producers and remixers, UK-based Michael Gray and Jon Pearn have issued a staggering number of singles (under multiple aliases) as well as remixes, with songs by Whitney Houston, Duran Duran, Sugarcubes, and George Michael among those tackled by the house music duo. The list of singles (including 1996's number one hit “America (I Love America)”) credited to Full Intention is staggering all by itself, as Gray and Pearn issued material regularly between 1994 and 2006 under the name (including the 2006 collection Connected: 10 Years of Full Intention). But with things having been quiet on the Full Intention front since then, the release of a new two-track, fourteen-minute single for the Italian imprint Rebirth Records arrives as somewhat of an event.

After quickly locking into its jacking groove, “Icon” takes a bit of a left turn in working a drill-like effect into the background before halting the groove's forward thrust to add an ascending three-note motif to the arrangement. Details aside, it's an effervescent thumper that glides on the smoothest of breezes and shows Gray and Pearn haven't lost a step when it comes to crafting clubby builds. Boosted by a heftier percussive design (congas, shakers), “Madness” makes for a slinkier B-side. The tune goes deeper, too, when organ tones surface to guide the material into a more melancholic zone. Adding to the cut's allure, a gospel-tinged vocal chant (“reason… soul…madness…”) appears halfway through to give the track an individuating and even epic character. The EP's material seems so effortlessly born, it's as if Full Intention's never been away.

August-September 2013